JP2009070182A - Print controller, print system, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To selectively print a stored print job regardless of presence or absence of a UI of a printer for printing. <P>SOLUTION: A name of job owner of a print job is made a character string in which a prescribed character string is added to a user ID for identifying a print requester, is transmitted by a client PC 14 to the print server 12, and accumulated. The character string to be added to the user ID is differed in accordance with a print section (normal print, priority print, secret print, and the like). Respective print sections correspond to a plurality of URL set to a print server 12. When having a print job printed by a printer, a user inputs the user ID to an authentication device 18 and designates a URL of the print server 12. The authentication device 18 transmits the user ID to a print server 12 while regarding the designated URL as a transmitting destination address. The print server 12 retrieves the print job with a retrieval key in which the prescribed character string is added to the user ID every URL and transmits it to the printer 16. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing control apparatus, a printing system, and a program.

  In recent years, systems in which various terminal devices such as a printer and a personal computer (PC) are connected via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network), and a plurality of PCs share a printer and print various information have become widespread. . For example, when creating print data on a PC and printing it with a printer, the user designates a printer connected to the network, sends the print data to the printer as a print job, prints it out, and prints it out. Yes. A printer that outputs a print job is shared by many PCs, and the printer is often installed at a location distant from the PC. Therefore, the printed matter printed by the printer is left until the user goes to the printer, and there is a problem from the viewpoint of security.

  Therefore, instead of printing as soon as the user sends a print job, the print job sent by the user from the PC is temporarily stored in a server or the like connected to the printer, and then the printer (or connected to the printer) A technique has been proposed in which after a user performs an authentication operation using an authentication apparatus, a print job of the user is transmitted from the server to the printer and output (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Also, in a printing system, various printers such as a printer with a high-functional UI such as a touch panel display or an old-style printer with no UI or a small UI screen are often used together. . Among them, for a printer with a large screen and a high-performance UI, a list of jobs can be displayed on the user interface (UI) of the printer as a method for instructing a change to a print job sent to the printer and accumulated in the queue. Is displayed, and the priority is changed by UI operation to enable urgent printing (see, for example, Patent Document 2). For older printers that do not have a UI or have a small UI screen, even if the system prints after the user performs an authentication operation as described above, a print job cannot be selectively printed by the UI operation. .

Even if the printer has a large screen and a high-performance UI, if a large number of print jobs are stored, it is cumbersome to select and output the necessary print jobs by UI operation. It becomes.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-22547 JP 2004-242120 A

  The present invention executes printing in a system in which a print job transmitted from a print requester is temporarily stored in a storage means for printing by a printing apparatus when identification information for identifying the print requester is input. An object of the present invention is to provide a print control apparatus capable of selectively printing a stored print job regardless of whether or not the printing apparatus has a UI, a printing system including the print control apparatus, and a program.

  The print control apparatus according to claim 1 receives a print job to which attribute information including a character string including identification information for identifying a print requester is attached from an information terminal, and provides authentication corresponding to the printing apparatus. A receiving unit that receives the identification information and a specific information for specifying a character string to be added to the identification information from the apparatus, and stores the received print job when the receiving unit receives the print job And a character string in which a character string specified by the received specific information is added to the received identification information when the identification information and the specific information are received by the receiving means. Compared with the attribute information of the print job stored in the storage unit, the reading unit selects and reads out the corresponding print job from the storage unit, and the print job read out by the reading unit is the print device. In and includes a control means for controlling so as to print, the.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing system according to the first aspect, an input means for inputting the identification information, a specifying means for specifying the specific information, and the input identification information. And an authentication device having a transmitting means for transmitting the specified specific information to the print control device.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing system according to the first aspect, wherein the printing control device according to the first aspect is a plurality of authentication units in which the specific information different from each other is set in advance, and input means for inputting the identification information; And an authentication device including a plurality of authentication units having transmission means for transmitting the inputted identification information and the preset specific information to the print control device.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the second or third aspect, a plurality of the authentication devices are provided corresponding to each of the plurality of printing devices, and the transmitting unit of the authentication device is configured to perform the authentication. Printing apparatus information for specifying a printing apparatus corresponding to the apparatus is transmitted together with the identification information and the identification information, and the receiving means of the print control apparatus further includes the identification information and the identification information from the authentication apparatus. The printing device information is received, and the control unit controls the print job read by the reading unit to be printed by the printing device specified by the printing device information.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to any one of the second to fourth aspects, the attribute information including a character string including identification information for identifying the print requester in response to a request from the print requester is provided. It further includes at least one information terminal capable of generating the assigned print job and transmitting it to the print control apparatus.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, a computer having storage means for storing a print job to which attribute information including a character string including identification information for identifying a print requester is added is received from an information terminal. In this case, the storage processing means for storing the received print job in the storage means, and the identification information and the character string to be added to the identification information are specified from the authentication device provided corresponding to the printing device. When the specific information is received, the character string specified by the received specific information is compared with the character string added to the received identification information and the attribute information of the print job stored in the storage unit, Read means for selecting and reading out a corresponding print job from the storage means, and control means for controlling the print job read by the read means to be printed by the printing apparatus, Is a program for causing the performance.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to selectively print a stored print job regardless of the presence or absence of a UI of a printing apparatus that performs printing.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to designate specific information and transmit it to the print control apparatus together with the identification information by one authentication apparatus.

