JP2002196900A - Image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming system capable of informing a user leaving from a personal computer of the end of printing. SOLUTION: A job management part 104 receives a printing job from a network interface part 101 in the image forming system (S10), identifies the user ID of a printing executer (S11) and stores the printing job in a storage part 107. A controller part 103 extracts user information previously registered in a user information management table stored in the storage part 107 from the acquired user ID (S13) and prepares printing data and packet data for notification. The registration of the user information in the storage part 107 is executed from a body operation panel 105 or the setting utility of a client terminal. An engine part 105 performs printing processing, and after the end of printing (S19), transmits a packet to the portable terminal of the printing performer to notify the user of the end of printing (S20; Y, S21).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for notifying a user (not in front of a personal computer) of print end information in an image forming system such as a printer or a facsimile connected to a plurality of external devices via a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a system in which a plurality of personal computers and a printer are connected via a network to perform efficient printout has been widely used. For example, in the technology described in JP-A-11-194901,
A printer device with a wireless communication function and a wireless communication system capable of effectively restricting print output data of a wireless terminal when a failure occurs in a printer unit are disclosed. According to this technique, when a failure in the printer unit is detected, the printer notifies the wireless terminal of the failure using a notification signal and prohibits transmission of print output data from the wireless terminal to the wireless line. Further, when the recovery of the failure of the printer unit is detected, a notification of the failure recovery is sent to the wireless terminal by using the notification signal, and when the output of the data received from a certain wireless terminal is executed, the wireless communication system is used. It is intended to notify other wireless terminals within the terminal of information indicating that the terminal is in use.

[0003]

By the way, when printing is performed on a shared printer connected to a network, there is a case where another user is waiting while printing is in progress or the printing is not completed. For this reason, there is a utility that can confirm the end of printing on the terminal of the personal computer, but cannot confirm if the user leaves the personal computer after printing. Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-194901 does not mention a notification at the time of printing completion such as when printing is normally completed. Further, there is no disclosure of a technique for transferring a failure notification to a wireless terminal when printing from a personal computer terminal. On the other hand, when image data is transmitted to a remote user by facsimile or the like, the fact that the image data has been transmitted may be separately notified by telephone or mail. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming system capable of notifying a user who is not in front of a personal computer of the end of printing. Another object of the present invention is to provide a mobile phone number (or user ID) of a notification destination separately from a FAX number.
An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming system that automatically notifies a partner mobile phone after data output by inputting D).

[0004]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print data receiving means for receiving print data, a print means for performing print processing of print data received by the print data receiving means, and And a notifying unit for notifying the wireless terminal owned by the print execution user of the end of the print by transmitting a packet after the print processing is completed. According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, after the printing by the printing unit is completed, a change setting unit that receives a setting to change a notification destination by the notification unit to another user by a print execution user. Is further provided.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, when the change setting unit receives a setting that the print execution user changes the notification destination to another user, the change destination is set to the notification destination. The system further comprises a message changing unit for receiving a message change from the print execution user. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print data receiving means for receiving print data, a print means for performing print processing of the print data received by the print data receiving means,
After the printing process by the printing unit is completed, a notification unit is provided for dialing a notification of the end of printing to a portable terminal possessed by the print execution user.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the image forming system. In FIG.
1 to 1.4 are client terminals such as workstations, personal computers, and host computers;
1.5 is a printer, 1.6 is a facsimile machine,
1.7 is a portable terminal, 1.8 is a wireless client terminal (notebook computer), and 1.9 is an access point. These components are connected via a network.

As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming system includes a network interface unit 101 connected to a wired or wireless network and a telephone line for transmitting and receiving data, and a job management unit 104 for managing and identifying a received job. A storage unit 107 of a large-capacity HDD for storing a print job, a controller unit 103 for forming a print image, an engine unit 106 for printing a processed print image on paper, and a user to change settings and perform various operations. The operation panel 105 is provided. A host terminal 1 connected to a wired LAN (local area network) is connected to the client terminal.
00, a mobile phone capable of transmitting and receiving data wirelessly (PHS
And a wireless terminal 102 such as a notebook PC using a wireless network interface card.

Next, first to fourth embodiments will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the first embodiment, data to be printed is opened from the client terminal, and printing processing is started. A print job is received from the network interface unit 101 of the image forming system (step 1).
0), the job management unit 104 identifies the user ID of the print executor (step 11), and stores the print job in the storage unit 107. Then, from the acquired user ID (Step 12; Y), the user information (e-mail address, etc.) registered in the user information management table (see Table 1 shown in FIG. 4) of the storage unit 107 in advance is extracted (Step 13). ), The controller unit 103 creates print data and notification packet data (selects a communication method according to user information).

