JP2009129265A - Printing system, printing instruction apparatus, printing instruction method and printing instruction program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent duplicate printing and to reduce data quantity to be communicated. <P>SOLUTION: An MFP is provided with: a job execution part for executing a print job; an HDD for storing history information including inhibition information for inhibiting duplicate printing of an executed print job; and a history management part for returning the history information in response to a request from a PC. The PC is provided with a print job generation part (S01) for generating a print job, a history information acquisition part (S02, S03) for acquiring history information from the MFP, and a print job transmission part (S17) for transmitting the generated print job to the MFP under the condition that duplicate printing of the generated print job is not inhibited by the inhibition information included in the acquired history information (No in S06 to S12). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system, a printing instruction apparatus, a printing instruction method, and a printing instruction program, and in particular, a printing system that controls execution of a print job by an image forming apparatus, a printing instruction apparatus, and a printing instruction executed by the printing instruction apparatus The present invention relates to a method and a print instruction program.

  In recent years, multifunction devices (hereinafter referred to as “MFPs”) are often used connected to a network such as a LAN, and are shared by a plurality of users. Therefore, for example, when the conference distribution material is transmitted to the participants by e-mail or the like, each participant can print the conference distribution material on the MFP. However, one of the participants in the conference may print the distribution materials for all participants, and if each participant prints the distribution materials separately, multiple copies of the same printed material will be printed. Therefore, there is a problem that wasteful printed matter is generated.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-351634 discloses a print control that includes a user terminal that is a user terminal, a printer having a print memory, and a network, and includes a setting file, an unprinted job management table, and a temporary memory. The print job submitted from the user terminal is stored in a temporary memory on the print server that is the device, and the submitted print job is compared with each unprinted job on the unprinted job management table, and the document name and user name are compared. A print control apparatus that suppresses duplicate printing of the input print job to the printer when the terminal name and the print content are the same and the elapsed time from the input time of each unprinted job does not exceed the set elapsed time Is described.

However, since a print server is installed between a user terminal and a printer in a conventional print control apparatus, even a print job in which duplicate printing is suppressed by the print control apparatus is always transmitted from the user terminal to the print server. The For this reason, there exists a problem that the communication traffic of a network increases.
JP 2002-351634 A

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a printing system that prevents duplicate printing and reduces the amount of data to be communicated.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a print instruction apparatus that prevents duplicate printing and reduces the amount of data to be communicated.

  Still another object of the present invention is to provide a print instruction method that prevents duplicate printing and reduces the amount of data to be communicated.

  Still another object of the present invention is to provide a print instruction program that prevents duplicate printing and reduces the amount of data to be communicated.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, a printing system is a printing system including an image forming apparatus and a terminal device, and the image forming apparatus includes job execution means for executing a print job; A history storage means for storing history information including prohibition information for prohibiting duplicate printing of executed print jobs, and a history return means for returning history information in response to a request from the terminal device, and a terminal device. Duplicate printing is prohibited by job generation means for generating a print job, history information acquisition means for acquiring history information from the image forming apparatus, and prohibition information included in the history information from which the generated print job is acquired. And a print job transmission unit that transmits the generated print job to the image forming apparatus on the condition that there is no print job.

  According to this aspect, a print job is generated in the terminal device, history information stored in the image forming device is acquired from the image forming device, and duplicate printing is performed by prohibition information included in the acquired history information. The print job is transmitted to the image forming apparatus on the condition that is not prohibited. For this reason, when duplicate printing is prohibited, a print job is not transmitted to the image forming apparatus. As a result, it is possible to provide a printing system that prevents duplicate printing and reduces the amount of data to be communicated.

  Preferably, the printing system includes a plurality of image forming apparatuses, and the history information acquisition unit of the terminal apparatus acquires the history information from each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses.

  According to this aspect, it is possible to prevent duplicate printing between a plurality of image forming apparatuses.

  Preferably, the prohibition information includes information for prohibiting duplicate printing for a print job including the same data as the print job data included in the history information.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, the print instruction apparatus is a print instruction apparatus capable of communicating with an image forming apparatus capable of executing a print job, and includes a job generation unit that generates a print job, and image forming history information. The generated print job is transmitted to the image forming apparatus on the condition that the history information acquisition means acquired from the apparatus and the prohibition information included in the acquired history information of the generated print job are not prohibited. And a print job transmission means.