  According to the invention of claim 3, the identification information and the specific information can be transmitted to the print control apparatus by specifying the specific information with the authentication apparatus having a simple configuration.

  According to the invention of claim 4, even when a plurality of printing apparatuses are installed, a desired print job can be selected and printed by the desired printing apparatus.

  According to the invention of claim 5, it is possible to generate a print job according to the request of the print requester.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the stored print job can be selectively printed regardless of the presence or absence of the UI of the printing apparatus that executes printing.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment]
In this embodiment, the user prints a print job that has neither high priority nor confidentiality (that is, there is no need to rush printing and the printed matter may be left in the printer as it is). An example will be described in which a print job is designated in three categories: “priority printing” for printing a high-priority print job and “secret printing” for printing a highly confidential print job.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printing system 10 according to the present embodiment.

  The printing system 10 includes a print server 12, a client PC (Personal Computer) 14, a printer 16, and an authentication device 18 connected to a network 20 such as a LAN (Local Area Network).

  In the client PC 14, a print job is generated and transmitted to the print server 12. More specifically, when the user of the client PC 14 designates printing of some document data (print data), the printer driver installed in the client PC 14 is activated. The printer driver generates a print job from the print data designated for printing, and transmits the print job to the print server 12.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the client PC 14. The client PC 14 includes a print data generation unit 32, a print job generation unit 34, a communication unit 36, a display unit 38, and an input unit 40.

  The display unit 38 is configured by a display or the like, and displays processing results of the print data generation unit 32 and the print control unit 34, various setting screens, and the like to the user. The input unit 40 includes a mouse, a keyboard, and the like, and the user inputs and specifies various information.

  The print data generation unit 32 generates print data such as a word processor document. The print data generation unit 32 is a function corresponding to, for example, application software such as word processing software or drawing software.

  The print job generation unit 34 generates a print job from print data designated for printing by the user operating the input unit 40. The print job generation unit 34 is a component equivalent to a printer driver that performs print control for the printer 16.

  The communication unit 36 is a communication interface that transmits the print job generated by the print job generation unit 34 to the print server 12 via the network 20.

  Here, the function of the print job generation unit 34 will be described in more detail.

  The print job generated by the print job generation unit 34 includes an attribute part and a data part. The attribute section includes information on the name of the print job and the owner name of the print job (information for specifying the print requester of the print job). In the following, “print job owner name” is simply referred to as “job owner name”.

  The print job generation unit 34 generates the attribute part as follows. As the “print job name”, the file name of the print data designated by the user for printing on the client PC 14 is used as it is. For the “job owner name”, a character string input by the user is used. In the present embodiment, the print job generation unit 34 is set so that the user inputs the job owner name via the input unit 40 every time a print job is generated. The user inputs a job owner name according to a predetermined rule. In the present embodiment, for a print job with a low priority and confidentiality (normal printing), a user ID assigned in advance to the user is input as the job owner name. For a print job with a high priority (priority printing), a character string in which the character string “_urg” is added to the user ID is input. For a print job with high confidentiality (secret printing), a character string obtained by adding a character string “_sec” to the user ID is input.

  The print job generation unit 34 converts the print data designated for printing by the user into PDL data, and generates a data part of the print job. The print job generation unit 34 transmits a print job including the generated attribute part and data part to the print server 12 via the communication unit 36. Such generation / transmission of a print job is a process generally performed by a conventional printer driver.

  Note that the print data generation unit 32 and the print job generation unit 34 of the client PC 14 are realized in software by a computer configured by a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and the like. . That is, it is realized by the CPU executing a program recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM using a work memory such as a RAM.

  The recording medium on which the program executed by the CPU is stored is not limited to the ROM. For example, a portable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, HDD (hard disk drive), DVD disk, magneto-optical disk, IC card, or the like It may also be a storage device such as an HDD provided in the database, or may be a database connected via a line, another computer system and its database, or a transmission medium on the line.

  As described above, the client PC 14 can be configured by an information terminal such as a personal computer that is generally spread, and it is not necessary to install a special program or incorporate a special function.

  Next, the authentication device 18 will be described. The authentication device 18 is installed in the vicinity of the corresponding printer 16. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the authentication device 18. The authentication device 18 includes a card detection unit 42, a connection destination selection unit 44, a transmission information generation unit 46, and a communication unit 48.

