CN112445438A

CN112445438A - Distributed printing control method, device, image forming device and medium

Info

Publication number: CN112445438A
Application number: CN202011223620.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 黄昱
Original assignee: Zhuhai Pantum Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Zhuhai Pantum Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-11-05
Filing date: 2020-11-05
Publication date: 2021-03-05

Abstract

The invention discloses a distributed printing control method, a distributed printing control device, an image forming device and a medium. The distributed printing control method is used in a master printer of a printer group, the printer group also comprises a plurality of slave printers connected to the same network, and the method comprises the following steps: receiving a print job; preprocessing a printing job; determining a target slave printer to be used; determining to execute a printer from the print group; sending the printing device parameters of the executing printer to the target slave printer or commanding the executing printer to send the printing device parameters to the target slave printer; splitting the print job into one or more print sub-jobs; sending one or more print sub-jobs to the target slave printer; receiving a latticed image sent by a target from a printer, and integrating the latticed image into a complete latticed image; and finishing the printing operation by executing the printer based on the complete latticed image. The method can enable the printer to achieve the expected printing effect.

Description

Distributed printing control method, device, image forming device and medium

[ technical field ] A method for producing a semiconductor device

The present invention relates to the field of printing technologies, and in particular, to a distributed printing control method and apparatus, an image forming apparatus, and a medium.

[ background of the invention ]

In the face of large print jobs, the older or lower printer models require a significant amount of processing time and are laborious to process. At present, a printer with higher performance is continuously replaced by a solution, but the printer is high in equipment replacement cost, the replaced printer is often abandoned, the solution is not ideal enough from the economical point of view or the point of view of energy conservation and environmental protection, the improvement of the hardware performance of a single printer is not infinite, and the improvement of the hardware performance by the current manufacturing process is difficult to realize after the hardware performance is improved to a certain degree.

At present, a distributed scheme that a plurality of printers with different functions and different grades are combined into a distributed printing system can be adopted, so that different printers are utilized, and the printing efficiency is improved; however, there is a problem that since the printers of the distributed printing system are generally different models, from different vendors, or even from different pipelines of the same vendor, in the actual printing process, if one printer performs job analysis and another printer performs printing on the analyzed job, the content displayed after printing may have color cast, line loss, and the like, and the printing effect cannot be expected.

[ summary of the invention ]

In view of this, embodiments of the present invention provide a distributed printing control method, apparatus, image forming apparatus, and medium, to solve the problem that the printing effect in a distributed printing system cannot be expected.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a distributed printing control method, used in a master printer of a printer group, where the printer group further includes a plurality of slave printers connected to the same network, and the method includes:

receiving a print job, wherein the print job is sent by a client device that is accessed to the network;

preprocessing the print job and determining to execute distributed printing;

determining a target slave printer to be used;

determining an executing printer from the print group;

sending the printing device parameters of the executing printer to the target slave printer or instructing the executing printer to send the printing device parameters to the target slave printer, wherein the printing device parameters are used for characterizing the physical characteristics of the executing printer related to a printing engine;

splitting the print job into one or more print sub-jobs;

sending the one or more print sub-jobs to the target slave printer;

receiving the latticed image sent by the target from the printer and integrating the latticed image into a complete latticed image;

and finishing the printing operation through the execution printer based on the complete latticed image.

The above aspect and any possible implementation further provide an implementation in which the determining to execute a printer from the print group includes:

selecting a printer with the best printing performance from the printing group as the execution printer.

The above aspects and any possible implementations further provide an implementation in which the printer with the best printing performance is the main printer.

The above-described aspects and any possible implementations further provide an implementation in which the printing device parameters include a color conversion table, a color adjustment table, and halftone conversion parameters.

The above-described aspect and any possible implementation further provide an implementation in which the preprocessing the print job and determining to execute distributed printing includes:

judging whether the format of the printing operation is supported, if not, determining to adopt the printing mode of the distributed printing, if so,

judging whether the printing language required by the printing operation is supported, if not, determining to adopt the printing mode of the distributed printing, if so,

judging whether the printing of the full-type fonts in the printing operation is supported, if not, determining to adopt the printing mode of the distributed printing, if so,

and judging the complexity of the printing operation, and if the complexity exceeds a first judgment condition, determining the printing mode adopting the distributed printing.

The above aspect and any possible implementation further provide an implementation in which the determining of the target to be adopted is performed from a printer, including:

publishing a printer broadcast in the network, wherein the printer broadcast includes a type of primary printer request service;

after any slave printer in the network receives the printer broadcast, the slave printer judges whether the printing service can be provided according to the type of the service requested by the master printer;

and if the target slave printer is available, taking the slave printer as the target slave printer.

