CN116893791A

CN116893791A - Printing control method, device, storage medium and main image forming device

Info

Publication number: CN116893791A
Application number: CN202310916995.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王雪松
Original assignee: Zhuhai Pantum Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Zhuhai Pantum Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2023-07-25
Filing date: 2023-07-25
Publication date: 2023-10-17

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a printing control method, a printing control device, a storage medium and a main image forming device. The method comprises the following steps: judging whether to assist printing or not according to the acquired print job; if the auxiliary printing is judged to be carried out, a printing distribution mode is generated according to the printing job; at least one slave image forming apparatus is controlled to perform printing based on the print distribution mode. According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, at least one slave image forming device can be controlled to print based on the printing distribution mode, so that the time waiting for printing can be reduced when the number of printed pages is very large for a user, and the printing efficiency is improved.

Description

Printing control method, device, storage medium and main image forming device

[ field of technology ]

The present invention relates to the field of image forming technologies, and in particular, to a print control method, a print control apparatus, a storage medium, and a main image forming apparatus.

[ background Art ]

When the number of print pages of a print job is very large, it takes a long time to print with only one image forming apparatus, and the printing efficiency is low. If printing is performed by using a plurality of image forming apparatuses, a user is required to issue a print job for each image forming apparatus, which is cumbersome to operate and has low printing efficiency.

[ invention ]

In view of this, embodiments of the present invention provide a print control method, apparatus, storage medium, and main image forming apparatus for improving printing efficiency.

In one aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a print control method applied to a main image forming apparatus, including:

judging whether to assist printing or not according to the acquired print job;

if the auxiliary printing is judged, a printing distribution mode is generated according to the printing job;

and controlling at least one slave image forming device to print based on the printing distribution mode.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

prompting a user to go to at least one piece of information of the paper file of the print job acquired from the image forming apparatus according to the printing result.

Optionally, the determining whether to perform the assisted printing according to the acquired print job includes:

judging whether to perform assisted printing according to at least one of a print mode, a number of printed pages, a number of printed copies of the print job, and a status of the slave image forming apparatus;

when the number of pages or the number of copies of the print job is greater than a set threshold and there is at least one of the slave image forming apparatuses in a ready state, it is determined that the auxiliary printing is possible.

Optionally, the controlling at least one of the slave image forming apparatuses to print based on the print distribution mode includes:

generating at least one piece of printing information corresponding to the slave image forming device based on the printing distribution mode;

transmitting, by a routing image forming apparatus, print information corresponding to each of the slave image forming apparatuses involved in the print distribution manner, so that each of the slave image forming apparatuses performs printing in response to the print information corresponding to the slave image forming apparatus, and completing assisted output of a print job;

wherein the main image forming apparatus is configured as a routing image forming apparatus; alternatively, one of the slave image forming apparatuses is set to route the image forming apparatus.

Optionally, when the print mode of the print job is a piece-by-piece print, the print distribution manner includes:

distributing print jobs equally to the master image forming apparatus and the slave image forming apparatus according to the number of print pages of the print jobs; or alternatively, the process may be performed,

generating the number n of the secondary image forming devices for assisting printing according to the number of printing pages of the printing job and the total number of the secondary image forming devices, wherein n is an integer and is more than or equal to 0;

Evenly distributing the print job to the master image forming apparatus and the n slave image forming apparatuses according to the number of print pages of the print job; or alternatively, the process may be performed,

distributing the print job to the master image forming apparatus and the n slave image forming apparatuses in copies according to the number of prints of the print job; or alternatively, the process may be performed,

distributing the print job to the slave image forming apparatus on average according to the number of print pages of the print job; or alternatively, the process may be performed,

distributing the print job to n said slave image forming apparatuses on average according to the number of pages printed by said print job; or alternatively, the process may be performed,

generating the number n of slave image forming devices for assisting printing according to the number of printing pages of the printing job and the total number of the slave image forming devices, wherein n is an integer and is more than or equal to 0;

and distributing the print job to n slave image forming devices according to the print copies of the print job.

Optionally, when the print mode of the print job is page-by-page printing, the print distribution manner includes:

distributing the print jobs to the master image forming device and the n slave image forming devices page by page according to the corresponding relation between the print pages and the number of the slave image forming devices and the print pages of the print jobs; or alternatively, the process may be performed,

and distributing the print jobs to the n slave image forming devices page by page according to the corresponding relation between the print pages and the number of the slave image forming devices and the print pages of the print jobs.

Optionally, the master image forming apparatus and at least one of the slave image forming apparatuses are networked through a bluetooth piconet.

In another aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a print control apparatus, including:

the judging module is used for judging whether to perform assisted printing according to the acquired print job; if the auxiliary printing is judged, a trigger generation module generates a printing distribution mode according to the printing job;

and the control module is used for controlling at least one slave image forming device to print based on the printing distribution mode.

In another aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a storage medium, including: the storage medium includes a stored program, wherein the program, when executed, controls a device in which the storage medium is located to execute the above-described print control method.

In another aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a main image forming apparatus including a memory for storing information including program instructions and a processor for controlling execution of the program instructions, wherein the program instructions implement steps of the above-described print control method when loaded and executed by the processor.

In the technical scheme of the printing control method provided by the embodiment of the invention, whether to assist printing is judged according to the acquired printing job; if the auxiliary printing is judged to be carried out, a printing distribution mode is generated according to the printing job; at least one slave image forming apparatus is controlled to perform printing based on the print distribution mode. According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, at least one slave image forming device can be controlled to print based on the printing distribution mode, so that the time waiting for printing can be reduced when the number of printed pages is very large for a user, and the printing efficiency is improved.

[ description of the drawings ]

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings that are needed in the embodiments will be briefly described below, it being obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and that other drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a print control method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of another print control method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a connection between a master image forming apparatus and at least one slave image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4a is a schematic diagram of a print distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4b is a schematic diagram illustrating another print distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4c is a schematic diagram illustrating another print distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4d is a schematic diagram illustrating another print distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4e is a schematic diagram illustrating another print distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4f is a schematic diagram illustrating another print distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4g is a schematic diagram of another print distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4h is a schematic diagram illustrating another print distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4i is a schematic diagram of another print distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4j is a schematic diagram illustrating another print distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of controlling a master image forming apparatus and at least one slave image forming apparatus to print based on a print distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention to print out a print result;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a print control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a main image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[ detailed description ] of the invention

For a better understanding of the technical solution of the present invention, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention refers to the accompanying drawings.

