JP2003101700A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To process jobs in the order satisfying the time desired by, requesting person, when a plurality of jobs associated with the formation of images are inputted. SOLUTION: The time N by which a newly inputted job N needs to be done is inputted (S101), and the estimated processing time for the job N which is the time N required for the job N to be done is calculated (S102). In a job processing order plan at that time, if there is no continuous vacant time equal to the required time N or longer than the time N by which the job needs to be done, existing jobs are moved one by one to the requested time by which the job needs to be completed (S301 and S302). When the continuous vacant time equal to the required time N or longer is created, the job N is inserted into the created vacant time (S106). If no vacant time cannot be created to insert the job N even after all the existing jobs are moved to the time, by which the job N needs to be done and the created vacant time sums up to the required time N or longer, the jobs N is divided and inserted into each vacant time (S206). If even this is not possible, the job N is added to the end of the existing jobs (S401).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, or a facsimile which forms an image of one or a plurality of input jobs relating to image formation in a predetermined order.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, or a facsimile, when a plurality of jobs related to image forming are input from a document reading unit of a copying machine or a personal computer, the jobs are processed in the order of input in principle. (Image formation). However, for example, when a job with a very long processing time is input first and then a job with a short processing time is newly input, there is a problem that the subsequent jobs are kept waiting for a long time. It was In order to solve this, conventionally, a user interrupts a subsequent job by a predetermined interrupt operation (prior art 1), or Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-2001.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 127928, there is a job (prior art 2) in which a job having a high priority and a job having a short processing time are preferentially processed.

[0003]

However, the prior arts 1 and 2 have a problem that jobs are not always processed in an order satisfying the requester (user) of each job. . That is, originally, the requester of each job should be satisfied if his / her job is processed by the time (desired end time) when the result (document) is required. However, since the processing order is determined irrespective of that, the processing order may not be determined according to the desired end time of the requester of each job. Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide, when a plurality of jobs related to image formation are input,
An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that processes jobs in an order according to the desired end time of the job requester.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises storage means for storing one or a plurality of jobs relating to input image formation, and the jobs are stored in a predetermined order from the storage means. In an image forming apparatus that reads out and forms an image, a desired end time information input means for inputting an end desired time of image formation for each of the jobs, and a predicted processing time required for the image formation for each of the jobs are calculated. Based on the predicted processing time calculation means, the time counting means for measuring the current time, the desired end time, the predicted processing time, and the current time,
An image forming apparatus, comprising: a job processing order planning unit that determines a processing order plan of the job, and performing image formation according to the processing order plan of the job. As a result, the job processing order plan is determined based on the desired end time of the job (document) of each job, so that the jobs are ordered in the order according to the desired end time of the requester of each job. Will be processed.

In the job processing order plan, the job processing order planning means determines that a continuous empty time period equal to or longer than the predicted processing time of the job is reached by the desired end time of the newly input job. In some cases, it is conceivable to insert the newly input job in the continuous free time zone. As a result, the job processing sequence plan is determined in such a manner that the desired end time is satisfied even for jobs that are input later.

In the job processing order plan, the job processing order planning means determines that a continuous empty time period equal to or longer than the predicted processing time of the job is reached by the desired end time of the newly input job. If there is not, it is conceivable that the newly input job is divided and inserted so that the processing time is within the free time of each of the free time zones. As a result, even if there is no aggregated (continuous) free time, the newly input job is divided into a plurality of free times and inserted, so that a more efficient job processing order plan can be determined.

Further, if the job processing sequence planning means does not have the free time zone in which the job can be inserted by the desired end time of the newly input job, the newly input job is processed. It may be added at the end of the job processing order plan. In addition, when there is no free time zone in which the newly input job can be inserted, the above-mentioned one is provided with a desired end time over notifying means for notifying that, and based on the processing order plan of the job, If it is equipped with a scheduled end time output means for outputting the scheduled time when the image formation of each job is completed, the user can grasp the situation, which is more convenient.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings to provide an understanding of the present invention. It should be noted that the following embodiment is an example in which the present invention is embodied, and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the copying machine X according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a job when a new job is input in the copying machine X according to the embodiment of the present invention. Is a diagram showing an example of the input screen of the desired end time of FIG. 3, FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the procedure for determining the job processing order plan in the copying machine X according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. A time chart showing an example of a processing order plan determined in the copying machine X,
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a scheduled end time of a job after a new job in the copying machine X according to the embodiment of the present invention is inserted into the job processing order plan.