The above-mentioned aspect and any possible implementation manner further provide an implementation manner, before the sending the printing device parameters of the executing printer to the target slave printer, further including:

the printing device parameters of each slave printer in the printer group are acquired.

The above-described aspect and any possible implementation further provide an implementation in which the performing, by the execution printer, a printing operation based on the complete latticed image includes:

if the execution printer is the main printer, the complete dot matrix image is adopted to complete the printing operation;

and if the execution printer is the slave printer, sending the complete latticed image to the execution printer, and finishing the printing operation through the execution printer.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a distributed printing control method, used in a slave printer of a printer group, where the slave printer includes one or more slave printers connected to a same network together with a master printer, and the method includes:

determining a target slave printer in the printer group according to a printer broadcast issued by the master printer in the network;

determining an executing printer from the print group;

receiving, for the target slave printer, printing device parameters of the executing printer;

for the target slave printer, receiving a printing sub-job sent by the main printer, generating a dot matrix image according to the printing sub-job and the printing equipment parameters, and sending the dot matrix image to the main printer or the execution printer;

if the executing printer is the slave printer, the executing printer completes the printing operation according to the complete latticed image sent by the master printer or integrated by the executing printer, wherein the master printer executes the steps of the method in the first aspect in the network.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a distributed printing control apparatus, including:

a print job receiving module configured to receive a print job, wherein the print job is transmitted by a client device accessing the network;

the printing job preprocessing module is used for preprocessing the printing job and determining to execute distributed printing;

a target slave printer determination module for determining a target slave printer to be used;

an execution printer determination module to determine an execution printer from the print group;

a printing device parameter delivery module, configured to send a printing device parameter of the executing printer to the target slave printer, or instruct the executing printer to send the printing device parameter to the target slave printer, where the printing device parameter is used to characterize a physical characteristic of the executing printer related to a print engine;

a print job splitting module for splitting the print job into one or more print sub-jobs;

a print job sending module to send the one or more print sub-jobs to the target slave printer;

the printing operation integration module is used for receiving the dot-matrix image sent by the target from the printer and integrating the dot-matrix image into a complete dot-matrix image;

and the printing module is used for finishing printing operation through the execution printer based on the complete latticed image.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a distributed printing control apparatus, including:

a first determining module, configured to determine a target slave printer in the printer group according to a printer broadcast issued by the master printer in the network;

a second determination module that determines an execution printer from the print group;

a first receiving module, configured to receive, for the target slave printer, printing device parameters of the execution printer;

the second receiving module is used for receiving the printing sub-job sent by the main printer for the target slave printer, generating a dot matrix image according to the printing sub-job and the printing equipment parameters, and sending the dot matrix image to the main printer or the execution printer;

and a slave printer printing module, configured to, if the executing printer is the slave printer, complete a printing operation according to a complete latticed image sent by the master printer or integrated by the executing printer, where the master printer executes the steps of the method according to the first aspect in the network.

In a fifth aspect, the present invention further provides an image forming apparatus applied to a printer group in the same network, the image forming apparatus including a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the processor implements the steps of the method according to the first aspect when executing the computer program, or implements the steps of the method according to the second aspect when executing the computer program.

In a sixth aspect, the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program, and the computer program implements the steps of the method according to the first aspect when executed by a processor, or implements the steps of the method according to the second aspect when executed by a processor.

In the embodiment of the invention, firstly, the printing operation is preprocessed, and the distributed printing is determined to be executed, so that the printing operation can be switched between the printing operation by adopting the single printing equipment and the distributed printing operation, and the printing efficiency is improved; then determining a target slave printer and an execution printer, and sending printing device parameters of the execution printer to the target slave printer so that the target slave printer can generate a dot matrix image according to the printing device parameters of the execution printer; and finally, according to the integrated complete latticed image, finishing the printing operation by adopting an execution printer. According to the embodiment of the invention, each slave printer for generating the latticed image can be ensured to use the printing equipment parameters of the executing printer as the generation standard during distributed printing, and the executing printer can achieve the expected printing effect when printing according to the integrated complete latticed image. The printing effect is consistent with the printing effect of finishing the full-flow printing by independently adopting the execution printer.

