JP2005108075A - Printing management device, printer, printing management system, printing management method, printing management program, and recording medium recording the program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To judge the suitability of printing in accordance with a printing state. <P>SOLUTION: A storage part 12 in a printing management device stores a rule management library 33 including rule data which are standards for judging the suitability of printing setting and a schedule file 31 including schedule data. A schedule correspondence part 51 reads out the schedule data and acquires a printing purpose. A printing setting acquisition part 52 acquires the printing setting through a communication part 14. A suitability judgment part 53 judges the suitability of the printing setting on the basis of the acquired printing purpose and printing setting by referring to the rule management library 33. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a print management apparatus, a printer, a print management system, a print management method, a print management program, and a recording medium on which the program is recorded, which instructs a printer to print based on a print request from a user. Specifically, the present invention relates to a print management apparatus that determines whether printing is appropriate or not.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed a print management apparatus that performs various types of management regarding printing of a printer connected to a communication network.

  For example, in the schedule management apparatus described in Patent Document 1 below, first, the start time and document information input from the operation unit are stored as schedule data. Next, the current time measured by the time measuring unit is compared with the start time of the schedule data. At a predetermined time, the document information is transmitted to the printer server on the communication network via the external I / F (interface), and is printed on the printer. According to the above configuration, the document to be brought to the event corresponding to the schedule data can be printed in a timely manner, so that convenience can be improved.

  In the print result management apparatus described in Patent Document 2 below, print information is first queued in a spool file based on a print request, and actually printed by a printer based on the print information. Next, print information corresponding to a document that has actually been printed is extracted from the spool file to generate printed information, and is written in the printed information database. Then, according to the totaling condition specified by referring to the printed information database, the amount of documents actually printed within the specified period is totaled for each user, and the result is output to the print result file.

According to the above configuration, since the amount actually printed in a predetermined period can be grasped for each user, the number of printed sheets of each user in the predetermined period can be managed or each user can be charged. .
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-113796 (released on April 24, 2001) JP 2001-344089 A (published on December 14, 2001)

  Recently, from the viewpoints of cost reduction and effective use of resources, it is required to perform unnecessary printing while eliminating unnecessary printing. However, Patent Document 1 does not consider the appropriateness of printing. Also, in Patent Document 2, the amount of printed documents is grasped, but depending on the type of document such as for distribution or settlement, the number of sheets to be printed varies greatly. Judging sex is insufficient.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a print management apparatus and the like that can determine the appropriateness of printing according to a printing situation.

  In order to solve the above problems, a print management apparatus according to the present invention is a print management apparatus that instructs a printer to perform printing based on a print request from a user, and determines the appropriateness of print settings that are settings related to printing. A storage means for storing appropriateness determination rule information including a correspondence relationship between a print purpose and the appropriateness of the print settings, and a print purpose acquisition means for acquiring a print purpose. Appropriateness determination rule information stored in the storage unit based on the print setting acquisition unit that acquires the print setting, the print purpose acquired by the print purpose acquisition unit, and the print setting acquired by the print setting acquisition unit , And an appropriateness determining means for determining appropriateness of the print settings.

  In the print management apparatus according to the present invention, in the above configuration, the appropriateness determination rule information stored in the storage unit is a default appropriateness that serves as a criterion for determining the appropriateness of the print setting regardless of the print purpose. If the print purpose is unknown, the appropriateness determination means includes a default determination information stored in the storage means based on the print settings acquired by the print setting acquisition means. It is characterized in that the appropriateness of the print setting is determined by referring to the appropriateness determination rule information.

  Furthermore, the print management apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the above-described configuration, the default appropriateness determination rule information stored in the storage unit includes the appropriateness of the print setting for a predetermined period.

  Furthermore, the print management apparatus according to the present invention has the above-described configuration, wherein the storage unit stores user schedule information, and acquires the schedule information corresponding to the user who makes the print request from the storage unit. The apparatus further includes schedule association means for associating with the print request, wherein the print purpose acquisition means acquires the print purpose from schedule information associated with the schedule association means.

  Further, the print management apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that, in the above configuration, the user schedule information stored in the storage means includes default schedule information for performing printing unrelated to the schedule.

  Furthermore, in the above configuration, the print management apparatus according to the present invention is configured so that the suitability determination rule information stored in the storage unit includes the print purpose acquired by the print purpose acquisition unit from the default schedule information and the print setting. It includes a correspondence relationship with appropriateness in a predetermined period.

  Furthermore, the print management apparatus according to the present invention further includes authentication means for authenticating a user who makes the print request in the above configuration, wherein the schedule association means is a schedule corresponding to the user authenticated by the authentication means. Information is acquired from the storage means and associated with the print request.

  Furthermore, the print management apparatus according to the present invention has the configuration described above, wherein the user schedule information stored in the storage unit includes a configuration of participants who participate in an event performed in the schedule of the schedule information. The suitability determination rule information stored in the storage means further includes a correspondence relationship between the configuration of the participant and the suitability of the print setting.

  Furthermore, the print management apparatus according to the present invention further includes a storage unit that stores the print setting acquired by the print setting acquisition unit in the storage unit in the configuration described above. By referring to the appropriateness determination rule information based on the print settings acquired by the print setting acquisition unit and the print settings stored by the storage unit, the appropriateness of the print settings related to the same schedule information is collectively displayed. It is characterized by judging.

  Furthermore, in the above configuration, the print management apparatus according to the present invention may notify the user that printing is inappropriate before instructing printing when the appropriateness determination unit determines that the printing is inappropriate. A warning means for warning is provided.

  Furthermore, the print management apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the above-described configuration, the print management apparatus further includes a storage unit that stores the print setting acquired by the print setting acquisition unit in the storage unit.

  Furthermore, the print management apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the above configuration, the storage unit further stores the determination result of the appropriateness determined by the appropriateness determination unit in the storage unit.

  Further, according to the print management apparatus of the present invention, in the above-described configuration, the print setting stored in the storage unit and the determination result of the appropriateness are totalized by a specified or predetermined period, and the totalization unit totalizes It further comprises display means for displaying the total information.

  Furthermore, the print management apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the above configuration, the tabulating unit tabulates a print setting and an appropriateness determination result relating to a specified item among the print setting and an appropriateness determination result. It is said.

  Furthermore, the print management apparatus according to the present invention has the above configuration, wherein the display means displays the total value or the total value when a certain total value in the total information is within a predetermined range. The region is displayed in a color corresponding to the above range.

  Furthermore, the print management apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the above configuration, the display means displays the aggregate information in an order of the aggregate values in the aggregate information.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer including the print management apparatus having the above-described configuration.

  The print management system according to the present invention includes a print management apparatus configured as described above, a printer that performs printing based on a print instruction from the print management apparatus, and a user terminal connected via a communication network. It is a feature.

  A print management method for a print management apparatus according to the present invention is a print management method for a print management apparatus that instructs a printer to perform printing based on a print request from a user. Appropriateness determination rule information that serves as a criterion for determining the appropriateness of a certain print setting, and includes storage means for storing appropriateness determination rule information including a correspondence relationship between the purpose of printing and the appropriateness of the print setting. A print purpose acquisition step for acquiring a print purpose, a print setting acquisition step for acquiring the print setting, a print purpose acquired by the print purpose acquisition step, and a print setting acquired by the print setting acquisition step. And an appropriateness determination step for determining the appropriateness of the print setting by referring to the appropriateness determination rule information stored in the storage means. It is characterized by a door.

  The print management program of the present invention is a print management program for operating the print management apparatus having the above-described configuration, and the computer functions as the print purpose acquisition unit, the print setting acquisition unit, and the appropriateness determination unit. It is a print management program for making it happen.

  A computer-readable recording medium according to the present invention is characterized in that the print management program is recorded.

