JP5532763B2 - Image forming apparatus, image forming apparatus control method, and image forming apparatus control program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming apparatus control method, and an image forming apparatus control program. More specifically, an image is provided with a print control unit that performs print confirmation by communicating in units of pages from the start to the end of print data transmitted from the host device with an image forming apparatus set as a lower device. The present invention relates to a forming apparatus, an image forming apparatus control method, and an image forming apparatus control program.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, image forming apparatuses (printing apparatuses, multifunction peripherals, etc.) that are directly connected to a computer network such as a LAN (local area network) and print data transmitted via the network have become widespread. By using such a network-compatible printing apparatus (printer), a single printer can be shared by a plurality of users. In such a system, since a plurality of users use one printer, confusion may occur when an error or the like occurs during printing. For this reason, various methods for improving the reliability of the printing operation of these network compatible printers have been proposed.

  For example, Patent Document 1 searches for a device having a storage means (HDD) from a plurality of servers and printers connected to a network, stores print data using the storage means, and performs network communication. When an error occurs, a network printer device is disclosed in which the data of the part that could not be printed is known, and the data of the part that could not be printed is requested again.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a network system that prints with a second printer when the first printer cannot print. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 discloses a proxy printing service system that performs proxy printing with a printer at the nearest position when a printer designated for printing cannot be printed.

  Furthermore, in recent years, a printing protocol has been developed that ensures high reliability of printing by performing printing confirmation by communicating page by page from the start to the end of printing of print data. This printing protocol uses a printer that supports the protocol and the host device in cooperation to prevent page duplication and missing pages, and even when the device is turned off in the event of an error or failure, it automatically It is possible to confirm the page where printing has been completed and restart printing from the continuation page.

  Patent Document 4 discloses a printing apparatus that performs print control while communicating in units of pages from the start to the end of printing of print data. The printing apparatus transmits print suppression information indicating that the printing process is suppressed to other printing apparatuses located downstream in the data transmission direction, and transmits the data transmitted from the host apparatus to other printing apparatuses located downstream. Each time a print process for a print medium is sent to the printing apparatus, page deletion information is sent to another printing apparatus located on the downstream side, and other printing is performed according to the page deletion information. The data corresponding to the print processed page stored in the apparatus is deleted. As a result, other printing apparatuses that have received the page deletion information can synchronize the number of pages that have undergone printing processing by deleting the pages that have undergone printing processing. Even when the apparatus cancels the printing process, if the suppression of the printing process in the other printing apparatus located on the downstream side is released, the printing process for the remaining pages is continued in the other printing apparatus. (See FIG. 14 in Patent Document 4).

  However, the techniques described in Patent Documents 1 to 3 do not disclose a method for checking output completion in units of pages or a method for preventing duplication unlike the technique described in Patent Document 4, so that other printers can be used in the event of a failure. Even when printing is performed, there is a problem that overlapping printing of pages occurs.

  This problem can be solved by the printing apparatus described in Patent Document 4. However, the technique described in Patent Document 4 is a setting of another printing device (hereinafter also referred to as a lower device) located downstream in the data transmission direction for printing an unprinted page when an error occurs in the main printing device. For example, it is necessary for the user to specify and set an IP address or the like from the operation panel or the like. Further, once the downstream printing apparatus is set, if the installation position of the device is moved or if a failure occurs, the setting needs to be performed again, which is complicated.

  Therefore, the present invention provides an image provided with a print control means for performing print confirmation by communicating in units of pages from the start to the end of print data transmitted from a host device with an image forming apparatus set as a lower device. In the forming apparatus, the highest-priority image forming apparatus is selected from the network and automatically set without manually setting the lower-level device that prints an unprinted page when an error occurs in the main image forming apparatus. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus, an image forming apparatus control method, and an image forming apparatus control program.