[ description of the drawings ]

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings based on these drawings without inventive labor.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of data processing after a color printer receives a print job in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a network topology diagram employed by the distributed print control method in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a distributed print control method performed by the main printer in one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart detailing step S20 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a distributed printing control method performed by the slave printer in one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of an apparatus corresponding to a distributed print control method executed by a main printer in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of an apparatus corresponding to a distributed printing control method executed by a slave printer in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[ detailed description ] embodiments

For better understanding of the technical solutions of the present invention, the following detailed descriptions of the embodiments of the present invention are provided with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It should be understood that the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the invention, and not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

The terminology used in the embodiments of the invention is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used in the examples of the present invention and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

It should be understood that the term "and/or" as used herein is merely a field that describes the same of an associated object, meaning that three relationships may exist, e.g., A and/or B, may indicate: a is present alone, and A and B are present, B is present alone. In addition, the character "/" herein generally indicates that the former and latter related objects are in an "or" relationship.

It should be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used to describe preset ranges, etc. in embodiments of the present invention, these preset ranges should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish preset ranges from each other. For example, the first preset range may also be referred to as a second preset range, and similarly, the second preset range may also be referred to as the first preset range, without departing from the scope of the embodiments of the present invention.

The word "if" as used herein may be interpreted as "at … …" or "when … …" or "in response to a determination" or "in response to a detection", depending on the context. Similarly, the phrases "if determined" or "if detected (a stated condition or event)" may be interpreted as "when determined" or "in response to a determination" or "when detected (a stated condition or event)" or "in response to a detection (a stated condition or event)", depending on the context.

At present, a distributed printing control scheme can combine a plurality of printers with different functions and different grades into a distributed printing system, and select a printer with the best performance as a main printer. Specifically, the main printer receives the print job, splits the print job into a plurality of sub-print jobs, sends the sub-print jobs to the plurality of slave printers, analyzes the plurality of sub-print jobs by the plurality of slave printers, converts the sub-print jobs into latticed images, and sends the latticed images to the main printer, and integrates the latticed images corresponding to the plurality of received sub-print jobs into a complete latticed image, and sends the complete latticed image to a better performing printer (which may be the main printer) in the distributed printing system to perform printing.

However, there is a problem that, since printers of the distributed printing system are generally different in model, from different vendors, or even from different pipelines of the same vendor, in the actual printing process, the content presented after printing may have a problem of color cast, missing lines, and other printing quality, and the printing effect cannot be expected.

Research shows that due to device differences of printers in a distributed printing system, printing device parameters of the printers are different, the printing device parameters are used for representing physical characteristics of the printers related to a printing engine, and the printing device parameters can have a large influence on printing effects. The printing device parameters may include, for example, a color conversion table, a color adjustment table, and halftone conversion parameters. In the distributed printing scheme provided above, if the slave printer analyzes the job, converts the job into a dot-matrix image, and then sends the dot-matrix image to the master printer for printing, the device parameters of the master printer and the slave printer are different, so that problems such as color cast and line missing may occur, and the printing effect is not good.

Fig. 1 shows a data processing flow after the color printer receives a print job. The method specifically comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps of analyzing a printing job language, analyzing a page description language, converting RGB to CMYK, adjusting color, converting halftone, and executing a printing engine, wherein the steps related to the parameters of the printing device comprise RGB to CMYK conversion, adjusting color and converting halftone, and the three steps are also key factors influencing the printing effect.

In general, print job data received by a printer includes a print job language and a page description language.

Where the print job language is some of the commands that begin in the common format @ PJL to set job properties. Commands for job characteristics such as document name, resolution employed, paper box employed, page description language employed, etc.; the page description language is used for describing page rendering, such as how rendering is required for image formation.

Specifically, each page printed by the printer is described in color by the RGB model in a page description language with red, green, and blue components. It will be appreciated that a 24-bit color value such as R (255) G (0) B (0) represents pure red. But we do not know how red and bright this red appears in front of us; how much each level of chromatic aberration should be different, how much 255 and 254 of red should be different, and what should be 10 to 20 of red, which is difficult for our eyes to distinguish accurately.

In real life, we present the same color or image to different displays, and we find that the colors seen by our eyes are all different. This is due to differences in device characteristics. When a printer performs printing, it is necessary to use a CMYK model and perform color register printing using C (cyan), M (magenta), Y (yellow), and K (black). Therefore, a printer engine manufacturer needs to create a set of device-dependent conversion tables (color conversion tables) by measuring the resulting colors by printing test points in a color laboratory so that a color value in an RGB model corresponds to a color value in a CMYK model and the same color is perceived by the human eye.