  As described above, the print management apparatus of the present invention is appropriateness determination rule information that is a criterion for determining the appropriateness of print settings, which are settings related to printing, and corresponds to the purpose of printing and the appropriateness of the print settings. A storage unit that stores appropriateness determination rule information including a relationship, a print purpose acquisition unit that acquires a print purpose, a print setting acquisition unit that acquires the print setting, and a print purpose acquired by the print purpose acquisition unit, An appropriateness determining means for determining the appropriateness of the print setting by referring to the appropriateness determination rule information stored in the storage means based on the print setting acquired by the print setting acquiring means; is there.

  Here, the print request from the user may be made from a user terminal such as a PC (Personal Computer) used by the user, or from an operation unit of a printer operated by the user. Further, the printing purpose acquisition unit may acquire the printing purpose from the user or may be acquired from schedule information described later. The print setting acquisition unit can acquire the print setting from the user before printing, and can acquire the print setting from the print result of the printer after printing.

  Examples of print settings include the number of copies to be printed, color printing and monochrome printing, printing paper size and quality, printing paper supply tray selection, single-sided printing and double-sided printing, and printing on one side of printing paper. The number of pages of the document to be listed.

  In addition, examples of appropriateness determination rule information include color print suitability determination information for determining whether color printing is inappropriate based on the purpose of printing and the composition of participants, and the number of prints based on the purpose of printing. The number of printed sheets appropriateness determining information for determining whether or not appropriate is included.

  According to the above configuration, the print setting is obtained by referring to the appropriateness determination rule information stored in the storage unit based on the print purpose acquired by the print purpose acquisition unit and the print setting acquired by the print setting acquisition unit. Appropriateness is judged. As a result, it is possible to determine whether or not printing is appropriate without waste according to the purpose of printing, so that it is possible to accurately determine the appropriateness of printing.

  The document information to be printed may be sent together with a print request from the user terminal to the print management apparatus, sent from the print management apparatus to the printer together with a print instruction, or sent directly from the user terminal to the printer. In the case of direct transmission from the user terminal to the printer, the printer performs printing after obtaining a print instruction from the print management apparatus.

  In the print management apparatus according to the present invention, in the above configuration, the appropriateness determination rule information stored in the storage unit is a default appropriateness that serves as a criterion for determining the appropriateness of the print setting regardless of the print purpose. If the print purpose is unknown, the appropriateness determination means includes a default determination information stored in the storage means based on the print settings acquired by the print setting acquisition means. In this configuration, the appropriateness of the print setting is determined by referring to the appropriateness determination rule information.

  By the way, printing is performed for various purposes in daily work, and when a user is inquired about each printing purpose, a new burden is imposed on the user. In this case, it is desirable to determine the appropriateness of printing even if the print management apparatus does not acquire the print purpose.

  Therefore, according to the above configuration, by using the default appropriateness determination rule information, it is possible to determine the appropriateness of printing even if the purpose of printing is unknown. Therefore, for example, it is possible to determine the appropriateness of printing for printing in daily work.

  Furthermore, the print management apparatus according to the present invention has a configuration in which, in the above configuration, the default appropriateness determination rule information stored by the storage unit includes the appropriateness of the print setting for a predetermined period.

  According to the above configuration, for example, regarding the printing of daily work, the appropriateness of the print setting in the predetermined period is determined, so that it is possible to appropriately determine the print amount within the predetermined period, for example.

  Furthermore, the print management apparatus according to the present invention has the above-described configuration, wherein the storage unit stores user schedule information, and acquires the schedule information corresponding to the user who makes the print request from the storage unit. The apparatus further includes schedule association means for associating with the print request, and the print purpose acquisition means is configured to acquire the print purpose from the schedule information associated with the schedule association means.

  According to the above configuration, the printing purpose is acquired from the schedule information. Accordingly, there is no need to request the printing purpose from the user, and the printing purpose can be obtained efficiently.

  When there are a plurality of schedules, the user may be requested to select schedule information or may be associated with the latest schedule information.

  Furthermore, the print management apparatus according to the present invention has a configuration in which, in the above configuration, the user schedule information stored in the storage unit includes default schedule information for performing printing unrelated to the schedule.

  According to the above configuration, even when printing is performed unrelated to the schedule, such as printing of daily work, the suitability of printing can be determined by the schedule association unit associating with the default schedule information. There is an effect.

  Furthermore, in the above configuration, the print management apparatus according to the present invention is configured so that the suitability determination rule information stored in the storage unit includes the print purpose acquired by the print purpose acquisition unit from the default schedule information and the print setting. This is a configuration including a correspondence relationship with appropriateness in a predetermined period.

  According to the above configuration, when printing that is not related to the schedule is performed, the suitability of the print setting in a predetermined period is determined, and thus, for example, the print amount within the predetermined period can be appropriately determined.

  Furthermore, the print management apparatus according to the present invention further includes authentication means for authenticating a user who makes the print request in the above configuration, wherein the schedule association means is a schedule corresponding to the user authenticated by the authentication means. The information is acquired from the storage means and is associated with the print request.

  According to the above configuration, since the authentic user who makes the print request can be specified by the authentication of the authentication unit, there is an effect that the user's schedule information can be reliably associated with the print request.

  Furthermore, the print management apparatus according to the present invention has the configuration described above, wherein the user schedule information stored in the storage unit includes a configuration of participants who participate in an event performed in the schedule of the schedule information. The appropriateness determination rule information stored in the storage means is a configuration that further includes a correspondence relationship between the configuration of the participant and the appropriateness of the print setting.

  Here, as an event performed in the schedule, a meeting, a meeting, and the like can be given. In addition, examples of the configuration of the participants include the number of participants outside the company and outside the group and inside the company and within the group.

  As described above, it may be necessary to determine the appropriateness of printing based on the configuration of participants, such as the appropriateness of color printing. Therefore, according to the above configuration, the suitability determination rule information includes a correspondence relationship between the configuration of the participant and the suitability of the print settings, so that an effect of more accurately determining the suitability of printing is achieved.

  Furthermore, the print management apparatus according to the present invention further includes a storage unit that stores the print setting acquired by the print setting acquisition unit in the storage unit in the configuration described above. By referring to the appropriateness determination rule information based on the print settings acquired by the print setting acquisition unit and the print settings stored by the storage unit, the appropriateness of the print settings related to the same schedule information is collectively displayed. It is the structure judged by doing.

  According to the above configuration, the suitability of a series of print settings performed for a certain schedule can be determined in a lump, so that the adaptability of the print settings can be reliably checked even when printing is performed at different times. There is an effect that can be done.

  Furthermore, in the above configuration, the print management apparatus according to the present invention may notify the user that printing is inappropriate before instructing printing when the appropriateness determination unit determines that the printing is inappropriate. It is the structure provided with the warning means to warn.

  According to the above configuration, since a warning is issued from the print management apparatus to the user before printing, there is an effect of making the user aware that printing is inappropriate.

  Furthermore, the print management apparatus of the present invention is a configuration further comprising a storage unit that stores the print settings acquired by the print setting acquisition unit in the storage unit in the above configuration.

  According to the above configuration, since the print setting is stored in the storage unit by the storage unit, it is possible to read the print setting from the storage unit and determine the appropriateness of printing at any time.

  The print setting here is preferably an actual print setting, that is, a print result of the printer after printing.

  Furthermore, the print management apparatus according to the present invention is configured such that, in the above configuration, the storage unit further stores the determination result of the appropriateness determined by the appropriateness determination unit in the storage unit.

  According to the above configuration, it is possible to analyze the print settings and the determination results stored in the storage unit at a later date, so that it is possible to identify the cause of inappropriate printing.

  Further, according to the print management apparatus of the present invention, in the above-described configuration, the print setting stored in the storage unit and the determination result of the appropriateness are totalized by a specified or predetermined period, and the totalization unit totalizes It is the structure further provided with the display means which displays total information.

