JP2003044250A - Print system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To notify a prescribed portable terminal of the completion of print, and to reduce any work to confirm actual print output several times by a host terminal or the like. SOLUTION: A portable terminal 100 is provided with a print completion acquiring part 101 for acquiring the print completion of a printer 120 and a print completion confirming part 102 for announcing the print completion of the printer 120 by using a display device or an announcement sound.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing system having a host terminal, a printer for exchanging data with the host terminal, and a portable terminal for wireless communication with the host terminal. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, attempts have been made to construct a printing system in which a device such as a printer using a short-range wireless communication standard such as Bluetooth is monitored and controlled from a short-range wireless mobile terminal.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a conventional printing system.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 510 denotes a host terminal and 52
0 is a printer. The printer 520 is the printer 52.
A printer status monitoring unit 521 that monitors the status of 0, a printer status notification unit 522 that notifies the host terminal 510 of the status of the printer 520 acquired by the printer status monitoring unit 521, and a printing unit 523 that prints on paper. Have and. Further, the host terminal 510 has a printer status notification unit 52.
2 to the host terminal 510, the printer status acquisition unit 511 that acquires the status of the printer 520;
Printer status display unit 5 for displaying the status of 20 on the display device
12 and print data that can be interpreted by the printer 520 is created from the document data, and the print data is generated by the printer 5.
20 and a print job processing unit 513 that transmits the print job.

The printer 520 as shown in FIG. 5 notifies the host terminal 510 of the completion of printing by the printer 520, as described above.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional printing system, when the operator leaves the seat from the host terminal 510 by starting the printing of the document data from the host terminal 510, it is possible to confirm the completion of the printing. However, there is a problem in that it is necessary to confirm the actual print output state on the display device of the host terminal 510 or the printer 520 to confirm the completion of printing. In particular, when outputting a large amount of document data to the printer 520, it is necessary to check the actual print output many times on the display device of the host terminal 510 or the printer 520. There is a problem in that it is difficult to perform other work in parallel because it cannot be separated and is restricted by time.

In this printing system, the printing completion is notified to the portable terminal registered in advance in the host terminal for the purpose of notifying the printing completion from the host terminal, and the actual printing is performed by the display device or the printer of the host terminal. It is required to reduce the work of checking the output many times.

In order to meet this demand, the present invention can notify a predetermined portable terminal of the completion of printing, and reduce the work of checking the actual print output many times on the display device or printer of the host terminal. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing system that can perform printing.

[0009]

In order to solve this problem, a printing system of the present invention uses a wireless communication between a host terminal, a printer that sends and receives data to and from the host terminal, and the host terminal. In a printing system having a mobile terminal, a printer includes a printer status monitoring unit that monitors the status of the printer, and a printer status notification unit that notifies the host terminal of the status of the printer acquired by the printer status monitoring unit. The host terminal includes a printer status acquisition unit that acquires the printer status from the printer status notification unit, and a printer status display unit that displays the acquired printer status on a display device. A print job processing unit that creates print data interpretable by the printer from the document data and sends the print data to the printer, and registers the mobile terminal. The portable terminal registration unit and the print completion notification unit that notifies the mobile terminal of the print completion when the printer status obtained by the printer status acquisition unit is print completed. A print completion acquisition unit that acquires the print completion notified from the copy unit, and a print completion confirmation unit that displays the acquired print completion on the display device or outputs it as a notification sound such as voice, bell sound, or music with the sound source output device. Is provided.

As a result, it is possible to provide a printing system capable of notifying a predetermined mobile terminal of the completion of printing and reducing the work of checking the actual print output many times on the display device or printer of the host terminal. To be

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A printing system according to claim 1 of the present invention is a portable terminal for performing wireless communication between a host terminal, a printer for exchanging data with the host terminal, and the host terminal. And a printer status monitoring unit that monitors the status of the printer, a printer status notification unit that notifies the host terminal of the status of the printer acquired by the printer status monitoring unit, and a printer The host terminal has a printer status acquisition unit that acquires the printer status from the printer status notification unit, a printer status display unit that displays the acquired printer status on a display device, and a printer. A print job processing unit for creating print data that can be interpreted by the document data and transmitting the print data to the printer; and a mobile terminal registration unit for registering the mobile terminal. In the case of a printer obtained by the printer status obtaining unit state of printing completion and a print completion notification unit to notify completion of printing to the portable terminal, the portable terminal,
A print completion acquisition unit that acquires the print completion notified from the print completion notification unit and a print completion that causes the display device to display the acquired print completion or to output as a notification sound such as a sound, a bell sound, or music by the sound source output device. The confirmation section is provided.