Since different printers interact with the colorant in a non-linear fashion through the print engine, to render the correct color, different printers need to use their own specific color conversion table, without there being a device-independent, formulaic, unified operation to accomplish this task. Generally, print engines of the same model of the same manufacturer use a color conversion table of RGB to CMYK.

In addition, even print engines of the same brand and batch are produced with different color values. The auto-calibration engine automatically generates its CMYK color adjustment table from the output of its own sensor during auto-calibration, and transfers the table to the color processing module of the printer for fine-tuning of color. This color adjustment table describes the color adjustment table for a particular individual engine and cannot be used for other purposes.

After color conversion and adjustment is completed, the printer needs to perform halftone conversion to convert the image page into a raster image that is adapted to the characteristics of the printer engine. The print engine uses the half-tone image data to modulate and control the laser output of the laser printer, and eliminates the charge on the photosensitive medium, thereby completing the output of the image. However, the halftone conversion methods used by different printers are also different, including halftone conversion parameters (matrices, thresholds, and other parameters).

Therefore, to accurately present the correct color on a specific printer, the printer must use its own color conversion table, color adjustment table and halftone conversion parameters (matrix, threshold, etc.) to ensure the correctness or accuracy of color page output, so as to avoid image defects such as color cast, missing lines, and increased granularity.

In view of the above problems, the embodiment of the present invention provides a distributed printing control method, which is used in a master printer of a printer group, where the printer group further includes a plurality of slave printers connected to the same network, fig. 2 shows a network topology adopted by the distributed printing control method, and a master printer 102 and a plurality of slave printers 104 form a printer group by being connected to the same network, and provide printing services to other client devices 106 connected to the network. The main printer 102 and the slave printer 104 form a distributed printer system, the main printer 102 provides a uniform interface to the network, only one printer in the network is seen by other client devices 106, while the slave printer 104 is hidden and invisible, the main printer 102 receives the print task from the client device 106, and then disassembles the print task into subtasks to be sent to the slave printer 104 for completion. The communication means between the client device 106 and the main printer 102 include, but are not limited to, ethernet, wireless Wi-Fi, etc. Client devices 106 include various computing devices with network access capabilities, such as personal computers, palm-top digital assistants, smart phones, web-enabled televisions, and the like.

Further, fig. 3 shows a flow chart of the method, the method comprising:

s10: the main printer receives a print job, wherein the print job is transmitted by a client device that is connected to a network.

In one embodiment, a user may send a print job to a host printer using a client device (e.g., a cell phone, a personal computer) to perform a printing operation based on the print job. Furthermore, the main printer can be the printer closest to the user, so that the user can take the printer conveniently after the job is printed; alternatively, the main printer is the printer with the highest printing efficiency in the print group, so that the main printer can be used as an execution printer, which serves as a bridge for communication between the print group and the external device, and also serves as a printing device for processing printing.

S20: the main printer preprocesses the print job and determines to execute the distributed printing.

It will be appreciated that the main printer will pre-process the print job after receiving the print job sent by the client device. The main printer can judge whether the resources of the main printer meet the resources required by the printing operation through the preprocessing, if so, the main printer can complete the analysis and printing of all the printing operations, and if not, the flow of distributed printing can be implemented. In particular, if the resources of the main printer satisfy the resources required for the print job, the flow of distributed printing may be performed even when it takes a long time for the main print to be analyzed independently, such as when the page of the print job is complicated.

In one embodiment, the main print may determine to complete printing of the print job in a distributed printing manner after preprocessing the print job. It can be understood that the preprocessing can help the main printer filter the scene that can complete the analysis and printing of all the print jobs, and if there is no preprocessing process, the printing mode of distributed printing will be adopted after the main printing receives the print job each time, which will cause the waste of resources. The preprocessing can improve the printing efficiency of the printing operation and improve the resource utilization rate of the printer.

S30: the master printer determines the target slave printer to employ.

In one embodiment, the master printer may communicate with the slave printers and find a slave printer in the print group that is capable of providing print assistance. It will be appreciated that not all slave printers are used for each print, and that the slave printers called for each distributed print vary, where a target slave printer refers to a slave printer that provides print assistance in a certain print flow.

S40: the main printer determines an execution printer from the print group.

It is understood that the executing printer may be a master printer or a slave printer, and the executing printer may be determined by a preset determination rule, and the printer to be finally subjected to the printing operation is selected.

S50: the master printer sends or commands the executing printer to send the printing device parameters to the target slave printer, wherein the printing device parameters are used for representing the physical characteristics of the executing printer related to the printing engine.