  According to the above configuration, by collecting and displaying the print settings and the determination results, it is easy to analyze the print settings and the determination results, and it is possible to easily identify the cause of inappropriate printing.

  Furthermore, the print management apparatus according to the present invention is configured such that, in the above-described configuration, the counting unit counts the print setting and the determination result of the appropriateness regarding the specified item among the print setting and the determination result of the appropriateness. .

  Here, the designated items include the user name, the number of used sheets, the number of times of use, the number of inappropriateness determinations, and the like.

  According to the above configuration, it is possible to analyze the print settings and determination results related to the specified item, and it is possible to identify the cause of inappropriate printing.

  Furthermore, the print management apparatus according to the present invention has the above configuration, wherein the display means displays the total value or the total value when a certain total value in the total information is within a predetermined range. The area is displayed in a color corresponding to the above range.

  Here, a plurality of predetermined ranges may be set. Further, the color may be displayed by changing at least one of hue, saturation, and brightness.

  According to the above configuration, since the total information can be displayed in different colors, print settings and determination results can be analyzed more easily, and the cause of inappropriate printing can be identified more easily.

  Furthermore, the print management apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the above configuration, the display means displays the aggregate information in an order of the aggregate values in the aggregate information.

  According to the above configuration, since the total information is displayed in an order of the total value, for example, there is an effect that it is possible to preferentially analyze in descending order of frequency of improper printing.

  Note that the print management apparatus configured as described above may be provided integrally with a printer. The above-described effects can also be obtained by a print management system configured as described above, a printer that performs printing based on a print instruction from the print management device, and a user terminal connected via a communication network. be able to.

  Further, as described above, the print management method of the print management apparatus of the present invention is acquired by the print purpose acquisition step for acquiring the print purpose, the print setting acquisition step for acquiring the print setting, and the print purpose acquisition step. Appropriateness determination for determining the appropriateness of the print setting by referring to the appropriateness determination rule information stored in the storage unit based on the print purpose acquired and the print setting acquired in the print setting acquisition step And a step.

  According to the above method, printing is performed by referring to the appropriateness determination rule information stored in the storage unit based on the print purpose acquired in the print purpose acquisition step and the print setting acquired in the print setting acquisition step. The appropriateness of the setting is judged. As a result, it is possible to determine whether or not printing is appropriate without waste according to the purpose of printing, so that it is possible to accurately determine the appropriateness of printing.

  Note that the print purpose acquisition means, print setting acquisition means, and appropriateness determination means in the print management apparatus can be executed on a computer by a print management program. Furthermore, by storing the print management program in a computer-readable recording medium, the print management program can be executed on any computer.

  One embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of the print management system of the present embodiment. The print management system 1 includes one or more user terminals (PCs) 2, one or more multi-function printers (MFPs) 3, and a print management apparatus 4 that are connected to each other via a communication network 5. It is the structure connected so that communication was possible.

  The user terminal 2, the composite printer 3, and the print management apparatus 4 have the same configuration as a general computer. That is, these devices include a processing device (CPU (Central Processing Unit)), a storage device, and an interface device that interfaces with an external device, and various operations are stored in the storage device. This is done by causing the processing device to execute the program.

  The user terminal 2 transmits various information related to document printing to the print management apparatus 4. Specifically, the user terminal 2 is warned by the print management apparatus 4 that a document print request, a user name and password for authentication, a schedule selection, print settings, or improper printing are detected. Sometimes a selection of whether to perform printing is sent to the print management device. Further, the user terminal 2 receives a schedule notification and a print result from the print management apparatus 4.

  Note that the user terminal 2 may transmit document data to be printed together with the print request or instead of the print request to the print management apparatus 4, or send the print request to the print management apparatus 4 and send the document data to the composite printer. 3 may be transmitted respectively.

  The composite printer 3 receives the document data from the user terminal 2 or the print management apparatus 4 and prints the document on a print sheet according to a print execution instruction from the print management apparatus 4. Further, the composite printer 3 transmits information about the completion or failure of printing to the print management apparatus 4.

  The composite printer 3 is set so as to execute printing based only on the print instruction from the print management apparatus 4 and not accept the print instruction from the user terminal 2. This can be achieved by paying attention to data specifying an apparatus such as an IP address or a MAC address, and accepting access to the composite printer 3 only from the address of the print management apparatus 4.

  Further, upon receiving a print instruction from the operation unit (not shown), the composite printer 3 requests the print management apparatus 4 to perform printing, and executes printing after obtaining the print instruction from the print management apparatus 4. Is set to Similarly, upon receiving a print instruction from the user terminal 2, the composite printer 3 is set to execute a print after requesting the print management apparatus 4 to obtain a print instruction from the print management apparatus 4. May be.

  Thus, when printing is performed by the composite printer 3, the print management apparatus 4 always passes through the print management apparatus 4. Therefore, the print management apparatus 4 can grasp all the printing statuses in the print management system 1, and can perform appropriate printing. Can manage sex.

  The communication network 5 constitutes a communication path between the devices 2 and 3. As the communication network 5, a known communication network such as the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), or a unique line can be used.

  The print management device 4 collectively manages printing of all the composite printers 3. In the present embodiment, the print management apparatus 4 collectively manages the print history and the appropriateness of printing of all the composite printers 3. That is, the print management apparatus 4 registers in advance schedules such as the use date and time of the document, the purpose of printing, and the number of participants from the user terminal 2, and the registered schedule before or after printing the document by the composite printer 3. Appropriateness of printing, such as whether or not the printing is appropriate, is determined from the information, and the result is accumulated and stored.

  As a result, the administrator who operates the print management apparatus 4 can grasp the usage status and the appropriateness of printing of all the composite printers 3 connected to the communication network 3.

  Hereinafter, a detailed configuration of the print management apparatus 4 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 to 11. FIG. 3 shows a schematic configuration of the print management apparatus 4. As illustrated, the print management apparatus 4 includes a control unit 11, a storage unit (storage unit) 12, an input / output unit (display unit) 13, and a communication unit 14.

  The control unit 11 has a function of comprehensively controlling various configurations in the print management apparatus 4, and is realized by executing a program on the CPU, for example. The storage unit 12 has a function of storing various types of information, and is configured by, for example, a semiconductor memory or a hard disk. In addition, the structure of the control part 11 in this embodiment and the information memorize | stored in the memory | storage part 12 are mentioned later.

  The input / output unit 13 uses the input unit to create input information based on the administrator's input, transmits the created input information to the control unit 11, and uses the output unit from the control unit 11. A function of receiving output information and outputting the received output information to an administrator. Examples of the input means include a keyboard, a numeric keypad, a cursor key, a pointing device such as a mouse, and a touch panel. Examples of output means include various displays such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display).

  The communication unit 14 is connected to the communication network 5 and has a function of communicating various data to the external user terminal 2 and the composite printer 3. The communication unit 14 converts the data to be transmitted into a format suitable for communication and then transmits the data to the communication network 5, and converts the received data into a format suitable for processing inside the apparatus and sends it to the control unit 11. Send it out. The communication unit 14 is configured by, for example, a modem, a terminal adapter, a network adapter, and the like.

  Next, information stored in the storage unit 12 will be described. The storage unit 12 stores a print management file 30, a schedule file (schedule information) 31, a result file 32, a rule management library (appropriateness determination rule information) 33, and an authentication file 34.

  FIG. 4 shows a data configuration example of data held in the print management file 30. As illustrated, the print management file 30 includes a correspondence relationship between schedule data and result data for each user ID. Thereby, the appropriateness of printing can be managed for each user. Note that the content of the schedule data is held in the schedule file 31, and the content of the result data is held in the result file 32.

  In addition, regarding a schedule shared by a plurality of users, the correspondence relationship between the same schedule data and result data may be added to the correspondence relationship list of the user IDs of the users in the print management file 30.

