JP2002144679A - Method for outputting added value of job and print system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for outputting added value of job and a print system in which print resources can be utilized economically. SOLUTION: The print system comprises a job designating means 10 delivering job information added with job attributes for print, a device 20 for printing received job information and storing the job information, and means 30 for acquiring the job attributes of the stored job information, varying the attribute value of job from user to user and totalizing the print processing situation. The job information acquiring means 30 performs charging customized for each user based on the results of totalization. The job designating means 10 or the job information acquiring means 30 is disposed remotely or locally in relation to the device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a job value-added output method and a printing system for storing and using print job information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a printing system such as a printer or a multifunction peripheral, for a print-output job, user information requesting the job and the number of printed pages / number of sheets are recorded in a history, and usage status management for each user is performed. And it was used for billing distribution. That is, when charging a user or an organization to which the user belongs for printer use with respect to copy output and print output, the user is charged for the number of output paper sheets and the number of output surfaces. In this method, a user reduces an image for eight pages to one page, that is, a so-called 8-up
For the 80 page document output in
Billing is performed for the result of output of 10 sheets or 10 sheets.

[0003] For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-19911
In the technology described in Japanese Patent Publication No.
Two types of information, “color” and “monochrome”, are provided. According to the technology described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-19906, billing and statistics are performed according to the consumption of consumables (such as toner).

[0004]

However, in the prior art, paper size, N-up (reducing an image of N pages into one page for printing), paper type, number of colors used,
Usage management and detailed billing processing using detailed attribute information such as print image quality and double-sided printing could not be performed. In addition, it was not possible to perform a customized billing request for each user, such as discounting or adding, according to the usage mode and usage amount of the user. For this reason, conventionally, there has been a problem that printing resources such as paper are not economically used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a job value-added output method and a printing system which enable economical use of printing resources.

[0006]

An object of the present invention is to receive job information to which a detailed job attribute for printing is added,
This is achieved by a job value-added output method that performs print processing based on the job information, stores the job information, and presents the stored job information in response to the job information acquisition request. .

Here, the job attribute may include at least one of N-up and color type. Further, the status of the print processing is totaled based on the job information received, and the totaling can be performed by changing the attribute value of the job attribute for each user. Billing can be performed based on the attribute value of the job attribute changed for each user.

[0008] A printing system according to the present invention includes: a job instruction unit for transmitting job information to which a job attribute is added;
A device that receives the job information, performs a printing process, and stores the job information; and obtains a job attribute from the stored job information, and changes an attribute value of the job attribute for each user to change a status of the printing process. And a job information acquisition unit for counting.

Here, the job information acquisition means can perform a customized billing for each user based on the result of the aggregation. In addition, at least one of the job instruction unit and the job information acquisition unit can be installed remotely or locally in relation to the device.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing one embodiment of a printing system according to the present invention. The system of this embodiment is
For example, it relates to a printer or a multifunction peripheral, as shown in FIG.
0 and a job information acquisition unit 30 for acquiring stored job information.

The job instructing means 10 has a job creating / instruction information adding means 11 and a job sending means 12.
The device 20 includes a job information receiving unit 21, a job processing unit 22, a printing device 23, a job attribute recognition counting unit 24, a job information storage unit 25, and a job information presentation unit 26. The job information obtaining unit 30 includes a job information receiving unit 31, a job information totalizing unit 32, and a job information presenting unit 33.

The printing system thus configured prints a print job, a FAX reception job, or a copy job as follows. First, the job instruction unit 10 creates a job by the job creation / instruction information adding unit 11, adds instruction information, and sends the job to the device 20 via the job sending unit 12. The instruction information here includes instructions such as N-up and color type.

The device 20 includes a job information receiving unit 21
, The job processing means 22 performs job processing, and the printing device 23 prints the job information. On the other hand, the job attribute recognizing and counting means 24 recognizes the job attribute and counts the number of output sheets, the number of output pages, the number of output pages, etc. of the job for each paper size / paper name / color type / print quality. The job information storage unit 25 stores the job attributes in a memory (NVRAM) or a hard disk. The job information presentation unit 26 extracts a job attribute from the job information storage unit 25 in response to the job information acquisition request, and presents the job attribute to the job information acquisition unit 30.

In the job information obtaining means 30, the job information receiving means 31 receives the job attribute presented from the device 20, and the job information totaling means 32 totalizes the attribute values. The aggregation here can be converted to a format customized for each user by changing the combination of the refined attribute values and applying formulas as well as calculating the simple total of the attribute values. included. The job information presenting means 33 calculates the total result as a meter value and presents the value. As a result, a billing request customized for each user can be made.

