JP2000242455A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the required printed matter from being mixed in the other printed objects and being missed by refusing the reception of a printed matter from a non-intended party. SOLUTION: This device 100 is constituted so as to perform printing on the basis of a print job signal transmitted from a data processor. In this case, printing permitted transmission sources are registered in register means 111 and 112, a discrimination means 113 discriminates whether the transmission source is registered or not from the received print job signal and only when the transmission source is registered, printing is executed by a printing means 110.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and more particularly to a printing apparatus which can refuse to receive a printed material from an unintended partner, so that a required printed material is prevented from being overlooked by being mixed into another printed material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, there has been proposed a printing system in which a plurality of host computers and a printer are connected via a network line, and when one of the host computers transmits a print job signal to the printer, the printer executes printing. ing.

For example, there is a system in which a plurality of users share a single printer in a network environment (see, for example, JP-A-8-2790, JP-A-8-2792). In such a system, if the printer is provided with a plurality of output bins, there is an advantage that by allocating each output bin to each user, it can be used like each mailbox and the sorting operation can be reduced.

[0004]

However, in the above-described conventional printing system, printing Jos from various transmission sources are sent to the printer.
b When the signal arrives, printing is performed without your knowledge. As with e-mail, printed materials are sent from unintended parties or various printed materials are sent, resulting in important printed materials. May be overlooked because it is lost in other printed matter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus which can refuse to receive a printed material from an unintended partner, so that a required printed material is prevented from slipping into another printed material and being overlooked. And

[0006]

Accordingly, a printing apparatus according to the present invention is directed to a printing apparatus which performs printing based on a print job signal to which information of a transmission source transmitted from a data processing apparatus is added. , Print jo allowed to print
registering means for registering the transmission source of the b signal, and receiving the print job signal transmitted from the data processing device,
determining means for checking the transmission source from the ob signal to determine whether the transmission source is registered in the registration means; and printing based on the received print job signal when the transmission source is registered And printing means for executing

[0007] One of the features of the present invention is that a transmission source that has permitted printing is registered, and when a print job signal is received, whether or not the transmission source is registered is determined from information on the transmission source added to the print job signal. In other words, the printing is executed when the information is registered and registered. As a result, it is possible not only to avoid receiving a printed material from an unintended partner, such as a direct mail or a mischief mail, but also to prevent an important printed material from being mixed in with other printed materials.

[0008] The data processing device processes the signal to print jo
Any device that outputs the b signal may be used, but a host computer is generally used. One or more data processing devices may be used.
In addition, the number of printing devices may be one or more.
The data processing device and the printing device may be connected by any means, for example, by a network line. Although the printing apparatus includes a discharge bin, the discharge bin may be one or plural. When a plurality of output bins are provided, if a user is assigned to each of the plurality of output bins and a transmission source is registered for each user, an important printed material can be used as a mailbox that does not enter other printed materials.

When the transmission source is not registered, the received print job signal can be discarded without printing. That is, a discarding unit that discards the print job signal when the discriminating unit determines that the transmission source is not registered in the registering unit may be further provided.

When the transmission source is not registered, the received print job signal is not discarded as it is,
It may be stored once and the user of the discharge bin may be left to judge whether to print or discard.

That is, a storage means for storing a print job signal when the determination means determines that the transmission source is not registered in the registration means, and receiving a print job signal from a transmission source which is not permitted to print. Notification means for notifying that the printing has been performed, printing means for executing printing based on the print job signal stored in the storage means in response to the user's print instruction, and storage means in the storage means in response to the user's discard instruction. And a discarding unit for discarding the print job signal.

In this case, the storage means may double as a memory or the like used for the registration means, but it is preferable to use an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk. The notification means may be any notification method, for example, display on a display, lighting of a lamp, generation of a notification sound, or the like. The printing unit may also be used as a printing unit when the transmission source is registered, or may be configured separately.

It is important that the print job signal includes, in addition to the print data and the print control signal, information indicating a transmission source and, when a plurality of discharge bins are provided, information for specifying a discharge bin from which a printed material is to be discharged. is there.

The registering means, the discriminating means, the discarding means, the storing means, and the notifying means may be provided in the printing apparatus, may be provided in the data processing apparatus, or may be provided in both. That is, the present invention can be configured as a printing system.

That is, the printing system according to the present invention performs printing based on a plurality of data processing devices and a print job signal to which information of a transmission source transmitted from one of the data processing devices is added. And a registration unit for registering a transmission source of a print job signal permitted to print, and confirming the transmission source from the print job signal and registering the transmission source in the registration unit. And a printing unit that executes printing based on the received print job signal when the transmission source is registered.

Further, the above-described processing may be executed by installing a printer driver in a data processing device or a printing device.