After determining the target slave printer and the executing printer, the master printer transfers, to the target slave printer, printing device parameters required for executing a printer parsing print job, where the printing device parameters are used to characterize physical characteristics of the executing printer related to a print engine, and specifically may include: a color conversion table, a color adjustment table, a halftone conversion parameter, etc. In this embodiment, after receiving the printing device parameter for executing the printer from the printer, the printing device parameter for executing the printer is used to replace the device parameter of the printer itself, so that the print data parsed from the printer can be completely compatible with the executing printer, and a technical premise is provided for realizing an expected printing effect.

In another possible embodiment, the master printer may also instruct the executing printer to send the printing device parameters to the target slave printer, and the passing of the printing device parameters may be completed by the executing printer (including the case where the slave printer is the executing printer).

S60: the main printer splits the print job into one or more print sub-jobs.

As can be appreciated, distributed printing requires one or more slave printers to assist in completing the parsing to generate the latticed image. In one embodiment, the master printer may split the print job into one or more print sub-jobs, wherein the number and specific gravity of the sub-jobs into which the print job is split depends on the number of available slave printers and their workloads.

S70: the master printer sends one or more print sub-jobs to the target slave printer.

The main printer sends the split sub-jobs to the slave printer, wherein the print jobs can include job information such as print resolution, output depth, page description language, and the like; in addition, the print job may include page marks, such as a page to be parsed may begin with a page start mark and end with a page end mark.

S80: the main printer receives the dot-matrix image sent by the target slave printer and integrates the dot-matrix image into a complete dot-matrix image.

After receiving the print job, the slave printer analyzes the page to be analyzed according to the job information, and sends the dot matrix image after the analysis to the master printer. It will be appreciated that since the target format ultimately printed by the printer is a latticed image, whether a text document or an image document, the printer will need to convert it to a latticed image format that can be printed directly before printing. And after receiving the dot matrix image analyzed by the slave printer, the master printer integrates the dot matrix image into a complete dot matrix image. Wherein, the integrated latticed images are integrated according to the page marks.

S90: the main printer completes the printing operation by executing the printer based on the complete latticed image.

In one embodiment, the printing operation is performed by the executing printer based on the full rasterized image provided by the main printer.

Further, in step S40, determining an execution printer from the print group includes:

the printer with the best printing performance is selected from the printing group as the execution printer.

It can be understood that when printing is finally performed, the printer with the best printing performance can be adopted to complete printing, so that the printer resources can be fully utilized, and the printing efficiency is improved.

Further, the printer with the best printing performance is the main printer.

It will be appreciated that in one design, the printing performance of the main printer is optimal, while acting as a bridge to implement the printer and connections to external devices.

In particular, the main printer may also be a printer with general performance, and in this case, the main function of the printer is to serve as a bridge connected to an external device, for example, to mainly perform operations with low performance requirements, such as receiving a print job and printing a broadcast transmitted by a client device, as a functional device; the executing printer is operated by a printer with better performance in the slave printers, so that the master printer can be separated from the role of being used as a bridge connected with external equipment and the role of being used as the executing printer, the stability of the printing group is improved, and the condition that the whole network cannot normally operate and the distributed printing cannot be realized due to the fact that the master printer breaks down is prevented.

Further, the printing apparatus parameters include a color conversion table, a color adjustment table, and a halftone conversion parameter. It can be understood that the printing device parameters are key factors influencing the printing effect, and specifically, the target slave printers can all adopt the color conversion table, the color adjustment table and the halftone conversion parameters of the execution printer to achieve the expected printing effect.

Further, in step S20, preprocessing the print job, determining to execute distributed printing, may include the steps as shown in fig. 4:

s21: it is determined whether a format of the print job is supported. If not, determining to adopt a printing mode of distributed printing, if so, S22: it is determined whether a print language required for the print job is supported. If not, determining to adopt a printing mode of distributed printing, if so, S23: it is determined whether printing of full-type fonts in the print job is supported. If not, determining to adopt a printing mode of distributed printing, if so, S24: and judging the complexity of the printing operation, and if the complexity exceeds a first judgment condition, determining to adopt a printing mode of distributed printing.

In one embodiment, the determination of whether to support the format of the print job is a determination of whether the main printer can support direct printing of a specific format file that is not transmitted by the client device via the print driver, and if so, a determination of S22 is made, and if not, a direct request is made to perform distributed printing.

For example: a user directly sends a PPT (PowerPoint) format file to a main printer for printing through client equipment without a printing driver, and if the main printer supports the direct printing of the PPT format file, the judgment of S22 is carried out; and if the main printer does not support the direct printing of the PPT format file, directly requesting to implement distributed printing.

