JP2003266901A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer which can promptly and surely know printing information on a job waiting for printing, smoothly continue a printing action when printing has to be stopped, and make an operator do an efficient printing action with reduced administrative load. <P>SOLUTION: When the operator requires an advance indication, or the printing of a job being printed has to be stopped, paper information necessary for the job waiting for printing is displayed on an operation/display unit 11, a feeding tray satisfying the paper information is confirmed and installed, a job to be printed further is selected from the job waiting for printing displayed on the unit 11, and the implementation of a smooth printing action of the selected job is made possible. The operator, before the printing of a job, or when an alarm to stop printing is given, confirms the paper information by the printer 2 and implements the confirmation and setting of the feeding tray and the selection of a job to be continued, so that an operator's load concerning an administrative action can be reduced. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer device for receiving and storing data of a plurality of jobs, forming print images of the plurality of jobs based on the stored data, and printing the print images on a sheet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the spread of network technology, for example, a host computer and a printer device are connected to a LAN (Local Area Network), and print data of a plurality of jobs from the host computer is sent to the printer device. 2. Description of the Related Art A printer system is widely used in which a print image of a plurality of jobs is printed by sharing a common printer device. In the printer device used in this kind of printer system,
When a job being printed is out of paper such as running out of paper, the printer will generate an alarm and stop the printing operation. , Repair the paper by replenishing the paper tray with the required paper,
The printing operation needs to be restarted, and a certain amount of time is lost before the printing operation is restarted, so that the printing operation may not continue smoothly. In this case, if the print operation of the selected job is continued from the job waiting to be printed, other than the job in which the print cancel situation has occurred, and the repair processing for the print cancel situation occurs, the loss time is reduced. Then, the printing operation can be executed to some extent efficiently.

[0003]

However, in the conventional printer device of this type, the operator cannot promptly and accurately grasp the paper information necessary for printing corresponding to each print waiting job on the spot. In many cases, a job waiting to be printed is arbitrarily selected to resume continuous printing, aiming for smooth printing without loss time. However, if the printing of the arbitrarily selected job is continued, for example, the number of sheets of the paper information necessary for printing the job is low, and after the printing is performed for a while, the print cancel situation occurs again, The number of processes to be solved by the operator may increase, and the efficiency of the printing operation may be significantly reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the current state of the operation of the printer device of this type as described above, and an object thereof is to promptly and accurately obtain information necessary for an operator to print a job waiting to be printed. In the event of a print cancel situation, the printing operation of the printer device can be smoothly continued, and the printing operation can be efficiently and accurately performed while reducing the administrative burden on the operator. To provide a printer device.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 receives and stores print data of a plurality of jobs, and based on the stored print data, a plurality of jobs of the plurality of jobs are stored. A printer that forms a print image and prints on a sheet, and a job display unit that displays a list of the plurality of jobs to be printed on the display by a display operation of an operator or a print cancel situation of a job being printed. When displaying a list of the plurality of jobs by the job display unit, a display control unit that controls the job display unit to display paper information necessary for printing on the display, and a job displayed on the job display unit The present invention is characterized by having a print control means for performing a print operation for a job selected and designated.

According to such means, the print data of a plurality of jobs are received and stored, and the print images of the plurality of jobs are formed and printed on the paper based on the stored print data. By the display operation of, a plurality of jobs to be printed are displayed on the display by the job display means, and at the same time, the paper information necessary for printing is also displayed on the display by the control of the display control means. In order to satisfy the above condition, the paper feed tray is prepared in advance, and the print operation is started for the job selected and selected from the list of jobs. Is executed.

Further, when an alarm occurs in a job being printed due to a print cancel situation, a plurality of jobs to be printed are displayed on the display by the job display means, and at the same time, the display control means controls the printing on the display. The required paper information is displayed and the operator
Select a job to continue printing from the multiple jobs displayed in the list, and continue the printing operation efficiently. Waiting time is shortened,
The printer device continuously and efficiently processes the print operations of a plurality of jobs.

Similarly, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 2 is different from the invention according to claim 1 in that the job display means prints a list of a plurality of jobs under the control of the control means. The configuration information of the paper feed tray used for is also displayed on the display, and if the paper tray of the configuration information required for printing does not exist, the paper feed tray selected according to the preset priority order A change setting unit for changing and setting the configuration information to the configuration information necessary for printing is further provided.