It should be understood that the described embodiments are merely some, but not all, embodiments of the invention. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the invention without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the 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 this application 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 one way of describing an association of associated objects, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or b, which may represent: the first and second cases exist separately, and the first and second cases exist separately. In addition, the character "/" herein generally indicates that the front and rear associated objects are an "or" relationship.

An embodiment of the invention provides a printing control method. Fig. 1 is a flowchart of a print control method according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 1, where the method includes:

step 102, judging whether to perform assisted printing according to the acquired print job.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the steps are performed by a main image forming apparatus, which is an image forming apparatus that acquires a print job and distributes the acquired print job.

And 104, if the auxiliary printing is judged, generating a printing distribution mode according to the printing job.

And step 106, controlling at least one slave image forming device to print based on the printing distribution mode.

In the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, whether to assist printing is judged according to the acquired print job; if the auxiliary printing is judged to be carried out, a printing distribution mode is generated according to the printing job; at least one slave image forming apparatus is controlled to perform printing based on the print distribution mode. According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, at least one slave image forming device can be controlled to print based on the printing distribution mode, so that the time waiting for printing can be reduced when the number of printed pages is very large for a user, and the printing efficiency is improved.

An embodiment of the present invention provides another print control method. Fig. 2 is a flowchart of another printing control method according to an embodiment of the invention, as shown in fig. 2, the method includes:

step 202, judging whether to perform auxiliary printing according to the acquired print job, if yes, executing step 204; if not, go to step 210.

The main image forming apparatus, the route image forming apparatus, and the slave image forming apparatus in an embodiment of the present invention are image forming apparatuses including, but not limited to, printers, copiers, facsimile machines, scanners, and multifunctional integrated machines that integrate functions of printing, copying, faxing, scanning, and the like, and function to print images or characters on an imaging medium.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of communication connection between a master image forming apparatus and at least one slave image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 3, the master image forming apparatus 1 is connected to at least one slave image forming apparatus 2. The number of slave image forming apparatuses 2 may be plural, for example, 6. In this case, the main image forming apparatus 1 may be configured as a routing image forming apparatus, and one of the slave image forming apparatuses 2 may also be configured as a routing image forming apparatus. Illustratively, when one of the slave image forming apparatuses 2 is set as the route image forming apparatus, the route image forming apparatus receives the print job of the master image forming apparatus and its distribution mode instruction, and distributes the print job corresponding to the print job distribution mode to the other corresponding slave image forming apparatuses. Illustratively, when the master image forming apparatus 1 is set as a route image forming apparatus, the master image forming apparatus generates an allocation scheme from the print job and distributes the print job corresponding to the print job allocation scheme to the corresponding slave image forming apparatus. The master image forming apparatus 1 and at least one slave image forming apparatus 2 are networked through a bluetooth piconet. The wireless network for connecting eight devices can be formed without the support of other network hardware or network facilities, and the setting positions of the image forming devices in the Bluetooth piconet networking mode are usually close, so that the printing result can be conveniently retrieved by a user during printing assistance.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a main image forming apparatus is provided as a route image forming apparatus; alternatively, from one of the image forming apparatuses to be set as the routing image forming apparatus, the routing image forming apparatus may act as a gateway to process and distribute the print job.

In one embodiment of the present invention, after each image forming apparatus is started, connection may be made to a nearby image forming apparatus through bluetooth as a slave image forming apparatus. Wherein a user can set any one of the image forming apparatuses as a routing image forming apparatus, and an apparatus actively applying for connecting the routing image forming apparatus can be set as a slave image forming apparatus. When bluetooth is not occupied, each slave image forming apparatus may automatically connect to the route image forming apparatus and start a default start to the assist print mode.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the slave image forming apparatuses report their own status to the route image forming apparatus in real time, and the route image forming apparatus saves and manages the status of each slave image forming apparatus so that the status of each slave image forming apparatus can be obtained in time when the slave image forming apparatus applies for assistance in printing.

Specifically, whether or not to perform the auxiliary printing is determined according to at least one of the print mode, the number of prints, and the status of the slave image forming apparatus of the print job, and when the number of prints or the number of prints of the print job is greater than the set threshold and there is at least one status of the slave image forming apparatus that is in the ready state, it is determined that the auxiliary printing is possible, and step 204 is performed; when the number of pages or the number of copies of the print job is less than or equal to the set threshold or the state of each slave image forming apparatus is the not ready state, it is determined that the assist printing is not possible, and step 210 is performed.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the set threshold value can be set according to the actual situation, for example, the set threshold value of the number of printed pages is 30 pages, and the set threshold value of the number of printed copies is 3 copies.

Alternatively, when it is determined that the auxiliary printing is available, the user may be prompted through the display screen to perform the auxiliary printing, and after the user confirms that the auxiliary printing is performed, step 204 is continued.

Step 204, generating a printing distribution mode according to the printing job.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the print mode of the print job is divided into a piece-by-piece printing and a page-by-page printing. Wherein the printing by parts is performed in the order of each part of the print job. For example, the print job is a two-to-three-page table, and the print order of the print by one print is a first page of the first copy, a second page of the first copy, a third page of the first copy, a first page of the second copy, a second page of the second copy, and a third page of the second copy. The page-by-page printing is printing in copies in the order of each page of the print job. For example, the print job is a two-to-three-page table, and the print order of the print by one print is a first page of the first copy, a first page of the second copy, a second page of the first copy, a second page of the second copy, a third page of the first copy, and a third page of the second copy.