  According to this aspect, it is possible to provide a print instruction apparatus that prevents duplicate printing and reduces the amount of data to be communicated.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print instruction method executed by a terminal device capable of communicating with an image forming apparatus capable of executing a print job, the step of generating a print job, and a history The generated print job is transferred to the image forming apparatus on the condition that the duplicate printing is not prohibited by the step of acquiring the information from the image forming apparatus and the prohibition information included in the acquired history information of the generated print job. Transmitting.

  According to this aspect, it is possible to provide a print instruction method that prevents duplicate printing and reduces the amount of data to be communicated.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, the print instruction program is a print instruction program executed by a computer that controls a terminal device capable of communicating with an image forming apparatus capable of executing a print job, and generates the print job. And a step of acquiring history information from the image forming apparatus, and a print job generated on condition that duplicate printing is not prohibited by the prohibition information included in the acquired history information. Transmitting to the image forming apparatus.

  According to this aspect, it is possible to provide a print instruction program that prevents duplicate printing and reduces the amount of data to be communicated.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. Their names and functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall outline of a printing system according to one embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, a printing system 1 is connected to a network 2 and controls MFPs (Multi Function Peripherals) 100, 101, and 102 that function as image forming apparatuses, and MFPs 100, 101, and 102, respectively. Personal computers (hereinafter referred to as “PCs”) 200 and 200A.

  The network 2 is a local area network (LAN), and is connected to the Internet via a gateway. The connection form of the network 2 may be wired or wireless. The network 2 is not limited to a LAN, and may be a network using a public switched telephone network, a wide area network (WAN), or the Internet. Alternatively, the PCs 200 and 200A and the MFPs 100, 101, and 102 may be connected via a serial interface or a parallel interface.

  The PCs 200 and 200A are general computers, and printer drivers for controlling the MFPs 100, 101, and 102 are installed in the PCs 200 and 200A. Since the configurations and functions of the PCs 200 and 201 are the same, the PC 200 will be described as an example here.

  Each of MFPs 100, 101, and 102 includes a scanner device for reading a document, an image forming device for forming an image on a recording medium such as paper based on image data, and a facsimile device. It has a transmission / reception function. In the present embodiment, MFPs 100, 101, and 102 will be described as an example, but instead of MFPs 100, 101, and 102, for example, a printer, a facsimile machine, or the like may be used as long as print data can be printed. . Since the MFPs 100, 101, and 102 have the same function, the MFP 100 will be described as an example in the following description unless otherwise specified.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the MFP. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the MFP. 2 and 3, MFP 100 includes a main circuit 110, a document reading unit 130 for reading a document, an automatic document transport device 120 for transporting a document to document reading unit 130, and a document reading unit. An image forming unit 140 for forming a still image output by reading an original on the sheet 130; a sheet feeding unit 150 for supplying the image forming unit 140 with a sheet; an operation panel 160 as a user interface; including. The main circuit 110 includes a CPU 111, a communication interface (I / F) unit 112, a ROM 113, a RAM 114, an EEPROM (Electronically Erasable and Programmable ROM) 115, a hard disk drive (HDD) 116 as a mass storage device, A facsimile unit 117 and a card interface (I / F) 118 to which a flash memory 118A is attached are included. CPU 111 is connected to automatic document feeder 120, document reading unit 130, image forming unit 140, sheet feeding unit 150, and operation panel 160, and controls the entire MFP 100.

  The ROM 113 stores a program executed by the CPU 111 or data necessary for executing the program. The RAM 114 is used as a work area when the CPU 111 executes a program. The RAM 114 temporarily stores still images continuously sent from the document reading unit 130.

  Operation panel 160 is provided on the upper surface of MFP 100 and includes a display unit 160A and an operation unit 160B. The display unit 160A is a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or an organic ELD (Electroluminescence Display), and displays an instruction menu for the user, information about acquired image data, and the like. The operation unit 160B includes a plurality of keys, and accepts input of various instructions, data such as characters and numbers by user operations corresponding to the keys. Operation unit 160B further includes a touch panel provided on display unit 160A.

  Communication I / F unit 112 is an interface for connecting MFP 100 to network 2. The CPU 111 communicates with the MFPs 101 and 102 or the PC 200 via the communication I / F unit 112 to transmit and receive data. The communication I / F unit 112 can communicate with a computer connected to the Internet via the network 2.

