JP2002140253A - Printer driver and printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide printing data in the form of a unified format or protocol to printers of different specifications manufactured by different manufacturers. SOLUTION: A printer driver instructing a printing station 2 for printing contents by an electronic mail 8 is installed in a cellular phone 3 possessed by a user 9, and desired contents can be printed via the electronic mail 8. Because the desired contents can be easily supplied to the printing station 2 wirelessly or via the Internet, a printing service available for anyone can be provided only when the printing station 2 is arranged on the street.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an apparatus for printing content and a control method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A wide variety of printers for printing contents such as images and texts are commercially available from various manufacturers. The data format for printing supplied to the printer differs between the respective manufacturers and the respective models, or the control method of the printer differs. Therefore, in order to use a different printer, it is necessary to install a printer driver attached to the printer in an information processing terminal serving as a host such as a personal computer.

[0003]

Conventionally, most personal computers are of a stationary type such as a desktop type, and are connected to peripheral devices such as a printer by a dedicated cable to constitute one processing station. Therefore, once a printer is connected, the possibility of using a printer other than that printer is extremely rare, and even if the printer driver required for each printer is different, there is no significant problem.

[0004] However, the information processing terminal becomes compact and lightweight, and a portable information processing terminal, for example, PD
Various contents can be browsed using A or a mobile phone. Therefore, when trying to print out content from a portable terminal, a small portable printer is carried around, or a printer installed in an appropriate place is used. If you try to use a printer installed in an appropriate location, the printer driver will be different if the manufacturers and types of those printers are not unified. Can not do.

In a limited area such as in the same office or event venue, it may be possible to unify printer specifications. However, when considering a service that can be used from a mobile phone by installing a print station in a street corner or a convenience store, it is impossible to unify printer manufacturers and specifications. It is also difficult to require printer manufacturers to unify the format and control method of data (input data) supplied for printing. Also, when trying to use the printer from a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone, it is inconvenient to connect to the printer with a cable.

Accordingly, the present invention realizes a printing system including a printer driver and a print station capable of providing input data for printing in a unified format or protocol to printers of different specifications with different specifications. It is intended to be. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a printing system and a printing method capable of easily printing out desired contents from a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone at a print station installed on a street corner. Another object of the present invention is to provide a printer driver, a print station, and a printing system that can obtain a printout without connecting to a print station by a cable when printing from a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone.

[0007]

According to the present invention, contents are stored in an e-mail stored and exchanged via a computer network such as the Internet and sent to a print station, so that different specifications or different manufacturers are provided. To the same printer driver (printer driver device). That is, the printer driver of the present invention has an e-mail creating means for storing and transmitting contents in an e-mail addressed to the print station when receiving a print instruction. It has means for acquiring an e-mail and means for printing out the content stored in the acquired e-mail. Therefore,
With the information processing terminal in which the printer driver of the present invention is installed and the print station, a printing system using e-mail as a medium can be provided.

[0008] The electronic mail is RFC821, RFC82.
2 and the like define a protocol and a format, and are exchanged via a computer network such as the Internet. Therefore, by using e-mail as a medium for supplying content to a printer, supplying content to be printed in a uniform protocol and format to each type of printer or a print station using the printer. Can be. Further, the electronic mail can be transmitted via a public telephone network connected to the Internet, and the electronic mail can be transmitted wirelessly using a PHS or a mobile telephone network. Therefore, it is possible to supply the contents to be printed without connecting to a printer or a print station with a cable.

Therefore, in the printing system including the printer driver and the print station according to the present invention, it is possible to provide data for printing in a unified format and protocol for printers of different specifications of different manufacturers. For this reason, by installing the printer driver of the present invention in a portable terminal such as a mobile phone, an appropriate number of print stations are installed in a street corner, a convenience store, or the like, and desired content is sent from the portable terminal to easily print out. can do. Further, it is possible to send an e-mail addressed to the print station via a mobile telephone network or a PHS system, so that a printout can be obtained without troublesome connection with the print station by a cable.

[0010] For example, print stations can be arranged at various places indoors and outdoors, such as vending machines. Print stations include those having a stand-alone type housing or those integrated with other functions, and it is desirable that their own e-mail address is displayed on a part of the housing. And
If the printer driver or the terminal is provided with a means for inputting an e-mail address of an e-mail addressed to the print station, by setting an e-mail address of an arbitrary print station or a print station in front of the user, The content can be output by sending an e-mail to the print station.

Further, by providing the print station with a means capable of inputting the mail address of the sender of the e-mail, the mail address of the sender of the e-mail acquired by the print station is changed to the mail address input to the print station. The content sent by the e-mail can be printed out only when it matches. Therefore, only the user of the terminal that is the source of the e-mail can obtain a printout of the content sent by e-mail from the print station, and the user's privacy, confidential information, or personal rights such as copyright. Can be protected.