  By the way, in daily work, there are cases where the user wants to perform printing regardless of the schedule. In order to cope with such a case, the schedule file 31 also includes a correspondence relationship between default schedule data unrelated to the schedule and default result data unrelated to the schedule for each user ID.

  FIG. 5 shows a data configuration example of schedule data held in the schedule file 31. As shown in the figure, the schedule data (schedule information) 40 includes the use date and time of the printed document in a format such as 9:00 to 12:00 on June 16, 2003, and the purpose of use of the printed document. Includes the composition and number of participants in the schedule in the form of distribution, approval document, notification, etc., in the form of 3 people (inside the group), 1 inside (outside the group), 3 people outside the group, etc. Yes.

  For example, if the purpose of printing is a meeting, this information will be a document in a formal place. Therefore, it is determined that it is appropriate to print in color instead of monochrome and to use high-quality paper for printing paper. If you think that participants need to take a formal response to people outside the company or those inside or outside the group, use the high-quality paper that is printed in color for the purpose of printing. It is used to determine that it is appropriate.

  Further, the schedule file 31 includes default schedule data 41 that is unrelated to the schedule for each user ID. The default schedule data 41 is set by assigning daily work for printing purposes. It is not necessary to set the use date and time, the composition of participants and the number of participants.

  When the use date / time is not set, the default schedule data 41 is schedule data whose use date / time is indefinite. On the other hand, when the usage date and time is set in a certain period such as weekly or monthly, the usage date and time becomes finite schedule data, and whether or not appropriate printing is performed with respect to the number of prints in the set period Can be managed.

  It is desirable that the default schedule data 41 cannot be set freely by the user, but can be set and corrected only by the administrator.

  FIG. 6 shows a data configuration example of the result data held in the result file 32. As shown in the figure, the result file 32 includes result data 42 for each schedule, and the result data 42 includes a list of print history data of prints performed in relation to a certain schedule and an appropriateness determination of the prints. And a list of result data. In addition, the result file 32 includes default result data 43 of printing performed regardless of the schedule for each user ID. The result data 42 and 43 are added to the result file from the print processing unit 21 every time printing is performed by the composite printer 3.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of the data structure of print history data. As illustrated, the print history data 44 includes a print history ID, a user ID of a user who has requested printing, a schedule ID of schedule data associated with printing, a printing date and time, the number of copies, a color / monochrome type, and a paper size. (A4, B5, etc.), paper type (quality paper, backing paper, photo glossy paper, etc.), used paper tray, type of single-sided printing / double-sided printing, and number of pages printed on one side of the paper (N-up) Is included. The print history ID is a number for identifying the print history data, and is assigned a unique and unique number.

  In the example of FIG. 7, ID1 is given to the print history ID as a unique value that is not used for the print history ID of the print history data that has already been created, and the user identified by the user A is identified by the schedule A. This indicates that printing was executed at 15:00 on June 13, 2003 for the purpose of use in the schedule. Furthermore, it shows that 20 sheets of high-quality A4 size paper were printed by color printing, the tray 1 was used as a paper tray, and two pages of documents were printed on one side of the paper by single-sided printing.

  Note that the print history ID is preferably assigned in the order of print date and time. Thus, it is possible to determine which print history data is new by simply comparing the two print history IDs. Further, in this case, it is desirable to store the print history ID of the printing performed at the beginning of the day together with the date every day. At this time, the print history data of printing executed on a certain day has a print history ID immediately before the print history ID corresponding to the next day of the day from the print history data having the print history ID corresponding to the day. It can be understood that it is up to the print history data. Thereby, the display by the calendar format mentioned later becomes easy.

  Referring to FIG. 6 again, the appropriateness determination result data includes the rule label of the rule used as the determination criterion, the determination result based on the rule, the print history ID of the print that has been determined, and whether or not the administrator has confirmed. Confirmation information indicating whether or not. For example, the rule label includes rules A1 and B3, and the print history ID includes a print history ID2 and a print history ID3.

  The confirmation information is included in a form such as confirmed or unconfirmed. In this case, the initial value is in an unconfirmed state, and when the administrator confirms the appropriateness determination result data in order to manage the appropriateness of printing, the initial value is changed from unconfirmed to confirmed. For management reasons, once changed to confirmed, it can be returned to unconfirmed.

  Further, the determination result includes an appropriate or inappropriate format, a format indicating a deviation from a standard value at a rate of + 5%, and the like. These formats relating to the determination result may be determined for the entire rule or for each rule.

  FIG. 8 shows a file configuration example of the rule management library 33. As shown, the rule management library 33 includes a rule file 45, a purpose type file 46, and a participant type file 47.

  The rule file 45 includes a plurality of rule data serving as criteria for determining whether printing is appropriate. The purpose type file 46 includes a plurality of purpose type data indicating types of printing purposes. The participant type file 47 includes a plurality of participant type data indicating the types of participants.

  The rule management library 33 is set by the setting unit 20 of the control unit 11 as follows. First, a print purpose type such as a meeting or distribution shown in FIG. 8 and a participant type such as outside, inside (outside the group), inside (inside the group) are set freely, and the purpose type file 46 and the participant are respectively set. Add to type file 47. In addition, as shown in the figure, the stamp purpose type may be further subdivided into type A, type B, and the like.

  Next, determination items such as color permission and restrictions on the number of prints are set in the rule file 45, and the print purpose type included in the purpose type file 46 and the participant type file 47 are set for each set determination item. Combining the included participant types, and creating data for each combined condition as rule data. At this time, a rule label having a unique and unique name such as rule A1 or rule A2 is added to each created rule data.

  As shown in FIG. 6, by including a rule label in the appropriateness determination result data, it is possible to specify in which schedule a certain print is used and which rule is inappropriately determined. The effect of improving the ease of use can be obtained.

  Next, a setting example of the rule management library 33 will be described with reference to FIG. In the illustrated example, the target type file 46 includes a conference (type A, type B, type C, etc.), a distribution document (type A, type B, type C, etc.), and an approval document (type A, type B, type C, etc.). ), Target type data such as notification (type A, type B, type C, etc.), daily work, etc. are set in advance, and the participant type file 47 is also set to outside, inside (outside group), inside (within group), Participant type data such as user A and user B is set.

  Next, determination items such as “color printing” and “number of printed sheets” are created, and rule data is generated for each determination item under a combination of a print purpose type and a participant type. In the example of FIG. 8, the data including “A” in the rule label is a determination item for color printing, and the data including “B” in the rule label is a determination item for the number of prints. In FIG. 8, “◯” written in the determination part of the rule data indicates that it is not inappropriate, and “X” indicates that it is inappropriate.

  First, an example of rule setting for color printing will be described. The rule A1 selects the conference type A and type C from the target type file 46, and determines that color printing is not inappropriate. The rule A2 is to select a meeting other than the type A and type C from the target type file 46 and to select outside from the participant type file 47, and to determine that color printing is not inappropriate. is there. Rule A3 selects distribution from the target type file 46 and selects outside or inside (outside the group) from the participant type file 47, and determines that color printing is not inappropriate. .

  On the other hand, the rule An is to select distribution of type C from the target type file 46 and to select in-house (within a group) from the participant type file 47, and determines that color printing is inappropriate. is there. The rule A_usrA is a default rule for the user A, selects daily work from the object type file 46, and determines that color printing is inappropriate. Then, a default rule Adef is set for the case where none of the conditions of the set rule is applied to the determination item for color printing. In the example of FIG. 8, the default rule Adef determines that color printing is inappropriate.

  Next, rule setting regarding the number of printed sheets will be described. Since the format of approval documents and notifications is determined in advance and the number of sheets is considered to be constant, generally the number of printed sheets is also considered to be the number. In addition, it is generally considered to set a total number that is considered appropriate for a material such as a distributed material that is considered to change in number depending on the content of the material. Rules set in consideration of these are rule B1, rule B2, rule B3, and the like.