The Printer driver (Printer driver) is a link for connecting the Printer and the client device, and is a device driver that can convert a file to be printed by the client device into a language recognizable by the Printer and print the file. In general, if only a printer is installed, there is no way to print a file of a specific format without installing a printer driver.

The method comprises the following steps that a client equipment end does not need to be provided with a printer driver without being subjected to drive printing, and then a printing job is directly sent to a printer, under the condition, the printing job is analyzed by the client equipment without the print driver, the format of a file sent by a user is the format of the file received by the printer, namely the user sends the file in the PPT format to the printer by utilizing the client equipment, and the file received by the printer is in the PPT format; the print driver analyzes the print job and converts the print job into a language which can be recognized by the printer, namely, a user sends a PPT format file to the printer by using the client device, and after the driver analyzes the print job, the job received by the printer is already the language which can be recognized by the printer.

In one embodiment, the user uses the client device to send a print job in a specific language format to the main printer for printing, and if the main printer supports the specific language format, the determination of S23 is performed; and if the main printer does not support, directly requesting to implement distributed printing.

In one embodiment, when a certain font is specified in the job that the user needs to print, if the main printer supports the certain font, the determination of S24 is performed; if the main printer does not support the font, the distributed printing is directly requested to be implemented.

In one embodiment, if the page of the print job sent to the main printer is relatively simple, the main printer can directly and independently analyze and print the print job; if there are many targets per page of a print job that need to be rendered, and the main printer takes much time to process alone, it may be requested to perform distributed printing.

The sequence of the above steps S21-S24 is not strictly limited, and any combined and realizable determination scheme is within the scope of the present invention.

Further, in step S30, determining the target slave printer to be adopted includes:

s31: a printer broadcast is published in a network, wherein the printer broadcast includes a type of service requested by a main printer.

In one embodiment, the master printer may establish a communication relationship with the slave printer by issuing a broadcast, and issue a type of a request service in the broadcast, the type of the request service being a print service.

S32: when any slave printer in the network receives the printer broadcast, the slave printer determines whether the printing service can be provided according to the type of service requested by the master printer.

S33: if the slave printer is enabled, and the slave printer is in the idle state, the slave printer is set as the target slave printer.

In one embodiment, the master printer issues a printer broadcast in the network, the broadcast can announce information such as the identity and address of the master printer and the type of the requested service to the slave printers in the same network, and the slave printers in the same network can decide whether to respond to the request to provide the service according to the type of the requested service and the working state of the slave printers after receiving the broadcast message. And if the slave printer supports the type of the request service and is in an idle state, sending a confirmation message to the master printer, and establishing a secure connection with the slave printer after the master printer receives the confirmation message.

Further, before step S50, that is, before sending the printing device parameters for executing the printer to the target slave printer, the method further includes:

print device parameters are obtained for each slave printer in the group of printers.

Understandably, since the executing printer is not necessarily the master printer, the master printer may acquire the printing device parameters of all the slave printers in advance before printing, so that when a certain slave printer is used as the executing printer, the printing device parameters of the slave printer may be transmitted to the target slave printer.

Further, in step S90, based on the complete latticed image, the printing operation is completed by executing a printer, including:

s91: if the execution printer is a main printer, the printing operation is completed by adopting the complete dot matrix image.

S92: and if the execution printer is the slave printer, sending the complete latticed image to the execution printer, and finishing the printing operation through the execution printer.

As shown in the method flowchart of fig. 5, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a distributed printing control method, used in a slave printer of a printer group, where the slave printer includes one or more slave printers connected to the same network as the master printer, and the method includes:

s10': the slave printers determine the target slave printers in the printer group based on the printer broadcast issued by the master printer in the network.

S20': the slave printer determines to execute the printer from the print group.

The determination to execute the printer may be sending a determination message to the slave printer after the master printer determines to execute the printer.

S30': for a target slave printer, the target slave printer receives printing device parameters to execute the printer.

The printing device parameters may be sent by the master printer, or may be sent by the slave printer as the slave printer executing the printer.

S40': for the target slave printer, the target slave printer receives the printing sub-job sent by the master printer, generates a dot matrix image according to the printing sub-job and the printing device parameters, and sends the dot matrix image to the master printer or executes the printer.

In one embodiment, the rasterized image generated by the target from the printer may be sent to an execution printer in addition to the host printer to complete the integration of the rasterized image.