  The card detection unit 42 reads the user ID recorded in the memory of the IC card 50. When a user prints a print job transmitted to the print server 12 with the printer 16, the user brings the IC card 50 possessed by the user close to the card detection unit 42 and is recorded in the memory of the IC card 50. The card detection unit 42 is made to read the current user ID. The card detection unit 42 outputs the read user ID data to the transmission information generation unit 46.

  The connection destination selection unit 44 includes a normal print button 44a, a priority print button 44b, and a secret print button 44c. The normal print button 44a is a button to be pressed when printing a print job with low priority and confidentiality among print jobs transmitted to the print server 12. The priority print button 44b is a button to be pressed when a print job having a high priority is selected from the print jobs transmitted to the print server 12 and printed. The secret print button 44c is a button that is pressed when a highly confidential print job is selected from the print jobs transmitted to the print server 12 and printed. The user causes the card detection unit 42 to read the user ID and presses one of the three buttons of the connection destination selection unit 44. When one of the normal print button 44a, the priority print button 44b, and the secret print button 44c is pressed, a signal corresponding to the pressed button is output to the transmission information generation unit 46.

  When a user ID is input from the card detection unit 42 and a signal corresponding to a pressed button is input from the connection destination selection unit 44, the transmission information generation unit 46 generates transmission data for the print server 12. Specifically, the transmission includes the information of the user ID read by the card detection unit 42 and the transmission destination information of the print job (the address of the printer 16 installed near the authentication device 18 or the identification number of the printer 16). Generate data. Further, the transmission information generation unit 46 transmits the connection destination (URL) of the print server 12 associated with the pressed button to the header of the transmission data based on the signal from the connection destination selection unit 44. It is added as the data destination address. As will be described later, three different URLs are set in the print server 12. More specifically, the URL usually includes a domain name and a directory name. The domain names of the three URLs are the domain names corresponding to the IP address of the print server 12, and the directory names below the domain names. Different connection destinations in the print server 12 are used. The information on these connection destinations is stored in advance in a memory provided in the control unit 54, and the transmission information generation unit 46 refers to this to determine the transmission destination address.

  Hereinafter, the transmission data generated by the transmission information generation unit 46 in this way is referred to as authentication data. Also, the three URLs will be referred to as URL1, URL2, and URL3 for distinction. URL1 is a connection destination corresponding to the normal print button 44a, URL2 is a connection destination corresponding to the priority print button 44b, and URL3 is a connection destination corresponding to the secret print button 44c. Also, here, an example in which the destination information of the print job is generated by including the authentication data in the authentication data has been described. However, when one printer 16 is used on the network, the destination is always the same, so the transmission destination is the same. The previous information may be omitted.

  The communication unit 48 is connected to the network 20 and is a communication interface that transmits the authentication data generated by the transmission information generation unit 46 to the print server 12.

  Next, the printer 16 will be described. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the printer 16. The printer 16 includes a print processing unit 52, a control unit 54, a communication unit 56, and a display unit 58.

  Based on the print job received by the communication unit 56, the control unit 54 causes the print processing unit 52 to perform print processing, generates display data for displaying a message or the like, and outputs the display data to the display unit 58. To do.

  The print processing unit 52 actually performs print processing under the control of the control unit 54.

  The display unit 58 is a liquid crystal display or the like and displays images and characters.

  The communication unit 56 is connected to the network 20, receives a print job from the print server 12, and transmits a print result from the print processing unit 52 to the print server 12.

  Next, the print server 12 will be described. FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the print server 12. The print server 12 includes a communication unit 22, a distribution control unit 23, a first processing unit 24a, a second processing unit 24b, a third processing unit 24c, a job management unit 26, a job storage unit 28, and a job transmission control unit 30. I have.

  Since the first processing unit 24a, the second processing unit 24b, and the third processing unit 24c all execute a process for generating a search key, the first processing unit 24a, the second processing unit 24b, and When the third processing unit 24c is described without distinction, the last symbol is omitted and the third processing unit 24c is referred to as the processing unit 24 at the end.

  The communication unit 22 is connected to the network 20 and receives a print job from the client PC 14, transmits a print job to the printer 16, and receives authentication data including a user ID from the authentication device 18. It is.

  The distribution control unit 23 distributes and outputs the data received by the communication unit 22 to one of the three processing units 24 or the job management unit 26. Specifically, when the data received by the communication unit 22 is a print job, the print job is output to the job management unit 26 so that the print job is stored in the job storage unit 28. When the data received by the communication unit 22 is authentication data, the transmission destination address (connection destination URL in the print server 12) of the header portion of the authentication data is confirmed, and a search key corresponding to the transmission destination address is displayed. The user ID included in the received authentication data is output to one of the three processing units 24 so as to be generated.

  The job management unit 26 is a module for managing print jobs. The job management unit 26 stores the print job received from the distribution control unit 23 in the job storage unit 28 or searches for the print job stored in the job storage unit 28. Read out.

  FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing the storage state of the print job in the job storage unit 28. “Job ID” is a number assigned in the order of reception when the print server 12 receives a print job. In addition, the data of the attribute part of the print job and the date and time (reception date and time) when the print server 12 received the print job are stored.

  The first processing unit 24a to the third processing unit 24c generate search keys.

  The first processing unit 24a corresponds to URL1, the second processing unit 24b corresponds to URL2, and the third processing unit 24c corresponds to URL3. Therefore, when the transmission destination address of the authentication data is URL1, the user ID is output to the first processing unit 24a, and when the transmission destination address of the authentication data is URL2, the user ID is output to the second processing unit 24b. When the transmission destination address of the authentication data is URL3, the user ID is output to the third processing unit 24c.

  When the user ID is input from the distribution control unit 23, the first processing unit 24a outputs the user ID as it is to the job management unit 26 as a search key used in the job management unit 26.

  When the user ID is input from the distribution control unit 23, the second processing unit 24 b adds a character string “_urg” to the user ID, and uses this as a search key used by the job management unit 26. Output to.

  When the user ID is input from the distribution control unit 23, the third processing unit 24 c adds a character string “_sec” to the user ID, and uses this as a search key used by the job management unit 26 to the job management unit 26. Output.

  That is, in the present embodiment, the transmission destination address (connection destination URL) included in the header of the authentication data is information for specifying a character string to be added to the user ID, and is used to generate a search key. It is necessary information.

  When the job management unit 26 receives a search key from any of the three processing units 24, the job management unit 26 searches the job storage unit 28 based on the search key. The job management unit 26 reads a print job having a job owner name that matches the search key from the job storage unit 28 and passes it to the communication unit 22.

  The job transmission control unit 30 sets the transmission destination address of the print job so that the print job read by the job management unit 26 is transmitted to the transmission destination indicated by the transmission destination information of the print job included in the received authentication data. The transmission destination information is set and transmitted via the communication unit 22.

  In addition, when the number of printers used is one, since it is determined uniquely even if the destination information is not included in the authentication data, it is not necessary to include the destination information in the authentication data. In this case, the job transmission control unit 30 transmits the print job so that the one printer is always the transmission destination of the print job.

  That is, the print server 12 specifies a character string to be added to the user ID according to the transmission destination address included in the header added to the authentication data, and adds the specified character string to the received user ID. The print job is searched using the character string as a search key, and the searched print job is transmitted to the printer 16.

  The job storage unit 28 of the print server 12 is configured by a storage device such as an HDD, and the distribution control unit 23, the three processing units 24, the job management unit 26, and the job transmission unit 30 are a CPU (Central Processing Unit). ), A RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and the like. That is, it is realized by the CPU executing a program recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM or HDD using a work memory such as a RAM.

  Note that the recording medium for storing the program executed by the CPU is not limited to the ROM and the HDD, and is provided in a portable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a DVD disk, a magneto-optical disk, and an IC card, or the outside. It may be a storage device such as an HDD, or may be a database connected via a line, another computer system and its database, or a transmission medium on a line.

  Therefore, the program according to the embodiment of the present invention can be provided not only by a communication medium but also stored in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the printing system 10 of the present embodiment will be described.

  First, an operation when a print job is transmitted from the client PC 14 to the print server 12 will be described.

  When the user creates print data by the print data generation unit 32 of the client PC 14 and instructs printing, the printer driver (print job generation unit 34) is activated. The print job generation unit 34 transfers the contents of the instructed print processing to the print server 12 via the communication unit 36 in units of print jobs.

  At this time, the print job generation unit 34 causes the display unit 38 to display an input screen (not shown) for inputting the job owner name. As described above, the user inputs the job owner name on the displayed input screen according to a predetermined rule. That is, in the case of a normal print job with low priority and confidentiality, a user ID assigned in advance to the user is input, and in the case of a print job with high priority, the user ID is “_urg”. A character string to which a character string is added is input. In the case of a print job with high confidentiality, a character string to which a character string “_sec” is added is input.

  For example, if the user ID is “Tanaka”, the job owner name for “Normal printing” is “Tanaka”, the job owner name for “Priority printing” is “Tanaka_urg”, and “Secret printing”. The job owner name is “Tanaka_sec”.

  When inputting a job owner name for each print job generation, the printer driver (print job generation unit 34) is set in advance as follows.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printer driver setting screen. The setting screen 60 shown in FIG. 7 includes a radio button 62 for selecting “always use the same authentication information” and a radio button 64 for selecting “display authentication input screen for each job”. Is provided.

  When the radio button 62 “always use the same authentication information” is checked, the same ID is always used as the job owner name. The ID used as the job owner name is the ID that is input when the client PC 14 logs in (in FIG. 7, the ID that is input when logging in is displayed as “login name”), or the input area 66. It is selected from the combo box 64 whether the ID is directly input to. The ID set here is always used as the job owner name.