According to such means, in addition to the operation of the invention described in claim 1, the job display means displays the list of a plurality of jobs in the paper feed tray used for printing under the control of the control means. The configuration information is also displayed on the display, and if the sheet feed tray of the configuration information required for printing does not exist, the change setting unit selects the sheet feed tray selected according to the preset priority order. The configuration information is changed and set to the configuration information required for printing, and the user appropriately sets the paper feed tray necessary for continuing the printing operation without changing the setting process, and changes the configuration information as necessary. Settings are made to cause the printer device to continue the print operation of a plurality of jobs more efficiently and accurately.

Similarly, in order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 3 is different from the invention according to claim 1 in that the job display means prints a list of a plurality of jobs under the control of the control means. The configuration information of the paper tray used for printing is also displayed on the display, and if the paper tray of the configuration information required for printing does not exist, the paper tray selected according to the usage status of the paper tray will be displayed. A change setting unit for changing and setting the configuration information to the configuration information necessary for printing is further provided.

According to such means, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1, the job display means displays the list of a plurality of jobs by the control of the control means of the paper feed tray used for printing. The configuration information is also displayed on the display, and if the sheet feed tray of the configuration information necessary for printing does not exist, the change setting unit selects the sheet feed tray selected according to the usage state of the sheet feed tray. The configuration information is changed and set to the configuration information required for printing, and the user appropriately sets the paper feed tray necessary for continuing the printing operation without changing the setting process, and changes the configuration information as necessary. Settings are made to cause the printer device to continue the print operation of a plurality of jobs more efficiently and accurately.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present embodiment, FIG.
3 is an explanatory diagram of paper information necessary for printing in this embodiment, and FIG.
3 is a flowchart showing a sheet information display operation of this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the printer device 2 according to the present embodiment is connected to a network 12 such as a LAN, and the network 12 includes print data including print command signals and print data for a plurality of jobs. Is connected to the printer device 2 via the network 12. The printer device 2 is provided with a CPU 3 for controlling the overall operation.
Connected to the PU 3 via the bus B is a host interface 6 for interfacing with the host computer 1, a hard disk 7, and an operation / display unit 11 for inputting operation signals of an operator and displaying various data. Has been done. Similarly, the CPU 3 is connected via the bus B to the memory 5 for writing / reading various data during operation and the printer engine 10, and an engine for performing an interface operation with the printer engine 10. The interface 8 is connected. Further, in the present embodiment, the CPU 3 displays a list display of all jobs waiting for printing and corresponding paper information due to the occurrence of a display request from the operator or the occurrence of a print cancel situation for a job being executed. Means are provided.

The sheet information display operation of this embodiment having such a configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the present embodiment, print data of a plurality of jobs is transmitted from the host computer 1, and these print data are sent to the printer device 2 via the network 12.
The print data received by the host interface 6 and received by the instruction of the CPU 3 is stored in the memory 5 in association with each job. Prior to printing the print data, the operator operates the operation / display unit 11
First, the case of inputting a display request signal from the CPU 3 will be described. In step S1 of the flowchart of FIG. 3, the operator's display request operation is confirmed, the process proceeds to step S2, and the CPU 3
In response to the command, the operation / display unit 11 displays a list of jobs waiting to be printed. Therefore, in step S3, when the operator selects the first job to be sequentially printed from the print waiting jobs displayed on the operation / display unit 11, in step S4, a print cancel situation occurs for the job being executed immediately before. If it is not confirmed, the process proceeds to step S5, the page is stepped for the selected job in accordance with the instruction of the CPU 3, and the process proceeds to step S6, where the sheet information of the corresponding page is created and stored in the memory 5. It is introduced in the list of paper information. And
The operations of steps S5 and S6 are repeated until it is determined in step S7 that the corresponding page is the last page of the selected job according to the instruction from the CPU 3.

When it is determined in step S7 that the page is the last page, the process proceeds to step S8, in which it is determined whether or not the job is the last job according to a command from the CPU 3, and it is determined that the job is not the last job. Then, the process returns to step S3, the job to be printed next is selected, and step S
The operations of steps S3 to S7 are repeated until it is determined in step 8 that the job is the last job. When it is determined in step S8 that the job is the last job, the process proceeds to step S9, and C
The created paper information list is displayed on the operation / display unit 11 according to a command from the PU 3. Here, the paper information list displayed on the operation / display unit 11 is, for example, as shown in FIG.
In this case, the operator prints a plurality of jobs transmitted from the host computer 1 and stored in the memory 5,
It is possible to quickly and accurately know that a plain paper of A4 size, a red paper of A4 size and a plain paper of A3 size are required.