When storing contents by e-mail and supplying them to the print station, it is not necessary to store all contents in e-mail. For example, to output a homepage (contents published as a homepage) that is open on the Internet and can be viewed on a print station, simply store the homepage address (URL) in an e-mail and send it to the print station. You can print out from.
In other words, the e-mail creation means of the printer driver
When a print instruction is received via a browser, the homepage address displayed on the browser can be stored as content in an e-mail addressed to the print station. By storing and sending only the address of the homepage in the e-mail instead of the entire homepage, that is, not the content published on the homepage, the data amount of the e-mail can be significantly reduced. For this reason, it is possible to not only ease the traffic of the network, but also reduce the time for transmitting the e-mail by the mobile phone or the PHS, and minimize the usage fee of the communication infrastructure.

Further, it is desirable that the electronic mail creating means stores the homepage address in the subject column of the electronic mail addressed to the print station. Since this e-mail has no text, the data amount of the e-mail can be minimized. Further, the presence / absence of the text can clearly convey to the print station that the homepage of the address stored in the subject column has been printed.
Also, when a user ID and / or password is required to access the homepage address, that is, the content published at that address, it can be stored in the body of the e-mail and transmitted.

Therefore, in the print station, it is preferable that, when the acquired electronic mail contains the address of the homepage as the content, the printout means download and print out the homepage of the address. Further, the means for printing out stores the homepage address in the subject column of the obtained e-mail, and downloads the homepage of the address when the main body column is blank or contains only predetermined parameters. It is desirable to print out.

[0015] Further, most of the contents to be printed out by the print station in a portable terminal such as a portable telephone will be electronic mail addressed to the user. Therefore, when receiving the print instruction via the e-mail viewing application, the e-mail creation means of the printer driver of the present invention can store the print output of the instructed e-mail as the content in the e-mail addressed to the print station. desirable. In this case, by storing the print output in the body column of the e-mail addressed to the print station, it can be clearly distinguished from when printing out the homepage.

Therefore, in the means for printing out at the print station, it is desirable to print out the body of the acquired electronic mail when the column of the body of the acquired e-mail is not blank and only contains predetermined parameters.

The printer driver of the present invention having such functions is recorded on a suitable recording medium such as a CD-ROM readable by a computer as a printer driver program having an instruction capable of executing processing as an electronic mail creating means. Alternatively, the information processing terminal having the printer driver can be provided by embedding the printer driver program in the information processing terminal by embedding it in a transmission medium that can be transmitted via a computer network such as the Internet. Can be provided. In addition, the information processing terminal can be controlled to execute the above-described processing. The print station is the same, and can be provided in the same manner as the above as a print station control program having instructions capable of executing processes as a means for acquiring an e-mail and a means for printing out.

Further, by providing the print station with a means for outputting billing information upon printing out, automatic billing can be performed. If printing is performed by e-mail from a mobile terminal that can access the Internet by a wireless method such as a PDA, a mobile phone, or a PHS, the usage fee for those mobile terminals to use the public line or to access the Internet via a provider will be charged. In addition, it is possible to charge the user for the printout, and the user can use the print station without paying the fee on the spot. Also, a mobile terminal that can access the Internet without using a public line network such as a mobile IP may be used, and a printing fee is added to a usage fee paid in a contract with a carrier such as a provider that provides an Internet connection service. Can be included.

On the other hand, instead of or together with the collection of a fee, an additional output means for printing out additional information including an advertisement and / or a coupon is provided on a sheet for printing out the content or on a sheet before and after the content, thereby generating an advertisement income. It is also possible to get. It is also possible to send the additional information to the sender of the e-mail by e-mail. Further, a means for confirming whether or not the additional information can be output may be provided so that the fee is not charged when the additional information is printed out, but is charged only when the additional information is not printed.

Further, depending on the content to be printed, the content supplier may bear the printing cost. For example, it is possible to print contents currently provided on the spot or sent by mail, such as restaurant bills and credit card statements, using the printing system of the present invention. By including your restaurant or credit company account or billing address in your content,
Printing costs can be borne by the issuing restaurant or credit company.

Further, by providing a means for outputting maintenance information to the print station, in the event of a printer trouble or a shortage of consumables, the server for maintenance or the mobile phone of the staff for maintenance and management can be used. The maintenance management information may be output using a mail or the like as a medium to maintain the function of the print station.

As described above, the printing system according to the present invention, when receiving a print instruction, stores the content in an e-mail addressed to the print station and sends it to the information processing terminal having the e-mail creation means, And a print station having means for acquiring an e-mail addressed to the e-mail and means for printing out the content stored in the acquired e-mail. A first process in which an e-mail containing the content is sent to the print station; and a second process in which the content is printed out when the address of the source of the e-mail addressed to the print station is input to the print station.
By performing the above process, a printout of desired contents such as a homepage and an e-mail can be obtained. Since the e-mail is used as a medium for supplying the content to the print station, the content can be supplied to the print station by a method independent of a maker or a model. For this reason, the present invention can be applied to a printing system including a laptop computer and a printer in an office. However, a variety of print stations installed in an appropriate place while carrying a portable terminal can be used. The present invention is particularly suitable for a printing system that prints out by using a printer.