  On the other hand, when the radio button 68 “Display authentication input screen for each job” is checked, the above-described input screen is displayed for each print job.

  When one of the radio buttons is checked and an ID is input if necessary and the OK button 70 is clicked, the user setting is recorded in a memory (not shown).

  In this embodiment, the radio button 68 is checked and set so that the user inputs the job owner name for each print job.

  If it is troublesome to manually enter an ID as the job owner name every time a print job is generated, the printer driver icon is duplicated and prepared for each print category as follows, and a desired ID is set for each icon. May be set to save input. A specific example of the setting method in this case will be described below. Here, it is assumed that the ID input at the time of login is the same as the user ID recorded in the memory of the user's IC card 50.

  The radio button 62 is checked and set on each icon setting screen (FIG. 7) prepared for each print category.

  When the icon printing category is “normal printing”, the user ID at the time of login is used as the job owner name as it is, so the item “use login name” in the combo box 64 is selected. When the print classification of the icon is “priority printing” or “secret printing”, the “input ID” item in the combo box 64 is selected, and the character string “_urg” is entered in the input area 66 as the user ID. The added character string or the character string with the character string “_sec” added to the user ID is input. An icon name is assigned to each icon for each print category. The information set in this way is associated with each icon and stored in the memory of the client PC 14.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of three icons of the printer driver generated in the printer setting folder 74. The icon 76 is an icon in which a job owner name is set for normal printing, the icon 78 is an icon in which a job owner name is set for priority printing, and the icon 80 is a job for secret printing. An icon with an owner name. An icon name corresponding to each print category is assigned.

  When print data is designated for printing on the application (print data generation unit 32), a print dialog box is launched (not shown). A combo box for specifying a printer is displayed in the print dialog box. In this combo box, the names of the icons (“print”, “rush print”, “secret print” in the example shown in FIG. 8) are listed. The user makes a print request by selecting one from the combo box. Accordingly, the print job generation unit 34 generates a print job having the job owner name with the ID set by the selected icon, and transmits the print job to the print server 12.

  Alternatively, sheet cut icons for the above three icons 76, 78, and 80 are created on the desktop or the like, and a print data file is dragged and dropped onto any one of the shortcut icons to designate printing in an arbitrary print category. You may do it. This also generates a print job having the job owner name set in the icon and transmits it to the print server 12 as described above.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing executed by the print server 12 when the print server 12 receives some data.

  In step 100, the distribution control unit 23 determines what data is received by the communication unit 22. If the received data is a print job received from the client PC 14, the received print job is output to the job management unit 26 in step 110. As a result, the print job is stored in the job storage unit 28 and managed together with various attribute information related to the print job, as shown in FIG.

  Next, an operation when an actual print process is executed will be described.

  The user causes the IC card 50 in which his / her user ID is stored to approach the card detection unit 42 of the authentication device 18 installed in the vicinity of the printer 16 to be actually printed, and causes the user ID to be read (authentication operation). ).

  Further, the user selects and presses one of the three buttons of the normal print button 44a, the priority print button 44b, and the secret print button 44c of the connection destination selection unit 44.

  As described above, the transmission information generation unit 46 of the authentication device 18 generates transmission data including the user ID information read by the card detection unit 42 and the transmission destination information of the print job, and in the header of the transmission data, Authentication data to which the connection destination (URL) of the print server 12 corresponding to the button pressed by the connection destination selection unit 44 is added as a transmission destination address is generated. The generated authentication data is transmitted to the print server 12 via the communication unit 48 of the authentication device 18.

  For example, when the user with the user ID “Tanaka” presses the priority print button 44b, the authentication data including the user ID “Tanaka” and the print job transmission destination information is addressed to the URL 2 of the print server 12. Sent.

  Next, the operation of the print server 12 that has received the authentication data will be described with reference to FIG.

  In step 100, the distribution control unit 23 determines what data is received by the communication unit 22. If the received data is authentication data received from the authentication device 18, the process proceeds to step 102, and the distribution control unit 23 confirms the transmission destination address (connection destination URL) in the header of the received authentication data. Then, the user ID included in the authentication data is output to one of the three processing units 24 in accordance with the URL indicated by the transmission destination address.

  In step 104, the processing unit 24 that has received the user ID creates a search key corresponding to the URL and outputs it to the job management unit 26. For example, when the user ID is “Tanaka” and the connection destination is URL1, the user ID is output to the first processing unit 24a. Therefore, “Tanaka” is created as a search key in the first processing unit 24a. The data is output to the job management unit 26. If the connection destination is URL2 with the same user ID, the user ID is output to the second processing unit 24b, so that “Tanaka_urg” is created as a search key by the second processing unit 24b, and the job management unit 26. If the connection destination is URL3 with the same user ID, the user ID is output to the third processing unit 24c, so that “Tanaka_sec” is created as a search key by the third processing unit 24c, and the job management unit 26.