  Rule B1 is that it is appropriate to print three sheets of type A or type B decision documents. Further, the rule B2 is that one type of printing is appropriate for the type C notification. Further, the rule B3 is that it is appropriate to print 30 or less type B distribution materials.

  In addition to the color printing and the number of printed sheets, the determination items can be freely set for items included in the print history data, such as printing paper size, printing paper type, single-sided printing / double-sided printing, and the like. .

  Next, the configuration of the control unit 11 will be described with reference to FIG. The control unit 11 includes a setting unit 20, a print processing unit 21, a notification unit 22, and a management unit (aggregation unit) 23.

  The setting unit 20 acquires various information via the input / output unit 13 and the communication unit 14, sets the schedule file 31, the rule management library 33, and the authentication file 34 and stores them in the storage unit 12.

  Specifically, the setting unit 20 acquires schedule data from the user terminal 2 via the communication network 5 and the communication unit 14 and adds the schedule data to the schedule file 31.

  The setting unit 20 sets a user ID for identifying a user who uses the user terminal 2 and a password corresponding to the user ID, and adds the user ID to the authentication file 34. Note that the user ID and password may be acquired by the administrator operating the input / output unit 13, or may be received via the communication network 5 and the communication unit 14 by the user operating the user terminal 2. good. The user ID may be a user name.

  The setting unit 20 sets various data in the rule management library 33. That is, various data of the rule file 45, the purpose type file 46, and the participant type file 47 are output and displayed on the input / output unit 13, and the administrator operates the input / output unit 13 while referring to the output display. The rule management library 33 is updated by adding / modifying / deleting these various data.

  The print processing unit 21 transmits a print instruction to the composite printer 3 in response to a request from the user terminal 2 or the composite printer 3 to cause the composite printer 3 to execute printing. The print processing unit 21 adds the print history data 44 to the result file 32 after the printing is completed. Further, in the present embodiment, the print suitability is determined before the print instruction is transmitted or after the print is completed, and the determination result data is added to the result file 32. The detailed configuration and processing operation of the print processing unit 21 will be described later.

  The notification unit 22 reads the schedule file 31 from the storage unit 12 at a predetermined timing such as a request from the user terminal 2 or 30 minutes before the start time included in the schedule data 40, and the currently registered schedule data 40 Is notified to the user terminal 2. The notification unit 22 reads the result file 32 from the storage unit 12 and notifies the user terminal 2 of the print history data 44 in response to a request from the user terminal 2.

  The management unit 23 performs various types of management related to printing using the print history data 44 included in the result file 32. In the present embodiment, the management unit 23 reads out the print management file 30 from the storage unit 12 to grasp inappropriate printing, and transmits it to the input / output unit 13 or the user terminal 2 to notify the administrator or user. Is. Details of the management unit 23 will be described later.

  Next, the configuration and processing operation of the print processing unit 21 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 9 to 11. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of the print processing unit 21. The print processing unit 21 includes an authentication unit (authentication unit) 50, a schedule association unit (print purpose acquisition unit, schedule association unit) 51, a print setting acquisition unit (print setting unit) 52, and an appropriateness determination unit (appropriateness determination). Means) 53, an inappropriate printing warning section (warning means) 54, and a printing instruction section 55.

  FIG. 9 shows the processing operation of each component in the print processing unit 21. First, when printing is requested from the user terminal 2 or the composite printer 3, the authentication unit 50 requests and obtains a user ID and password from the user terminal 2 or composite printer 3 that has requested printing (step). S10 (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as “S10”. The same applies to the other steps). Next, the authentication unit 50 authenticates the acquired user ID and password, and repeats step S10 until the authentication is successful (S11). As a result, a genuine user who requests printing can be specified.

  If the authentication unit 50 succeeds in authentication (YES in S11), the schedule association unit 51 performs a schedule association process for checking which schedule the requested printing corresponds to. FIG. 10 shows the processing operation of the schedule association process. First, the schedule data 40 corresponding to the authenticated user ID is acquired from the schedule file 31, and transmitted to the user terminal 2 or the composite printer 3 currently used by the user (S30).

  By the way, when printing a document used in a certain schedule, printing is generally performed before the start time of the schedule. Therefore, it is desirable that the schedule data 40 transmitted in step S30 is the schedule data 40 scheduled after the current time. Further, schedule data 40 scheduled within a predetermined period from the present time may be transmitted. In addition, in the user terminal 2 or the composite printer 3 to which a plurality of schedule data 40 is transmitted, it is desirable that the schedule data 40 be displayed in a list in the order of the scheduled date and time of the schedule.

  Next, schedule designation information is acquired from the user terminal 2 or the composite printer 3 that has transmitted the schedule data 40 (S31), and it is determined whether or not a schedule is specified in the acquired designation information (S32).

  If a schedule is specified (YES in S32), the current print processing is associated with the specified schedule (S33). On the other hand, when the schedule is not designated (NO in S32), the current printing process is associated with the default schedule (S34). Thereafter, the schedule association process is terminated and the process returns to the original process. With this schedule association process, all print processes can be associated with a certain schedule.

  Next, the print setting acquisition unit 52 requests and acquires print setting data from the user terminal 2 or the composite printer 3 (S13). Next, it is determined whether the print suitability is determined before printing or after printing (S14). The criteria for this determination are that the person or administrator who provides the print management apparatus 4 can warn the user if the appropriateness determination is made first, and the composite printer 3 after the user instructs printing. It is desirable to set in advance in consideration of the disadvantage that the time until printing becomes longer.

  In addition, immediately after the construction of the print management system 1, the appropriateness determination rule is not yet suitable for the actual situation, so that it is possible that many inappropriate warnings will occur if it is determined before printing. Therefore, step S14 is set so that the appropriateness determination is performed after printing immediately after the system construction, and the appropriateness determination can be performed before printing after a certain period of time has elapsed. It is desirable to do. Further, the above criteria for determination may be made for each user. For example, it is possible to set so that only the user who uses a lot of inappropriate settings in the past results determines appropriateness before printing.

  When the print suitability is determined before printing (YES in S14), the suitability determining unit 53 determines the requested print suitability (S15). The detailed processing operation for determining the appropriateness of printing will be described later. If it is determined that the printing is inappropriate (NO in S16), the inappropriate printing warning unit 54 indicates that the printing is inappropriate for the user terminal 2 or the composite printer 3. A warning message is transmitted (S17). Thereafter, when the print request is not reacquired from the user terminal 2 or the composite printer 3 (NO in S18), the process returns to step S13, the print settings are changed, and the above operation is repeated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that printing is appropriate (YES in S16), or if a print request is reacquired from the user terminal 2 or the composite printer 3 to force printing (YES in S18). The print instruction unit 55 transmits a print instruction to the composite printer 3 and causes the composite printer 3 to execute printing (S19). Thereafter, the print instruction unit 55 acquires the print history data from the composite printer 3 and adds it to the result file 32, and the appropriateness determination unit 53 adds the appropriateness determination result data to the result file 32. (S22) The printing process is terminated.

  When the print suitability determination is executed before printing as in steps S15 to S19, the determination result can be fed back to the user before printing, which is inappropriate due to a user input mistake or misunderstanding. Printing can be reduced. Even if it is determined that printing is inappropriate, the user can force printing, but the determination result is saved, so that the administrator can confirm the appropriateness of printing later.

  On the other hand, when the print suitability determination is performed after printing (NO in S14), the print instruction unit 55 transmits a print instruction to the composite printer 3 to cause the composite printer 3 to execute printing. After (S20), as in step S15, the appropriateness determination unit 53 determines the appropriateness of the requested printing (S21). Thereafter, the print instruction unit 55 acquires the print history data from the composite printer 3 and adds it to the result file 32, and the appropriateness determination unit 53 adds the appropriateness determination result data to the result file 32. (S22) The printing process is terminated.