  The facsimile unit 117 is connected to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) and transmits facsimile data to the PSTN or receives facsimile data from the PSTN. The facsimile unit 117 stores the received facsimile data in the HDD 116 or outputs it to the image forming unit 140. The image forming unit 140 prints the facsimile data received by the facsimile unit 117 on a sheet. Further, the facsimile unit 117 converts the data stored in the HDD 116 into facsimile data, and transmits the facsimile data to a facsimile apparatus connected to the PSTN.

  The card I / F 118 is mounted with a flash memory 118A. The CPU 111 can access the flash memory 118A via the card I / F 118. The CPU 111 loads the program recorded in the flash memory 118A attached to the card I / F 118 to the RAM 114 and executes it. Note that the program executed by the CPU 111 is not limited to the program recorded in the flash memory 118A, and the program stored in the HDD 116 may be loaded into the RAM 114 and executed. In this case, another computer connected to the network 2 may rewrite the program stored in the HDD 116 of the MFP 100 or may add a new program and write it. Further, MFP 100 may download a program from another computer connected to network 2 and store the program in HDD 116. The program here includes not only a program directly executable by the CPU 111 but also a source program, a compressed program, an encrypted program, and the like.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the PC. Referring to FIG. 4, a PC 200 connects a CPU 201 for controlling the entire PC 200, a ROM 202 for storing programs executed by the CPU 201, a RAM 203 used as a work area of the CPU 201, and the PC 200 to a network. Network I / F 204, HDD 205 as a large-capacity storage device, display unit 206, and operation unit 207 for accepting user operation input.

  FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of functions of a CPU included in the PC. Referring to FIG. 5, CPU 201 provided in PC 200 includes print job generation unit 11 that generates a print job, history information acquisition unit 13 that acquires history information from MFPs 100, 101, and 102, determination unit 15, and print And a print job transmission unit 17 that transmits the job to the MFP 100.

  When the user of the PC 200 inputs a print instruction to the PC 200 with the data to be printed selected, the print job generation unit 11 generates a print job based on the selected data. When the user of the PC 200 inputs a duplicate print prohibition instruction in addition to a print instruction, the print job generation unit 11 displays a duplicate print prevention setting screen on the display unit 206, and the user inputs according to the duplicate print prevention setting screen. It accepts various parameters and generates a print job including information for controlling duplicate printing.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a duplicate printing prohibition setting screen. Referring to FIG. 6, the duplication printing prohibition setting screen 300 includes a check box 301 for setting duplication printing prohibition, an area 303 for setting a reason for prohibiting duplication printing, and a period during which duplication printing is inhibited. And check boxes 305, 307, 309, and 311 for setting conditions for prohibiting duplicate printing.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print job. Referring to FIG. 7, the print job includes information for controlling duplicate printing and image data obtained by converting print target data. Here, an example of describing a print job in PJL (Printer Job Control Language) is shown, but it may be described in another language. The print job generation unit 11 outputs the generated print job to the determination unit 15.

  Information for controlling duplicate printing includes an item JOBID in which a job ID for identifying a print job is set, an item PRINT_NUM in which the number of copies is set, and a generation date indicating the date and time when the print job is generated The item SEND_DATETIME, the job name indicating the name given to the print job, the job name JOBNAME, and the item USERNAME, the user name indicating the name of the user who has instructed execution of the print job, are duplicated. An item DUPLICATE_PRIMT in which a duplicate output prevention identifier indicating whether to prohibit printing is set, an item DUPLICATE_IMAGE, a item DUPLICATE_USERNAME, an item DUPLICATE_JOBNAME and an item D in which conditions for prohibiting duplicate printing are set It includes a PLICATE_ALLJOB, and items DUPLICATE_ENABLE_DATETIME the validity period indicating a period to prohibit the duplication printing is set, and DUPLICATE_COMMENT which the comment is set, the.

  The item JOBNAME is set with job identification information that is automatically given to identify the print job when the print job generation unit 11 generates the print job. Here, the job identification information is a serial number assigned in the order in which it is generated. In the item USERNAME, user identification information for identifying a user who has instructed generation of a print job is set. The print job generation unit 11 sets the user identification information of the user who has logged in to the PC 200 in the item USERNAME when the generation of the print job is instructed. In the item PRINT_NUM, the number of copies specified by the user of the PC 200 on the print setting screen is set.