In such a printing system, the print station has a stand-alone type housing or the like, and its own mail address is displayed on the surface thereof by some means. The information processing terminal is a portable terminal, and can print out from any print station by inputting the mail address of the print station in the first process. In particular, a mobile phone with a good infrastructure and many users is suitable as a terminal. Further, by providing a third process in which the additional information including the advertisement and / or coupon is printed out from the print station on the paper on which the content is printed out or on the paper before or after the content, advertising revenue can be generated by the printing system of the present invention. Obtainable. In addition, by providing a fourth process for selecting whether or not the third process is necessary, it is possible to allow the user to select either charging or advertisement output.

The print station can be installed in a home or office in the form of a set-top box. For example, it is also possible to provide a service of renting a print station for a fee or free of charge by a rental or lease method.

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be further described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example of an environment in which a printing system 1 can be realized by a print station 2 and a portable terminal 3 of the present invention. The print station 2 of this example is connected to the Internet 5 which is a computer network, and can acquire information from various servers connected to the Internet 5. On the other hand, the mobile terminal 3 held by the user 9 is a mobile phone or a terminal functioning as a mobile phone, and can exchange data wirelessly with a base station 6a connected to the public telephone network 6. It is connected to the Internet 5 through a gateway server 7 that connects to the Internet 5.

The Internet 5 is connected to a service management system 10 of a provider that provides a print service through the print station 2. The service management system 10 includes a mail server 11 and a management and accounting server 12. The print station 2 of this example has its own mail address, and a mail box 11a is prepared in the mail server 11 of the service management system 10. Print station 2
Is displayed on the stand-alone type housing 2h so as to be recognized. When the user 9 sends an e-mail to the e-mail address 2a, the e-mail is stored in the mail server 11 of the service management system 10. Then, the print station 2 periodically collects the electronic mail 8 addressed to the print station 2 from the mailbox 11a, and outputs the content stored in the electronic mail 8 from the printer 21 built in the print station 2. . Therefore, in the printing system 1 of the present example, when the user 9 issues a print command on the mobile phone 3, the content to be printed is stored in the e-mail 8 and distributed to the print station 2, and the print station 2 prints the content. OUT 29 is output.

When the printout 29 is output from the print station 2, the accounting information is stored in the management and accounting server 12 of the service management system 10, and
Further, the billing information is transmitted to the billing server 13 of the user. The user's billing server 13 is, for example, a billing server for the public telephone network 6, and stores usage fees for the user 9 using a mobile phone. Therefore, the fee using the print station 2 is charged and paid to the user 9 as the fee for the public telephone network 6. Therefore, the user 9 can use the print station 2 without paying a fee.

In the print station 2 of this embodiment, in addition to the content delivered from the user's terminal 3 by the electronic mail 8, information from the sponsor such as an advertisement or a coupon is printed as additional information. Therefore,
The information printed out is also transmitted to the account management server 14 of the service provider, and a transfer (royalty) according to the printout is made by the sponsor, so that the provider providing the print service can obtain advertising revenue.

The Internet 5 has a station management system 15 for managing the print station 2.
Is connected. This station management system 15
Then, maintenance and inspection of the print station 2 and replenishment of consumables such as ink or paper are performed. For this reason, the print station 2 has trouble such as a paper jam,
When the consumables are going to run out, information is transmitted to the print station management server 16 of the station management system 1 by means such as e-mail. If it is necessary to replenish the consumables, the necessary items are purchased from the server of the manufacturer open on the Internet 5 through the maintenance / order management server 17 of the station management system 1 and the print station 2 is set up. maintain. on the other hand,
When an emergency failure occurs, an instruction is issued from the print station management server 16 to the mobile phone of the service person 19 or another mobile terminal 18 near the relevant print station 2 by e-mail or the like,
A service person 19 checks the print station 2.

As described above, in the printing system 1 of the present embodiment, information to be printed from the mobile phone 3 of the user 9 to the print station 2 is supplied by using the electronic mail as a medium. As described above, the electronic mail has a protocol and a format defined by RFC and the like, and is highly versatile data that is stored and exchanged via a computer network such as the Internet 5. Therefore, by using the e-mail 8 as a medium for supplying the content to the print station 2 or the printer, the content to be printed by the unified protocol and format to the printer 2 of each type or the print station 2 using the printer is used. Can be supplied. Further, the electronic mail 8 can be transmitted via a public telephone network connected to the Internet 5 and can be transmitted wirelessly from the mobile phone 3. For this reason, it is not necessary to connect the printer or the print station 2 with a cable for printing, and the content to be printed can be transmitted and printed out without contact.