In order to achieve this object, the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 is formed by connecting a plurality of image forming apparatuses, and any one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses is a main apparatus, An image forming apparatus in an image forming system in which an image forming apparatus other than the main apparatus is set as a subordinate device, and the position information of each of the other image forming apparatuses other than the image forming apparatus, and the other image forming apparatuses Based on the acquisition means for acquiring connected information indicating whether it is set as a lower device other than the forming apparatus, the position information of the image forming apparatus, the position information of each of the other image forming apparatuses, and the connected information can lower machine image forming apparatus closest to the image forming apparatus of the other image forming apparatus is not set as the lower device other than the image forming apparatus the image forming apparatus Comprising setting means for setting, to communicate with an image forming apparatus which is set as the lower device, and a print control means for controlling to execute the print confirmation of the printing executed by the image forming apparatus, as, the image forming apparatus Is set as the main device, one subordinate device is set by the obtaining unit and the setting unit, the print control unit communicates with the subordinate device, print confirmation is performed, and the image forming apparatus is the main device. Otherwise, when the image forming apparatus is set as the next lower device from any of the other image forming apparatuses, the acquisition device and the setting device further set the next lower device from the image forming apparatus and print it. The control means communicates with the lower device and executes print confirmation .

Further, an invention according to claim 2, in the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, position information is one that is coordinate information of the two-dimensional or three-dimensional.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first or second aspect , the image forming apparatus further comprises position information acquisition means for acquiring position information via a satellite, and the latitude and longitude as the position information are determined as position information. It is acquired by an acquisition means.

Further, the invention according to claim 4, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the storage means of the image forming apparatus and other image forming apparatus, network are grouped And the setting unit is configured to set an image forming apparatus having the same identification ID among the other image forming apparatuses as a setting target of the lower device. .

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling an image forming apparatus, comprising: a plurality of image forming apparatuses connected; any one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses is a main apparatus; A method of controlling an image forming apparatus in an image forming system in which an image forming apparatus other than the image forming apparatus is set as a subordinate device, the position information of each of the other image forming apparatuses other than the image forming apparatus, and the other image forming apparatus Based on the acquisition process for acquiring connected information indicating whether the device is set as a lower device other than the image forming apparatus, the position information of the image forming apparatus, the position information of each of the other image forming apparatuses, and the connected information. Dzu-out, lower machine image forming apparatus closest to the image forming apparatus of the other image forming apparatus is not set as the lower device other than the image forming apparatus the image forming apparatus A setting process of setting as to communicate with the set image forming apparatus as the lower device, which performs a print control process for controlling so as to perform printing confirmation of the printing executed by the image forming apparatus, the When the image forming apparatus is set as the main apparatus, one subordinate apparatus is set by the acquisition process and the setting process, the print control process communicates with the subordinate apparatus, executes print confirmation, and the image forming apparatus If the image forming apparatus is not the main apparatus, when the image forming apparatus is set as the next lower apparatus from any of the other image forming apparatuses, the next lower apparatus is further set from the image forming apparatus by the acquisition process and the setting process. Then, the print control process communicates with the lower device and executes print confirmation .

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control program for an image forming apparatus , wherein a plurality of image forming apparatuses are connected, and any one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses is a main apparatus, and the main apparatus In the image forming apparatus in the image forming system in which the image forming apparatus other than the image forming apparatus is set as the lower device, the position information of each image forming apparatus other than the image forming apparatus and the other image forming apparatus other than the image forming apparatus an obtaining process for obtaining the connection completion information indicating which is set as the lower device, and-out based on the position information, the position information of each of the other image forming apparatus, and the connection completion information of the image forming apparatus, the image setting an image forming apparatus closest to the image forming apparatus of the other image forming apparatus is not set as the lower device other than forming apparatus as a lower apparatus of the image forming apparatus A setting process of, in communication with the image forming apparatus is set as the lower device is intended to execute, and print control process for controlling so as to perform printing confirmation of the printing executed by the image forming apparatus, the image When the forming apparatus is set as the main apparatus, one subordinate apparatus is set by the acquisition process and the setting process, and the print control process communicates with the subordinate apparatus to execute print confirmation, and the image forming apparatus When the image forming apparatus is not the main apparatus, when the image forming apparatus is set as the next lower apparatus from any of the other image forming apparatuses, the next lower apparatus is further set from the image forming apparatus by the acquisition process and the setting process. The print control process communicates with the lower device to execute print confirmation .