In an embodiment of the present invention, when a print mode of a print job is a piece-by-piece print, a print distribution manner includes the following scheme:

fig. 4a is a schematic diagram of a print distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 4a, print jobs are distributed equally to a master image forming apparatus and each ready slave image forming apparatus according to the number of print pages of the print jobs. For example, if the number of the master image forming apparatuses is 1, the number of the slave image forming apparatuses whose status is the ready status is 2, the print job is 10 copies, and the number of printed pages per print job is 10 pages, each of the 2 image forming apparatuses prints 33 pages, and 1 image forming apparatus prints 34 pages. Illustratively, 1 image forming apparatus prints the first three copies plus the first three pages of the fourth copy, 1 image forming apparatus prints the last seven pages of the fourth copy plus the first six pages of the fifth, sixth and seventh copies, and 1 image forming apparatus prints the last four pages and the last three copies of the seventh copy. It should be noted that the foregoing is merely illustrative, and the actual allocation manner may be other, which is not limited herein.

In one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4a, according to the number of pages printed by the print job and the total number of slave image forming apparatuses, the number n of slave image forming apparatuses for assisting printing is generated, n is an integer and n is not less than 0; the print jobs are equally distributed to the master image forming apparatus and the n slave image forming apparatuses in accordance with the number of print pages of the print jobs. It is to be understood that if the number of copies to be printed is x, the number of preferred image forming apparatuses involved in printing is k, the number of image forming apparatuses which are in a ready state and can print the current job is a, and the total number of image forming apparatuses for assisting printing is y, then the slave image forming apparatus for assisting printing n=y-1 (the master image forming apparatus is the image forming apparatus for assisting printing). When the remainder (total number of print jobs/threshold number of auxiliary print jobs) is not equal to 0, the number k of preferred image forming apparatuses involved in printing is (total number of print jobs/threshold number of auxiliary print jobs) and then an integer +1; when the remainder of (the total number of print jobs/the threshold number of auxiliary print pages) =0, k= (the total number of print jobs)/(the threshold number of auxiliary print pages). When k is smaller than a, the number n of slave image forming apparatuses is (k-1); when k is greater than or equal to a, the number n of slave image forming apparatuses is (a-1), and the print job is equally distributed to the master image forming apparatus and the n slave image forming apparatuses. For example, if the number of the master image forming apparatuses is 1, the number of the slave image forming apparatuses whose status is the ready status is 2, the print job is 10 copies, and the number of printed pages per print job is 10 pages, each of the 2 image forming apparatuses prints 33 pages, and 1 image forming apparatus prints 34 pages. Illustratively, 1 image forming apparatus prints the first three copies plus the first three pages of the fourth copy, 1 image forming apparatus prints the last seven pages of the fourth copy plus the first six pages of the fifth, sixth and seventh copies, and 1 image forming apparatus prints the last four pages and the last three copies of the seventh copy. It should be noted that the foregoing is merely illustrative, and the actual allocation manner may be other, which is not limited herein.

FIG. 4b is a schematic diagram of another print distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4b, according to the number of print pages of a print job and the total number of slave image forming apparatuses, the number n of slave image forming apparatuses for assisting printing is generated, n is an integer and n is not less than 0; the print jobs are distributed to the master image forming apparatus and the n slave image forming apparatuses in copies in accordance with the number of print copies of the print jobs. It is to be understood that if the number of copies to be printed is x, the number of preferred image forming apparatuses involved in printing is k, the number of image forming apparatuses which are in a ready state and can print the current job is a, and the total number of image forming apparatuses for assisting printing is y, then the slave image forming apparatus for assisting printing n=y-1 (the master image forming apparatus is the image forming apparatus for assisting printing). When the remainder (total number of print jobs/threshold number of auxiliary print jobs) is not equal to 0, the number k of preferred image forming apparatuses involved in printing is a value of +1 after rounding (total number of print jobs/threshold number of auxiliary print jobs); when the remainder of (the total number of print jobs/the threshold number of auxiliary print pages) =0, k= (the total number of print jobs)/(the threshold number of auxiliary print pages). When x.ltoreq.k < a or x.ltoreq.a.ltoreq.k, the number n from the image forming apparatus is (x-1); when k < a and k < x, the number n of slave image forming apparatuses is (k-1); when k.gtoreq.a and a < x, the number n of slave image forming apparatuses is (a-1). When the number of print copies x=y, the x print jobs are equally distributed to the image forming apparatus in units of copies based on the numbering order of the image forming apparatus until all the print jobs of the copies are distributed. For example, if the number of main image forming apparatuses is 1, the number of sub image forming apparatuses in which the state of the sub image forming apparatus is in the ready state is 2, the print job is 3 copies, and the number of print pages of each print job is 3 pages, 1 main image forming apparatus prints 1 copy (3 pages), 1 sub image forming apparatus prints 1 copy (3 pages), and 1 sub image forming apparatus prints 1 copy (3 pages). It should be noted that the foregoing is merely illustrative, and the actual allocation manner may be other, which is not limited herein.

Fig. 4c is a schematic diagram of another print distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention, where x/y=z is used to obtain a copy number base value z of each image forming apparatus when x > y is printed, and then the remainder of (x/y) is used as a remainder c of the printed copy number, and is sequentially distributed to the image forming apparatuses in order of one copy. For example, if the number of main image forming apparatuses is 1, the number of sub image forming apparatuses in which the state of the sub image forming apparatus is in the ready state is 3, the print job is 10 copies, and the number of print pages of each print job is 3 pages, then 1 main image forming apparatus prints 2 copies+1 copy (3 pages per copy), 1 sub image forming apparatus prints 2 copies (3 pages per copy), and 1 sub image forming apparatus prints 2 copies (3 pages per copy). It should be noted that the foregoing is merely illustrative, and the actual allocation manner may be other, which is not limited herein.

Fig. 4d is a schematic diagram of a print distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the print job is distributed equally to the slave image forming apparatuses according to the number of print pages of the print job as shown in fig. 4 d. For example, if the number of slave image forming apparatuses in which the state of the slave image forming apparatus is in the ready state is 3, the number of print jobs is 10, and the number of print pages per print job is 10, 1 slave image forming apparatus prints 33 pages, and 1 slave image forming apparatus prints 34 pages. Illustratively, 1 first three pages of the first three copies plus the fourth copy are printed from the image forming apparatus. 1 from the image forming apparatus to print the last seven pages of the fourth copy, plus the first six pages of the fifth, sixth and seventh copies, 1 from the image forming apparatus to print the last four pages and the last three copies of the seventh copy. It should be noted that the foregoing is merely illustrative, and the actual allocation manner may be other, which is not limited herein.