The copying machine X according to the embodiment of the present invention is a compound copying machine having a copying function of reading a document, copying and printing, and a printer function of printing print data received from a terminal such as a personal computer. . First, the schematic configuration of the copying machine X will be described with reference to FIG. The copying machine X includes a terminal communication unit 1 that communicates with a terminal such as a personal computer and inputs print data, an image reading unit 2 that reads an image of a document placed on a document table (not shown), various operation inputs and A display operation unit 3 including a liquid crystal touch panel for displaying data,
A control unit 4 including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, which performs various controls related to the printing process of the copying machine X according to a predetermined program stored in the ROM, the print data input unit 1, and the image reading unit 2. In addition to storing the input print data and image data as a print job (hereinafter, simply referred to as a job), a storage unit 5 such as a hard disk that stores various data processed by the control unit 4, The printing unit 6 is configured to print the job stored in the storage unit 5 according to a control command. Further, the control unit 4 includes a time measuring unit 4a that measures time. The copying machine X is also provided with other configurations for functioning as a general composite copying machine, but since it does not particularly form the feature of the present invention, its explanation is omitted here.

The feature of the copying machine X is that for each of the jobs, the desired end time of the job can be set, and a plan of the processing order of the jobs (hereinafter referred to as a job processing order plan) can be set based on the desired end time. It is at the point of decision. FIG. 2 shows an example of the desired end time setting screen 20. The setting screen 20 is a screen displayed by the display operation unit 3 when the document on the platen is read. Jobs A to D shown in FIG. 2 represent the jobs already registered in the job processing order plan,
The job E represents the job to be newly registered. In the desired end time setting screen 20, for each of the jobs registered in the job processing order plan, the job processing state, the expected end time, the desired end time, whether or not the job can be divided, the required time, and the time clock section. The current time 23 measured by 4a is displayed. Time management in the job processing order plan is performed based on the time measured by the time measuring unit 4a. The processing status of the job includes “in execution” indicating that printing is being performed at that time, “waiting” that is waiting for printing, and a status that is about to be registered in the job processing order plan. There are three states, "in spool". For the print job E whose processing state is “spooling”, the user inputs the desired end time input field 21 and the split availability input field 22.
By operating the, the desired end time and the information on whether the division is possible or not are set. In the determination of the job processing order plan, which will be described later, when the newly input job is registered, a continuous free time in which the job can be directly inserted by the desired end time is not found. The setting information is whether or not the job may be divided into a plurality of jobs and inserted. The required time is a predicted processing time of the job, and is obtained by the control unit 4 together with the scheduled end time. Regarding the desired end time and the possibility of division, when the original is read from the platen, the desired end time and the possibility of division are input from the setting screen of FIG. For the job input from
This copying is performed by inputting at the terminal by a printer driver or the like pre-installed on the terminal, and inputting the desired end time and the information on whether or not the job can be divided, for example, included in the header information of the job and output. Machine X gets those information about the job.

Next, the procedure for determining the job processing order plan will be described with reference to FIG. The process shown in FIG.
Job 1 to job (N) whose processing status is "standby"
(N-1) jobs up to -1) are registered in the job processing order plan, and the newly input job N represents processing when the job N is registered in the job processing order plan. . Also, job 1, job 2, ... Job (N
-1) in the order of the desired end time (that is, the end time of the job (N-1) is latest), and, for example, the desired end time, the required time, etc. corresponding to the job N are , Desired end time N, and required time N. Also, before the processing of FIG. 3 is started,
The job N input from the terminal communication unit 1 or the job N generated by the control unit 4 for the image read from the image reading unit 2 is stored in the storage unit 5 together with the desired end time N. It has been done. Further, S101, S102, represent the numbers of the processing procedures (steps) executed by the control unit 4.
First, the job N and the desired end time N are read from the storage unit 5 (corresponding to the processing of S101, the desired end time information input means), and the required time for the job N, that is, printing is required. Time is calculated (S1
02, corresponding to the processing of the predicted processing time calculation means). Next, in S103, it is determined whether or not the desired end time N is set, and if it is determined that the desired end time N is not set, the job N is added to the end of the job processing sequence plan ( S501), based on the updated job processing order plan, the scheduled end time, the desired end time, and the required time are output to the display operation unit 3 for the job currently being executed and the jobs 1 to N. After that (S107), the process ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S103 that the desired end time N has been set, (N-1) is assigned to the predetermined variable i (S104), and the process proceeds to S105. In S105, it is judged whether or not there is a continuous free time equal to or longer than the required time N by the desired end time N in the job processing order plan at that time.
When it is determined that there is the free time, the job N is inserted in the continuous free time in the last-justified or first-justified manner, and the job processing order plan is updated (S10).
6). Next, after the above-described processing of S107 is executed based on the updated job processing order plan, the processing ends.