  According to the present invention, it is possible to select the image forming apparatus with the highest priority from the network and automatically set it as a lower device that prints an unprinted page when an error occurs in the main image forming apparatus. It is possible to save the user from setting the subordinate device, and to simplify the setting of the subordinate device. Even when an error or the like occurs in the main image forming apparatus, it is possible to continue printing with the automatically set lower device.

1 is an example of a functional block diagram of an image forming apparatus. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an entire print control process. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of image forming apparatus search and table creation processing. It is an example of arrangement | positioning of the other printer used as the candidate of a main printer and a low-order apparatus. 3 is an example of an image forming apparatus list table stored in a main printer. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the search and setting process of a low-order apparatus. It is another example of arrangement | positioning of the other printer used as the candidate of a main printer and a low-order apparatus. 3 is an example of an image forming apparatus list table stored in a lower device. It is a flowchart which shows the other example of the search and setting process of a low-order apparatus. It is another example of a functional block diagram of the image forming apparatus. 10 is a flowchart illustrating another example of image forming apparatus search and table creation processing. It is explanatory drawing when the network is segmented by identification ID.

  Hereinafter, a configuration according to the present invention will be described in detail based on the embodiment shown in FIGS. The image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment communicates with the image forming apparatus set as the lower device (sub printer 10) in units of pages from the start to the end of the print data transmitted from the host apparatus 1. An image forming apparatus (main printer 2) provided with a print control means for confirming printing, a search means for searching for another image forming apparatus connected through a network, and another image forming apparatus searched by the search means Information acquisition means for acquiring network setting information and position information, and calculating the distance between the apparatuses based on the position information of other image forming apparatuses acquired by the information acquisition means and the position information stored in the storage means, The image forming apparatus includes a lower device setting unit that sets another image forming device having the shortest distance between the devices as a lower device based on the network setting information.

  The basic configuration of the image forming apparatus including a print control unit that performs print confirmation by communicating with the lower level device 10 in units of pages from the start to the end of the print data transmitted from the host device 1 is as follows. For example, it is indicated by the above-mentioned patent documents 4 and detailed explanation is omitted.

(Configuration of image forming apparatus)
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. The image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment (hereinafter, main printer 2) includes a printer controller 3, a printer engine 4, a network processing unit 5, a printer system control unit 6, a control command processing unit 7, and an engine control unit 8. Are connected to the host device 1 and the sub printer 10 (network processing unit 11) via a network. The main printer 2 includes the control command processing unit 7 in the printer system control unit 6 so that the following control is possible. In this embodiment, the network processing unit 5, the printer system control unit 6, The control command processing unit 7 cooperates to function as search means, information acquisition means, and lower device setting means. Further, the communication line (wired / wireless), communication protocol, etc. in the network are not particularly limited. Although not shown in the drawings, the image forming apparatus shown as the sub printer 10 can also be the main printer 2 as described below, and therefore preferably has the same configuration.

(Outline of control)
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an overall outline of the processing executed by the main printer 2 according to the present embodiment (the image forming apparatus control method according to the present invention).

  First, when the power of the main printer 2 is turned on (S1), an image forming apparatus search and table creation process (S2) is executed in a normal initialization routine. The process (S2) is executed by the search unit and the information acquisition unit, searches for an image forming apparatus existing on the network, and creates an image forming apparatus list table (see FIG. 5).

  Next, search and setting processing (S3) for the lower device is executed. This process (S3) is executed by the lower-level device setting means, and has the highest priority among the image forming apparatus groups on the image forming apparatus list table created in S2, for example, closest to the position of the main printer 2 The image forming apparatus is set as a subordinate device 10 (also referred to as a first sub printer) of the main printer 2.