  In step 106, the job management unit 26 that has received the search key searches the job storage unit 28 for a print job having a job owner name that matches the search key. In this embodiment, an exact match search is performed. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, when a print job is stored and the search key is “Tanaka”, a print job with a job ID of 124 is searched. Similarly, when the search key is “Tanaka_urg”, a print job with a job ID of 126 is searched. Similarly, when the search key is “Tanaka_sec”, a print job with a job ID of 128 is searched.

  In step 108, the transmission destination included in the received authentication data indicates the transmission destination of the read print job so that the job transmission control unit 30 performs printing based on the print job searched and read by the job management unit 26. The print job is changed to be the transmission destination indicated by the destination information (here, the printer 16), and the print job is transmitted via the communication unit 22. The printer 16 that has received the print job executes printing based on the print job.

  As described above, the case where the user ID is “Tanaka” has been described as a specific example. However, it is obvious that the same utility can be obtained even for other users.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various design changes may be made within the scope of the invention described in the claims.

  For example, although an example in which three printing sections and three connection destinations are provided has been described in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and any number of printing sections and connection destinations may be used. In addition, three types of printing, “normal printing”, “priority printing”, and “secret printing”, are provided, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a plurality of security levels are provided, and connection destinations according to each security level May be provided. For example, three security levels are provided, and the job owner names are “Tanaka_A”, “Tanaka_AA”, and “Tanaka_AAA” in descending order of security level, and the connection destination of the print server 12 is switched at the security level. If a complete match search is performed as in the above embodiment, only a print job with a specific security level is output for each designated connection destination URL. If the search key is “Tanaka_A”, all print jobs whose job owner names are “Tanaka_A”, “Tanaka_AA”, and “Tanaka_AAA” are output. When the search key is “Tanaka_AA”, print jobs with job owner names “Tanaka_AA” and “Tanaka_AAA” are output, but a print job with the highest security level “Tanaka_A” is not output. That is, if a search key is generated in this way and a forward matching search is performed, a print job with a level higher than the security level designated by the user is not output, and the security level designated by the user and a level lower than that are designated. A print job will be printed.

When a prefix matching search is performed and a character string that can uniquely identify a user has a variable length, the character string added to the user ID as the job owner name and search key is a character string that is not used for the user ID. Constitute. (For example, when the user IDs “Yanagi” and “Yanagisawa” are distinguished from each other, the character string added to the user ID is not “sawa”.)
Note that the user may be able to select a search method. For example, the authentication device 18 is provided with a selection button for selecting a search method, and the authentication device 18 notifies the print server 12 so that the print server 12 performs a search method corresponding to the selection button pressed by the user.

  In the above embodiment, the printer 16 having the display unit 58 has been described as an example. However, the printer 16 without the display unit 58 may be used. In short, any printer that can be connected to the network 20 may be a high-performance printer, a low-function, old-fashioned printer, or any special function need not be incorporated in the printer.

  In the above embodiment, the example in which the printer 16 and the authentication device 18 are connected to the network 20 as separate and independent devices has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the printer 16 and the authentication device 18 are integrated. It may be configured as a device.

  Moreover, although the example which reads the IC card 50 by the card | curd detection part 42 of the authentication apparatus 18 and inputs user ID was demonstrated above, it is good also as a structure which a user himself inputs user ID manually.

  In the above description, the example in which the user ID read by the card detection unit 42 in the authentication device 18 is included in the authentication data as it is and transmitted to the print server 12 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is good also as a system. First, a registration number different from the user ID is assigned to each user, and the user ID and the registration number are associated with each other and registered in an authentication server or the like connected to the network 20. Record the registration number. When the user prints with the printer 16, the authentication device 18 is caused to read the registration number from the IC card 50, and the authentication device 18 notifies the authentication server of the registration number and obtains a user ID corresponding to the registration number. The authentication data including the inquiry and the user ID acquired from the authentication server is generated and transmitted to the print server 12. A printing system with a higher security level.

[Second Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, an example in which a plurality of buttons are provided in the connection destination selection unit 44 of the authentication device 18 and the connection destination of the print server 12 is switched has been described. In the present embodiment, the connection destination is switched. A printing system using an authentication apparatus that does not have a mechanism (connection destination selection unit 44) will be described.

  FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printing system 82 according to the present embodiment.

  The printing system 82 includes a print server 12, a client PC 14, a printer 16, and three authentication devices 84a, 84b, and 84c, each connected to a network 20 such as a LAN.

  Here, the constituent elements having the same reference numerals shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 1 mean the constituent elements having the same functions, and the description thereof will be omitted.