The method of presenting the job information presenting means 26, 33 includes a method of displaying the data on the UI of the device 20, a method of printing out a list of information from the printing device 23 of the device 20, a remote terminal, a facsimile, Alternatively, there is a method of outputting to a printer.

The job instruction means 10 and the device 20
The transmission and reception between them can be performed via a network communication medium such as a print job or a FAX reception job, or can be performed by a local device such as a copy operation. Further, regarding transmission and reception between the device 20 and the job information acquisition unit 30, SNMP / FTP
This can be done via a network such as / HTTP or in a local device.
Using the total data obtained in this way, it is possible to manage the usage status of users and departments and perform detailed billing processing.

Hereinafter, an example of usage status management using a job detailed attribute and an example of billing using color type information customized for each user will be described in detail.

<Example of Usage Status Management Using Detailed Job Attributes> FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of job processing in the present system. First, in a client terminal and a remote printer that are remotely connected, the remote printer receives a job specified from the client terminal such as N-up and color type (step 201). At the same time, detailed attribute information such as N-up and color type is stored in a storage unit (for example, NVRA).
M) for each job (step 20).
2) The remote printer executes the job (step 203) and prints out.

Here, when the client terminal or another client terminal issues a request for acquiring attribute information to the remote printer, the printer searches the previously stored attribute information, and if necessary, retrieves the attribute information. The information is extracted and transmitted to the client terminal. In this way, by storing detailed job attribute information and allowing it to be arbitrarily retrieved, the client can
It is possible to perform section charging, budget change, and the like, and it is also possible to grasp statistical information such as the paper saving status for each section.

<Example of Billing Using Color Type Information> FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the contents (print type) of the target service counted up in each billing counter. In this example, first, a color type to be stored in the storage means is defined, and this is set as a counter. The type of the counter (color type) is “full color”, “color 1”, “color 2”,
There are four types of “black and white”. The job output by each service is measured by these counters and stored in the storage unit. This counter is used as raw data. The four counters themselves can be totaled and used as statistical information.

On the other hand, the target services are "print", "copy", "FAX / Internet FAX", etc., as shown in FIG. This target service is also stored in the storage unit for each job. In addition, it is possible to classify which color type the job received is handled for each service. For example, in “print”, “color 1” is defined as “color print in toner save mode”. Also, “Color 2” is defined as “color print using PDL2”, and PDL (Page Description Lan) such as PostScript is defined.
Depending on the type of “gage”, it is possible to give a meaning such as different distribution.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of meter display contents (printer) having different fee systems. The change of the billing method is realized by switching the meter display contents in accordance with the system data shown in FIG. The meaning of each meter is as follows. "Meter 0": Total number of billable pages printed by this device "Meter 1": Number of black-and-white print pages "Meter 2": Number of color print pages at discounted price "Meter 3": Color at normal price However, the above-mentioned "meter 0" (total of all billing counters) is not described in FIG. 5 because it is common to all patterns.

The contents of the meter display with different fee systems are shown below. For printers, Billing
Are the following four types, as shown in the system data column of FIG. "Billing 1": Self-black and color "Billing 2": Inexpensive toner save color "Billing 3": Inexpensive toner save and small number of colors "Billing 4": All print services are inexpensive

Further, MIB (Management I)
As an nformation base (information base) information, which meter corresponds to each output surface is held. "Monochrome Count (5)": Monochrome (Billing Meter 1) "Full Color Count (7)": Color (Billing Meter 3) "Limited Visible Color Count (19)": Inexpensive Color (Billing Meter 2) Mapping as above By doing so, it can be referenced from the MIB manager.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing an example of the meter switching process according to the color type on the system side. In this system, a change in the fee system can be concealed by internally switching and mapping the meters. First, a job attribute information acquisition request is received (step 601), and color mode information is acquired (step 6).
02). Here, for example, the service is “printer” and “color print in toner save mode in PDL2”
Is performed, the counter inside the system is counted as “color 2”, and “color 2” is
Is recorded. Subsequently, a billing number is detected (step 603). If the billing number is "billing 1", it is set to "meter 3" (step 604). If it is "billing 2", it is set to "meter 2" (step 605). And
After mapping to MIB information (step 606),
The job attribute information is transmitted (Step 607).

Further, output quality information for each output surface is defined as MIB information and can be used as statistical information. For example, draft (Draft), normal (Norma)
1), High, etc. Further, the map inside the system can be performed on the client side.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of accounting processing on the client side. In this example, an N-up charging system is shown. Now, when the service receives a job specified by the client application such as N-up and color type and outputs the job, the job information is obtained at the same time (step 301).
-Up information is acquired (step 302). And 2
It is determined whether or not it is N-up (step 303), a charging system is set as follows according to each job, and charging is performed by the value-added function.