  When the above is completed, the process shifts to a print waiting state (S4). When the predetermined time has elapsed in the print waiting state (S4) (S5: Y), the process returns to S2. In the second and subsequent image forming device searches and table creation processing (S2), the created image forming device list table is updated. By performing the processing in this manner, even when the power of the image forming apparatus on the image forming apparatus list table is turned off or the apparatus itself is moved, it is automatically updated after a predetermined time has elapsed. Made. The above is the outline of the control executed by the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. Details of each process will be described below.

(Image forming apparatus search and table creation processing: S2)
FIG. 3 shows an example of a flowchart of search processing of the image forming apparatus and table creation processing (S2: S201 to S206) (search processing and information acquisition processing). 4 shows an example of the arrangement of other printers (printers 0 to 3) which are candidates for the main printer 2 and the lower device 10, and an image forming apparatus list table (hereinafter also simply referred to as a table) created in FIG. An example is shown.

  First, information about devices existing on the LAN is acquired in order (S201). Here, the information to be acquired includes network setting information (IP address, subnet mask, default gateway, etc., which will be described as an example of acquiring only an IP address hereinafter), type information of each device on the network (for example, a printer) , PC, server, etc.). The acquisition of the network setting information by the network processing unit 5 may be according to a known technique and is not particularly limited.

  Based on the acquired type information, it is determined whether or not the printer is a printer (S202). If the printer is not a printer (S202: N), the process returns to S201 to move to information acquisition of the next device on the network. On the other hand, if it is a printer (S202: Y), position information of the printer is acquired.

  The value of the position information is not particularly limited, but is represented as a two-dimensional array (x, y), for example, simply as (2, 2) or (6, 7) as shown in FIG. Alternatively, it may be a latitude / longitude value such as (139.171820, 35.374475). Further, it may be represented by a three-dimensional array (x, y, z). Note that the position information can be stored in advance in a storage device (nonvolatile RAM or the like) in each device by allowing the user to input from the operation panel, for example.

  Here, the acquisition of the position information is executed by a new control command. In this embodiment, the location information is inquired to the device having the acquired IP address (S203). The printer that has received the inquiry sends back the position information stored in the storage device as a response command.

  When the response is returned (S204: Y), the main printer 2 that transmitted the inquiry stores the position information and the IP address in association with each other in the image forming apparatus list table (S205). On the other hand, if there is no response from the printer that sent the inquiry (S204: N), the image forming apparatus list table is not saved, and the process returns to S201 and proceeds to processing for the next apparatus.

  If it is stored in the image forming apparatus list table, it is determined whether or not the next printer exists (S206). If it exists (S206: Y), the process returns to S201 and the processing is continued. By executing the above processing for all devices on the network (S206: Y), an image forming device list table at the time of executing the processing can be created. If an image forming apparatus list table has already been created, an update process may be performed.

(Lower device search and setting process: S3)
Next, using the created image forming apparatus list table, the printer closest to the position of the main printer 2 is searched. FIG. 6 shows an example of a flowchart of the subordinate device search and setting process (S3: S301 to S308).

First, a variable n indicating the number of the table and a variable d indicating the current shortest distance are initialized (S301). Next, the position information (referred to as (X _n , Y _n )) of the nth apparatus in the image forming apparatus list table is acquired (S302).

Then, to calculate the distance _{d n} between the device from the acquired position information _{(X n, Y n)} and the position information of the main printer _{2 ((X 0, Y 0} ) to) (S303). Here, the distance between apparatuses can be calculated by the following equation (1), for example. Here, it is also possible to store the distance d _n the calculated as n-th distance information of the image forming apparatus list table.
√ ((X _n −X ₀ ) ² + (Y _n −Y ₀ ) ² ) (1)

Then, current is compared with the distance d _n and the calculated variable d indicating the shortest distance (to the process) (S304). If direction of d _n is small (S304: Y), the shortest distance is updated, i.e., the direction of the device means that the distance to the main printer 2 is close, the variable d indicating the shortest distance d _n Update (S305). Also, N indicating the shortest device number is rewritten with n (S306).