  In step S22, a print history ID other than the print history ID already used is assigned to the print history data and the determination result data added to the result file 32. Thereby, the determination result data can be associated with the print history data.

  When the print suitability determination is executed after printing as in steps S20 and S21, the user does not have to wait for the suitability determination process to be completed, and can save time for restraining the user. . In this case, the user does not recognize the appropriateness of printing, but the administrator later acquires inappropriate printing information and notifies the user, thereby reducing future inappropriate printing. be able to.

  Next, the appropriateness determination process in the appropriateness determination unit 53 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 shows the processing operation of the suitability determination process. First, schedule data 40 associated in the schedule association process (S12) is acquired (S40). Next, it is determined whether or not there is an undetermined determination item for all the determination items included in the rule file 45 in the rule management library 33 (S41). If there are no undetermined determination items (NO in S41), the determination is completed for all the determination items, so the appropriateness determination is terminated and the process returns to the original process.

  On the other hand, if there is an undetermined determination item (YES in S41), a certain undetermined determination item is selected (S42), and it is determined whether or not the selected determination item relates only to the current printing. (S43).

  If the determination item relates only to the current printing as in the case of color printing (YES in S43), only the print setting data for the current printing may be acquired (S44). On the other hand, when the determination item is related to all print histories in the schedule, such as the total number of prints (NO in S43), the result data 42 corresponding to the schedule data 40 is acquired and included in the acquired result data 42. All print history data is acquired (S45).

  Next, using the data acquired in step S44 or S45, the appropriateness determination is executed by collating with the rule data regarding the selected determination item (S46). At this time, it is desirable to calculate the deviation ratio or the like instead of whether or not the deviation is necessary from the reference value such as the number of printed sheets. Then, it returns to step S41 and repeats the said process until determination of all the determination items is completed.

  Therefore, in the print management apparatus 4 of the present embodiment, the appropriateness determination unit 53 stores the print purpose based on the print purpose acquired by the schedule association unit 51 and the print setting data acquired by the print setting acquisition unit 52. The adequacy of the print setting is determined by referring to the rule management library 33 of the unit 12. As a result, it is possible to determine whether or not printing is appropriate without waste according to the purpose of printing, and therefore it is possible to accurately determine the appropriateness of printing.

  In addition, since the schedule association unit 51 acquires the print purpose from the schedule information and does not need to request the user terminal 2 or the composite printer 3 for the print purpose, the print purpose can be acquired efficiently. Further, since the schedule file 31 includes default schedule data 41 that is not related to the schedule, even when printing is performed that is not related to the schedule, such as printing of daily work, the schedule association unit By matching 51 with the default schedule data 41 and the print request, it is possible to determine the appropriateness of printing.

  Further, since the authentic user who makes the print request can be specified by the authentication in the authentication unit 50, the user's schedule data 40 and 41 can be reliably associated with the print request. Further, since the rule file 45 includes rule data having a correspondence relationship between the configuration of the participants and the appropriateness of the print settings, the appropriateness of printing can be determined more accurately. In addition, since a warning is issued from the improper printing warning unit 54 to the user terminal 2 or the composite printer 3 before printing, it is possible to make the user aware that printing is improper.

  Next, the management unit 23 in the control unit 11 of the print management apparatus 4 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The management unit 23 refers to the print management file 30, acquires desired schedule data 40 and 41 from the schedule file 31, acquires desired print history data 44 and appropriateness determination result data from the result file 32, and inputs them. Output to the output unit 13.

  In the present embodiment, the various data is transmitted to the display device in the input / output unit 13 to be displayed on the screen. Thereby, the administrator can grasp and manage improper printing by referring to the screen.

  In this embodiment, there are two screens to be displayed at the time of management, one is a selection screen for selecting the type of calendar display as shown in FIG. 12, and the other is shown in FIG. This is a calendar display screen for displaying such an inappropriate printing situation in a calendar format.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the selection screen includes items of a period, a user, a schedule, a unit, a rule, and a display format. In the period, a period to be displayed on the calendar display screen is set. On the calendar display screen, information on items (user, schedule, month / day unit, rule, display format, etc.) selected within this period will be displayed.

  The user's item includes an alignment item and a list item. “Everyone” is displayed at the top of the list item. In a state where no alignment item is selected, “all members” are arranged in the order of user IDs. When one item is selected from the sorted items, the user IDs are sorted in the descending order of the items and displayed in the list item.

  For example, as illustrated in FIG. 13, when the inappropriate determination count is selected as the alignment item, the list is sorted in order from the user ID with the large inappropriate determination count. As a result, the cause of improper printing can be examined by a user with a large number of inappropriate determinations, and improper printing can be reduced efficiently, so that printing can be managed efficiently.

  The schedule item includes an alignment item and a list item. "All" is displayed at the top of the list items. In a state where no alignment item is selected, “all” is followed by the schedule ID. When one item is selected from the alignment items, the schedule IDs are rearranged in the descending order of the items and displayed in the list item. As in the case of user items, this allows you to examine the cause of improper printing from a schedule with a large number of improper judgments, and to manage the usage status specialized for the schedule. Management can be performed efficiently.

  When the unit item is selected, various data are aggregated for each selected month and day and displayed on the calendar display screen. When a rule item is selected, only information related to the selected rule is displayed on the calendar display screen. At this time, it is desirable to display only the rules that are actually used in the inappropriate determination. The display format item is used to select whether to display the printing status such as the number of printed sheets, the number of users, the number of uses, or the like, or to display a schedule.

  If no selection is made for each item, the calendar display screen is displayed assuming that the head of each item is selected. That is, “all” is selected as the user item, “all” is selected as the schedule item, “day” is selected as the unit item, “all” is selected as the rule item, and the format item is It is assumed that “printing status” is selected. A calendar display screen in this case is shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 14, when no selection is made for each item, the number of printed pages and the number of users per day are displayed on the calendar display screen so that the usage status of the entire composite printer 3 can be grasped. Will be. On the calendar display screen, if the number of people who performed inappropriate printing exceeds a predetermined standard, the calendar display screen is colored accordingly. In the example shown in the figure, each time the number of people who performed improper printing exceeds the criteria of 1, 3, and 5 people, different coloring is performed. In the drawings, hatching is used instead of coloring.

  In addition, the calendar display screen includes an area in which a confirmation mark indicating that the administrator has confirmed is placed at the upper right of the display area for the day. Square brackets ([]) are displayed in the area, and an asterisk (*) is displayed in square brackets when the administrator confirms. In the example of FIG. 14, it is shown that the 24th is confirmed and the 26th is an unconfirmed state. As a result, it is possible to confirm whether or not the administrator has taken some measures against inappropriate printing.

  Note that by setting the above coloring to be performed only on unconfirmed colors, it is possible to emphasize the date to be confirmed by the administrator, and it is possible to efficiently manage printing by the administrator.

  When a desired day is selected on the calendar display screen, detailed information on the selected day is displayed. FIG. 15 shows a detailed information display screen showing detailed information for one day. The detailed information display screen displays a list of times when improper printing was performed, user IDs, schedule IDs, and administrator confirmation marks. The detailed information display screen is convenient for confirming an inappropriate printing state of the day. When confirmation marks are assigned to all of the inappropriate prints of the day shown in FIG. 15, the confirmation marks for the day shown in FIG. 14 are automatically given.

  When a desired schedule is selected on the detailed information display screen, detailed information regarding the selected schedule is displayed. FIG. 16 shows a schedule related information display screen showing detailed information on the selected schedule. On the schedule related information display screen, information entered at the time of schedule registration, such as the date and time of printing, the purpose of printing, the number of participants, etc., and information at the time of printing such as a list of print history and a list of appropriateness determination results are displayed .

