JP2003154736A - Printer and its controlling method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To notify a user of an article left behind, e.g. a print, a medium, a document, or the like. SOLUTION: A counter printer comprises a Bluetooth interface 2, a Bluetooth antenna 1, a portable telephone interface 4, and a telephone line antenna 3. When a print, a medium used in printing, or a document is left as it is in the counter printer, a user is notified of an article left behind using close range communication by Bluetooth, if possible. If close range communication is impossible, the user is notified of an article left behind by e-mail through a portable telephone.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a printer device for recording an image on a visible recording medium and a control method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Currently, department stores, supermarkets, and the like may have an in-store printing device for printing images. In such a storefront printing apparatus, an image represented by image data recorded on a portable recording medium such as a digital still camera or a memory card,
An image recorded on a visible recording medium such as a photograph is printed.

A user sometimes forgets to take a print on which an image is printed in a store printing apparatus. Especially,
When the user leaves the in-store printing device to do business such as shopping, it is easy to forget to print.

When printing cannot be performed normally, it is necessary to restart the operation of the in-store printing apparatus from the beginning. It can be seen that the user could not print normally if he / she was near the in-store printing device, but if the user was far from the in-store printing device, he / she would not be able to print normally unless he returns to the in-store printing device.

[0005]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to prevent print forgetting from occurring.

Another object of the present invention is to inform the user that printing could not be performed normally.

The printing apparatus according to the first invention comprises a first communication means for communicating with the first portable communication apparatus according to the first communication method, and a second portable communication apparatus according to the second communication method. Second communication means for communicating, a printer for recording an image on a visible recording medium and releasing a print on which the image is recorded on the visible recording medium, and a print emitted from the printer for a certain period of time. According to this, it is characterized by further comprising communication control means for performing the communication of the above-mentioned leaving by using at least one of the first communication means and the second communication means.

The first aspect of the present invention also provides a control method suitable for the printer device. That is, in this method, a printer device that records an image on a visible recording medium and emits a print with the image recorded on the visible recording medium communicates with a first portable communication device according to a first communication method. A second communication means for communicating with the second portable communication device according to the first communication means and the second communication method is provided, and the print discharged from the printer device is left for a certain period of time. Then, at least one of the first communication means and the second communication means is used to perform the communication of the leaving.

According to the first aspect of the invention, when the print discharged from the printer is left for a certain period of time, at least one of the first communication means and the second communication means is used. First portable communication device and second portable communication device (these communication devices are owned by the user. The first portable communication device and the second portable communication device are the same. Or may be different). A user who has at least one of the first portable communication device and the second portable communication device can understand that the print is left as a result of communication with the printer device. You can bring abandoned prints.

Particularly, according to the first communication method, the first
First communication means and second communication means for communicating with the portable communication device of
Since both the communication means of the second communication means for communicating with the second portable communication device according to the communication method of 1 are provided, even if one communication means fails, the other communication means is used. Thus, the user can be surely notified that the print is left unattended.

At least one of an image data reading device for reading the image data recorded on the loaded portable recording medium and a scanner for reading the image recorded on the document placed on the reading surface may be further provided. . In this case, the printer records on the visible recording medium at least one of the image represented by the image data read by the image data reading device and the image read by the scanner,
Will release the above print. Further, the communication control means causes at least one of that the portable recording medium is left in the image data reading device for a certain time and that the document is left in the scanner for a certain time. In response to this, at least one of the first communication means and the second communication means will be used to perform the communication for leaving.

Not only can the user forget to take out the print, but the portable recording medium brought by the user, the forgetting to take out the original, etc. can be left alone.

The first communication means is, for example, Blueto
Near field communication such as oth (free communication, wireless communication, etc.)
Is used to communicate with the first portable communication device, and the second communication means communicates with the second portable communication device using, for example, a telephone line (billing system communication). It is a thing.

The communication control means determines whether the communication using the first communication means is possible, and the communication using the first communication means determines that the communication using the first communication means is possible. The means for performing the communication for leaving the information may be performed, and when it is determined that the communication using the first communication means is impossible, the communication for the information for leaving the information may be performed by the second communication means.

The short-distance communication is generally not charged for communication, and the telephone line is generally charged for communication. The above-mentioned first using the short-range communication as the first communication means.
When using a device that communicates with the portable communication device, the user is first notified that the print has been left unattended. When it is determined that the communication by the first communication unit is impossible, it is informed that the print is left unattended by the charged communication. Since communication that is not charged is used with priority, communication costs can be reduced.