After the processing of S306, or if who _{d n} is large (S304: N), the image forming apparatus list table performs a check whether there is another device (S307), the remaining case ( In step S307: Y), the variable n is incremented, and the process returns to step S302 (S308). If it does not remain (S307: N), the process ends. When the process is repeated until the end of the image forming apparatus list table, it is determined that the shortest device is the Nth device. The N addresses can be stored to set the lower model 10.

  With this configuration, it is possible to save the user from selecting an appropriate device as the lower device 10, investigating the IP address of the device, and manually setting the address of the lower device 10 from the operation panel or the like. The main printer 2 can automatically select the nearest printer and automatically set it as the lower model 10.

(Other embodiments)

  Moreover, setting as the lower device 10 is not limited to one, and it is also preferable to set a plurality of lower devices 10. As a result, even when a failure or the like occurs in both the main printer 2 and the lower level device 10 (first sub printer), printing can be continued.

  Here, the settings of the second and subsequent subordinate devices 10 (second sub-printer, third sub-printer...) Are set to the second sub-printer having the second closest distance in the process of S3. Alternatively, as shown in FIGS. 7 to 8, a printer located at the shortest distance from the set first sub-printer may be searched and this may be used as the second sub-printer. . That is, it is realized by executing the above-described processing using the first sub printer as the main printer 2. 7 shows that the first sub-printer (printer 1 in the figure) set from the main printer (printer 0 in the figure) further selects the second sub-printer (lower device searching printer in the figure). It is a figure which shows a mode that this 2nd sub printer searches for a 3rd sub printer which set. FIG. 8 is an example of an image forming apparatus list table created by the second sub printer.

  Here, for example, the lower device 10 must be serially connected in the order of device A → device D → device B → device C. However, when a plurality of main printers 2 exist on the network, a device that has already been connected as a lower device 10 of another printer cannot be connected as a lower device 10.

  Therefore, it is preferable that the image forming apparatus list table has information indicating whether or not it is already connected to another device in addition to the above information. In the present embodiment, a “connected flag” indicating that the device set as the lower model 10 is already connected is provided. As described above, when the main printer 2 searches and sets the lower device 10, it is possible that the target device has already been set as the lower device 10 of another device. ”Is provided, the“ connected flag ”is already set for such a device, so that it can be excluded as a candidate for the lower device 10.

  In order for the main printer 2 to acquire the “connected flag” of another device, the “connected flag” information is returned in addition to the position information as a response to the control command. Also, for the device set as the lower device 10 of the main printer 2, the “connected flag” is changed to “connected” (the flag is turned on), so that the “connected flag” is rewritten as one of the control commands. A command is prepared, and for the device set as the lower device 10 by the main printer 2, the “connected flag” is switched to “connected” with the same command. On the other hand, regarding the connection state of the main printer 2, a “connected flag” is separately provided on the storage device, and when an inquiry is received from another device, the “connected flag” is returned together with the position information. In addition, when a “linked flag” rewrite command is received from another device, the “connected flag” may be rewritten to “connected”.

  FIG. 9 shows an example of a flowchart of the subordinate device search and setting processing (S310 to S313) with the condition that it is not already connected. First, the lower device search and setting process (S310, (corresponding to S3, see FIG. 6)) is performed, and when the Nth is the shortest result, “N” of the Nth device in the image forming apparatus list table is displayed. The “linked flag” is checked (S311).

  If it is already connected (S311: Y), it cannot be set to the lower device 10, so the process returns to S310 and the search for the shortest device is excluded from the search target (S312). In addition, for example, after performing n = n + 1 in S308 of FIG. 6, a determination is made as to whether or not it is an exclusion target. If it is an exclusion target, n = n + 1 is further repeated. It is sufficient to proceed to a number that is not an exclusion target.

  The processes of S310 to S312 are repeated, and if there is a device that has not been connected in S311 (S311: N), the device corresponding to N at that time becomes the device that has not been connected in the shortest time. Therefore, the control command “connected flag” rewrite command is transmitted to the device corresponding to N, the “connected flag” of the target model is set to “connected” (S313), and N is set as the lower device 10. .