S50': and if the execution printer is the slave printer, the execution printer completes the printing operation according to the transmission of the master printer or the integrated complete dot matrix image of the execution printer.

In one embodiment, if the complete latticed image is generated by the main printer, the printer is executed to complete the printing operation according to the complete latticed image sent by the main printer; and if the complete latticed image is obtained by executing printer integration, the execution printer completes printing operation according to the complete latticed image integrated by the execution printer.

It will be appreciated that the complete latticed image may also be generated by performing printer integration. The complete dot matrix image is obtained by adopting the execution printer with the best performance, and the printing efficiency can be improved.

Step S10': -S50': is a step executed from the printer, wherein the main printer in the step executes the step of the distributed printing control method having the main printer as an execution subject as described above. The steps executed by the slave printer are similar to those of the distributed printing control method using the master printer as the execution subject, and are not described again here.

It should be understood that, the sequence numbers of the steps in the foregoing embodiments do not imply an execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present invention.

As shown in the schematic block diagram of fig. 6, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a distributed printing control apparatus, including:

a print job receiving module 10, configured to receive a print job, where the print job is sent by a client device accessing to a network.

And a print job preprocessing module 20, configured to preprocess the print job and determine to execute distributed printing.

A target slave printer determination module 30 for determining the target slave printer to be used.

And an execution printer determination module 40 for determining an execution printer from the print group.

A printing device parameter delivery module 50 configured to send a printing device parameter of an executing printer to a target slave printer, or instruct the executing printer to send the printing device parameter to the target slave printer, wherein the printing device parameter is used for characterizing a physical characteristic of the executing printer related to a print engine.

A print job splitting module 60 for splitting the print job into one or more print sub-jobs.

A print job sending module 70 for sending one or more print sub-jobs to the target slave printer.

The print job integration module 80 is configured to receive the latticed image sent by the target from the printer, and integrate the latticed image into a complete latticed image.

And a printing module 90 for performing a printing operation by executing the printer based on the complete latticed image.

Optionally, the execution printer determining module 40 is further specifically configured to select a printer with the best printing performance from the printing group as the execution printer.

Alternatively, the printer with the best printing performance is the main printer.

Alternatively, the printing apparatus parameters include a color conversion table, a color adjustment table, and a halftone conversion parameter.

Optionally, the print job preprocessing module 20 is further specifically configured to determine whether a format of the print job is supported, and if not, determine to use a printing method of distributed printing, and if so,

judging whether the printing language required by the printing operation is supported, if not, determining to adopt a printing mode of distributed printing, if so,

judging whether the printing of the full type font in the printing operation is supported, if not, determining to adopt the printing mode of the distributed printing, if so,

and judging the complexity of the printing operation, and if the complexity exceeds a first judgment condition, determining to adopt a printing mode of distributed printing.

Optionally, the broadcast module 30 is further specifically configured to publish a printer broadcast in the network, wherein the printer broadcast includes a type of the main printer request service;

when any slave printer in the network receives the printer broadcast, the slave printer judges whether the printing service can be provided according to the type of the service requested by the master printer;

if the slave printer is enabled, and the slave printer is in the idle state, the slave printer is set as the target slave printer.

Optionally, the distributed printing control apparatus is further specifically configured to acquire a printing device parameter of each slave printer in the printer group.

Optionally, the printing module 90 is further specifically configured to, if the execution printer is a main printer, complete the dot-matrix image to complete the printing operation;

As shown in the schematic block diagram of fig. 7, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a distributed printing control apparatus, including:

a first determining module 10' for determining a target slave printer in the printer group based on a printer broadcast issued by the master printer in the network;

a second determination module 20' determining an execution printer from the print group;

a first receiving module 30' for receiving, for a target slave printer, printing device parameters for executing the printer;

the second receiving module 40' is used for receiving the printing sub-job sent by the main printer for the target slave printer, generating a dot matrix image according to the printing sub-job and the printing equipment parameters, and sending the dot matrix image to the main printer or executing the printer;

and the slave printer printing module 50' is used for executing the printing operation according to the complete latticed image sent by the main printer or integrated by the execution printer if the execution printer is the slave printer.

The embodiment of the present invention further provides an image forming apparatus applied to a printer group in the same network, where the image forming apparatus includes a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, and the processor executes the computer program to implement the steps of the distributed printing control method executed by the master printer or the slave printer according to the above embodiment.