As described above, by using the electronic mail 8 as a medium, the print station 2 constituting the printing system 1 of the present embodiment does not depend on the maker or the model of the mobile phone 3 held by the user 9. That is, by installing only one driver program according to the present invention, desired contents can be output from printers of each model of each manufacturer. Therefore, if only the e-mail address 2a of the print station 2 is known, any print station 2 can be used as its own printer. Therefore, even if the print stations 2 are of different manufacturers and models, the mail server 11 is provided on the Internet 5 by installing an appropriate number of print stations 2 on a street corner, a station, a convenience store or the like like a kiosk machine. If the service management system 10 is connected, the mobile phone 3
Alternatively, a print service in which the user 9 of another portable terminal outputs desired content from the print station 2 at an appropriate place can be developed.

The print station 2 of the present embodiment
A display 22 and a keyboard 23 are provided,
The user 9 can input his / her own e-mail address, that is, the mail address of the sender of the e-mail 8 sent to the print station 2. Then, the print station 2 compares the e-mail address of the source of the obtained e-mail 8 with the input e-mail address, and prints out the content sent by the e-mail only when they match. . Therefore, only the user 9 of the terminal 3 that is the source of the e-mail can obtain the printout 29 of the content sent from the print station 2 by the e-mail. For this reason, it is a print station installed on a street corner or the like, and is a station that can be freely used by a plurality of users. However, a system for collating the sender's mail address attached to the e-mail 8 is introduced. As a result, the printout 29 can protect the user 9's privacy, confidential information, or personal rights such as copyright.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic function mounted on the terminal 3 of the present embodiment. The terminal 3 in this example is
An application 32 operates on an appropriate OS 31. Examples of the application 32 include a browser 33 for browsing a homepage or a mail viewer 34 for browsing an electronic mail. Further, a printer driver 35 is installed in the terminal 3. The printer driver 35 of the present example includes a printer button displayed by the application 32 or a terminal 3.
When a print switch provided on a keyboard or the like is operated, an e-mail creating unit 36 stores the contents displayed by the application 32 in the e-mail and distributes the contents to the input e-mail address. For example, when the browser 33 is operating as an application, the URL address of the homepage displayed on the browser 33 is converted into an e-mail, and when the mail viewer 34 is operating, the URL of the e-mail displayed on the viewer is displayed. The output image is e-mailed.

The terminal 3 further has a mail transmission / reception function 37 having a POP client 37b for acquiring an e-mail from a mailbox and an SMTP client 37a for transmitting an e-mail. Is output from the mail transmission / reception function 37 to a network via a communication unit 38 of a mobile phone or PHS wirelessly.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of functions of the printer station 2 of the present embodiment. The printer station 2 of this example has a network interface 24, and functions as a network terminal for exchanging e-mails and browsing via the Internet 5 or a local area network (LAN) connected to the Internet. I have. Therefore, the SMTP client 25a and the PO
An e-mail addressed to the printer station 2 obtained from the mailbox 11a is provided to the printout unit 26, provided with a mail transmission / reception unit 25 including a P client 25b. The printout unit 26 decodes the content stored in the e-mail using a protocol described below, and the user selects the content desired to be printed out and supplies it to the printer 21. When the URL is stored in the e-mail, the printout unit 26 of the present example also functions as a browser, and outputs data for printing a homepage of a desired address from the Internet 5 via the network interface 24. Is downloaded and supplied to the printer 21.

The printer 21 employed in the print station 2 of this embodiment is determined by the place where the print station 2 is installed and the user's application, regardless of the manufacturer or model. Considering that there is a high possibility that the terminal using the print station 2 of the present example is a mobile phone, there is a high possibility that a home page or an e-mail output form having an image size that can be displayed on the mobile phone will suffice. Therefore, it is considered that a printer capable of printing and outputting on a sheet as small as A6 to A8 in a receipt size is preferable to a printer that prints out on a regular-size printing paper such as an A4 plate.

The print station 2 of this embodiment further includes an additional information output unit 27 for printing additional information such as advertisements and coupons from the printer 21. The additional information is stored in the management / billing server 12 of the service management system 10.
, And can be changed to the installation location of the print station 2 or the output time zone.
Information such as an advertisement and a coupon to be output may be supplied by e-mail, or data may be transmitted and received by establishing a connection with the management / billing server 12. further,
The additional information output unit 27 of this example, if permitted by the user,
Additional information such as advertisements or coupons can be sent by e-mail to the user's e-mail address. By providing such additional information to the user as needed, royalties can be collected from the sponsor, as described above.

The printing station 2 further includes a charging unit 28. This accounting unit 28
When the printout 29 is completely output from the server, billing information corresponding to the number of sheets or information such as the number of prints to be converted into billing information is converted into an e-mail and sent to the management and billing server 12 of the service management station 10. Provided. Then, as described above, in this example, the user is charged together with the use of the telephone line. Therefore, the print station 2 can provide a service for printing out without money, and does not need to include a money management function. In addition, since there is no need to store money, it is not necessary to strengthen the security of the station 2 more than necessary, and it is possible to provide a low-cost and compact station 2. Also, the user can obtain the printout without money, which is convenient.