  The position information is not limited to being set by the user, and it is also preferable to acquire position information by a position information acquisition unit, for example, GPS (Global Positioning System).

  An example of a functional block diagram of the image forming apparatus (main printer 2) provided with the GPS is shown in FIG. The main printer 2 of this embodiment is provided with a GPS 9 in the printer controller 3 so as to be communicable with the printer system control unit 6. The printer system control unit 6 acquires the latitude and longitude of the device from the GPS 9 and uses them as position information of the main printer 2. Note that the GPS 9 may be a known one, and the description of the other configurations similar to those in FIG. 1 is omitted.

  By providing the GPS in this way, it is possible to save the user from setting the position information and to always automatically acquire accurate position information. For example, even when the installation position of the image forming apparatus is changed, the position information can be updated without the trouble of resetting the position information. Moreover, a situation such as forgetting to update the position information when the installation position is changed does not occur.

  Further, in addition to the two-dimensional information of latitude and longitude, GPS that can acquire three-dimensional information including height position information is used as position information including the height position to search and set a lower device ( It is also preferable to calculate a three-dimensional distance in S3). Thereby, for example, an accurate position can be recognized even when floors are different (heights are different) in the same building.

  Further, when the scale of the network is large, the network is often divided (grouped) into several segments. For example, when a department is divided for each floor or each area in the floor in a company, the network may be segmented for each department. In such a case, setting all printers existing in the same network as a search target causes a reduction in search efficiency and is not suitable for a user request.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the processing efficiency is further improved by holding the identification ID in the storage device. An example of the image forming apparatus search and table creation processing (S211 to S217) when the identification ID is used is shown in the flowchart of FIG. This flowchart is obtained by adding an identification ID determination process (S215) to the image forming apparatus search and table creation process (S201 to S206) shown in FIG. When the identification IDs do not match (S215: N), the identification ID is excluded from the search target and the process proceeds to the next device. The other processes are the same as the processes shown in FIG.

  Here, the identification ID may be stored as “identification ID information” by preparing a storage area in the storage device in the same manner as the position information and the connected flag. The identification ID may be set by inputting the identification ID from the operation panel or the like. The inquiry of the identification ID to the other device may be obtained as a response by a control command in the same manner as the inquiry of the position information. When the inquiry of the identification ID is received from the other device, the “identification ID” A process of returning information stored in “information” as a response may be performed.

  With this configuration, as shown in FIG. 12, for example, as shown in FIG. 12, the identification ID is identified as a value that can be identified as “1xx” for the first floor and “2xx” for the second floor. By setting in advance, connection with different floors can be prevented even in the same network. Even when a plurality of segments are provided on the same floor, connection can be prevented by setting the identification IDs separately.

  By doing so, the search target can be narrowed down, so that the processing amount can be reduced and the processing speed can be increased. Moreover, since it can output from the printer in a predetermined area, a user's request | requirement can also be satisfy | filled.

  The method for controlling the image forming apparatus described in the above embodiments can be executed by a program (control program for the image forming apparatus according to the present invention) stored in a main memory such as a ROM. The control program for the image forming apparatus can be provided, for example, by downloading from the Internet and installed in the image forming apparatus. The present invention is also applied to an aspect of a recording medium on which a control program for the image forming apparatus is recorded so as to be executable by the image forming apparatus.

  The above-described embodiment is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but is not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

1 Host device 2 Main printer (image forming device)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 Printer controller 4 Printer engine 5 Network processing part 6 Printer system control part 7 Control command processing part 8 Engine control part 9 GPS (position information acquisition means)
10 Sub printer (subordinate equipment)
11 Network processing unit

JP 2003-122539 A JP 2002-189581 A JP 2002-132462 A JP 2009-101679 A

Claims (6)