In the provision of the present invention, as shown in fig. 4d, the number n of slave image forming apparatuses for assisting printing is generated according to the number of pages printed by the print job and the total number of slave image forming apparatuses, n being an integer and n being equal to or greater than 0; the print job is equally divided into n slave image forming apparatuses according to the number of print pages of the print job. It is to be understood that if the number of copies to be printed is x, the number of preferred image forming apparatuses involved in printing is k, the number of image forming apparatuses which are in a ready state and can print the current job is a, and the total number of image forming apparatuses for assisting printing is y, then the slave image forming apparatus n=y for assisting printing (the master image forming apparatus is not an image forming apparatus for assisting printing). When the remainder (total number of print jobs/threshold number of auxiliary print jobs) is not equal to 0, the number k of preferred image forming apparatuses involved in printing is a value of +1 after rounding (total number of print jobs/threshold number of auxiliary print jobs); when the remainder of (the total number of print jobs/the threshold number of auxiliary print pages) =0, k= (the total number of print jobs)/(the threshold number of auxiliary print pages). When k is smaller than a, the number n of slave image forming apparatuses is k; when k is greater than or equal to a, the number n of slave image forming apparatuses is a, and the print job is equally distributed to n slave image forming apparatuses. For example, if the number of slave image forming apparatuses in which the state of the slave image forming apparatus is in the ready state is 3, the number of print jobs is 10, and the number of print pages per print job is 10, 1 slave image forming apparatus prints 33 pages, and 1 slave image forming apparatus prints 34 pages. Illustratively, 1 first three pages plus a fourth copy are printed from the image forming apparatus, 1 second seven pages plus first six pages of the fifth, sixth and seventh copies are printed from the image forming apparatus, and 1 second four pages and last three copies of the seventh copy are printed from the image forming apparatus. It should be noted that the foregoing is merely illustrative, and the actual allocation manner may be other, which is not limited herein.

FIG. 4e is a schematic diagram of another print distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4e, according to the number of print pages of a print job and the total number of slave image forming apparatuses, the number n of slave image forming apparatuses for assisting printing is generated, n is an integer and n is not less than 0; the print job is allocated to n slave image forming apparatuses by print copies of the print job. It is to be understood that if the number of copies to be printed is x, the number of preferred image forming apparatuses involved in printing is k, the number of image forming apparatuses which are in a ready state and can print the current job is a, and the total number of image forming apparatuses for assisting printing is y, then the slave image forming apparatus n=y for assisting printing (the master image forming apparatus is not an image forming apparatus for assisting printing). When the remainder (total number of print jobs/threshold number of auxiliary print jobs) is not equal to 0, the number k of preferred image forming apparatuses involved in printing is (total number of print jobs/threshold number of auxiliary print jobs) and then an integer +1; when the remainder of (the total number of print jobs/the threshold number of auxiliary print pages) =0, k= (the total number of print jobs)/(the threshold number of auxiliary print pages). When x.ltoreq.k < a or x.ltoreq.a.ltoreq.k, the number n=x from the image forming apparatus; when k < a and k < x, n=k from the number of image forming apparatuses; when k is equal to or greater than a and a < x, the number of slave image forming apparatuses n=a.

When x=y, halving 1 share of the print copies to the image forming apparatus in the numbering order of the image forming apparatus until the distributed copies are equal to the total copies. For example, if the number of slave image forming apparatuses in which the state of the slave image forming apparatus is in the ready state is 3, the print job is 3 copies, and the number of print pages per print job is 3 pages, 1 copy (3 pages) is printed by 1 slave image forming apparatus, and 1 copy (3 pages) is printed by 1 slave image forming apparatus. It should be noted that the foregoing is merely illustrative, and the actual allocation manner may be other, which is not limited herein.

Fig. 4f is a schematic diagram of another print distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention, where x/y=z is used to obtain a base value z of the number of copies of each image forming apparatus when x > y, and then the remainder of (x/y) is used as a remainder c of the number of printed copies, and is sequentially distributed to the image forming apparatuses in order of one copy. For example, if the master image forming apparatus does not participate in this assisting print, the number of slave image forming apparatuses in which the state of the slave image forming apparatus is in the ready state is 4, the print job is 10 copies, and the number of print pages of each print job is 3 pages, 1 slave image forming apparatus prints 2 copies+1 copy (3 pages per copy), 1 slave image forming apparatus prints 2 copies (3 pages per copy), and 1 slave image forming apparatus prints 2 copies (3 pages per copy). It should be noted that the foregoing is merely illustrative, and the actual allocation manner may be other, which is not limited herein.

In an embodiment of the present invention, when a print mode of a print job is page-by-page printing, a print distribution manner includes the following schemes:

fig. 4g is a schematic diagram of another print distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which, as shown in fig. 4g, print jobs are distributed equally to a master image forming apparatus and each slave image forming apparatus according to the number of print pages of the print jobs. For example, if the number of print pages of the print job is 1000 pages, the print job is 500 copies, and the number of print pages of each print job is 2 pages, 1 master image forming apparatus prints 333 pages, 1 slave image forming apparatus prints 333 pages, and 1 slave image forming apparatus prints 334 pages. Specifically, the master image forming apparatus and the slave image forming apparatus print a first page and/or a second page of the print job, respectively, and illustratively, the master image forming apparatus prints the first page of the print job, prints 333 copies of the first page altogether, prints 167 copies of the first page and the second page of the print job altogether, prints 166 copies of the second page altogether, prints 334 copies of the second page altogether, and prints the second page of the print job altogether. It should be noted that the foregoing is merely illustrative, and the actual allocation manner may be other, which is not limited herein.