Further, the print station 2 includes the maintenance management section 40 of the printer 21. As described above, the status of the print station 2 is automatically transmitted to the station management system 15 by e-mail or the like, and the automatic management is performed. It is supposed to be. When the maker that provides the print station 2 operates the station management system 15, it is possible to quickly cope with a shortage of consumables such as ink and paper, and to obtain a profit by selling these consumables. Furthermore, since each service management system 10 that purchases the print station 2 and deploys the print service or a provider that operates the service management system 10 does not need to perform maintenance and storage on its own, the print service can be operated at low cost.

The print station 2 of this embodiment is
Display 2 to enter the address of the sender of the e-mail and to confirm the downloaded homepage
2, a keyboard 23, and a user interface, which are controlled by the input / output control unit 41.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an outline of a process for printing from the terminal 3 to the print station 2 in this embodiment. First, in step 51, the application 34
When the print button displayed in step or the print switch prepared in the terminal 3 is operated, a screen for inputting the destination to which the e-mail is transmitted is output in step 52. User 9
The user can specify an arbitrary print station 2 as a printout destination by inputting a mail address displayed on the print station 2 in front of the user. The printer driver 35 of this example can be used not only for a kiosk type print station but also for a printer fixed in an office or the like. Can be conveniently supplied. When using such a fixed printer, it is possible to use the initially set destination, and there is no problem in omitting step 52.

When a print instruction is issued, the printer driver 3
The e-mail creation unit 36 confirms the running application. In step 53, when the browser 33 is operating, the address (URL) of the home page displayed in step 54 is acquired. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the URL is stored in the title (subject) column 8b of the e-mail 8 in which the e-mail address 2a of the output destination print station 2 is described in the destination 8a. In step 55, if the user does not need a user ID or password to access the URL homepage and view the contents, the text 8c is left blank without any input, and the e-mail 8 is sent to the network in step 60. To send out.

On the other hand, in step 55, a user ID 8x or a password 8
If y is necessary, as shown in FIG. 7, they are stored in the body 8c of the e-mail 8 in step 56, and
At 0, the e-mail 8 is sent.

In step 57, when the application running on the terminal 3 is the mail viewer 34, the title of the mail displayed on the mail viewer 34 is displayed in the title 8b in step 58 as shown in FIG. It was placed,
The body of the mail displayed in the body 8c is stored as an output image of the mail viewer 34. Then, in step 60, the print station 2 in the address column 8a
An e-mail is sent to the address 2a. On the other hand, if the other application 32 is running, the content is stored in the body 8c with the output image of the other application 32 in step 59, and the e-mail is sent out in step 60.

The data that can be stored in the body 8c of the electronic mail 8 is basically text data, and when an image or the like is sent, it is made an attached file. Therefore, when printing out the home page, the print data may be downloaded by the browser 33 running on the terminal 3, attached as an attached file to the e-mail 8, and printed out by the print station 2. However, since the data amount of the e-mail 8 becomes very large, the time and cost spent for sending the e-mail 8 from the terminal 3 increase. In addition, it is necessary to provide a mechanism or software for expanding the attached file on the print station 2 side, and further, a security function such as a virus check is required. In contrast,
If only the URL of the homepage is transmitted to the print station 2 by e-mail 8, the data amount of the e-mail 8 becomes very small, and the cost is reduced. Also, in the print station 2, a mechanism and a risk for expanding the attached file can be avoided, so that it can be realized with a low-cost configuration.

When the URL is transmitted by e-mail 8, it is possible to put the URL in the text, but it is difficult to determine whether the user wants to print the URL as data or print out the home page of the URL. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the URL is stored in the subject column 8b of the e-mail 8 and the data (excluding the ID and the password) is not stored in the body 8c. The print station 2 can determine whether the user wants to print out or print out the URL itself as data.

The printer driver (device) 35 having such a function can be provided as a driver program having an instruction capable of executing the above processing.
Host computer such as CD-ROM or terminal 3
The information can be provided by being recorded on a suitable recording medium that can be read. It is also possible to embed and provide the media (transmission medium) distributed by communication between computers such as the Internet. Then, the driver program is recorded in a memory such as a hard disk or a RAM disk of the terminal 3 by a method of directly reading and installing the terminal 3 into the terminal 3 or installing the terminal 3 through a host computer or the like. Then you can use it by loading it.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an outline of the processing in the print station 2 of this embodiment. First, in step 61, it is checked with the user whether it is necessary to output an advertisement. Then, in step 62, the sender, that is, the mail address of the user 9 can be input. Next, the POP client 2 periodically sends an e-mail from the user's own mailbox 11a to the user's own mail address.
5b, if there is an e-mail in step 63, the source address is changed in step 64 to step 62
Confirm that the address matches the address of the user 9 entered in the above step.
If the addresses do not match, the mail is discarded in step 70, and the same processing is repeated in step 63 until the normal electronic mail 8 from the user 9 arrives in step 63 unless the user 9 cancels the job.