On the other hand, in S105, when it is determined that there is no continuous idle time longer than the required time N by the desired end time N, the process proceeds to S201 and the variable i is 0 (zero). If it is determined that the variable i is not 0, the job i is moved to the desired end time i in the job processing order plan, that is, the scheduled end time i for the job i is The desired end time i is matched (S301), and the variable i
Minus 1 (countdown) (S30
2) Returning to S105, the above-mentioned job processing order plan after the update is determined in S105, that is, the presence or absence of the continuous free time is determined. In this way, it is determined whether or not the continuous free time for inserting the job N is generated while moving the job in order from the job with the latest desired end time to the desired end time (S105). If there is a vacant time, the job N is inserted there (S106). However, S30
If the job i is moved to the desired end time i in step 1 and interferes with another job, the time at which the interference does not occur, that is, the time at which the processing of the job causing the interference is started. Try to move only to.

On the other hand, in S201, the variable i is 0.
When it is determined that, that is, when all the “standby” jobs have been moved to the desired end time, but there is no continuous empty time in which the job N can be inserted, The process proceeds to S202, and the job N
If it is determined that the information about whether or not the division is possible is set and the setting is “Dividable” (Yes in S202), the total free time up to the desired end time N in S203 is the required time. It is determined whether N or more. When it is determined in S203 that the total free time is equal to or longer than the required time N, the job N is divided so as to fit within each free time existing by the desired end time N in S204. . Next, S
At 205, it is determined whether or not the divided job N can be inserted into each of the free times. The reason for making such a determination is that the job N can be divided only in units of at least one page, and therefore it cannot be inserted in a vacant time less than the time required for printing one page, and the total vacant time is not included. This is because even if the required time is N or more, the divided job N may not be inserted. S20
If it is determined in step 5 that the divided job N can be inserted in each of the free times, the divided job N is inserted in each of the free times in the job processing order plan by right-justified or left-justified. It Furthermore, the above-mentioned S1
07, the scheduled end time is displayed on the display / operation unit 3
Is output to.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S202 that the division availability is set to "no division" (no), or if it is determined in S203 that the total free time is less than the required time N. , And S205
If it is determined that the divided job N cannot be inserted into the free time in step 6, it means that it is determined that the job N cannot be inserted before the desired end time N. After adding to the end of the job processing order plan (S401), the estimated end time is based on the updated job processing order plan, together with the notification information indicating that the desired end time is exceeded, as in S107. After the desired end time and the required time are output to the display operation unit 3 (S402), the process ends. The fact that the desired end time is over is notified by, for example, blinking the scheduled end time of the job N by changing the display color. As described above, since the job processing order plan is determined based on the desired end time of the processed object (document) of each job, the order according to the desired end time of the requester of each job is determined. Will process the job. Furthermore, even if there is no aggregated (continuous) free time, the newly input job is divided into multiple free times and inserted, so a more efficient job processing order plan can be determined.

Next, referring to FIG. 4 and FIG. 3 described above, an example of the process of determining the job processing order plan will be described by taking the jobs A to E shown in FIG. 2 as an example. FIG. 4A is a time chart (solid arrow) showing the job processing order plan when the processing state of the newly input job E is "spooling". In this state, the desired end time and the availability of division for the new job E are "15:
50 ”and“ dividable ”are set (S1 in FIG. 3).
01). Further, the control unit 4 causes the job B to the job D whose processing state is “standby” to be sequentially processed from the job 1 to the job D having the set desired end time.
It is assumed that job 3 and the job E are recognized as job 4 (that is, job 1 = job C, job 2 = job D, job 3 = job B, job 4 = job E, N in FIG. 3). = 4).