In one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4g, the number n of slave image forming apparatuses for assisting printing is generated according to the number of pages printed by the print job and the total number of slave image forming apparatuses, n being an integer and n being not less than 0; the print jobs are equally distributed to the master image forming apparatus and the n slave image forming apparatuses in accordance with the number of print pages of the print jobs. If the number of preferred image forming apparatuses involved in printing is k, the number of image forming apparatuses in a ready state and capable of printing the current job is a, the total number of image forming apparatuses for assisting printing is y, and the number of slave image forming apparatuses for assisting printing is n=y-1 (the master image forming apparatus is the image forming apparatus for assisting printing). When the remainder (total number of pages of print job/threshold number of pages to be printed) is not equal to 0, k is a value of +1 after (total number of pages of print job/threshold number of pages to be printed); when the remainder of (the total number of print jobs/the threshold number of auxiliary print pages) =0, k= (the total number of print jobs)/(the threshold number of auxiliary print pages). When k < a, the number n of slave image forming apparatuses is (k-1); when k.gtoreq.a, the number n of slave image forming apparatuses is (a-1). For example, if the number of main image forming apparatuses is 1, the number of sub image forming apparatuses in which the state of the sub image forming apparatus is in the ready state is 2, the print job is 500 copies, and the number of print pages per print job is 2, 1 main image forming apparatus prints 333 pages, 1 sub image forming apparatus prints 333 pages, and 1 sub image forming apparatus prints 334 pages. Specifically, the master image forming apparatus and the slave image forming apparatus print a first page and/or a second page of the print job, respectively, and illustratively, the master image forming apparatus prints the first page of the print job, prints 333 copies of the first page altogether, prints 167 copies of the first page and the second page of the print job altogether, prints 166 copies of the second page altogether, prints 334 copies of the second page altogether, and prints the second page of the print job altogether. It should be noted that the foregoing is merely illustrative, and the actual allocation manner may be other, which is not limited herein.

In one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4g, the number n of slave image forming apparatuses for assisting printing is generated according to the number of pages printed by the print job and the total number of slave image forming apparatuses, n being an integer and n being not less than 0; according to the correspondence between the number of print pages and the number of slave image forming apparatuses, the print job is allocated page by page to the master image forming apparatus and the n slave image forming apparatuses according to the number of print pages of the print job. If the number of preferred image forming apparatuses involved in printing is k, the number of image forming apparatuses which are in a ready state and can print the current job is a, the number of pages per page of the page-by-page print job is p, the total number of image forming apparatuses for assisting printing is y, and the slave image forming apparatus for assisting printing n=y-1 (the master image forming apparatus is the image forming apparatus for assisting printing). When the remainder (print job total number of pages/number of pages to assist threshold) is not equal to 0, k is a value of +1 rounded after (print job total number of pages/number of pages to assist threshold); when the remainder of (the total number of print jobs/the threshold number of auxiliary print pages) =0, k= (the total number of print jobs)/(the threshold number of auxiliary print pages). When k is smaller than a, the number n of slave image forming apparatuses is (k-1); when n is greater than or equal to a, the number n of slave image forming apparatuses is (a-1). When p < k < a or p < a.ltoreq.k, the number of pages to be printed by each image forming apparatus is equally distributed in accordance with the value rounded after (total number of pages printed/y). For example, there is currently 1000 pages of print, 500 copies of print job, and each copy of print job has 2 pages of print, then 1 master image forming apparatus prints 333 pages, 1 slave image forming apparatus prints 333 pages, and 1 slave image forming apparatus prints 334 pages. Specifically, the master image forming apparatus and the slave image forming apparatus print a first page and/or a second page of the print job, respectively, and illustratively, the master image forming apparatus prints the first page of the print job, prints 333 copies of the first page altogether, prints 167 copies of the first page and the second page of the print job altogether, prints 166 copies of the second page altogether, prints 334 copies of the second page altogether, and prints the second page of the print job altogether. It should be noted that the foregoing is merely illustrative, and the actual allocation manner may be other, which is not limited herein.

FIG. 4h is a schematic diagram of another print distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention, where when k < a and k is less than or equal to p or when k is less than or equal to a and p is less than or equal to a, the rounded value is obtained after z is (p/y) to obtain the page number base value z of each image forming apparatus, and then the remainder of p/y is used as the print page number c to be sequentially distributed to the assisting image forming apparatuses in order of 1 page, as shown in FIG. 4 h. For example, if the number of master image forming apparatuses is 1, the number of slave image forming apparatuses whose status is in the ready state is 3, the number of print jobs is 3, and the number of print pages of each print job is 5, 1 master image forming apparatus prints a first page and a second page of each print job, 1 slave image forming apparatus prints a third page of each print job, 1 slave image forming apparatus prints a fourth page of each print job, and 1 slave image forming apparatus prints a fifth page of each print job. It should be noted that the foregoing is merely illustrative, and the actual allocation manner may be other, which is not limited herein.

Fig. 4i is a schematic diagram of another print distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which, as shown in fig. 4i, print jobs are distributed equally to slave image forming apparatuses according to the number of print pages of the print jobs. For example, if the number of print pages of the print job is 1000 pages, the print job is 500 copies, and the number of print pages of each print job is 2 pages, 1 slave image forming apparatus prints 333 pages, and 1 slave image forming apparatus prints 334 pages. Specifically, the master image forming apparatus and the slave image forming apparatus print the first page and/or the second page of the print job, respectively, and illustratively, 1 slave image forming apparatus prints the first page of the print job, 333 copies of the first page altogether, 1 slave image forming apparatus prints the first page of the print job, 167 copies of the first page and the second page of the print job altogether, 166 copies of the second page altogether, 1 slave image forming apparatus prints the second page of the print job, 334 copies of the second page altogether. It should be noted that the foregoing is merely illustrative, and the actual allocation manner may be other, which is not limited herein.