The schematic structural diagram of the image forming apparatus may be specifically as shown in fig. 8. The image forming apparatus 100 shown in fig. 8 includes 4 process cartridges (Y, M, C, K), a transfer belt 105, a secondary transfer roller 106, an entrance sheet cassette 107, a manual sheet feed tray 108, a sheet feed roller 109, a conveying roller 110, a Laser Scanning Unit (LSU) 111, a heat roller 112, a pressure roller 113, a discharge roller 114, a discharge sheet cassette 115, and the like. The 4 processing boxes (Y, M, C, K) correspond to 4 printing colors respectively, and the specific structure comprises photosensitive drums 101Y-K, charging rollers 102Y-K, developing rollers 103Y-K and powder bins 104Y-K for containing toner of respective colors respectively. The LSU 111 shown in fig. 1 is in the form of a single LSU that includes four optical paths. The four charging rollers 102Y-K are used to charge the surfaces of the four photosensitive drums 101Y-K, respectively, and the four optical paths of the LSU 111 emit laser beams, respectively, to form electrostatic latent images on the surfaces of the photosensitive drums 101Y-K. The four developing rollers 103Y-K are used to develop and form toner images of the respective colors on the surfaces of the photosensitive drums 101Y-K, respectively. The image forming apparatus 100 employs a secondary transfer method, in which four photosensitive drums 101Y-K sequentially transfer toner images onto a transfer belt 105, and then color toner images formed on the transfer belt 105 are secondarily transferred onto paper by a secondary transfer roller 106. The inlet cassette 107 stores sheets, and the feed roller 109 conveys the stored sheets to the conveyance path. The conveyance roller 110 conveys the sheet on the conveyance path to the secondary transfer roller 106 to perform transfer image formation. The secondary transfer roller 106 carries the image-formed sheet to a nip of a heat roller 112 and a pressure roller 113, the heat roller 112 and the pressure roller 113 are used to fix toner images on the sheet, the heat roller 112 may adopt a ceramic heating method, the heat roller 112 and the pressure roller 113 carry the fixed sheet to a discharge roller 114, the discharge roller 114 discharges the sheet to a discharge paper cassette 115 and stacks it, thereby completing image printing.

Embodiments of the present invention also provide a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the computer program implements the steps of the distributed printing control method executed by a master printer or a slave printer according to the above embodiments.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, only the above-mentioned division of the functional units and modules is illustrated, and in practical applications, the above-mentioned function distribution may be performed by different functional units and modules according to needs, that is, the internal structure of the apparatus is divided into different functional units or modules, so as to perform all or part of the functions described above.

The above examples are only intended to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, but not to limit it; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some technical features may be equivalently replaced; such modifications and substitutions do not substantially depart from the spirit and scope of the embodiments of the present invention, and are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A distributed print control method for use in a master printer of a printer group, the printer group further including a plurality of slave printers connected to the same network, the method comprising:

preprocessing the print job and determining to execute distributed printing;

determining a target slave printer to be used;

determining an executing printer from the print group;

splitting the print job into one or more print sub-jobs;

sending the one or more print sub-jobs to the target slave printer;

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining an executing printer from the print group comprises:

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the printer with the best printing performance is the main printer.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the printing apparatus parameters include a color conversion table, a color adjustment table, and halftone conversion parameters.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said pre-processing the print job to determine to perform distributed printing comprises:

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the target to employ is from a printer, comprising:

7. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to said sending printing device parameters of said executing printer to said target slave printer, further comprising:

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said performing a printing operation based on said full latticed image by said performing a printer comprises:

9. A distributed print control method for use in a group of slave printers, including one or more slave printers, co-connected to the same network as the master printer, the method comprising:

determining an executing printer from the print group;

if the executing printer is the slave printer, the executing printer completes the printing operation according to the complete latticed image sent by the master printer or integrated by the executing printer, wherein the master printer executes the steps of the method according to claims 1 to 8 in the network.

10. A distributed print control apparatus, characterized in that the apparatus comprises:

11. A distributed print control apparatus, characterized in that the apparatus comprises:

a slave printer printing module, configured to, if the executing printer is the slave printer, complete a printing operation according to a complete latticed image sent by the master printer or integrated by the executing printer, where the master printer executes the steps of the method according to claims 1 to 8 in the network.

12. An image forming apparatus applied to a group of printers in the same network, the image forming apparatus comprising a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the processor implements the steps of the distributed print control method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 when executing the computer program, or implements the steps of the distributed print control method according to claim 9 when executing the computer program.

13. A computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored which, when being executed by a processor, carries out the steps of the distributed print control method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, or which, when being executed by a processor, carries out the steps of the distributed print control method according to claim 9.