  The three authentication devices 84a, 84b, 84c are installed in the vicinity of the corresponding same printer 16. Each of the three authentication devices 84a, 84b, 84c corresponds to one of the three print categories “normal printing”, “priority printing”, and “secret printing” described in the first embodiment, The user selects and uses an authentication device that allows the IC card 50 to be read according to a desired print category.

  FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the authentication devices 84a, 84b, and 84c. The authentication devices 84a, 84b, and 84c have the same configuration. When the authentication devices 84a, 84b, and 84c are described without being distinguished from each other, the last symbol is omitted and the authentication devices 84a, 84b, and 84c are simply referred to as the authentication device 84. In addition, here, the constituent elements having the same reference numerals shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 3 mean the constituent elements having the same functions, and the description thereof will be omitted.

  The authentication device 84 of this embodiment includes a card detection unit 42, a transmission information generation unit 86, and a communication unit 48.

  The transmission information generation unit 86 generates transmission data for the print server 12 when the user ID is input from the card detection unit 42. Specifically, transmission data including the user ID information read by the card detection unit 42 and the transmission destination information of the print job is generated. Further, the transmission information generation unit 86 adds the connection destination (URL) of the print server 12 registered and set in advance in the memory (not shown) of the own apparatus as a transmission destination address to the header of the transmission data. In the present embodiment, “URL1” is set as the connection destination of the authentication device 84a, “URL2” is set as the connection destination of the authentication device 84b, and “URL3” is set as the connection destination of the authentication device 84c. It shall be. That is, the connection destinations of the authentication devices 84 are different from each other and are fixed.

  Since data other than the connection destination is generated in the same manner by each authentication device 84, the authentication data generated by the three authentication devices 84 is different only in the transmission destination address (connection destination URL) of the header. .

  In addition, a print job is generated by the client PC 14 and transmitted to the print server 12, a storage process in which the print server 12 that receives the print job stores the print job, and a print job after receiving the authentication data generated by the authentication device 84 Since the print job search / transmission process performed by the server 12 is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted here.

[Third Embodiment]
In the present embodiment, a printing system will be described in which a plurality of printers are installed at different locations, and an authentication device having the same configuration as the authentication device 84 used in the second embodiment is provided for each printer.

  FIG. 12 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printing system 90 according to the present embodiment.

  The printing system 90 is provided corresponding to the print server 12a, the client PC 14, the printer 16a installed in the first area, the printer 16b installed in the second area, and the two printers 16a and 16b. Authentication devices 92a and 92b are each connected to a network 20 such as a LAN. Here, the constituent elements having the same reference numerals shown in FIG. 12 and FIG. 1 mean the constituent elements having the same functions, and the description thereof will be omitted. The printers 16a and 16b have the same configuration as that of the printer 16 of the first embodiment. However, since the installation locations are different, the printers 16a and 16b are distinguished from each other by adding a reference numeral.

  Hereinafter, in the present embodiment, configurations or functions different from those of the first and second embodiments will be described in detail.

  The print server 12 of the first embodiment is provided with three processing units 24, but the print server 12a of the present embodiment is assumed to be provided with two processing units. In the present embodiment, the connection destination of one processing unit 24 of the two processing units 24 is set to “URL1” and the connection destination of the other processing unit 24 is set to “URL2” in advance. Further, since the search key creation method (character string added to the user ID) is also different from that of the first embodiment, the print server of this embodiment has the same reference numerals as those of the print server 12 of the first embodiment. However, since the configuration is the same as that in FIG. 5 of the first embodiment, the configuration diagram of the print server 12a in the present embodiment is not shown. Omitted.

  The authentication device 92a is installed in the vicinity of the printer 16a. The configuration of the authentication device 92a is the same as that of the authentication device 84 of the second embodiment. The connection destination of the authentication device 92a to the print server 12a is set to “URL1”.

  The authentication device 92b is installed in the vicinity of the printer 16b. The configuration of the authentication device 92b is the same as that of the authentication device 84 of the second embodiment. The connection destination of the authentication device 92b to the print server 12a is set to “URL2”.

  In the two authentication devices 92a and 92b, the transmission information generation unit 46 generates and transmits the authentication data as in the second embodiment. In this embodiment, since there are a plurality of printers to be used, the authentication data always includes the transmission destination information (address or identification number of the corresponding printer 16a or printer 16b) of the print job.

  When a print job is generated and transmitted from the client PC 14, if it is desired to print with the printer 16a in the first room, the job owner name of the print job is, for example, a character in which a character string “room1” is added to the user ID. When a print job is generated so as to form a column and is to be printed by the printer 16b in the second room, the job owner name of the print job is, for example, a character string in which a character string “room2” is added to the user ID A print job is generated as follows.

  The print job generated and transmitted in this way is held in the job storage unit 28 of the print server 12a.