If the addresses of the senders match in step 64, it is checked in step 65 whether or not there is data in the body 8c of the electronic mail 8. If there is no data in the text 8c,
In step 67, it is confirmed whether or not the subject column 8b is a URL. If it is not a URL, it is an abnormal e-mail as described above, and is discarded. If the URL is stored in the title column 8b, the U
Download data for printing a homepage from the RL. In this example, the printout unit 26 also has a display function as a browser, and
To display the home page of the URL on the display 22 of the print station 2 and confirm the user 9. If the confirmation cannot be obtained, the mail is discarded in step 70 and the next electronic mail is waited.

On the other hand, even if there is data in the body 8c of the e-mail 8 in step 65, if it is the user ID 8x or the password 8y in step 66, the URL is confirmed in step 67 and the data from the homepage is read. Perform download processing. If other data is stored in the body text 8c, the data (content)
Will be subject to printout. In this way, in step 72, the print data of the URL home page or the text 8c of the e-mail in the title column 8b is supplied from the printout unit 26 to the printer 21 as print data and printed out.

Subsequently, in step 73, if the propriety of the advertisement confirmed in step 61 is OK, the additional information output unit 27 outputs additional information such as an advertisement or a coupon in step 74. The output in this case may be printed out from the printer 21, or the advertisement or coupon information may be sent by e-mail to the e-mail of the user 9 via the network interface 24. The user 9 can view the advertisement or coupon sent by e-mail on the terminal 3 and print it out by using the print station 2 in the above-described process when he wants to print it out.

When a series of printouts is completed without delay, the charging section 28 outputs the charging information to the service management system 10 in step 75, and the processing in the print station 2 ends.

Such a function of the print station 2 can also be provided as a control program for the print station, and a program having an instruction capable of executing the above processing can be provided by a computer capable of functioning as a print station such as a CD-ROM. Alternatively, it can be provided by being recorded on an appropriate recording medium readable by a processor. It is also possible to embed and provide the media (transmission medium) distributed by communication between computers such as the Internet.

FIG. 9 shows an example of the printout 29 output from the print station 2 of this embodiment.
The printout 29 is a print instruction issued by the mail viewer 34 operating on the terminal 3, and the mail to be printed is stored in the body 8 c of the electronic mail 8. Therefore, in the printout 29, the mail content 29a viewed by the mail viewer 34 is printed out in substantially the same configuration as the mail viewer 34.
Since the printer paper for receipt printing is sufficient to print a range that is displayed on the display of the mobile phone 3, the print station 2 of the present embodiment prints and prints on receipt print paper.

Following the main body 29a of the printout, in the example shown in FIG. 9, a portion 45 on which additional information such as an advertisement or a coupon is printed is output. Additional information 45
Can be output on the upper or lower side of the main body 29a of the printout, and can be output on the left or right if there is a print space. However, in this example, the perforation 46 is inserted between the portion 45 on which the additional information is printed and the printout main body 29a so that the additional information can be separated. When only coupons are needed, they can be easily separated. Of course, instead of printing the main body 29a of the printout 29 and the additional information 45 together on one sheet as in this example, an advertisement or a coupon may be printed and output on a sheet different from the main body 29a. .

As described above, in the printing system 1 using the print station 2 of the present embodiment, the contents to be printed are stored in the electronic mail from the mobile phone 3 and sent to the print station 2 so that the print can be performed. I have. Therefore, the format and protocol of the data transmitted to the print station 2 are unified, and data to be printed is provided via a common medium called the Internet. Therefore, it is easy to unify the interface even for printers with different specifications from different manufacturers. In particular, the service of the unified interface is developed by using the existing standard of e-mail, which has a relatively simple configuration. It's easy to do. For this reason, the print station 2
It can be installed not only in local places such as homes and offices, but also on street corners, convenience stores, train stations, etc., as a facility that can be used by the public. Services that can be obtained.

In the above example, an example in which a mobile phone is used as the user interface is described. However, a mobile terminal such as a PHS or a PDA having another wireless function can be used as the user interface. And, furthermore,
A portable terminal that can access a computer network such as the Internet via wireless by another method or method currently considered as a mobile IP can be used as a user interface of the printing system of the present invention. Furthermore, when a print station is used locally, a terminal that can be connected to a network by wire may be used. In addition, the user of such a terminal often has a contract with a carrier that manages a public communication network connected to the computer network or a communication service provider such as a provider that provides a connection service to the computer network. ,
By using the billing system of the communication service provider, the cost of printing out from the print station can be appropriately charged to the user or the provider of the content.

Further, the printing system of the present invention sends print data to the print station in a simple format and protocol called electronic mail.
Interlocking with other devices is also very easy. For example, when a print station is provided as a peripheral device of a system that constitutes a set-top box such as a cable television, various functions can be performed regardless of the manufacturer or model by using the e-mail function installed in the set-top box. It is possible to provide a system in which data can be transmitted to other printers, an appropriate printer can be selected, and anyone can print out.