A printer device according to a second invention comprises a first communication means for communicating with a first portable communication device according to a first communication system, and a second portable communication device according to a second communication system. Second communication means for communicating, a printer for recording an image on a visible recording medium, a judging means for judging whether or not the printer has ended the image on the visible recording medium normally, and a normal judgment by the judging means. A communication control means for performing communication to the effect that it has not ended normally by using at least one of the first communication means and the second communication means in response to the fact that it has not ended. Characterize.

The second aspect of the present invention also provides a method of controlling the printer device. That is, in this method, in a printer device for recording an image on a visible recording medium, a first communication method for communicating with a first portable communication device according to a first communication method is provided.
Second communication means for communicating with the second portable communication device according to the second communication method and the second communication method are provided, and it is determined whether or not the image recording on the visible recording medium is not normally completed, When it is determined that the processing has not ended, the communication indicating that the processing has not ended normally is performed using at least one of the first communication means and the second communication means.

According to the second invention, it is judged whether or not the image recording on the visible recording medium by the printer is not normally completed. If it did not end normally,
At least one of the first communication means and the second communication means is used to perform communication to the first portable communication device and the second portable communication device to the effect that the communication has not ended normally. . A user who has at least one of the first portable communication device and the second portable communication device knows that printing has not been normally completed due to communication with the printer device. Even if the user is away from the printer device, he / she can immediately go to the printer device to reprint.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a storefront printing apparatus.

The entire operation of the storefront printing apparatus is based on the CPU
Supervised by 10.

The in-store printing device is capable of short-distance communication by Bluetooth and communication by telephone line. For this reason, the storefront printing apparatus includes a Bluetooth interface 2, a Bluetooth antenna 1, a mobile phone interface 4 and an antenna 3 for connecting to a telephone line.

The store printing apparatus is provided with operation switches 5 for giving various operation commands. The operation command signal from the operation switch 5 is input to the CPU 10. A display device 6 controlled by the display controller 7 and a coin machine 8 controlled by the serial controller 9 are also provided in the in-store printing device.

Further, a non-volatile memory 11 for storing operation programs and other data, a frame memory 12 for temporarily storing image data, and a SCSI controller 13 are included in the over-the-counter printing apparatus. The SCSI controller 13 includes a film scanner 14, a floppy
A disk drive 15, a memory card reader 16, a flatbed scanner 17 and a printer 18 are connected.

The film scanner 14 reads an image recorded on the loaded film, and outputs image data representing the read image. The floppy disk drive 15 reads and outputs the image data recorded on the floppy disk. The memory card reader 16 reads and outputs the image data recorded on the memory card. The flatbed scanner 17 is provided with a flatbed, and when a document such as a photo is placed on the flatbed, the image recorded on the document is read and image data representing the image is output.

The film scanner 14 has a built-in detection circuit 14A for detecting that a film is loaded. Similarly, the floppy disk drive 15 has a detection circuit 15A for detecting that a floppy disk is loaded, and the memory card reader 16 has a detection circuit 15A.
A detection circuit 16A for detecting that a memory card is loaded and a detection circuit 17A for detecting that a document is placed on the flat bed 17 are built in the flat bed 17, respectively. The printer 18 has a built-in detection circuit 18A that detects that there is a print on which an image has been printed.

2 and 3 are flow charts showing the processing procedure of the storefront printing apparatus.

The user goes to the in-store printing device with the medium, the original, etc. in which the image data representing the image to be printed is stored, and operates the in-store printing device. In addition, it is assumed that the user has a mobile phone.

When a coin is inserted into the coin machine 8, the size of the paper to be printed by the user (A
5, A6, sticker, etc.) is selected by the operation switch 5 (step 21). Of course, when the display screen of the display device 6 is a touch panel and an area showing the desired size of paper is displayed on the display screen, the paper is touched by touching the area showing the desired size. The size of may be selected.

The user operates the mobile phone he has brought to the Bl
PIN (person) for short-range communication using uetooth
al identification number) The code is read from the mobile phone (the PIN code is displayed on the display screen of the mobile phone depending on the setting of near field communication in the mobile phone). The read PIN code is input to the over-the-counter printing device by the user (step 22). Specifically, the PIN code input window 41 shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the display screen of the display device 6 of the in-store printing device. The PIN code input window 41 includes a PIN code display area 42. When the PIN code is input using the operation switch 5, the P code input in the PIN code display area 42 is input.
The IN code is displayed.