With this configuration, the print completion of the printer can be notified to the portable terminal registered in the host terminal, and the print completion of the printer can be known from the host terminal or a place distant from the printer. It is possible to reduce the work of checking the actual print output many times on the display device or printer.

A printing system according to a second aspect is the printing system according to the first aspect, wherein communication between the host terminal and the portable terminal is performed via the Internet.

With this configuration, it is possible to confirm the completion of printing via the Internet even in a range where the host terminal and the portable terminal registered by the host terminal cannot directly communicate with each other. This has an effect that the completion of printing of the printer can be surely confirmed on the mobile terminal.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the first or second aspect, the print completion notifying unit notifies the host terminal and the portable terminal at a predetermined cycle when communication is impossible. It was decided to retry.

With this configuration, it is possible to reliably notify a predetermined mobile terminal.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a printing system in Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a position of a portable terminal, a host terminal and a printer in Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is a positional relationship diagram which shows a relationship.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 100 is a portable terminal for wireless communication with the host terminal 110, and 120 is a printer for exchanging data with the host terminal 110. The printer 120 includes a printer status monitoring unit 121 that monitors the status of the printer 120 and a printer status monitoring unit 1.
The printer status notification unit 122 notifies the host terminal 110 of the status of the printer 120 acquired in step 21 and the printing unit 123 performs printing on paper. In addition, the host terminal 110 sends the printer status notification unit 122 to the host terminal 1
Printer status acquisition unit 111 that acquires the status of the printer 120 sent to the printer 10, printer status display unit 112 that displays the status of the printer 120 on a display device, and printer 1
A print job processing unit 113 that creates print data that can be interpreted by the document data 20 from document data, and that sends the created print data to the printer 120, and a notification of printing completion to a designated mobile terminal (predetermined mobile terminal) 100. When the status of the mobile terminal registration unit 114 that registers the mobile terminal 100 for the purpose of performing the printing and the status of the printer 120 obtained by the printer status acquisition unit 111 indicate that printing is completed, the printing completion is notified to the mobile terminal 100 And a notification unit 115. Further, the mobile terminal 100 displays the print completion acquisition unit 101 that acquires the information indicating the print completion from the print completion notification unit 115 and the print completion acquired by the print completion acquisition unit 101 on a display device (not shown). And a print completion confirmation unit 102 that outputs a notification sound such as voice, bell sound, music, etc. as a print completion notification sound by a sound source output device (not shown).

The operation of the printing system configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the printing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, a printer 120 connected to the host terminal 110 by a cable, or a printer 120 connected to the host terminal 110 via a network (not shown), and the printer 120 registered in advance in the host terminal 110 for short-range wireless communication. Bluetooth with range
An example with the mobile terminal 100 that uses a wireless communication standard such as th will be described.