Next, the operation of the printer apparatus 2 which is already executing the printing operation when the job in which the printing operation is being executed has a print stop condition due to a paper shortage or a print stop command from the host computer 1 will be described. When such a print cancel situation occurs, an alarm occurs, and at the same time, when the print cancel situation is confirmed in step S1 of the flowchart of FIG. 3, the process proceeds to step S2, and the CP
In response to a command from U3, a list of print waiting jobs including jobs for which printing has been stopped is displayed on the operation / display unit 11. In this case, the operator who knows that the print operation has been stopped due to the occurrence of an alarm approaches the printer device 2 and continues to be a job other than the job in which the print cancel situation has occurred from the print waiting job displayed on the operation / display unit 11. If the job for which the print operation is to be performed is selected in step 3 of the flowchart of FIG. 3, the process proceeds to step S4, and it is confirmed that the print cancel situation has occurred immediately before, and the process proceeds to step S10. It is determined whether or not the operator has made a display request in advance.

When it is determined in step S10 that the operator has already issued a display request, the sheet information list already created and stored in the memory 5 is read by the instruction of the CPU 3, and the process proceeds to step S9. The read-out sheet information list is displayed on the operation / display unit 11. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S10 that no display request has been made by the operator, step S5
Then, the operation of steps S5 to S9 described above is executed. In this case, the operator
It can be quickly and accurately known that printing of a plurality of jobs waiting to be printed requires plain paper having a paper size of A4, red paper having a paper size of A4, and plain paper having a paper size of A3.

As described above, in this embodiment, when the operator makes a display request in advance, or when the printer apparatus 2 is started without a display request in advance and a print cancel situation occurs in the job in the process of operation. In either case, the operation / display unit 11 displays a paper information list necessary for printing the print waiting job, and based on the paper information, the operator can quickly and accurately obtain the paper information necessary for printing the print waiting job. The paper feed tray that contains plain paper with paper size A4, the paper tray with red paper with paper size A4, and the paper tray with plain paper with paper size A3 Then, when a job to be printed is selected from the jobs displayed on the operation / display unit 11, the printing operation is started by the instruction of the CPU 3. With the start of this printing operation, the print data stored in the memory 5 is sequentially read by a command from the CPU 3, a corresponding print image is formed, and the engine interface 8 drives the drive corresponding to the print image to be formed. The signal is input to the printer engine 10, and the printer engine 10 prints a print image on the corresponding paper.

When the next job is selected due to the occurrence of the print cancel situation and the printing is continuously executed, the operator confirms the cause of the print cancel of the job in which the print cancel situation occurs, and the host computer 1 In the case where the job is based on the cancel command from the job, the job is removed from the print waiting job,
Corresponding cause repair processing such as mounting the required paper in the paper feed tray is performed, and a smooth printable state is set when the job is selected again for printing.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, a print waiting job is printed on the operation / display unit 11 due to a display request from an operator in advance or a print cancel situation occurs in a job being printed. The required paper information is displayed on the screen. Check the paper trays that satisfy the required paper information, and select the job to continue printing from the print waiting jobs displayed on the operation / display unit 11. It becomes possible to smoothly execute the printing operation of the selected job, and the operator can perform the printing operation in advance or when the alarm of the printing stop situation occurs.
Next, it is only necessary to confirm the paper information and execute the confirmation setting of the paper feed tray and the processing associated therewith, and it is possible to significantly reduce the burden on the management operation of the operator.

[Second Embodiment] A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the priority order of the paper feed trays of the present embodiment,
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration information of the sheet feed tray of this embodiment and the setting change to the configuration information necessary for printing, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the display operation of the configuration information of the sheet feed tray of this embodiment. is there.

In the present embodiment, the description will be made with reference to FIG. 1, in which all jobs waiting for printing are caused by the CPU 3 due to the occurrence of a display request from the operator or the occurrence of a print cancel situation for a job being executed. Display means for displaying a list of paper information and paper feed tray configuration information corresponding to these jobs, and change setting means for making a change setting of the tray configuration information that has not changed and has a high priority are provided.
As shown in FIG. 4, the paper feed tray of the printer has preset priorities for changing the paper information.
The configuration of the other parts of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment already described with reference to FIG. 1, and therefore a duplicate description will not be given.