  The item DUPLICATE_PRIMT is set to ON when the check box 301 is instructed on the duplication printing prohibition setting screen 300 shown in FIG. 6, and is set to OFF when the check box 301 is not instructed.

  The item DUPLICATE_IMAGE is set to ON when the check box 305 is instructed on the duplication printing prohibition setting screen 300, and is set to OFF when the check box 305 is not instructed. The item DUPLICATE_USERNAME is set to ON when the check box 309 is instructed on the duplication printing prohibition setting screen 300, and is set to OFF when the check box 309 is not instructed. The item DUPLICATE_JOBNAME is set to ON when the check box 307 is instructed on the duplication printing prohibition setting screen 300, and is set to OFF when the check box 307 is not instructed. The item DUPLICATE_ALLJOB is set to ON when the check box 311 is instructed on the duplicate print prohibition setting screen 300, and is set to OFF when the check box 311 is not instructed. In the item DUPLICATE_ENABLE_DATETIME, the date, time, and minute input in the area 313 on the duplication printing prohibition setting screen 300 are set. In the item DUPLICATE_COMMENT, a comment input in the area 303 on the duplication printing prohibition setting screen 300 is set.

  Returning to FIG. 5, the history information acquisition unit 13 acquires history information from each of the MFPs 100, 101, and 102. Specifically, when a signal requesting transmission of history information is transmitted to all of MFPs 100, 101, and 102 via network I / F 204, and network I / F 204 receives the history information from MFPs 100, 101, and 102, respectively, History information is acquired from the network I / F 204. The history information includes print jobs executed by the MFPs 100, 101, and 102, in which the item DUPLICATE_PRIMT is set to ON and the date and time set in the item DUPLICATE_ENABLE_DATETIME has not yet passed. .

The determination unit 15 determines whether the print job input from the print job generation unit 11 is a print job for which duplicate printing is prohibited by the history information. Specifically, it is determined that duplicate printing is prohibited in the following cases.
(1) When the image data included in the print job included in the history information in which the item DUPLICATE_IMAGE is set to ON and the image data included in the print job input from the print job generation unit 11 are the same .
(2) Among the print jobs included in the history information, the user identification information set in the item USERNAME is the same between the print job in which the item DUPLICATE_USERNAME is set to ON and the print job input from the print job generation unit 11 in the case of.
(3) Among the print jobs included in the history information, the job identification information set in the item JOBNAME is the same for the job in which the item DUPLICATE_JOBNAME is set to ON and the print job input from the print job generation unit 11. in the case of.
(4) Among the print jobs included in the history information, the items in which the item DUPLICATE_ALLJOB is set to ON and the image data included in the print job input from the print job generation unit 11 include image data and the item USERNAME. When the set user identification information is the same as the job identification information set in the item JOBNAME.

  If the determination unit 15 determines that duplication of the print job input from the print job generation unit 11 is not prohibited, the determination unit 15 outputs the print job input from the print job generation unit 11 to the print job transmission unit 17. On the other hand, if the determination unit 15 determines that the print job input from the print job generation unit 11 is prohibited from being duplicated by the history information, the determination unit 15 generates a confirmation screen and displays the confirmation screen on the display unit 206. indicate. The confirmation screen includes a confirmation message that is generated based on the print job from which execution of the job is prohibited and includes at least a comment set in the item DUPLICATE_COMMENT.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a confirmation screen. The confirmation screen includes an area for displaying a confirmation message. The confirmation message includes user identification information set in the item USERNAME included in the print job that is the source of prohibition of execution of the print job, a comment set in the item DUPLICATE_COMMENT, and the number of copies set in the item PRINT_NUM. Including. Further, the confirmation screen includes a message “Would you like to continue printing?”, A button with a character “YES”, and a button with a character “NO”.

  Returning to FIG. 5, when the determination unit 15 determines that the duplicate printing of the print job input from the print job generation unit 11 is prohibited, a button indicating “YES” is displayed on the confirmation screen. When instructed, the print job input from the print job generation unit 11 is output to the print job transmission unit 17. When a button with a character “NO” is specified, the print job generation unit 11 inputs the print job. The output print job is not output to the print job transmission unit 17.