That is, according to the present invention, a computer-readable recording medium storing a program for controlling a printing system, in which information of a transmission source attached to a print job signal to be printed is registered in advance. If the transmission source is permitted to print, it is possible to provide a computer-readable recording medium storing a program for executing printing based on the print job signal.

In this recording medium, if the transmission source of the print job signal is not a pre-registered transmission source permitted to print,
A program for discarding the print job signal may be further stored. The recording medium has a print jo.
If the transmission source of the b signal is not a pre-registered transmission source permitted to perform printing, it notifies that the printing job signal has been received from a non-permitted transmission source, and sends the printing job signal in response to the user's discard instruction. A program to be discarded can be further stored.

[0019]

According to the present invention, when a print job signal is transmitted from a data processing device, a print job signal is transmitted.
The transmission source is confirmed from the signal, and it is determined whether or not the transmission source is registered in advance. If the transmission source is registered, printing is performed based on the print job signal.

Therefore, it is possible to receive only the printed matter from the previously registered partner, and to print the printed matter from an unknown partner.
For example, it is not necessary to receive a direct mail or a prank mail. Further, as a result that the persons who can use the printing apparatus can be limited to the registered persons, wasteful printing can be prevented beforehand and the printing cost can be reduced.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to specific examples shown in the drawings. 1 to 10 show a preferred embodiment of a printing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a printing system including the printing apparatus of the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, a printing system 10 of the present embodiment is a printer (printing device).
100 and multiple host computers (data processing devices)
Are connected by a network line 300,
A print job signal can be transmitted from any of the host computers 200 to the printer 100 to perform printing.

FIG. 2 shows functional blocks of the host computer 200. The host computer 200 includes a personal computer main body 210, a keyboard (registering means) 211 for performing various settings and instructions, a display 212 for displaying, a memory 213 for storing registered contents,
CPU 214 for performing various arithmetic processing, speaker 215 for outputting sound, auxiliary storage device 216 such as a hard disk
It is composed of

FIG. 3 shows functional blocks of the printer 100. The printer 100 includes an auxiliary storage device (storage unit) 114 such as a hard disk, and a printer body (printing unit) 11.
0, an operation panel (registering means, notifying means) 111 for performing various settings and display, a memory (registering means) 112 for holding registered contents, a CPU for performing processing
(Discriminating means, discarding means) 113.

The floppy disk 400 is a printer 1
00 is a recording medium that records software to be installed in the computer. FIG. 1 shows the floppy disk 400.
0 and a process in the printer 100 described later with reference to FIG. 11 are stored. By installing the process in the printer 100, the printing system 10 can execute the processes illustrated in FIGS.

FIG. 4 shows the appearance of the printer 100. In the printer 100, as shown in FIG.
20, a plurality of discharge bins 121 are provided.
Bin numbers are assigned to 21 as shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 shows each discharge bin 121 of the printer 100.
An example in which a user is set for each is shown. In FIG.
1, bin number 1 indicates user A, bin number 2 indicates user B, bin number 3 indicates user C, bin number 4 indicates user D, and bin number 5 indicates user E. However, the other discharge bins 121 are set similarly. These settings are stored in the keyboard 21 of the host computer 200.
1 or the operation panel 111 of the printer 100, and the setting information is stored in the memory 11 of the printer 100.
2 is stored.

FIG. 6 shows an example in which a transmission source permitted to print is set for each set user. In FIG. 6, the transmission sources B, D, and E are set for the user A, the transmission source D is set for the user B, and the transmission sources A, B, D, and D are set for the user C. Although E is set, the same applies to other users.

When a print job signal is sent from a source other than the registered source, printing is not performed, and the print job signal is temporarily stored in the auxiliary storage device, and whether to print or discard it for the user is determined. Is to be determined.

For example, in the case of the user A, the transmission sources B, D,
When a print job signal is sent from E, printing is executed. Otherwise, for example, when a print job signal is sent from the transmission source C, printing is not performed and the user A is notified of the print job signal. It has become. Types of notification include sound, voice, message, and the like, and methods of notification include a speaker, a dialog, an E-mail, a status monitor, and the like. These settings are made on the keyboard 2 of the host computer 200.
11 or the operation panel 111 of the printer 100
The setting information is stored in the memory 112 of the printer 100. If the message is sound or voice, a speaker must be provided. However, since the printer body 110 may have a built-in speaker for notifying various messages by sound, the speaker may be used.

FIG. 7 shows an example in which the setting of the users A, B... For the discharge bin 121 shown in FIG. 5 and the setting of the transmission source shown in FIG. For the registered name assigned to the user, the setting of the bin number of the used discharge bin 121, the setting of whether to use the function of permitting printing only to the registered transmission source, and the setting of the transmission source permitted for printing are performed. However, it is also possible to add and delete transmission sources permitted to print. In FIG. 7, for the registered name A, the bin number to be used is 1, and B, D, and E are set in the sender registration column that uses the function.