  In the print server 12a, the processing unit 24 whose connection destination is set to “URL1” generates a search key in which the character string “room1” is added to the user ID included in the authentication data transmitted from the authentication device 92a. To the job management unit 26. Further, the processing unit 24 in which the connection destination is set to “URL2” generates a search key in which the character string “room2” is added to the user ID included in the authentication data transmitted from the authentication device 92b to manage the job. To the unit 26.

  As described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 9 of the first embodiment, when the print server 12a receives the authentication data, the print server 12a refers to the header of the authentication data and confirms the connection destination URL. The user ID included in the authentication data is output. Upon receiving the user ID, the processing unit 24 generates a search key as described above and outputs it to the job management unit 26. The job management unit 26 reads a print job having a job owner name that matches the search key. The job transmission control unit 30 transmits the print job to the transmission destination printer indicated by the transmission destination information of the print job included in the authentication data via the communication unit 22.

  The printing system 90 according to the present embodiment may be applied to the following cases. For example, if you want to switch the printing target between a printer installed in a place where outsiders can go in and out and a printer installed in a place where only insiders go in and out, or on a floor with multiple tenants When a printer is installed for each tenant and each tenant shares and uses a print server and you want to switch the print target to be printed by the printer for each tenant, or the print job print result is printed out For example, there is a case where it is desired to switch the print target between a printer installed in a place where there is no possibility of being taken away even if the printed matter is left in the part and a printer installed in a place where there is a possibility of being taken away.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printing system according to a first embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of client PC. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of an authentication apparatus. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a printer. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a print server. FIG. FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a storage state of a print job in a job storage unit. FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a printer driver setting screen. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of three icons of a printer driver generated in a printer setting folder. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of processing executed by a print server that has received data. It is a schematic block diagram of the printing system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the authentication apparatus which concerns on 2nd, 3rd embodiment. It is a schematic block diagram of the printing system which concerns on 3rd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

10 Printing System 12, 12a Print Server 14 Client PC
16, 16a, 16b Printer 18 Authentication device 20 Network 22 Communication unit 24a First processing unit 24b Second processing unit 24c Third processing unit 26 Job management unit 28 Job storage unit 30 Control unit 32 Print data generation unit 34 Print control unit 36 Communication unit 38 Display unit 40 Input unit 42 Card detection unit 44 Connection destination selection unit 44a Normal print button 44c Secret print button 44b Priority print button 46 Transmission information generation unit 48 Communication unit 52 Print processing unit 54 Control unit 56 Communication unit 82 Printing system 84, 84a, 84b Authentication device 86 Transmission information generation unit 90 Printing system 92a, 92b Authentication device

Claims (6)

A print job to which attribute information including a character string including identification information for identifying a print requester is given from an information terminal is received and added to the identification information and the identification information from an authentication device provided for the printing device Receiving means for receiving specific information for specifying a character string to be;
Storage means for storing the received print job when the reception means receives the print job;
When the receiving means receives the identification information and the specific information, the character string specified by the received specific information is added to the received identification information and stored in the storage means A reading unit that compares the attribute information of the print job and selects and reads out the corresponding print job from the storage unit;
Control means for controlling the print job read by the reading means to be printed by the printing apparatus;
Including a printing control device. A printing control apparatus according to claim 1;
Input means for inputting the identification information, designation means for designating the specific information, and transmission means for transmitting the inputted identification information and the designated specific information to the print control apparatus. An authentication device;
Printing system equipped with. A printing control apparatus according to claim 1;
A plurality of authentication units in which different specific information is set in advance, input means for inputting the identification information, and the print control apparatus that receives the input identification information and the predetermined specific information An authentication apparatus comprising a plurality of authentication units having a transmission means for transmitting to
Printing system equipped with. A plurality of the authentication devices are provided corresponding to each of a plurality of printing devices,
The transmitting device of the authentication device transmits printing device information specifying a printing device corresponding to the authentication device together with the identification information and the specifying information,
The receiving unit of the printing control apparatus further receives the printing apparatus information together with the identification information and the specific information from the authentication apparatus,
The printing system according to claim 2, wherein the control unit performs control so that the print job read by the reading unit is printed by a printing device specified by the printing device information. At least one piece of information capable of generating a print job to which attribute information including a character string including identification information for identifying the print requester is attached in response to a request from the print requester and transmitting the print job to the print control apparatus The printing system according to claim 2, further comprising a terminal. A computer comprising storage means for storing a print job to which attribute information comprising a character string including identification information for identifying a print requester is attached;
Storage processing means for storing the received print job in the storage means when the print job is received from an information terminal;
When receiving the identification information and the specific information for specifying the character string to be added to the identification information from the authentication device provided corresponding to the printing device, the character string specified by the received specific information is A reading unit that compares the character string added to the received identification information with the attribute information of the print job stored in the storage unit, and selects and reads out the corresponding print job from the storage unit; and Control means for controlling the read print job to be printed by the printing apparatus;
Program to function as.

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