  When a print job is input from determination unit 15, print job transmission unit 17 transmits the print job to MFP 100 via network I / F 204.

  FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of functions of the CPU 111 provided in the MFP. Referring to FIG. 9, the CPU 201 stores a print job acquisition unit 51 for acquiring a print job, a print job execution unit 53 for executing the acquired print job, and history information as history information. A print job storage unit 55 and a history information management unit 57 for managing history information.

  The print job acquisition unit 51 acquires a print job and outputs the acquired print job to the print job execution unit 53 and the print job storage unit 55. More specifically, when the user causes the operation unit 160B to read the original image on the MFP 100 and inputs a copy instruction for printing, the print job acquisition unit 51 receives a print condition from the operation unit 160B. The printing conditions include a condition for reading a document, a condition for forming an image, and a condition for prohibiting duplicate printing. As a condition for prohibiting duplicate printing, a screen similar to the duplicate printing prohibition setting screen shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the display unit 160A, and a condition input by the user to the operation unit 160B is accepted. When a copy instruction is input, the print job acquisition unit 51 causes the document reading unit 130 to read a document image. The document reading unit 130 reads the document image and acquires image data to be output from the document reading unit 130. And a print job based on the print condition.

  When the user inputs a print instruction for causing the operation unit 160B to print image data stored in the HDD 116 to the MFP 100, the print job acquisition unit 51 receives the print condition from the operation unit 160B. Is entered. The printing conditions include a condition for forming an image and a condition for prohibiting duplicate printing. As a condition for prohibiting duplicate printing, a screen similar to the duplicate printing prohibition setting screen shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the display unit 160A, and a condition input by the user to the operation unit 160B is accepted.

  In this case, the print job acquisition unit 51 displays the file name of the image data stored in the HDD 116, and when the user inputs an instruction to select the file name displayed on the operation unit 160B, the print job acquisition unit 51 The file name selected from the operation unit 160B is input. The print job acquisition unit 51 reads the image data of the selected file name from the HDD 116, and generates a print job based on the read image data and print conditions.

  When the communication I / F unit 112 receives a print job from the PC 200 or 200A connected to the network 2, the print job acquisition unit 51 receives the print job received from the PC 200 or 200A by the communication I / F unit 112. Obtained from the communication I / F unit 112.

  The print job execution unit 53 outputs the image data included in the print job to the image forming unit 140 according to the print job input from the print job acquisition unit 51, and the image forming unit 140 outputs the image according to the print conditions included in the print job. An image of data is formed.

  The print job storage unit 55 stores the print job input from the print job acquisition unit 51 as history information 61 in the HDD 116. As a result, the history information 61 is stored in the HDD 116.

  The history information management unit 57 manages the history information 61 stored in the HDD 116. Specifically, when the communication I / F unit 112 receives a signal requesting transmission of history information from either the PC 200 or 200 </ b> A, the item DUPLICATE_PRIMT among the print jobs included in the history information 61 stored in the HDD 116. Is set to ON, and the print job whose date and time set in the item DUPLICATE_ENABLE_DATETIME has not yet passed is extracted. Then, the history information management unit 57 transmits the history information including the extracted print job to the PC 200 or 200A that has transmitted a signal requesting transmission of history information.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of print processing. The printing process is a process executed by the CPU 201 when the CPU 201 of each of the PCs 200 and 200A executes the print instruction program. The print instruction program is executed when, for example, a key for instructing printing is instructed in an application program executed by the CPU 201. Here, a case where the CPU 201 of the PC 200 executes the print instruction program will be described as an example. Referring to FIG. 10, the CPU 201 generates a print job (step S01). When the user of the PC 200 inputs a print instruction to the PC 200 with data to be printed selected, a print job is generated based on the selected data.

  In the next step S02, a history information acquisition request is transmitted to each of MFPs 100, 101, and 102. Then, the process waits until history information is received from each of MFPs 100, 101, and 102 (NO in step S03). When history information is received from all of MFPs 100, 101, and 102 (YES in step S03), the process proceeds to step S04. Proceed.

  In step S04, one of the print jobs included in the received history information is selected as a processing target. If the print image check is set to ON in the print job selected as the processing target (YES in step S05), the process proceeds to step S06. If not (NO in step S05), step S06 is performed. Is skipped and the process proceeds to step S07. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the item DUPLICATE_IMAGE among the information for controlling the duplicate printing of the print job is set to ON.