FIG. 8 shows the setting of the users A, B... For the discharge bin 121 shown in FIG. 5 and the setting of the transmission source shown in FIG.
1 shows an example of the case of performing the operation. For the registered name assigned to the user, the setting of the bin number of the used discharge bin 121, the setting of whether to use the function of permitting printing only to the registered sender, and the setting of the sender registrant are performed. Has become. FIG.
Then, “Registered name: A”, “Use bin: 1”, “Registered person:
B, C, E "and" function: valid. "These settings can be made by a combination of keys on the operation panel 111.

FIG. 9 shows an example of a dialog display message. In FIG. 9, a message “Print job has been received from anyone other than the registrant. Do you want to print? If you select No, the print job is discarded.” “Print job sender C” is displayed. The user confirms the sender and selects “Yes (Y)” or “No (N)”
It is possible to select whether to print or discard the print job. In addition, instead of the above message, print job
May be displayed. The message is displayed on the operation panel 111 of the printer 100.

FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of the processing in the printer 100. When a print job signal is transmitted from the host computer 200 to the printer 100, the printer 100 receives the print job signal (step S).
101). The print job signal includes, in addition to the print data and the print control signal, information indicating a transmission source and information on a discharge bin number for discharging a printed material.

When the print job signal is received, the printer 1
00 confirms the destination of the printed matter from the received print job signal, that is, the bin number of the discharge bin 121 to be output (step S102), confirms the transmission source from the print job signal (step S103), and stores it in the memory 112. The registered sender registrant name is confirmed from the content and the user name as the destination of the confirmed printed matter, and the sender of the received print job signal is included in the sender registrant name. It is determined by the CPU 113 of the printer 100 (step S104).

If they match, printing is performed based on the print job signal, and the sheet is discharged to the discharge bin of the number specified by the print job signal (step S105). On the other hand, if they do not match, a message as shown in FIG.
A determination is made as to whether to discard b (steps S107 and S108). If the user selects printing, the printing is executed based on the print job signal, and the processing is terminated. On the other hand, if printing is not selected. , The print job is discarded (step S110), and the process ends.

FIG. 11 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this example, when a print job signal is received from an unregistered transmission source, the print job is discarded without waiting for the user's judgment. That is, step S1 in FIG.
In place of step 07 to step S110, it is determined whether or not the transmission source of the received print job signal matches the sender registrant name (step S104). If not, the print job is immediately discarded (step S104). Step S106), the process ends.

FIG. 12 shows still another embodiment of the printing system 10 according to the present invention. In the printing system 10 of the present embodiment, the printer 100 and a print server computer (data processing device) 201 are connected, and the print server computer 201 and a plurality of host computers 20 are connected.
.. Are connected by a network line 300, and any host computer 200... Can transmit a print job signal to the printer 100 via the print server computer 201 to perform printing. ing.

In this embodiment, the above-described registration means, discrimination means, discarding means, storage means, and notification means can be provided in the print server computer 201. That is, using the keyboard 211 of the print server computer 201, the destinations for which printing is permitted are stored in the memory 213 for each output destination.
Register with. When a print job signal is output from any of the host computers 200, the CPU 214 of the print server computer 201 determines whether the transmission destination corresponding to the output destination is registered in the memory 213, and the registered destination is registered. Then, printing is executed by the printer 100 based on the received print job signal.

On the other hand, if the transmission destination is not registered, a message is displayed on the display 212 of the print server computer 201, and the user is asked to determine whether to print or discard the print job. If the user selects the print, the print is executed. On the other hand, if the print is not selected, the print job is discarded by the CPU 214 of the print server computer 201.

In the above description, registration means, discrimination means, discard means,
The storage means and the notification means are provided in the print server computer 201, but the registration means, the determination means, and the message means are provided by a plurality of host computers 200 ...
May be provided for each of the.

That is, a plurality of host computers 200
Using the respective keyboards 211, the transmission source permitted to print is registered in the memory 213 of each computer 200 for each output destination. When a print job signal is output from any of the host computers 200, information is transmitted to the host computer 200 corresponding to the output destination of the print job signal. From the information, the CPU 214 of the transmission source host computer 200 determines whether or not the transmission destination corresponding to the output destination is registered in the memory 213. If registered, printing is executed by the printer 100 based on the print job signal.

If the transmission destination is not registered, a message is displayed on the display 212 of the transmission source host computer 200, and the user is asked to perform printing or print job.
Ask for a decision on whether to discard. When the user selects printing, printing is performed. If printing is not selected, the print job is discarded by the CPU 214 of the host computer 200.

The print server computer 2
01 is used in the same manner as the plurality of host computers 200...
May also be provided.