In one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4i, the number n of slave image forming apparatuses for assisting printing is generated according to the number of pages printed by the print job and the total number of slave image forming apparatuses, n being an integer and n being 0 or more; the print job is equally divided into n slave image forming apparatuses according to the number of print pages of the print job. If the number of preferred image forming apparatuses involved in printing is k, the number of image forming apparatuses in a ready state and capable of printing the current job is a, the total number of image forming apparatuses for assisting printing is y, and the number of slave image forming apparatuses for assisting printing is n=y (the master image forming apparatus is not an image forming apparatus for assisting printing). When the remainder (print job total number of pages/number of pages to assist threshold) is not equal to 0, k is a value of +1 rounded after (print job total number of pages/number of pages to assist threshold); when the remainder of (the total number of print jobs/the threshold number of auxiliary print pages) =0, k= (the total number of print jobs)/(the threshold number of auxiliary print pages). When k is smaller than a, the number n of slave image forming apparatuses is k; when n is greater than or equal to a, the number of slave image forming apparatuses n is a, and the print job is equally distributed to n slave image forming apparatuses. For example, if the number of slave image forming apparatuses in which the state of the slave image forming apparatus is in the ready state is 3, the print job is 500 copies, and the number of print pages per print job is 2, 1 slave image forming apparatus prints 333 pages, and 1 slave image forming apparatus prints 334 pages. Specifically, the master image forming apparatus and the slave image forming apparatus print the first page and/or the second page of the print job, respectively, and illustratively, 1 slave image forming apparatus prints the first page of the print job, 333 copies of the first page altogether, 1 slave image forming apparatus prints the first page of the print job, 167 copies of the first page and the second page of the print job altogether, 166 copies of the second page altogether, 1 slave image forming apparatus prints the second page of the print job, 334 copies of the second page altogether. It should be noted that the foregoing is merely illustrative, and the actual allocation manner may be other, which is not limited herein.

In one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4i, the number n of slave image forming apparatuses for assisting printing is generated according to the number of pages printed by the print job and the total number of slave image forming apparatuses, n being an integer and n being 0 or more; according to the correspondence between the number of print pages and the number of slave image forming apparatuses n, the print job is allocated to the n slave image forming apparatuses page by page in accordance with the number of print pages of the print job. If the number of preferred image forming apparatuses involved in printing is k, the number of image forming apparatuses which are in a ready state and can print the current job is a, the number of pages per page of the page-by-page print job is p, the total number of image forming apparatuses for assisting printing is y, and the slave image forming apparatus n=y for assisting printing (the master image forming apparatus is not an image forming apparatus for assisting printing). When the remainder (print job total number of pages/number of pages to assist threshold) is not equal to 0, k is a value of +1 rounded after (print job total number of pages/number of pages to assist threshold); when the remainder of (the total number of print jobs/the threshold number of auxiliary print pages) =0, k= (the total number of print jobs)/(the threshold number of auxiliary print pages). When k is smaller than a, the number n of slave image forming apparatuses is k; when n is greater than or equal to a, from the number of image forming apparatuses n to a, when p < k < a or p < a.ltoreq.k, the number of pages to be printed by each image forming apparatus is equally distributed in accordance with a value rounded (total number of pages printed/y). For example, there is currently 1000 pages of print job, 500 copies of print job, and each copy of print job has 2 pages of print job, 1 slave image forming apparatus prints 333 pages, and 1 slave image forming apparatus prints 334 pages. Specifically, the master image forming apparatus and the slave image forming apparatus print the first page and/or the second page of the print job, respectively, and illustratively, 1 slave image forming apparatus prints the first page of the print job, 333 copies of the first page altogether, 1 slave image forming apparatus prints the first page of the print job, 167 copies of the first page and the second page of the print job altogether, 166 copies of the second page altogether, 1 slave image forming apparatus prints the second page of the print job, 334 copies of the second page altogether. It should be noted that the foregoing is merely illustrative, and the actual allocation manner may be other, which is not limited herein.

FIG. 4j is a schematic diagram of another print distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention, where when k < a and k is less than or equal to p or when k is less than or equal to a and p is less than or equal to a, the rounded value after z is (p/y) is obtained to obtain the page number base value z of each image forming apparatus, and then the remainder of p/y is used as the print page number c to be sequentially distributed to the assisting image forming apparatuses in the order of 1 page, as shown in FIG. 4 j. For example, there is currently 15 pages of the number of print jobs, 3 copies of the number of print jobs, 5 pages of each print job, and if the number of slave image forming apparatuses in which the state of the slave image forming apparatus is ready is 3, specifically, 1 slave image forming apparatus prints the first page and the second page of each print job, 1 slave image forming apparatus prints the third page and the fourth page of each print job, and 1 slave image forming apparatus prints the fifth page of each print job. It should be noted that the foregoing is merely illustrative, and the actual allocation manner may be other, which is not limited herein.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the panel driver may prompt several of the above-mentioned print distribution modes and specific print time periods, and may select which print distribution mode is used for assisting printing by the user.

In an embodiment of the invention, the job time of each image forming device can be better coordinated by distributing the print jobs according to the print mode, so that the flow of the print jobs is not complex, and the recovery of paper after the printing is finished can be more concise and convenient.

Step 206, controlling at least one slave image forming apparatus to print based on the print distribution mode.

Specifically, fig. 5 is a flowchart of controlling a master image forming apparatus and at least one slave image forming apparatus to print based on a print distribution method according to an embodiment of the present invention, where step 206 includes:

step 2062, generating at least one piece of print information corresponding to the image forming apparatus based on the print distribution method.

For example, if the user performs printing using the print distribution method as shown in fig. 4h, the slave image forming apparatus that prints the third page of the print job is the slave image forming apparatus No. 1, the slave image forming apparatus that prints the fourth page of the print job is the slave image forming apparatus No. 2, and the slave image forming apparatus that prints the fifth page of the print job is the slave image forming apparatus No. 3, then the print information of the first page and the second page of the print job is generated by the master image forming apparatus, the print information of the third page of the print job is printed by the slave image forming apparatus No. 1, the print information of the fourth page of the print job is printed by the slave image forming apparatus No. 2, and the print information of the fifth page of the print job is printed by the slave image forming apparatus No. 3.