First, the job 4 is controlled by the control unit 4.
The required time 4 of (E) is calculated (S102 of FIG. 3).
Here, it is assumed that it is calculated as “600 seconds” (that is, 10 minutes). Next, since the required time of the job 4 is set, the variable i is 3 (= N-1 = 4-1).
Is substituted (S103 → S104). Next, FIG.
As can be seen from (a), the required time 4 (10) is reached by the desired end time 4 (15:50) of the job 4 (E).
There is no free time (dashed line arrow) longer than a minute) (N in S104
o side), since the variable i (= 3) is not 0 (S20)
No. 1), the job i (= job 3 (B)) is moved to the desired end time 3 (15:55) (S3).
01). The state of the job processing order plan at this time is shown in FIG. Further, after 2 (= 3-1) is assigned to the variable i (S302), the vacant time of the required time 4 or more is checked again (S105). Similarly, FIG. 4C shows a state in which the job 2 (D) has been moved to the desired end time 2, and further, the job 1 (D)
The state in which (C) has been moved to the desired end time 1 is shown in FIG.
It is (d). In any state, there is no free time equal to or longer than the required time 4 (10 minutes) (Yes in S201). Therefore, whether or not the job 4 (E) can be divided is checked (S202). Job 4 (E)
As described above, the possibility of division is set to “division possible” (Yes in S202), and the desired end time 4
Total free time until (15:50) (10 minutes = 6 minutes +
4 minutes) is the required time 4 or more (Y in S203)
es side), the job 4 (E) has two jobs with the required times of 6 minutes and 4 minutes (job 4-1 and job 4-2).
And is inserted into each free time (S20
6). (For convenience, it is assumed here that the job 4 (E) having the required time of 10 minutes can be divided into two jobs of 6 minutes and 4 minutes (Yes in S205).) Regarding the determined job processing order plan, the estimated end time of each job is displayed on the display / operation unit 3.
An example of the screen displayed in FIG.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When multiple jobs related to image formation are input, the job processing order plan is determined based on the desired end time when the processed products (documents) of each job are originally required. Jobs will be processed in the order according to. In addition, even if there is no vacant (consecutive) free time in the job processing order plan, the newly input job is divided into multiple free times and inserted.
A more efficient job processing order plan can be determined.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a copying machine X according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen for a desired end time of a job when a new job is input in the copying machine X according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure for determining a job processing order plan in the copying machine X according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a time chart showing an example of a processing order plan determined in the copying machine X according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a scheduled end time of a job after a new job in the copying machine X according to the embodiment of the present invention is inserted into the job processing order plan.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Terminal communication unit 2 ... Image reading section 3 ... Display operation unit 4 ... Control unit 4a ... Timekeeping section 5 ... storage unit 6 ... Printing department 21 ... desired end time input field 22 ... Division availability input field 23 ... Current time

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Motoyuki Fukuda             Kyocera 1-22-28 Tamatsukuri, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi             Within Mita Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2C061 AP01 AP04 HJ10 HK11 HK19                 5B021 AA02 BB01 BB04 CC05                 5C062 AA02 AA05 AB22 AB42 AC04                       AC22 AE01 AF00 AF06

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus, comprising: storage means for storing one or a plurality of input jobs relating to image formation, wherein the jobs are read from the storage means in a predetermined order to form an image for each of the jobs. A desired end time information input means for inputting a desired end time of the image formation, a predicted processing time calculation means for calculating a predicted processing time required for the image formation for each of the jobs, and a time clock means for measuring the current time. Based on the desired end time, the estimated processing time, and the current time,
An image forming apparatus comprising: a job processing order planning unit that determines a processing order plan of the job; and performing image formation according to the processing order plan of the job. 2. The job processing order planning means sets, in the processing order planning of the job, a continuous empty time zone equal to or longer than the predicted processing time of the job by the desired end time of the newly input job. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in a certain case, the newly input job is inserted in the continuous free time period. 3. The job processing order planning unit sets, in the processing order planning of the job, a continuous empty time zone equal to or longer than the predicted processing time of the job by the desired end time of the newly input job. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein if there is no job, the newly input job is divided and inserted so as to have a processing time within each idle time. 4. If the job processing order planning unit does not have the free time zone in which the job can be inserted by the desired end time of the newly input job, the job newly input The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the image forming apparatus is added at the end of the job processing order plan. 5. When the empty time zone in which the newly input job can be inserted does not exist, a desired ending time over notification means is provided for notifying that effect.
The image forming apparatus according to any one of 1 to 4. 6. Based on the processing order plan of the job,
6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a scheduled end time output unit that outputs a scheduled time when the image formation of each of the jobs is finished.