The operation of displaying the configuration information of the paper feed tray of the present embodiment having such a configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The operations of steps S21 to S25 of the flowchart of FIG. 6 are the same as the operations of steps S1 to S5 of the flowchart of FIG. In the present embodiment, step S
25, the process proceeds from step S26 to step S26, and it is determined whether or not there is a sheet feed tray of the configuration information for loading the sheet satisfying the sheet information of the corresponding page by the instruction of the CPU 3, and the sheet feeding of the configuration information is performed. When the tray is searched, the process proceeds to step S28, and it is determined whether or not the corresponding page is the last page of the selected job. If the paper feed tray of the configuration information is not found in step S26,
Proceeding to step S27, the configuration information is changed and set for the tray 2 whose priority level 5 is higher than the priority levels of the other trays, as shown in FIG. Then, it is determined whether the corresponding page is the last page of the selected job.

In the change setting shown in FIG. 5, the paper size B4
This is the case where the configuration information of each tray of the printer apparatus 2 is set as shown in the figure because the configuration information change tray of the tray 2 has not been searched because the configuration information sheet containing the paper of No. has not been searched. Become. As described above, in step S28, whether or not the corresponding page is the last page is determined by the instruction of the CPU 3, and when it is determined that the corresponding page is not the last page, the process returns to step S25 and the last page is determined in step S28. The operations of steps S25 to S27 are repeated until it is determined that there is.

If it is determined in step S28 that the page is the last page, the process proceeds to step S29 and the CPU 3
Command determines whether or not the job is the last job. If it is determined that the job is not the last job, the process returns to step S23 to select the job to be printed next, and the last job is selected in step S29. Until it is judged as a job
The operations of steps S23 to S28 are repeated, and when it is determined that the job is the last job in step S28, the process proceeds to step S30, and the tray configuration information created by the instruction of the CPU 3 is displayed on the operation / display unit 1.
It is displayed in 1. The other operations of the present embodiment are the same as the operations of the first embodiment already described, and therefore a duplicate description will not be given.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, in addition to the effect obtained in the first embodiment, the operator provides the paper information necessary for printing the print waiting job to the paper feed tray configuration. Quickly and accurately obtain information related to information, and if there is no paper tray for the configuration information that contains the paper for the required paper information, smoothly change the configuration information of the paper tray with a preset priority. Since the setting can be performed, the printing operation of the selected job can be executed more smoothly, and the burden on the management operation of the operator can be significantly reduced.

[Third Embodiment] A third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the usage status of the paper feed tray of the present embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the operation of displaying the configuration information of the paper feed tray of the present embodiment.

In the present embodiment, the description will be made by diverting FIG. 1 to the CPU 3. All the jobs waiting for printing are generated by the CPU 3 due to the occurrence of a display request from the operator or the occurrence of a print cancel situation for a job being executed. Display means for displaying a list of paper information and paper feed tray configuration information corresponding to these jobs, and change setting means for making a change setting of the tray configuration information according to the usage status are provided.
As shown in FIG. 5, the number-of-uses history information used at the time of changing the configuration information is stored in the memory 5 corresponding to the paper feed trays of the printer device. The configuration of the other parts of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment already described with reference to FIG. 1, and therefore a duplicate description will not be given.

The operation of displaying the configuration information of the paper feed tray of the present embodiment having such a configuration will be described with reference to FIG. Step S41 to step S46 of the flowchart of FIG. 8 of the present embodiment
8 is the same as the operation of steps S21 to S26 of the flowchart of FIG. 6 of the second embodiment which has already been described, and the operation of step S21 of the flowchart of FIG.
The operations of 48 to step S51 are the same as the operations of steps S28 to S31 of the flowchart of FIG. 6, respectively.

In the present embodiment, if the paper feed tray of the configuration information containing the paper satisfying the paper information of the corresponding page is not found in step S46, the process proceeds to step S47, and the instruction of the CPU 3 causes the operation of FIG. As shown in the figure, the tray 2 having the usage history count of 50 and the usage count less than that of the other trays is set to change the configuration information, and then the process proceeds to step S48. The other operations of the present embodiment are the same as those of the second embodiment already described, and therefore a duplicated description will not be given.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, in addition to the effects obtained in the first embodiment, the operator provides the paper information necessary for printing the print waiting job to the paper feed tray configuration. If you do not have a paper feed tray for the configuration information that contains the required paper information, you can change the configuration information of the tray selected in ascending order of the number of times the history is used smoothly, by quickly and accurately associating with the information. Since it can be set, the paper tray can be used efficiently, the printing operation of the selected job can be executed more smoothly, and the burden on the management operation of the operator can be significantly reduced. become.