  In step S06, the image data included in the print job generated in step S01 is compared with the image data included in the print job selected as the processing target in step S04, and it is determined whether or not they match. To do. If they match, the process proceeds to step S14; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S07.

  In step S07, if the job name check is set to ON in the print job selected as the processing target (YES in step S07), the process proceeds to step S08; otherwise (NO in step S07). Then, step S08 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S09. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the item DUPLICATE_JOBNAME is set to ON among the information for controlling the duplicate printing of the print job. In step S08, the job name set in the item JOBID in the information for controlling the duplicate print of the print job generated in step S01 and the duplicate print of the print job selected as the processing target in step S04 are controlled. The job name set in the item JOBID in the information to be used is compared, and it is determined whether or not they match. If they match, the process proceeds to step S14; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S09.

  In step S09, if the user name check is set to ON in the print job selected as the processing target (YES in step S09), the process proceeds to step S10; otherwise (NO in step S09). Then, step S10 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S11. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the item DUPLICATE_USERNAME is set to ON among the information for controlling the duplicate printing of the print job. In step S10, the user name set in the item USERNAME among the information for controlling the duplicate printing of the print job generated in step S01 and the duplicate printing of the print job selected as the processing target in step S04 are controlled. The user name set in the item USERNAME among the information to be used is compared, and it is determined whether or not they match. If they match, the process proceeds to step S14; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S11.

  In step S11, if the print job check is set to ON in the print job selected as the processing target (YES in step S11), the process proceeds to step S12. If not (NO in step S11). Then, step S12 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S13. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the item DUPLICATE_ALLJOB is set to ON among the information for controlling duplicate printing of print jobs. In step S12, the image data included in the print job is the same for the print job generated in step S01 and the print job selected as the processing target in step S04, and information for controlling duplicate printing The job name set in the item JOBID is the same, and the user name set in the item USERNAME is the same. In step S12, if everything matches between the print job generated in step S01 and the print job selected as the processing target in step S04, the process proceeds to step S14. If not, the process proceeds to step S14. Proceed to S13.

  In step S13, it is determined whether there is a print job that has not yet been selected for processing in the received history information. If there is a print job that has not yet been selected as a processing target, the process returns to step S04 to select that print job as a processing target. If not, the process proceeds to step S17.

  In step S14, the reason for preventing duplication is acquired from the print job selected as the processing target in step S04. The reason for preventing duplication is a comment set in the information item DUPLICATE_COMMENT for controlling duplication of print jobs. In the next step S15, the confirmation screen shown in FIG. 8 is generated, the confirmation screen is displayed on the display unit 206, and the process proceeds to step S16.

  In step S16, a print instruction is input to the operation unit 207 by the user, and if the print instruction is accepted, the process proceeds to step S17. If not, the process proceeds to step S18. When a button indicating the character “YES” is indicated on the confirmation screen, a print instruction is accepted. When a button indicating the character “NO” is indicated, the print instruction is not accepted.

  In step S17, the print job generated in step S01 is transmitted to one of MFPs 100, 101, and 102 via network I / F 204. Which of the MFPs 100, 101, and 102 is to be transmitted is in accordance with an instruction input to the operation unit 207 by the user when the print job is generated. In step S18, the print job generated in step S01 is discarded, and the process ends.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of print job generation processing. The print job generation process is a process executed in step S01 in FIG. Referring to FIG. 11, CPU 201 obtains data to be printed (step S31). For example, in an application program executed by the CPU 201, when a key for instructing printing is instructed, valid data is acquired. Then, image data suitable for printing is generated based on the acquired data (step S32). Next, the printing condition is accepted (step S33), and the process proceeds to step S34.

  In step S34, it is determined whether a duplicate output prevention instruction has been accepted. When the user inputs an operation for instructing the duplicate output prevention to the operation unit 207, the duplicate output prevention instruction is accepted. If a duplicate output prevention instruction is accepted, the process proceeds to step S35; otherwise, the process returns to the printing process.