In FIG. 3, first, the host terminal 110 causes the printer 120 to start printing document data (S1). In step S1, the print job processing unit 113 creates print data that can be interpreted by the printer from the document data, and sends the print data to the printer 120. The printer 120 actually prints on paper using the printing unit 123 based on the print data sent from the host terminal 110. The printer 1 acquired by the printer status monitoring unit 121 that monitors the status of the printer 120
The status of 20 is notified to the host terminal 110 by the printer status notification unit 122. The printer status acquisition unit 111
The status of the printer 120 notified from the printer 120 to the host terminal 110 is acquired, and the printer status display unit 112 is acquired.
Displays the status of the printer 120 on the display device of the host terminal 110 (S2). The printer status acquisition unit 111
It is determined whether or not the acquired status of the printer 120 is print completion of the printer 120 (S3). Step S3
If NO is determined in the completion of printing of the printer 120, the printer status display unit 112 displays the printer status newly acquired by the printer status monitoring unit 121 that monitors the status of the printer 120 on the display device. (S
2). If YES is determined in the determination of print completion of the printer 120 in step S3, the print completion notification unit 115
The mobile terminal registration unit 11 in advance for the purpose of notifying the completion of printing.
Mobile terminal (predetermined mobile terminal) 100 registered by No. 4
A notification of print completion is sent using a short-range wireless communication standard such as Bluetooth (S4). Next, the mobile terminal 10
The print completion confirmation unit 102 notified of the print completion obtained by the print completion acquisition unit 101
The print completion acquired in step S1 is displayed on the display device, or is output as a notification sound such as voice, bell sound, or music by a sound source output device (not shown) (S5).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the completion of printing by the printer 120 is notified by the host terminal 110 and the printer 12.
It can be confirmed on a predetermined mobile terminal 100 (a mobile terminal registered in advance for the purpose of notifying the host terminal 110 of the completion of printing) at a place away from 0. Further, if the print completion notifying unit 115 retries the notification at a predetermined cycle when the host terminal 110 and the mobile terminal 100 cannot communicate with each other, the print completion notification unit 115 surely notifies the predetermined mobile terminal 100. You can

(Second Embodiment) The configuration of the printing system according to the second embodiment of the present invention is similar to that of the first embodiment, as shown in FIG.
It is the structure of.

The operation of the printing system thus configured will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the printing system in the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a positional relationship diagram showing a positional relationship among a mobile terminal, a host terminal and a printer in FIG. In FIG. 4, a printer 120 connected to the host terminal 110 by a cable, or a printer 120 connected to the host terminal 110 via a network (not shown), a mobile phone registered in advance in the host terminal 110, and the like. An example with the mobile terminal 100 will be described. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 130 denotes a base station of the mobile terminal 100, 14
0 is the Internet.

In FIG. 3, first, the host terminal 110 causes the printer 120 to start printing document data (S1). In step S1, the print job processing unit 113 creates print data that can be interpreted by the printer 120 from the document data, and prints the print data in the printer 12.
Send to 0. The printer 120 actually prints on paper using the printing unit 123 based on the print data sent from the host terminal 110. The printer status acquired by the printer status monitoring unit 121 that monitors the printer status is checked by the printer status notification unit 122.
0 is notified. The printer status acquisition unit 111 acquires the status of the printer notified from the printer 120 to the host terminal 110, and the printer status display unit 112 displays the status of the printer 120 on the display device of the host terminal 110 (S2). The printer status acquisition unit 111 determines whether the acquired status of the printer 120 is print completion of the printer 120 (S3). Printer 1 in step S3
When it is determined to be NO in the print completion determination of 20, the printer status display unit 112 displays the status of the printer 120 newly acquired by the printer status monitoring unit 121 that monitors the status of the printer 120 on the display device ( S2). If YES is determined in the print completion determination of the printer 120 in step S3, the print completion notification unit 115 determines that the mobile terminal registered in advance by the mobile terminal registration unit 114 for the purpose of notifying the print completion (predetermined mobile phone). Printing completion is notified to the terminal) 100 via the Internet 140 and the base station 130 (S4). Next, the print completion confirmation unit 102 notified of the print completion obtained by the print completion acquisition unit 101 of the mobile terminal 100 displays the print completion acquired by the print completion acquisition unit 101 on the display device or outputs the sound source. A device (not shown) outputs a notification sound such as voice, bell sound, music, etc. (S5).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the completion of printing by the printer 120 is notified by the host terminal 110 or the printer 12.
It can be confirmed on a predetermined mobile terminal 100 (a mobile terminal registered in advance for the purpose of notifying the host terminal 110 of the completion of printing) at a place away from 0. In addition, by performing communication between the host terminal 110 and the mobile terminal 100 via the Internet 140, even when the host terminal 110 and the mobile terminal 100 registered by the host terminal 110 are in a range where direct communication is not possible. Since the completion of printing can be confirmed via the Internet, it is possible to confirm the completion of printing by the printer 120 even in a remote place.
It can be surely confirmed with 00. Further, if the print completion notifying unit 115 retries the notification at a predetermined cycle when the host terminal 110 and the mobile terminal 100 cannot communicate with each other, the print completion notification unit 115 surely notifies the predetermined mobile terminal 100. You can