[0059]

As described above, in the printing system of the present invention, contents for printing are transmitted to the print station in a unified format of electronic mail. Therefore, it is possible to instruct a printer of each specification of each maker to print content by the same interface, and to send data from a portable terminal such as a mobile phone to a print station on a street corner to print out. It is possible to easily build a simple printing system and provide a printing service that anyone can easily use.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a configuration capable of providing a printing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of functions of the mobile terminal.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of functions of a print station.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an outline of a process in the mobile terminal.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an outline of functions of a print station.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an electronic mail for sending data to the print station according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating another example of an e-mail for sending data to the print station according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing still another example of an electronic mail for sending data to the print station of the present embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printout output from the print station of the present example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printing system 2 Print station 3 Mobile terminal (mobile phone) 5 Internet 6 Public telephone network 8 E-mail 9 User 10 Service management system 12 Billing server 15 Station management system 21 Printer 25 Mail transmission / reception part 26 Printout part 27 Additional information output part 28 Billing unit 29 Printout 35 Printer driver 36 E-mail creation unit 37 E-mail transmission / reception function 38 Communication function

Claims (57)

[Claims] 1. A printer driver having an e-mail creating means for storing contents in an e-mail addressed to a print station when receiving a print instruction and transmitting the contents. 2. The printer driver according to claim 1, further comprising means for inputting a destination mail address of the electronic mail addressed to the print station. 3. A printer according to claim 1, wherein said electronic mail creating means, when receiving a print instruction via a browser, stores a homepage address displayed on said browser as said content in an electronic mail addressed to said print station. driver. 4. The printer driver according to claim 3, wherein said electronic mail creation means stores said homepage address in a subject column of an electronic mail addressed to said print station. 5. The printer driver according to claim 4, wherein said electronic mail creating means stores a user ID and / or a password for accessing said homepage address in a body of an electronic mail addressed to said print station. 6. An electronic mail to the print station according to claim 1, wherein said electronic mail creation means receives a print instruction via an electronic mail browsing application, and prints the instructed electronic mail as said content to said print station. Printer driver stored in. 7. The printer driver according to claim 6, wherein said electronic mail creating means stores the print output in a body of an electronic mail addressed to the print station. 8. An information processing terminal comprising the printer driver according to claim 1. 9. A method for controlling an information processing terminal, comprising an e-mail creation step of storing a content in an e-mail addressed to a print station upon receiving a print instruction and transmitting the content. 10. The control method for an information processing terminal according to claim 9, further comprising a step of inputting a mail address of a destination of the electronic mail addressed to the print station. 11. A printer driver program having instructions capable of executing an e-mail creation step of storing contents in an e-mail addressed to a print station when receiving a print instruction and transmitting the contents. 12. The printer driver program according to claim 11, further comprising an instruction capable of executing a step of inputting a destination mail address of the electronic mail addressed to the print station. 13. The electronic mail creating step according to claim 11, wherein the print instruction is received via a browser.
A printer driver program capable of executing a process of storing the homepage address displayed on the browser as the content in the electronic mail addressed to the print station. 14. The printer driver according to claim 13, wherein, in the e-mail creating step, an instruction capable of executing a process of storing the homepage address in a subject column of the e-mail addressed to the print station is provided. 15. The electronic mail creating process according to claim 14, wherein a process of storing a user ID and / or a password for accessing the homepage address in a body of an electronic mail addressed to the print station can be executed. Printer driver program having various instructions. 16. The method according to claim 11, wherein in the e-mail creating step, when a print instruction is received via an e-mail viewing application, a print output of the instructed e-mail is used as the content as an e-mail addressed to the print station. A printer driver program having instructions capable of executing processing to be stored in a printer driver. 17. The printer driver program according to claim 16, wherein, in the e-mail creating step, an instruction capable of executing a process of storing the print output in a body of an e-mail addressed to the print station is provided. 18. A computer-readable recording medium in which the printer driver program according to claim 11 is recorded. 19. A transmission medium that can be transmitted by communication between computers in which the printer driver program according to claim 11 is embedded. 20. A print station comprising: means for acquiring an e-mail addressed to the own e-mail address; and means for printing out the content stored in the acquired e-mail. 21. The apparatus according to claim 20, further comprising means for inputting an e-mail address of a source of the e-mail, wherein the means for printing out receives the e-mail address of the source of the acquired e-mail. A print station that prints out when the email address matches. 22. The printing method according to claim 20, wherein, when the acquired e-mail includes a homepage address as the content, the homepage address is downloaded and printed out. station. 23. The print-out means according to claim 22, wherein the homepage address is stored in a subject column of the acquired e-mail, and the body column is blank or includes only predetermined parameters. A print station that downloads and prints out the home page at that address. 24. The print station according to claim 23, wherein the means for printing out is a print station that prints out the body when the column of the body of the acquired e-mail is not blank and is not only a predetermined parameter. . 