  In the case where improper printing exists, the location that is the basis for determination in the print history information is displayed in highlight and the reason for determining improper printing is displayed. At this time, since the rule label of the rule determined to be inappropriate printing is displayed, it is possible to know which rule data in the rule file 45 shown in FIG. 8 determines that printing is inappropriate. In the drawing, black and white reversal display is shown instead of highlight.

  FIG. 17 is a calendar display screen showing the printing status of a certain user. Such a calendar display screen is displayed by selecting a desired user in the user's item on the selection screen shown in FIG. 12, or selecting a desired user on the detailed information display screen shown in FIG. Is displayed.

  As shown in FIG. 17, on the calendar display screen showing the printing status of a certain user, the number of printed sheets, the number of times of use, and the number of inappropriate determinations are displayed on a daily basis, and the same coloring as in FIG. Will be made. As a result, the administrator can grasp the printing status specialized for the user, and can analyze the cause of inappropriate printing that is likely to occur by the user. For example, in the example of FIG. 17, since the number of inappropriate printing is high on Wednesday, the user C can analyze that there is a tendency to cause inappropriate printing on Wednesday.

  When a desired day is selected on the calendar display screen shown in FIG. 17, detailed information on printing performed by the user on the selected day is displayed. FIG. 18 shows a detailed information display screen that shows detailed information of one day of printing for a certain user. On this detailed information display screen, a list of printing histories of printing performed on that day is displayed. In addition, square brackets in which a confirmation mark of the administrator is written are displayed in each print history.

  If inappropriate printing exists, as in FIG. 16, the location that is the basis for the determination in the print history information is highlighted. Further, when one is selected from the print history list on the detailed information display screen shown in FIG. 17, the schedule related information display screen shown in FIG. 16 is displayed.

  FIG. 19 is a calendar display screen showing a user's printing status narrowed down with respect to a certain schedule. Such a calendar display screen is displayed by selecting a desired user from the user items on the selection screen shown in FIG. 12 and selecting a desired schedule from the schedule items. Or it displays by selecting the area | region where the user ID and schedule ID of an upper end part are displayed on the schedule relevant-information display screen shown by FIG.

  By displaying the calendar display screen shown in FIG. 19, the cause of inappropriate printing can be analyzed while paying attention only to the schedule. When a desired day is selected on the calendar display screen shown in FIG. 19, the detailed information display screen shown in FIG. 18 is displayed.

  FIG. 20 is a calendar display screen showing a printing state of a certain user with respect to certain rule data. Such a calendar display screen is displayed by selecting a desired user in the user item on the selection screen shown in FIG. 12 and selecting a desired rule label in the rule item. Or it displays by selecting the rule label display location of the lower left on the schedule related information display screen shown in FIG.

  By displaying the calendar display screen shown in FIG. 20, it is possible to analyze the cause of improper printing specifically for the rule, and review the rule. When a desired day is selected on the calendar display screen shown in FIG. 20, the detailed information display screen shown in FIG. 18 is displayed.

  FIG. 21 is a calendar display screen showing the schedule status of a certain user. Such a calendar display screen is displayed by selecting a desired schedule in the schedule item on the selection screen shown in FIG.

  In the calendar display screen shown in FIG. 21, a schedule on which improper printing has been performed is highlighted. By displaying such a calendar display screen, it is possible to grasp improper printing in units of schedules, and it is possible to analyze the cause of improper printing that is likely to occur in the schedule. When the desired schedule on the desired day is selected on the calendar display screen shown in FIG. 21, the schedule related information display screen shown in FIG. 16 is displayed.

  In order to perform the display of FIGS. 12 to 21, the print history data 44, schedule data 40, and result data 42 are tabulated for desired items such as the total number of sheets, the number of times of use, and the number of inappropriate determinations for each display unit. It is necessary to perform aggregation processing and display processing for displaying the aggregated data. FIG. 22 shows the flow of this aggregation process. The aggregation process and the display process are performed by the control unit 11 in the print management apparatus 4.

  As shown in FIG. 22, in the aggregation process, when the user requests an item that the user wants to display with respect to the display in FIG. 12 and makes a calendar display request (S <b> 50), first the start date is displayed from the display period item. And the first print history data corresponding to the day is acquired (S51). Here, when no period item is input, a preset default period is used. Examples of default time periods include the first day to the last day of the month if the display unit is daily, the first month to the last month of the year if monthly, and the year 5 years before and after.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the acquired print history data is data that is input or outside a preset period (S52). If the data is outside the period (YES in S52), the total display process is terminated. On the other hand, if the data is within the period (NO in S52), it is determined whether or not the acquired print history data is the first data in the display unit (S53). For example, if the display unit is a day, it is determined whether it is the first data of the day. If the result of determination is the first data of the display unit (YES in S53), a totaling data area for newly storing the totaling result of the display unit is prepared in the storage unit 12 and initialized ( S54). On the other hand, if it is not the first data of the display unit (NO in S53), there is a totaling data area in use, so there is no need to perform the process of step S54, and it is added to the totaling data area in use. And will be aggregated.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the current print history data is data of an item that the user wants to display (S55). As a result of the determination, if it is data of an item to be displayed (YES in S55), the data is added to the total of the current display unit (S56). On the other hand, when it is not the data of the item to be displayed (NO in S55), the process of step S56 is not performed. For example, when the user specifies that he / she wants to see only the information of schedule A, the data for schedule A is aggregated only. Further, when it is not desired to count the confirmed data as the number of inappropriate determinations, it is determined whether or not to count by confirming from the result data in step S55.

  With the above processing, the summation for the current print history data is completed, so the next print history data is acquired (S57), and then the process returns to step S52 to repeat the above processing operation. All the print history data in the display item can be totaled.

  After the aggregation process shown in FIG. 22 is completed, a display process is performed. FIG. 23 shows the flow of this display process. Hereinafter, the aggregated data of the display unit is referred to as display unit data. First, the first display unit data in the period is acquired (S60). Next, it is determined whether or not the data specified for the printing status in the acquired display unit data is within a preset range (S61). As a result of the determination, if it is within the range (YES in S61), the current display unit data is displayed in different colors according to the extent of the range (S62). On the other hand, if it is not within the range (NO in S61), normal display (normal display) is performed (S63).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the display unit data is the last data in the period (S64). As a result of the determination, if it is not the last data (NO in S64), the next display unit data is acquired (S65), the process returns to step S61, and the above processing operation is repeated. On the other hand, if it is the last data, the display process is terminated.

  Note that after the tabulation process shown in FIG. 22, the number of used sheets, the number of times of use, the number of inappropriate determinations, etc. can be arranged for each user or each schedule, and displayed in the order of arrangement in the display process shown in FIG. . In this case, the counting results can be displayed in order from numerical values that are considered to have many problems, and the problem can be quickly found by the administrator.

  Accordingly, since the result file 32 is stored in the storage unit 12 in the print management apparatus 4 of the present embodiment, various causes of inappropriate printing are specified by analyzing the result file 32 at a later date. be able to.

  Since the result file 32 is stored in the storage unit 12, it is possible to read the print history data 44 from the storage unit 12 and determine the appropriateness of printing at any time other than before and after printing. The print management apparatus 4 may be configured to be integrated with the composite printer 3.

  In the above embodiment, a general authentication method using an ID and a password is used as a user authentication method in the authentication unit 50. However, authentication using information from an IC card and biometric technology such as fingerprints are used. Other authentication methods can also be used, such as biometric authentication using. In this case, a device that can input information suitable for an authentication method to be used, such as an IC card reader or a sensor for recognizing a fingerprint, is provided in the user terminal 2 or the composite printer 3, and the information is stored in the authentication file 34 of the storage unit 12. It is necessary to add in advance.