[0032]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the print data of a plurality of jobs are received and stored, and the print images of the plurality of jobs are formed and printed on the paper based on the stored print data. At the time of start-up, a plurality of jobs to be printed are listed on the display by the job display means by the display operation of the operator, and at the same time, the paper information necessary for printing is also displayed on the display by the control of the display control means. The operator prepares the paper feed tray in advance so that the required paper information is satisfied, and starts the printing operation for the job selected from the jobs displayed in the list to minimize the occurrence of alarms. It is possible to suppress the print operation and efficiently execute the print operation. Further, when an alarm due to a print cancel situation occurs in a job being printed, a plurality of jobs to be printed are displayed on the display by the job display unit, and at the same time, the display control unit controls the display to display the information necessary for printing. Since the paper information is displayed, the operator selects a job for which printing is to be continuously executed from the plurality of jobs displayed in the list, and in the state where the printing operation is efficiently continued, the operator can cancel the printing as needed. It becomes possible to repair, the waiting time in the vicinity of the apparatus of the operator is shortened, and it becomes possible for the printer apparatus to continuously and efficiently perform the printing operation of a plurality of jobs.

According to the invention of claim 2, in addition to the effect obtained by the invention of claim 1, the job display means is
When displaying a list of a plurality of jobs, the configuration information of the paper feed tray used for printing is further displayed on the display under the control of the control unit, and if the paper feed tray of the configuration information necessary for printing does not exist, the change is performed. The setting information is changed and set to the configuration information necessary for printing for the paper feed trays selected according to the preset priority order, so that the user can print without any burden on the setting process. Properly set the paper feed tray required for continuous operation,
By changing and setting the configuration information as necessary, it becomes possible for the printer device to continue the print operation of a plurality of jobs more efficiently and accurately.

According to the invention of claim 3, in addition to the effect obtained by the invention of claim 1, the job display means is
When displaying a list of a plurality of jobs, the configuration information of the paper feed tray used for printing is further displayed on the display under the control of the control unit, and if the paper feed tray of the configuration information necessary for printing does not exist, the change is performed. The setting means changes and sets the configuration information of the sheet tray selected according to the usage state of the sheet tray to the configuration information necessary for printing, so that the user can print without any burden on the setting process. By appropriately setting the paper feed tray necessary for continuing the operation and changing and setting the configuration information as necessary, the printer apparatus can continuously and efficiently perform the print operation of a plurality of jobs. It will be possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of paper information necessary for printing in the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a sheet information display operation of the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of priorities for paper feed trays according to the second embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration information of the paper feed tray and the setting change to the configuration information necessary for printing according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a display operation of configuration information of the paper feed tray according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a usage state for a paper feed tray according to a third embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation of displaying the configuration information of the paper feed tray according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Host computer 2 Printer device 3 CPU 5 memory 6 Host interface 11 Operation / display unit 12 networks

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A printer that receives print data of a plurality of jobs, forms print images of the plurality of jobs based on the stored print data, and prints the print images on a sheet. Job display means for displaying a list of the plurality of jobs to be printed on the display when a print cancel situation of the job being printed occurs, and the job display means for displaying the list of the plurality of jobs by the job display means. Display control means for controlling and displaying paper information necessary for printing on the display, and print control means for performing a printing operation for a job selected and designated from the jobs displayed on the job display means A printer device. 2. The printer device according to claim 1, wherein the job display means displays a list of a plurality of jobs.
The configuration information of the paper feed tray used for printing is further displayed on the display under the control of the control means, and when the paper feed tray of the configuration information necessary for printing does not exist, it is selected in accordance with the preset priority order. A printer apparatus, further comprising change setting means for changing and setting the configuration information of the paper feed tray to the configuration information necessary for printing. 3. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the job display means displays a list of a plurality of jobs.
The configuration information of the paper feed tray used for printing is also displayed on the display under the control of the control unit, and when the paper feed tray of the configuration information necessary for printing does not exist, it is selected according to the usage status of the paper feed tray. A printer apparatus, further comprising change setting means for changing and setting the configuration information of the paper feed tray to the configuration information necessary for printing.