[0027]

As described above, according to the printing system of the first aspect of the present invention, the wireless communication is provided between the host terminal, the printer for exchanging data with the host terminal, and the host terminal. In a printing system having a mobile terminal that performs communication, a printer is a printer status monitoring unit that monitors the status of the printer, and a printer status notification that notifies the host terminal of the status of the printer acquired by the printer status monitoring unit. And a printing unit for printing on paper. The host terminal has a printer status acquisition unit for acquiring the printer status from the printer status notification unit and a printer status for displaying the acquired printer status on the display device. A display unit and a print job processing unit that creates print data interpretable by the printer from the document data and transmits the print data to the printer.
The mobile terminal includes a mobile terminal registration unit that registers the mobile terminal, and a print completion notification unit that notifies the mobile terminal of print completion when the printer status obtained by the printer status acquisition unit is print completion. Is a print completion acquisition unit that acquires the print completion notified from the print completion notification unit, and causes the display device to display the acquired print completion or causes the sound source output device to output it as a notification sound such as voice, bell sound, or music. By having the print completion confirmation unit, the print completion of the printer can be notified to the mobile terminal registered in the host terminal, and the print completion of the printer can be known at a location away from the host terminal or the printer. As a result, it is possible to reduce the work of checking the actual print output many times on the display device or the printer of the host terminal.

According to the printing system of the second aspect,
In the printing system according to claim 1, when communication between the host terminal and the mobile terminal is performed via the Internet, and the range in which the host terminal and the mobile terminal registered by the host terminal cannot directly communicate with each other Also, since you can check the print completion via the Internet,
Further, the advantageous effect that the completion of printing of the printer can be surely confirmed by the mobile terminal even at a distant place is obtained.

According to the printing system of claim 3,
3. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the print completion notifying unit retries the notification at a predetermined cycle when the host terminal and the mobile terminal cannot communicate with each other, thereby reliably ensuring the predetermined mobile terminal. The advantageous effect that it can be notified to is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a positional relationship diagram showing a positional relationship among a mobile terminal, a host terminal, and a printer according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the printing system according to the first and second embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a positional relationship diagram showing the positional relationship among a mobile terminal, a host terminal, and a printer according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a conventional printing system.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 mobile terminals 101 Print completion acquisition unit 102 Print completion confirmation section 110 host terminal 111 Printer status acquisition unit 112 Printer status display 113 Print job processing unit 114 Mobile terminal registration unit 115 Print completion notification section 120 printers 121 Printer status monitoring unit 122 Printer status notification unit 123 Printing department 130 base stations 140 Internet

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A printing system comprising a host terminal, a printer for exchanging data with the host terminal, and a portable terminal for performing wireless communication with the host terminal, the printer comprising: A printer status monitoring unit that monitors the status of the printer, a printer status notification unit that notifies the host terminal of the status of the printer acquired by the printer status monitoring unit, and a printing unit that prints on paper. The host terminal has a printer status acquisition unit that acquires the printer status from the printer status notification unit, a printer status display unit that displays the acquired printer status on a display device, and the printer can interpret the printer status. A print job processing unit that creates various print data from document data and sends the print data to the printer, and a mobile device that registers the mobile terminal. A terminal registration unit and a print completion notifying unit for notifying the mobile terminal of print completion when the printer status obtained by the printer status acquisition unit is print completed, and the mobile terminal is A print completion acquisition unit that acquires the print completion notified from the print completion notification unit, and displays the acquired print completion on a display device or outputs it as a notification sound such as voice, bell sound, or music with a sound source output device. A printing system having a print completion confirmation unit. 2. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein communication between the host terminal and the mobile terminal is performed via the Internet. 3. The printing completion notifying unit retries the notification at a predetermined cycle when communication between the host terminal and the mobile terminal is not possible.
Printing system described in.