  In step S35, the duplicate printing prohibition setting screen 300 shown in FIG. Then, it is determined whether or not duplicate output prevention print settings have been made (step S36). If the check box 301 on the duplicate print prohibition setting screen 300 is instructed, it is determined that the duplicate output prevention print setting has been made, and the process proceeds to step S37. If not, step S37 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S38. Proceed. In step S37, a duplicate output identifier, a duplicate reason, and a valid period are set. Specifically, the item DUPLICATE_PRIMT is set to ON, the comment input in the area 303 of the duplication printing prohibition setting screen 300 is set in the item DUPLICATE_COMMENT, and the date input in the area 313 is set in the item DUPLICATE_ENABLE_DATETIME. .

  Then, it is determined whether image matching is set to ON (step S38). If an instruction to check the check box 305 of the duplication printing prohibition setting screen 300 is accepted, the process proceeds to step S39. If not, step S39 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S40. In step S39, image matching is set, and the process proceeds to step S40. Specifically, the item DUPLICATE_IMAGE is set to ON.

  In step S40, it is determined whether or not job name matching is set to ON. If an instruction to check the check box 307 of the duplication printing prohibition setting screen 300 is accepted, the process proceeds to step S41. If not, step S41 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S42. In step S41, job name matching is set, and the process proceeds to step S42. Specifically, the item DUPLICATE_JOBNAME is set to ON.

  In step S42, it is determined whether or not user name matching is set to ON. If an instruction to check the check box 309 of the duplication printing prohibition setting screen 300 is accepted, the process proceeds to step S43, and if not, step S43 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S44. In step S43, a user name match is set, and the process proceeds to step S44. Specifically, the item DUPLICATE_USERNAME is set to ON.

  In step S44, it is determined whether print job matching is set to ON. If an instruction to check the check box 311 of the duplicate printing prohibition setting screen 300 is accepted, the process proceeds to step S45, and if not, step S45 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S46. In step S45, a print job match is set, and the process proceeds to step S46. Specifically, the item DUPLICATE_ALLJOB is set to ON.

  In step S46, a print job is generated, and the process returns to the print process. A print job including the image data generated in step S32, the printing conditions accepted in step S33, and information for controlling overlapping printing set in any of steps S37, S39, S41, S43, and S45 Is generated. Of the information for controlling duplicate printing, the job ID is set in the item JOBID by combining the current date and time and the serial number, the current date and time is set in the item SEND_DATETIME, and the print job is set in the item JOBNAME. Is set to the item USERNAME, the user name indicating the name of the currently logged-in user is set, and the item PRINT_NUM is set to the number of print copies accepted as a print condition. .

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of history management processing. The history management process is a process executed by CPU 111 when CPU 111 of MFPs 100, 101, and 102 executes a program. Here, a case where CPU 111 of MFP 100 executes history management processing will be described as an example.

  Referring to FIG. 12, CPU 111 determines whether a history information acquisition request has been received from either PC 200 or 200A (step S51). The process waits until a history information acquisition request is received (step S51). When a history information acquisition request is received (YES in step S51), the process proceeds to step S52. That is, the history management process is a process executed on condition that a history information acquisition request is received.

  In step S52, history information 61 stored in HDD 116 is read. Then, it is determined whether or not the print job with the duplicate output identifier is included in the history information 61 (step S53). Specifically, information for controlling duplication printing of print jobs included in the history information 61 is extracted when the item DUPLICATE_PRINT is set to ON. If a print job whose item DUPLICATE_PRINT is set to ON can be extracted from the history information 61, the process proceeds to step S54, and if it cannot be extracted, the process ends. In this case, a signal indicating that the history information 61 does not exist is transmitted to the PC 200, 200A that has transmitted the history information acquisition request.

  In step S54, one of the print jobs extracted from the history information 61 in step S53 is selected as a processing target. And the duplication output prevention effective period is acquired. Specifically, the generation date set in the item SEND_DATETIME and the valid period set in the item DUPLICATE_ENABLE_DATETIME are acquired from the information for controlling overlapping printing of the print job.

  In step S56, it is determined whether or not the duplicated output valid period is exceeded. If the date on which the valid period has elapsed from the generation date is before the current date, the process proceeds to step S58, and if it is later, the process proceeds to step S57. In step S57, the print job selected as the processing target in step S54 is extracted, and the process proceeds to step S58. In step S58, it is determined whether there is a print job that has not yet been selected as a processing target in the history information 61. If there is a print job not yet selected as a processing target, the process proceeds to step S54 in order to select the print job as a processing target. If not, the process proceeds to step S59.