Although the embodiments of the printing system according to the present invention have been described above, the present invention is, of course, not limited to the above-described embodiments. In particular, the registering means, the discriminating means, the discarding means, the storing means, The notification means may be provided in any of the data processing device and the printing device. The floppy disk 400 may be installed in the host computer 200 or the print server computer 201 to cause the printing system 10 to execute the processes shown in FIGS. 10 and 11.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a preferred embodiment of a printing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of a host computer in the printing system.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus in the printing system.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of the printing apparatus and a discharge bin thereof.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a setting example of a user for the discharge bin.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a setting example of a transmission source for the user.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a method of setting the contents of FIGS. 5 and 6 in the host computer.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method of setting the contents of FIGS. 5 and 6 in the printing apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a message displayed after printing is completed.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart of a process of the printing apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart of a process of the printing apparatus according to another embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram showing still another embodiment of the print control system according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Printing system 100 Printer (printing apparatus) 110 Printer main body (printing means) 111 Operation panel (notification means, registration means, disposal means) 112 Memory (registration means) 113 CPU (determination means, disposal means) 114 Auxiliary storage means (storage) Means) 200 Host computer (data processing device) 201 Computer for print server (data processing device) 211 Keyboard (registering means, discarding means) 212 Display (notification means) 213 Memory (registering means) 214 CPU (discriminating means, discarding means) 216 auxiliary storage device (storage means) 400 floppy disk (recording medium)

Claims (19)

[Claims] In a printing apparatus configured to perform printing based on a print job signal to which information of a transmission source transmitted from a data processing apparatus is added, a transmission source of a print job signal permitted to be printed is registered. Registering means for receiving the print job signal transmitted from the data processing apparatus, determining the transmission source from the print job signal, and determining whether or not the transmission source is registered in the registration means And the received print j when the transmission source is registered
a printing unit for performing printing based on an ob signal. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a discarding unit that discards the print job signal when the discriminating unit determines that the transmission source is not registered in the registration unit. 3. A storage unit for storing the print job signal when the determination unit determines that the transmission source is not registered in the registration unit, and a print job signal from a transmission source not permitted to print. Notification means for notifying that the print job has been received; printing means for executing printing based on the print job signal stored in the storage means in response to a print instruction from the user; and storage means in response to the user's discard instruction. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a discarding unit for discarding the print job signal stored in the printer. 4. A data processing apparatus comprising: a plurality of data processing apparatuses; and a printing apparatus configured to perform printing based on a print job signal to which information of a transmission source transmitted from one of the data processing apparatuses is added. In a printing system, a registration unit for registering a transmission source of a print job signal permitted to print, and a transmission source is confirmed from the print job signal to determine whether the transmission source is registered in the registration unit. Discrimination means; and the print j received when the transmission source is registered
a printing unit that executes printing based on an ob signal. 5. The printing system according to claim 4, wherein said registration means is provided in said printing apparatus. 6. The printing system according to claim 4, wherein said registration means is provided in said data processing device. 7. The printing system according to claim 4, wherein said determining means is provided in said printing apparatus. 8. The printing system according to claim 4, wherein said determining means is provided in said data processing device. 9. The printing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a discarding unit that discards the print job signal when the discriminating unit determines that the transmission source is not registered in the registration unit. 10. The printing system according to claim 9, wherein said discarding means is provided in said printing apparatus. 11. The printing system according to claim 9, wherein said discarding means is provided in said data processing device. 12. The printing job when the determining unit determines that the transmission source is not registered in the registering unit.
Storage means for storing a signal; notification means for notifying that a print job signal has been received from a source not permitted to print; and a print job signal stored in the storage means in response to a user's discard instruction. 5. The printing system according to claim 4, further comprising: a discarding unit for discarding the image. 13. The printing system according to claim 12, wherein said storage means is provided in said printing apparatus. 14. The printing system according to claim 12, wherein said storage means is provided in said data processing device. 15. The printing system according to claim 12, wherein said notifying means is provided in said printing apparatus. 16. The printing system according to claim 12, wherein said notifying means is provided in said data processing device. 17. A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for controlling a printing system, wherein information of a transmission source attached to a print job signal to be printed is:
A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for executing printing based on the print job signal if the source is a pre-registered transmission source. 18. A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for controlling a printing system, wherein the printing job signal is not a previously registered printing source, and the printing job is not printed. The computer-readable recording medium according to claim 17, further comprising a program for discarding a signal. 19. A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for controlling a printing system, wherein the print job signal is not a pre-registered print source, and the print job is not printed. 18. The computer-readable recording medium according to claim 17, further comprising a program for notifying that a signal has been received from an unauthorized transmission source and for discarding the print job signal in response to a user's discard instruction.