Bluetoot for in-store printing devices and mobile phones
Connection is made by short-range communication by h (step 23).
Data indicating the telephone number of the mobile phone and data indicating the e-mail address are transmitted from the mobile phone to the store printing apparatus and received by the store printing apparatus.

Subsequently, the user selects the media (memory card, floppy disk, film, etc.) brought by the user, and the media reader corresponding to the type of original such as a photograph (step 24). Media reader selected by user (film scanner 14, floppy disk driver 15, memory
Card reader 16 or flatbed scanner 17)
The media brought in is loaded or the manuscript is placed. Image data is read from the media loaded in the media reader, or flatbed scanner
An image is read from the document placed on the sheet 17 to obtain image data (step 25). A thumbnail image of the image represented by the image data is displayed on the display screen of the display device 6 (step 26). However, if the thumbnail image data is recorded on the medium, the thumbnail image data may be read and the thumbnail image may be displayed.

An image to be printed is selected by the user from the thumbnail images displayed on the display screen of the display device 6 (step 26). The image data representing the selected image is read from the media, and the frame memory
Temporarily stored at 12. Image data is read from the frame memory 12 and given to the printer 18, whereby the image selected by the user is printed (step 27). The print on which the image is printed by the printer 18 is discharged to the receiving port of the printer 18.

When the user selects an image to be printed, the user can leave the shop printing apparatus. Therefore, while printing on the in-store printing apparatus, the user can finish business such as shopping at a place away from the in-store printing apparatus. Of course, the user may stay near the in-store printing device without leaving the in-store printing device.

On the display screen of the display device 6, instructions for taking out the medium loaded by the user and the original are displayed (step 28). According to this instruction, the user takes out media, originals, etc. loaded in the in-store printing device.

When printing is completed normally (step 29)
YES), it is confirmed whether the print discharged from the printer 18 remains in the discharge opening of the printer 18 for a certain period of time, or the loaded media, originals, etc. are not taken out (step 30). It goes without saying that time is measured by a counter (not shown).

The print remains in the discharge port of the printer 18 for a certain period of time, and the loaded media, originals, etc. have not been taken out for a certain period of time (YE in step 30).
S), it is confirmed whether or not the user's mobile phone and the in-store printing device can perform short-range communication by Bluetooth (step 31). This is because short-distance communication using Bluetooth cannot communicate if the communication devices (in this case, the user's mobile phone and the storefront printing device) are far from each other.

The user is near the printing device at the store,
If the point-of-sale printing device and the user's mobile phone can perform short-range communication by Bluetooth (YES in step 31), Bl
With uetooth interface 2 and antenna 1
Short-distance communication by Bluetooth is performed, and data indicating that prints, media, originals, etc. are left unattended is transmitted from the in-store printing device to the user's mobile phone (step 32). Characters indicating that there is something left behind are displayed on the display screen of the user's mobile phone. Since the user can see that there is something left behind by looking at the print end character, he / she can go to the over-the-counter printing device to get the thing left behind.

When the user is not near the in-store printing device, the in-store printing device and the user's mobile phone are Bl.
Short distance communication by uetooth is not possible (N in step 31)
O). Print to the user's e-mail address using the mobile phone interface 4 and antenna 4,
An e-mail indicating that the media, manuscript, etc. are left unattended is transmitted (step 33). The email is displayed on the display screen of the mobile phone. By looking at the e-mail, the user can know that there is something left behind even if he / she is not near the in-store printing device. However, since the telephone number of the mobile phone is known without using the e-mail to notify the user of the end of printing, the user may make a call.

In this way, the user can be informed of the lost article by using the short-range communication by Bluetooth or the telephone. However, the user may be notified of the end of printing by using both short-distance communication using Bluetooth and communication using a telephone.

If the printing does not end normally (NO in step 29), it is necessary to inform the user that the printing did not end normally. Therefore, as described above, it is confirmed whether or not the mobile phone of the user and the in-store printing device can perform short-range communication by Bluetooth (step 34).

The user is near the printing device at the store,
If the point-of-sale printing device and the user's mobile phone can perform short-range communication using Bluetooth (YES in step 34), Bl
With uetooth interface 2 and antenna 1
Short-distance communication by Bluetooth is performed, and data indicating abnormal termination is transmitted from the in-store printing device to the user's mobile phone (step 35). Characters indicating abnormal termination are displayed on the display screen of the user's mobile phone. Since the user knows that the processing has ended abnormally, he / she can go to the over-the-counter printing device and print again.