Step 2064, transmitting the printing information corresponding to each slave image forming device related to the printing distribution mode by the routing image forming device, so that each slave image forming device can respond to the printing information corresponding to the slave image forming device to print, and completing the assistance output of the printing job.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the route image forming apparatus transmits only the print information to the slave image forming apparatuses assigned to the print job in the print assignment method, and does not transmit the print information to the slave image forming apparatuses not assigned to the print job.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the routing image forming apparatus may compress sheet data of a print job and transmit the compressed sheet data to the slave image forming apparatus via bluetooth to directly print, so that resources of the slave image forming apparatus may be occupied as little as possible.

For example, if the user performs printing using the print distribution method as shown in fig. 4h, the main image forming apparatus performs printing based on the print information of the first page and the second page of the print job, the No. 1 slave image forming apparatus performs printing based on the print information of the third page of the print job, the No. 2 slave image forming apparatus performs printing based on the print information of the fourth page of the print job, and the No. 3 slave image forming apparatus performs printing based on the print information of the fifth page of the print job, so as to print out the print result.

In an embodiment of the present invention, when an unrecoverable error occurs from an image forming apparatus, it is also convenient to timely recycle data from the image forming apparatus, independently complete or distribute this print job to other image forming apparatuses according to the status of the image forming apparatus in the current network to complete the remaining print jobs.

Step 208, prompting the user to go to at least one piece of information of the paper file for acquiring the print job from the image forming device according to the print result, and ending the process.

The information of the paper files of the print job can enable a user to acquire a complete print job output result from at least one slave image forming device according to the page number sequence of the print job, and the order of the paper files taken by the user is not disordered when the user takes the paper files of the job.

For example, if the user performs printing using the print distribution method as shown in fig. 4h, the main image forming apparatus prints the first page and the second page of the print job, the number 1 from the image forming apparatus prints the third page of the print job, the number 2 from the image forming apparatus prints the fourth page of the print job, and the number 3 from the image forming apparatus prints the fifth page of the print job. At this time, the user can take the paper files of the print job in the order of the master image forming apparatus, the slave image forming apparatus No. 1, the slave image forming apparatus No. 2, and the slave image forming apparatus No. 3.

Step 210, printing a print job.

In this step, the main image forming apparatus directly prints the print job.

In the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, whether to assist printing is judged according to the acquired print job; if the auxiliary printing is judged to be carried out, a printing distribution mode is generated according to the printing job; at least one slave image forming apparatus is controlled to perform printing based on the print distribution mode. According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, at least one slave image forming device can be controlled to print based on the printing distribution mode, so that the time waiting for printing can be reduced when the number of printed pages is very large for a user, and the printing efficiency is improved.

It will be appreciated that the above embodiments of the present application are applicable to single sided printing scenes, as well as to double sided printing scenes, and the like.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, at least one slave image forming device can be controlled to print based on the printing distribution mode, and the user is prompted to go to at least one piece of information of the paper file of the print job acquired from the image forming device according to the printing result, so that the time waiting for printing can be reduced when the number of printed pages is very large, the printing result can be taken according to the prompting information, and the printing efficiency is improved.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, when the printing workload is large, the printing efficiency can be greatly improved, the time can be saved, and the utilization rate of the idle image forming device can be improved under the condition that the number of image forming devices in a certain space is large. The most suitable printing distribution mode is adopted through different printing modes, the printing control method is simple, and the user can recover paper more conveniently.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a print control apparatus. Fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a print control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 6, the apparatus includes: a judging module 11, a generating module 12 and a control module 13.

The judging module 11 is used for judging whether to perform assisted printing according to the acquired print job; if it is determined that the printing is assisted, the trigger generation module 12 generates a print distribution method according to the print job.

The control module 13 is for controlling at least one slave image forming apparatus to print based on the print distribution mode.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus further includes: prompt module 14.

The prompting module 14 is used for prompting the user to at least one piece of information of the paper file for acquiring the print job from the image forming apparatus according to the print result.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the judging module 11 is specifically configured to judge whether to perform the assisted printing according to at least one of a print mode, a number of print pages, a number of print copies of the print job, and a status of the slave image forming apparatus.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the determining module 11 is specifically configured to determine that the auxiliary printing is available when the number of pages or the number of copies of the print job is greater than a set threshold and at least one slave image forming apparatus is in a ready state.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the control module 13 is specifically configured to generate at least one piece of printing information corresponding to the image forming apparatus based on the printing distribution manner; transmitting, by the routing image forming apparatus, print information corresponding to each of the slave image forming apparatuses involved in the print distribution manner, for each of the slave image forming apparatuses to perform printing in response to the print information corresponding to the slave image forming apparatus, to complete an assisted output of the print job; wherein the primary image forming apparatus is configured to route the image forming apparatus; alternatively, the slave image forming apparatus is set as the route image forming apparatus.

In an embodiment of the present invention, when a print mode of a print job is a piece-by-piece print, a print distribution manner includes: distributing print jobs equally to the master image forming apparatus and the slave image forming apparatus in accordance with the number of print pages of the print jobs; or generating the number n of slave image forming apparatuses for assisting printing according to the number of printing pages of the print job and the total number of the slave image forming apparatuses, wherein n is an integer and n is more than or equal to 0; distributing the print job equally to the master image forming apparatus and the n slave image forming apparatuses according to the number of print pages of the print job; or generating the number n of slave image forming apparatuses for assisting printing according to the number of printing pages of the print job and the total number of the slave image forming apparatuses, wherein n is an integer and n is more than or equal to 0; the print jobs are distributed to the master image forming apparatus and the n slave image forming apparatuses in copies in accordance with the number of print copies of the print jobs.

In an embodiment of the present invention, when a print mode of a print job is a piece-by-piece print, a print distribution manner includes: distributing the print job equally to the slave image forming apparatuses according to the number of print pages of the print job; or generating the number n of the secondary image forming devices for assisting printing according to the number of printing pages of the printing job and the total number of the secondary image forming devices, wherein n is an integer and is more than or equal to 0; dividing the print job into n sub-image forming apparatuses on average in accordance with the number of pages printed by the print job; or generating the number n of slave image forming apparatuses for assisting printing according to the number of printing pages of the print job and the total number of the slave image forming apparatuses, wherein n is an integer and n is more than or equal to 0; the print job is allocated to n slave image forming apparatuses by print copies of the print job.