Registration of user information in the storage unit 107 is performed from the main body operation panel 105 or a setting utility on a client terminal. After printing is performed by the engine unit 105 and printing is completed (step 19), a packet (e-mail or the like) is transmitted to the portable terminal of the print executor to notify the end of printing (step 20; Y, step 21). here,
The packet type is E via the mail server.
There are mails and direct mails that send packets directly to the other party without going through the server. The notified user goes to get the printed job to the printer.

In the second embodiment, first, the client P
After opening the data to be printed in C, and inputting the user information (e-mail address, etc.) of the notification partner with the printer driver on the host terminal, the printing process is started. A print job is received from the network interface unit 101 of the image forming system, and the job management unit 104 acquires user information (e-mail address and the like) of a notification partner from the received job. Then, after printing is completed through the same procedure as in the first embodiment, a packet (e-mail or the like) is transmitted to the portable terminal of the print executor to notify the end of printing (step 20;
Y, step 21). The data to be notified here is selected from the fixed sentences stored in the main body storage unit 107. For example, as a fixed text: Print completion notification: Print data has been output. 2. Print completion notification: Print data has been output to printer XXXX. 3. Print completion notification: User XXX to printer XXXX
The print data from Mr. X has been output. A fixed sentence such as is registered. (A printer name and a user name are set in XXXX.) When a fixed text is not selected, a fixed text stored in the management table of the print execution user is used. The user who has been notified goes to the printer to obtain the printed job.

In the third embodiment, first, the client P
Open the data to be printed in C, input the user information (e-mail address, etc.) of the notification partner and the message attached to the notification with the printer driver (Step 14; Y, Step 15; Y, Step 16, Step 17, Step 18) ), Start the printing process. A print job is received from the network interface unit 101 of the image forming system, and the job management unit 104 acquires user information (e-mail address and the like) of a notification partner. And the first
After the printing is completed through the same procedure as in the embodiment (Step 1)
9) A packet (e-mail or the like) is transmitted to the portable terminal of the print executor to notify the end of printing (step 20; Y, step 21). Then, the user who has been notified goes to the printer to obtain the printed job.

In the fourth embodiment, data to be printed is opened on the client PC, and a facsimile number of a transmission destination and a transmission destination mobile phone number for notifying that a facsimile has been transmitted are input and the data is transmitted. A print job is received from the network interface unit 101 of the image forming system, a notification destination mobile phone number is acquired in the job management unit 104, and the print job is stored in the storage unit. When the management table as described in Table 1 shown in FIG. 4 is stored in the storage unit 107, it is possible to input only the user ID in the first embodiment.

After printing is performed by the engine unit 106 and printing is completed, a dial is started to the portable terminal obtained in the second embodiment, and a notification is made by performing a calling process. If there is no ringing tone of the mobile phone, redialing is performed after a certain period of time. The number of calls, the number of redials, and the waiting time until redialing are set from the client PC in step 1. Then, by registering the FAX number in advance in the notified portable terminal, it is confirmed that the call is from facsimile (notification) (step 20; Y, step 22). The user who has received the notification goes to the image forming system to obtain the printed job.

According to the above-described embodiment, for example, an interactive function of returning the image stored in the storage unit to a printout by returning the packet from the portable terminal to the image forming system by e-mail or the like. Can be developed.

[0015]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a print notification is sent to a mobile phone to notify a user who is not in front of a personal computer or a printer, and the user may forget to take out a printed matter.
There is no need to wait for output before the printer. According to the second aspect of the present invention, by designating a user other than the user to the notification destination mobile phone, it is possible to notify other users that the data has been printed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, not only notification of the end of printing but also explanation of the printed matter can be given by designating a user other than the user to the notification destination mobile phone and attaching a message. In the invention according to claim 4,
By automatically dialing and ringing the other party's mobile phone after the FAX is transmitted, there is no need to notify the other party of the transmission by telephone or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming system.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a user information management table.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1.1 to 1.4 client terminal, 1.5 facsimile device 1.6 printer 1.7 portable terminal 1.8 wireless client terminal (notebook computer) 1.9 access point 100 host device 101 network interface unit 102 wireless terminal 103 Controller unit 104 Job management unit 105 Operation panel 106 Engine unit 107 Storage unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] A print data receiving unit that receives print data; a print unit that prints the print data received by the print data receiving unit; and a wireless device owned by a print execution user after the print process is completed by the print unit. An image forming system, comprising: a notification unit configured to transmit a notification of printing completion to a terminal by transmitting a packet. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a change setting unit configured to receive, after the printing by the printing unit, a setting that the print execution user changes the notification destination of the notification unit to another user. 2. The image forming system according to 1. 3. The message change unit further comprising: a change setting unit configured to, when the print execution user receives a setting to change the notification destination to another user, receive a change of a notification message from the print execution user. The image forming system according to claim 2, further comprising: 4. A print data receiving means for receiving print data, a print means for performing print processing of the print data received by the print data receiving means, and a portable device possessed by a print execution user after the print processing by the print means is completed. An image forming system comprising: a notification unit that dials a notification of completion of printing to a terminal.