In an image forming system in which a plurality of image forming apparatuses are connected, and any one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses serves as a main apparatus, and an image forming apparatus other than the main apparatus is set as a lower device. An image forming apparatus,
The position information of each of the other image forming apparatus other than the image forming apparatus, an acquisition unit for the other image forming apparatus acquires the connection completion information indicating which is set as the lower device other than the image forming apparatus, a ,
Position information of the image forming apparatus, the position information of each of the other image forming apparatus, and based-out in the connection completion information, among the other image forming apparatus is not set as the lower device other than the image forming apparatus Setting means for setting the image forming apparatus closest to the image forming apparatus as a subordinate device of the image forming apparatus;
A print control unit that communicates with the image forming apparatus set as the lower device and controls to execute print confirmation of printing executed by the image forming apparatus;
Equipped with a,
When the image forming apparatus is set as a main apparatus, one subordinate device is set by the acquisition unit and the setting unit, and the print control unit communicates with the subordinate device, and executes the print confirmation. ,
When the image forming apparatus is not the main apparatus, when the image forming apparatus is set as the next lower device from any of the other image forming apparatuses, the image forming apparatus is further configured by the acquisition unit and the setting unit. An image forming apparatus , wherein the next lower device is set, and the print control unit communicates with the lower device and executes the print confirmation .   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the position information is two-dimensional or three-dimensional coordinate information. Comprising position information acquisition means for acquiring the position information via a satellite;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the position information acquisition unit acquires latitude and longitude as the position information. The storage unit of the image forming apparatus and the other image forming apparatus stores an identification ID indicating which group the network belongs to when the network is grouped.
4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit sets an image forming apparatus having the same identification ID among the other image forming apparatuses as a setting target of a lower device. 5. In an image forming system in which a plurality of image forming apparatuses are connected, and any one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses serves as a main apparatus, and an image forming apparatus other than the main apparatus is set as a lower device. An image forming apparatus control method comprising:
The position information of each of the other image forming apparatus other than the image forming apparatus, an acquisition process of the other image forming apparatus acquires the connection completion information indicating which is set as the lower device other than the image forming apparatus, a ,
Position information of the image forming apparatus, the position information of each of the other image forming apparatus, and based-out in the connection completion information, among the other image forming apparatus is not set as the lower device other than the image forming apparatus A setting process for setting an image forming apparatus closest to the image forming apparatus as a lower device of the image forming apparatus;
A print control process for communicating with the image forming apparatus set as the lower device and controlling to execute print confirmation of printing executed by the image forming apparatus;
Is what
When the image forming apparatus is set as the main apparatus, one subordinate device is set by the acquisition process and the setting process, the print control process communicates with the subordinate apparatus, and the print confirmation is executed. ,
When the image forming apparatus is not the main apparatus, when the image forming apparatus is set as the next lower device from any of the other image forming apparatuses, the image forming apparatus is further processed by the acquisition process and the setting process. A method for controlling an image forming apparatus , wherein the next lower device is set, the print control process communicates with the lower device, and the print confirmation is executed . In an image forming system in which a plurality of image forming apparatuses are connected, and any one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses serves as a main apparatus, and an image forming apparatus other than the main apparatus is set as a lower device. In the image forming device,
The position information of each of the other image forming apparatus other than the image forming apparatus, an acquisition process of the other image forming apparatus acquires the connection completion information indicating which is set as the lower device other than the image forming apparatus, a ,
Position information of the image forming apparatus, the position information of each of the other image forming apparatus, and based-out in the connection completion information, among the other image forming apparatus is not set as the lower device other than the image forming apparatus A setting process for setting an image forming apparatus closest to the image forming apparatus as a lower device of the image forming apparatus;
A print control process for communicating with the image forming apparatus set as the lower device and controlling to execute print confirmation of printing executed by the image forming apparatus;
It is intended to be an execution,
When the image forming apparatus is set as a main apparatus, one subordinate device is set by the acquisition process and the setting process, and the print control process communicates with the subordinate apparatus to execute the print confirmation. ,
When the image forming apparatus is not the main apparatus, when the image forming apparatus is set as the next lower device from any of the other image forming apparatuses, the image forming apparatus is further processed by the acquisition process and the setting process. A control program for an image forming apparatus , wherein the next lower device is set, and the print control process communicates with the lower device to execute the print confirmation .

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