In an embodiment of the present invention, when a print mode of a print job is page-by-page printing, a print distribution manner includes: distributing print jobs equally to the master image forming apparatus and the slave image forming apparatus in accordance with the number of print pages of the print jobs; or generating the number n of slave image forming apparatuses for assisting printing according to the number of printing pages of the print job and the total number of the slave image forming apparatuses, wherein n is an integer and n is more than or equal to 0; distributing the print job equally to the master image forming apparatus and the n slave image forming apparatuses according to the number of print pages of the print job; or generating the number n of slave image forming apparatuses for assisting printing according to the number of printing pages of the print job and the total number of the slave image forming apparatuses, wherein n is an integer and n is more than or equal to 0; according to the correspondence between the number of print pages and the number of slave image forming apparatuses, the print job is allocated page by page to the master image forming apparatus and the slave n slave image forming apparatuses according to the number of print pages of the print job.

In an embodiment of the present invention, when a print mode of a print job is page-by-page printing, a print distribution manner includes: distributing the print job equally to the slave image forming apparatuses according to the number of print pages of the print job; or generating the number n of slave image forming apparatuses for assisting printing according to the number of printing pages of the print job and the total number of the slave image forming apparatuses, wherein n is an integer and n is more than or equal to 0; dividing the print job into n sub-image forming apparatuses on average in accordance with the number of pages printed by the print job; or generating the number n of slave image forming apparatuses for assisting printing according to the number of printing pages of the print job and the total number of the slave image forming apparatuses, wherein n is an integer and n is more than or equal to 0; according to the correspondence between the number of print pages and the number of slave image forming apparatuses, the print job is allocated to n slave image forming apparatuses page by page in accordance with the number of print pages of the print job.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a master image forming apparatus and at least one slave image forming apparatus are networked via a Bluetooth piconet.

The print control apparatus provided in this embodiment may be used to implement the print control method in fig. 1 described above, and a specific description may be given to an embodiment of the print control method described above, and a description thereof will not be repeated here.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a storage medium, where the storage medium includes a stored program, and when the program runs, controls a device in which the storage medium is located to execute steps of an embodiment of the above-described print control method, and a specific description may be made of the embodiment of the above-described print control method.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a main image forming apparatus including a memory for storing information including program instructions, and a processor for controlling execution of the program instructions, and the program instructions, when loaded and executed by the processor, implement steps of the embodiment of the print control method described above, and for a specific description, reference may be made to the embodiment of the print control method described above.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a main image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 7, the main image forming apparatus 20 of this embodiment includes: the processor 21, the memory 22, and the computer program 23 stored in the memory 22 and capable of running on the processor 21, where the computer program 23 is executed by the processor 21 to implement the printing control method according to the embodiment, and is not described herein in detail to avoid repetition. Alternatively, the computer program when executed by the processor 21 implements the functions of the embodiments applied to each model/unit in the print control apparatus, and in order to avoid repetition, details are not described here.

The main image forming apparatus 20 includes, but is not limited to, a processor 21, a memory 22. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that fig. 7 is merely an example of the main image forming apparatus 20 and does not constitute a limitation of the main image forming apparatus 20, and may include more or less components than illustrated, or may combine some components, or different components, e.g., the main image forming apparatus may further include an input-output device, a network access device, a bus, and the like.

The processor 21 may be a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU), but may also be other general purpose processors, digital signal processors (Digital Signal Processor, DSP), application specific integrated circuits (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), field-programmable gate arrays (Field-Programmable Gate Array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, or the like. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

The memory 22 may be an internal storage unit of the main image forming apparatus 20, such as a hard disk or a memory of the main image forming apparatus 20. The memory 22 may be an external storage device of the main image forming apparatus 20, such as a plug-in hard disk, a Smart Media Card (SMC), a Secure Digital (SD) Card, a Flash memory Card (Flash Card) or the like provided in the main image forming apparatus 20. Further, the memory 22 may also include both an internal storage unit and an external storage device of the main image forming apparatus 20. The memory 22 is used to store a computer program and other programs and data required for the main image forming apparatus. The memory 22 may also be used to temporarily store data that has been output or is to be output.

It will be clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, specific working procedures of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to corresponding procedures in the foregoing method embodiments, which are not repeated herein.

In the several embodiments provided in the present invention, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods may be implemented in other manners. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, e.g., the division of the elements is merely a logical function division, and there may be additional divisions when actually implemented, e.g., multiple elements or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted or not performed. Alternatively, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be an indirect coupling or communication connection via some interfaces, devices or units, which may be in electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate units may or may not be physically separate, and units shown as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in the embodiments of the present invention may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit. The integrated units may be implemented in hardware or in hardware plus software functional units.

The integrated units implemented in the form of software functional units described above may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. The software functional unit is stored in a storage medium, and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) or a Processor (Processor) to perform part of the steps of the methods according to the embodiments of the present invention. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a random access Memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, or other various media capable of storing program codes.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the invention is not intended to be limiting, but rather to enable any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement or the like to be made within the spirit and principles of the invention.

Claims

1. A print control method applied to a main image forming apparatus, comprising:

judging whether to assist printing or not according to the acquired print job;

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether to perform the assisted printing based on the acquired print job comprises:

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein said controlling at least one of said slave image forming apparatuses to print based on said print distribution manner includes:

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the print mode of the print job is a piece-by-piece printing, the print distribution manner includes:

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the print mode of the print job is page-by-page printing, the print distribution manner comprises:

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the master image forming device and at least one of the slave image forming devices are networked via a bluetooth piconet.

8. A print control apparatus, comprising:

9. A storage medium, comprising: the storage medium includes a stored program, wherein the program, when executed, controls a device in which the storage medium is located to execute the print control method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

10. A main image forming apparatus comprising a memory for storing information including program instructions and a processor for controlling execution of the program instructions, characterized in that the program instructions, when loaded and executed by the processor, implement the steps of the print control method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.