As a result of the determination in step 303, 2N-up
Otherwise, 1-u in the document on page Y
The unit price at the time of p output is normally set to Z yen, and the total is set to YZ yen (step 304), and a billing process is performed (step 305).
On the other hand, if 2N-up, the unit price is (N + 2) Z /
2 and Y / N page output, so total (N + 2) YZ
/ 2N yen (step 306), and billing processing is performed (step 305).

The detailed values are as follows. For example,
When 2-up (N = 1), the unit price is 3Z / 2 and Y / 1
Since it is a page output, the total is 3YZ / 2 yen. Also, 1
At 6-up (N = 8), the unit price is 10Z / 2 and Y /
Since eight pages are output, the total is 10 YZ / 16 yen.

In the case of environment-friendly parameter setting, when N-up output is performed, it is possible to make the setting always cheaper than when N-up is not performed. Then, by leaving the information output N-up in the job log, it is possible to use which function to output the information later for statistical acquisition.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the charging system is hidden on the system side. However, by making the system open to the client application, it is possible to perform charging in a form more suited to customer needs. In addition, a new charging system can be constructed by using the N-up information, and it becomes possible to perform department charging, budget change, and the like. Further, N-up output by the user is promoted, and consumables such as paper and toner can be reduced.

As described above, according to the present invention, when the printing process of a job requested by a user is completed in a printing system such as a printer or a multifunction peripheral, the following detailed attributes of the print output are changed to Is recorded in the history together with the user information of the user who requested the printing, the number of printed sheets / number of sheets, and the like. That is, the paper size (A4, B5 ...), N-up (1-u
p, 2-up, 4-up ...), paper type (plain paper, thick paper,
OHP ...), number of colors used (n colors, few colors ...), print image quality (fine, normal, dra)
ft ...), double-sided printing (both sides, one side) and the like. When calculating the billing meter value from which the usage fee bill of the printer or the multifunction peripheral is calculated, the above information is used to change the billing meter value calculation method for each user. ing.

Thus, according to the present invention, the detailed attributes of the stamp output can be acquired, so that various viewpoints (for example, N-up
Number of pages printed, the number of pages printed on both sides, the number of pages printed in a small number of colors, etc.) are available, and the usage status is used to finely control the usage status and promote economical use of paper and printing resources. It is possible to perform management and detailed billing processing (for example, if the usage rate is high with a double-sided rate, the fee is reduced). Also, it is possible to perform a customized billing request for each user, such as discounting or adding according to the usage form and usage amount of the user.

[0034]

According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a job value-added output method and a printing system which enable economical use of printing resources.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of job processing in the present system.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a billing process on the client side.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of contents (print type) of a target service to be counted up to a billing counter;

Fig. 5 Meter display contents (printer) with different fee structures
It is a figure showing an example of.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a meter switching process based on a color type on the system side.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Job instruction means 11 Job creation / instruction information adding means 12 Job sending means 20 Device 21, 31 Job information receiving means 22 Job processing means 23 Printing device 24 Job attribute recognition counting means 25 Job information storage means 26, 33 Job information presenting means 30 job information acquisition means 32 job information totalization means

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C061 AP03 AP04 AP07 AR01 HK15 HN15 HN19 2H027 EJ04 EJ06 EJ08 EJ15 FA13 FA28 FA30 FD01 5B021 AA01 AA19 BB01 BB02 CC05 DD18

Claims (9)

[Claims] An information processing apparatus receives job information to which a detailed job attribute for printing is added, performs printing processing based on the job information, stores the job information, and responds to the job information acquisition request. A job value-added output method, wherein the stored job information is presented. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the job attribute includes at least one of N-up and a color type. 3. The job value-added output method according to claim 1, wherein the status of the print processing is totaled based on job information presented in response to the acquisition request. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the counting is performed by changing an attribute value of the job attribute for each user. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein charging is performed based on an attribute value changed for each user. 6. A job instructing unit for sending job information to which a job attribute is added, a device for receiving the job information, performing a printing process, and storing the job information, and a job based on the stored job information. A job information acquisition unit that acquires attributes and changes the attribute values of the job attributes for each user and totals the status of the print processing. 7. The printing system according to claim 6, wherein the job information acquisition unit performs a customized billing for each user based on a result of the aggregation. 8. The printing system according to claim 6, wherein at least one of the job instruction unit and the job information acquisition unit is remotely installed in relation to the device. 9. The printing system according to claim 6, wherein at least one of the job instruction unit and the job information acquisition unit is installed locally in relation to the device.