25. A print station according to claim 20, wherein said printout means includes means for outputting billing information when the printout is performed. 26. The print station according to claim 20, further comprising an additional output unit that prints out additional information including an advertisement and / or a coupon on a sheet on which the content is printed out or on sheets before and after the content. 27. The print station according to claim 20, further comprising an additional output unit that transmits, by e-mail, additional information including an advertisement and / or a coupon to a source of the e-mail. 28. A print station according to claim 26, further comprising means for confirming whether the additional information can be output. 29. The print station according to claim 20, further comprising means for outputting maintenance information. 30. The print station according to claim 20, further comprising a housing, wherein the mail address of the user is displayed on a part of a surface of the housing. 31. A method for controlling a print station, comprising: obtaining an e-mail addressed to the user's own e-mail address; and printing out the content stored in the obtained e-mail. 32. A control program for a print station, comprising: a step of obtaining an e-mail addressed to the own mail address; a step of printing out the content stored in the obtained e-mail; and an executable command. 33. The method according to claim 32, further comprising a step of executing a step of inputting a mail address of a sender of the electronic mail, wherein the step of printing out the mail address of the sender of the obtained electronic mail. A print station control program having instructions capable of executing a process of printing out when the password matches the input mail address. 34. The print processing according to claim 32, wherein, in the step of printing out, when a homepage address is stored as the content in the obtained e-mail, the homepage at the address is downloaded and printed out. Control program for a print station having instructions capable of executing 35. The method according to claim 34, wherein in the step of printing out, the address of the home page is stored in a subject column of the obtained e-mail, and a body column is blank or includes only predetermined parameters. Sometimes, a print station control program having instructions capable of executing a process of downloading and printing out a homepage at the address. 36. The method according to claim 35, wherein, in the step of printing out, when a column of a body of the obtained e-mail is not blank and is not only a predetermined parameter, a process of printing out the body is performed. A print station control program having executable instructions. 37. The control program for a print station according to claim 32, wherein the control program has an instruction capable of executing a process of outputting billing information when printing out in the printing out step. 38. The control of a print station according to claim 32, further comprising an instruction capable of executing an additional output step of printing out additional information including an advertisement and / or a coupon on a sheet on which the content is printed out or on a sheet before and after the content. program. 39. The control program for a print station according to claim 32, further comprising a command capable of executing an additional output step of transmitting additional information including an advertisement and / or a coupon to the source of the electronic mail by electronic mail. 40. A control program for a print station according to claim 38 or 39, further comprising an instruction capable of executing a process of confirming whether the additional information can be output. 41. A control program for a print station according to claim 32, wherein said control program has an instruction capable of executing a process of outputting maintenance information. 42. A computer-readable recording medium on which the control program according to claim 32 is recorded. 43. A transmission medium that can be transmitted by communication between computers in which the control program according to claim 32 is embedded. 44. An information processing terminal provided with an e-mail creating means for storing and transmitting contents in an e-mail addressed to a print station when receiving a print instruction, and a means for acquiring an e-mail addressed to its own e-mail address And a means for printing out the content stored in the acquired e-mail. 45. The mail address according to claim 44, wherein the print station has means for inputting a mail address of a sender of the electronic mail, and a mail address of the sender of the obtained electronic mail. Printing system that prints out when it matches. 46. A printing system according to claim 44, wherein said print station includes means for outputting billing information when printing out. 47. The printing system according to claim 44, wherein the print station includes an additional output unit that prints out additional information including an advertisement and / or a coupon on a sheet on which the content is printed out or on a sheet before and after the content. 48. The method of claim 44, wherein the print station sends an advertisement and / or
Alternatively, a printing system including additional output means for transmitting additional information including a coupon by e-mail. 49. The printing system according to claim 47, wherein the print station includes a unit for confirming whether or not the additional information can be output. 50. The printing system according to claim 44, wherein the print station includes a unit for outputting maintenance information. 51. The print station according to claim 44, wherein the print station displays the mail address of the print station, the information processing terminal is a portable terminal, and a mail address of an electronic mail addressed to the print station. A printing system comprising a means for inputting an address. 52. The printing system according to claim 51, wherein the portable terminal is a terminal that can access the Internet by a wireless method. 53. When a print instruction is issued from the information processing terminal,
A first process in which an e-mail containing content is transmitted to a print station; and a step in which the content is printed out when an address of a source of the e-mail addressed to the print station is input to the print station. 2. A printing method comprising: 54. The print station according to claim 53, wherein the print station is a stand-alone type and its own mail address is displayed, the information processing terminal is a portable terminal, and the print process is performed in the first process. How to enter your email address. 55. The printing method according to claim 54, wherein the portable terminal is a terminal capable of accessing the Internet in a wireless manner. 56. The printing method according to claim 53, wherein the print station prints out additional information including advertisements and / or coupons on a sheet on which the content is printed out or on a sheet before or after the content. . 57. The printing method according to claim 56, further comprising a fourth process for selecting whether or not the third process is required.