  In step S59, the print job extracted in step S57 is sent as history information to the PC 200, 200A that sent the history information acquisition request, and the process ends.

  As described above, in the portable printing system 1 according to the present embodiment, the PC 200 generates a print job, acquires history information stored in each of the MFPs 100, 101, and 102, and the generated print job is acquired. A print job is transmitted to MFPs 100, 101, and 102 on the condition that duplicate printing is not prohibited by the prohibition information included in the history information. For this reason, when duplicate printing is prohibited, a print job is not transmitted to MFPs 100, 101, and 102, so that duplicate printing can be prevented and the amount of data to be communicated can be reduced.

  Further, since the PC 200 acquires history information from each of the MFPs 100, 101, and 102, it is possible to prevent duplicate print jobs from being executed between the MFPs 100, 101, and 102.

  In the above-described embodiment, the printing system 1 has been described. However, the printing instruction method for executing the printing processing shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 and the printing instruction for causing the computer to execute the image printing method are described. It goes without saying that the invention can be understood as a program.

  The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

1 is a diagram illustrating an overall outline of a printing system according to one embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an MFP. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of an MFP. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of PC. It is a functional block diagram which shows an example of the function which CPU with which PC is provided has. It is a figure which shows an example of a duplication printing prohibition setting screen. FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a print job. It is a figure which shows an example of a confirmation screen. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of functions of a CPU 111 included in an MFP. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of printing processing. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of print job generation processing. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of a log | history management process.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Print system, 2 networks, 11 Print job generation part, 13 History information acquisition part, 15 Judgment part, 17 Print job transmission part, 51 Print job acquisition part, 53 Print job execution part, 55 Print job storage part, 57 History information Management unit, 61 history information, 100, 101, 102 MFP, 110 main circuit, 111 CPU, 112 communication I / F unit 112 unit, 113 ROM, 114 RAM, 115 EEPROM, 116 HDD, 117 facsimile unit, 118 card I / F, 118A flash memory, 120 automatic document feeder, 130 document reading unit, 140 image forming unit, 150 paper feeding unit, 160 operation panel, 160A display unit, 160B operation unit, 200, 200A PC, 201 CPU, 202 ROM, 203 RAM, 204 Network I / F, 205 HDD, 206 display unit, 207 operation unit, 300 Duplicate printing prohibition setting screen.

Claims (6)

A printing system including an image forming apparatus and a terminal device,
An image forming apparatus includes a job execution unit that executes a print job;
History storage means for storing history information including prohibition information for prohibiting duplicate printing of the executed print job;
In response to a request from the terminal device, a history reply means for returning the history information is provided,
The terminal device includes job generation means for generating a print job;
History information acquisition means for acquiring the history information from the image forming apparatus;
Print job transmission means for transmitting the generated print job to the image forming apparatus on the condition that the generated print job is not prohibited from being duplicated by prohibition information included in the acquired history information. , Equipped with printing system. The printing system includes a plurality of the image forming apparatuses,
The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the history information acquisition unit of the terminal device acquires the history information from each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses.   The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the prohibition information includes information for prohibiting duplicate printing for a print job including the same data as the print job data included in the history information. A print instruction apparatus capable of communicating with an image forming apparatus capable of executing a print job,
Job generation means for generating a print job;
History information acquisition means for acquiring the history information from the image forming apparatus;
Print job transmission means for transmitting the generated print job to the image forming apparatus on the condition that the generated print job is not prohibited from being duplicated by prohibition information included in the acquired history information. A printing instruction apparatus. There is a print instruction method executed by a terminal device capable of communicating with an image forming apparatus capable of executing a print job,
Generating a print job;
Obtaining the history information from the image forming apparatus;
Transmitting the generated print job to the image forming apparatus on condition that duplicate printing is not prohibited by prohibition information included in the acquired history information. Print instruction method. A print instruction program executed by a computer that controls a terminal device capable of communicating with an image forming apparatus capable of executing a print job,
Generating a print job;
Obtaining the history information from the image forming apparatus;
Transmitting the generated print job to the image forming apparatus on condition that duplicate printing is not prohibited by the prohibition information included in the acquired history information. A print instruction program to be executed by a computer.

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