When the user is not near the in-store printing device, the in-store printing device and the user's mobile phone are Bl.
Near field communication by uetooth is not possible (N in step 34)
O). An e-mail indicating the abnormal termination is transmitted to the user's e-mail address using the mobile phone interface 4 and the antenna 4 (step 35).
The email is displayed on the display screen of the mobile phone. By looking at the e-mail, the user can know that the abnormal termination has occurred even when the user is not near the in-store printing apparatus. In this case as well, the user may make a call to the mobile phone of the user without notifying the user of the end of printing by using the electronic mail.

The film scanner 14, the floppy disk drive 15, the memory card reader 16, the flatbed scanner 17 and the printer 18 are provided with a lock mechanism, and loaded media, originals placed on the flatbed, and ejection. The printed matter may not be taken out unless the lock mechanism is unlocked. It is possible to prevent others from picking up media, documents, and prints even if they are left for a certain period of time. In this case, an authorized user will be informed of the recitation number when the operation of the storefront printing apparatus is started, and the lock mechanism will be unlocked by inputting the recitation number.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a storefront printing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of an in-store printing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the in-store printing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is an example of a window displayed on the display screen of the shop printing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Bluetooth antenna 2 Bluetooth interface Antenna for 3 telephone lines 4 Mobile phone interface 10 CPU 13 SCSI controller 14 film scanner 14A, 15A, 16A, 17A, 18A detection circuit 15 floppy disk drive 16 memory card reader 17 flatbed scanner 18 printer

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Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A first communication means for communicating with a first portable communication device according to a first communication system, and a second communication means for communicating with a second portable communication device according to a second communication system. A printer that records an image on a visible recording medium and emits a print on which the image is recorded on the visible recording medium, and the first printer according to the fact that the print emitted from the printer is left for a certain period of time. And a communication control means for performing the above-mentioned communication for leaving by using at least one of the communication means and the second communication means. 2. Further comprising at least one of an image data reading device for reading image data recorded on a loaded portable recording medium and a scanner for reading an image recorded on a document arranged on a reading surface. A printer records at least one of the image represented by the image data read by the image data reading device and the image read by the scanner on the visible recording medium, and ejects the print; At least one of the fact that the communication control means causes the portable recording medium to be left in the image data reading device for a certain period of time and / or the document to remain in the scanner for a certain period of time has occurred. According to at least one of the first communication means and the second communication means. 2. The printer device according to claim 1, wherein the printer device is used to perform the communication to the effect that the printer is left alone. 3. The first communication means communicates with the first portable communication device using near field communication,
2. The printer device according to claim 1, wherein the second communication means communicates with the second portable communication device using a telephone line. 4. The communication control means determines whether communication using the first communication means is possible, and the communication control means determines that communication using the first communication means is possible. 4. The printer device according to claim 3, wherein the communication means for performing the leaving is performed by the communication means, and the communication for the leaving is performed by the second communication means when the communication is determined to be impossible. . 5. A first communication means for communicating with a first portable communication device according to a first communication system, and a second communication means for communicating with a second portable communication device according to a second communication system. A printer for recording an image on a visible recording medium, a judging means for judging whether or not the image ending on the visible recording medium by the printer is not normally ended, and a judging means for not being normally ended And a communication control means for performing communication to the effect that the processing has not ended normally by using at least one of the first communication means and the second communication means. 6. A printer device for recording an image on a visible recording medium and releasing a print having the image recorded on the visible recording medium, wherein the printer device communicates with a first portable communication device according to a first communication method. A second communication unit that communicates with the second portable communication device according to the first communication unit and the second communication method is provided, and the print discharged from the printer device is left for a certain period of time. A method of controlling a printer apparatus, wherein communication for leaving is performed using at least one of the first communication means and the second communication means. 7. A printer device for recording an image on a visible recording medium, comprising: a first communication means for communicating with a first portable communication device according to a first communication method; and a second communication means for communicating with a second communication method. Second for communicating with a portable communication device
Communication means is provided to determine whether or not the recording of the image on the visible recording medium has not been normally completed, and in response to the determination that the image has not normally ended, the first communication means and the second A method for controlling a printer device, which uses at least one of communication means to perform communication to the effect that it has not ended normally.