  In addition, each functional block and each processing step in the control unit 11 of the print management apparatus 4 according to the above embodiment is stored in a storage unit such as a ROM (read only memory) or a RAM (random access memory) by a calculation unit such as a CPU. It can be realized by executing the programmed program and controlling peripheral devices. Accordingly, various functions and various processes in the control unit 11 of the print management apparatus 4 according to the present embodiment can be realized simply by a computer having these means reading the recording medium storing the program and executing the program. Can do. In addition, by recording the program on a removable recording medium, the various functions and various processes described above can be realized on an arbitrary computer.

  As this recording medium, a program medium such as a memory (not shown) such as a ROM may be used for processing by the microcomputer, or a program reader is provided as an external storage device (not shown). It may be a program medium that can be read by inserting a recording medium therein.

  In any case, the stored program is preferably configured to be accessed and executed by the microprocessor. Furthermore, it is preferable that the program is read out, and the read program is downloaded to a program storage area of the microcomputer and the program is executed. It is assumed that this download program is stored in advance in the main unit.

  The program medium is a recording medium configured to be separable from the main body, such as a tape system such as a magnetic tape or a cassette tape, a magnetic disk such as a flexible disk or a hard disk, or a disk such as a CD / MO / MD / DVD. Fixed disk system, card system such as IC card (including memory card), or semiconductor memory such as mask ROM, EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), flash ROM, etc. In particular, there are recording media that carry programs.

  Further, if the system configuration is capable of connecting to a communication network including the Internet, the recording medium is preferably a recording medium that fluidly carries the program so as to download the program from the communication network.

  Further, when the program is downloaded from the communication network as described above, it is preferable that the download program is stored in the main device in advance or installed from another recording medium.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope shown in the claims. Further, the present invention can be obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments. Embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  As described above, the print management apparatus or the like according to the present invention is useful as an apparatus for determining the appropriateness of printing in a printing apparatus, and is particularly suitable for determining the appropriateness of printing according to the printing situation. .

1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a main part of a print management apparatus in a print management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the said printing management system. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the said printing management apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the data structure of the print appropriateness management file memorize | stored in the said print management apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the data structure and data example of a schedule file memorize | stored in the said printing management apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the data structure and example of a data of a result file memorize | stored in the said printing management apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the data structure and data example of the printing history data in the said result file. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a data structure and a data example of a rule management library stored in the print management apparatus. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the processing operation in the print processing part of the said print management apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the processing operation | movement of a schedule matching among the processing operations in the said printing process part. It is a flowchart which shows the processing operation of appropriateness determination among the processing operations in the said printing process part. It is a screen displayed on a display device connected to the print management device, and shows a selection screen for selecting various items in order to grasp the printing status. It is a figure which shows that the list of a list is rearranged according to selection of the list of an alignment item in the said selection screen. It is a figure which is a screen displayed on the said display apparatus, Comprising: It is a figure which shows the printing status display screen which displayed all the printing statuses in the calendar format. It is a figure which shows the display screen of the list | wrist list which performed printing on the designated day regarding the said printing status display screen. It is a figure which shows the detailed printing status display screen of the designated schedule regarding the display screen of the said list of schedules. It is a figure which is a screen displayed on the said display apparatus, Comprising: It is a figure which shows the printing status display screen which displayed the printing status of a certain user in the calendar format. It is a figure which shows the display screen of the list of the printing status which printed on the designated day regarding the said printing status display screen. It is a figure which is a screen displayed on the said display apparatus, Comprising: The printing status display screen which displayed the printing status of a certain user's certain schedule in the calendar format. It is a figure which is a screen displayed on the said display apparatus, Comprising: It is a figure which shows the printing status display screen which displayed the printing status according to a certain rule of a certain user in a calendar format. It is a figure which is a screen displayed on the said display apparatus, Comprising: It is a figure which shows the printing status display screen which displayed the printing status according to a certain user's schedule in the calendar format. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the total process which totals regarding a desired item. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the display process which displays the data totaled by the said total process.

Explanation of symbols

2 User terminal 3 Combined printer (printer)
4 Print Management Device 12 Storage Unit (Storage Unit)
13 Input / output section (display means)
23 management department (counting means)
31 Schedule file (schedule information)
33 Rule management library (appropriateness judgment rule information)
40 Schedule data (schedule information)
41 Default schedule data (default schedule information)
50 Authentication section (authentication means)
51 Schedule association unit (print purpose acquisition means, schedule association means)
52 Print setting acquisition unit (print setting means)
53 Appropriateness determination unit (appropriateness determination means)
54 Improper printing warning section (warning means)

Claims (21)

A print management apparatus that instructs a printer to print based on a print request from a user,
Storage means for storing appropriateness determination rule information that is a criterion for determining the appropriateness of print settings, which are settings related to printing, and includes a correspondence relationship between the purpose of printing and the appropriateness of the print settings. When,
A printing purpose acquisition means for acquiring a printing purpose;
Print setting acquisition means for acquiring the print settings;
Based on the print purpose acquired by the print purpose acquisition unit and the print setting acquired by the print setting acquisition unit, the appropriateness of the print setting is referred to by referring to the appropriateness determination rule information stored in the storage unit. A print management apparatus comprising: an appropriateness determination unit that determines The appropriateness determination rule information stored by the storage means includes default appropriateness determination rule information that serves as a reference for determining the appropriateness of the print settings regardless of the printing purpose.
The appropriateness determining means refers to default appropriateness determination rule information stored in the storage means based on the print settings acquired by the print setting acquiring means when the printing purpose is unknown. The print management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print management apparatus determines whether the print settings are appropriate.   The print management apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the default appropriateness determination rule information stored in the storage unit includes appropriateness in a predetermined period of the print setting. The storage means stores user schedule information,
Schedule information corresponding to the user who makes the print request is further acquired from the storage means, and is associated with the print request;
The print management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print purpose acquisition unit acquires a print purpose from schedule information associated with the schedule association unit.   5. The print management apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the user schedule information stored in the storage means includes default schedule information for performing printing unrelated to the schedule.   The suitability determination rule information stored in the storage unit includes a correspondence relationship between the print purpose acquired by the print purpose acquisition unit from the default schedule information and the appropriateness of the print setting for a predetermined period. The print management apparatus according to claim 5. An authentication unit for authenticating a user who makes the print request;
The print management apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the schedule association unit acquires schedule information corresponding to the user authenticated by the authentication unit from the storage unit and associates the schedule information with the print request. The user's schedule information stored by the storage means includes the configuration of the participants who participate in the event performed in the schedule of the schedule information,
The print management apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the appropriateness determination rule information stored in the storage unit further includes a correspondence relationship between the configuration of the participant and the appropriateness of the print setting. A storage unit that stores the print setting acquired by the print setting acquisition unit in a storage unit;
The appropriateness determination unit is the same by referring to the appropriateness determination rule information based on the print purpose, the print setting acquired by the print setting acquisition unit, and the print setting stored by the storage unit. The print management apparatus according to claim 4, wherein appropriateness of print settings relating to the schedule information is collectively determined.   2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising warning means for warning the user that printing is inappropriate before instructing printing when the appropriateness determining means determines that the printing is inappropriate. The printing management apparatus described.   The print management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a storage unit that stores the print setting acquired by the print setting acquisition unit in a storage unit.   The print management apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the storage unit further causes the storage unit to store the determination result of the appropriateness determined by the appropriateness determination unit. A counting means for counting the print setting and the determination result of the appropriateness stored in the storage means for a specified or predetermined period;
13. The print management apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising display means for displaying the total information totaled by the totaling means.   14. The print management apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the totaling unit totals the print setting and appropriateness determination results regarding a specified item among the print setting and appropriateness determination results.   The display means displays the aggregate value or the display area of the aggregate value in a color corresponding to the range when a certain aggregate value in the aggregate information is within a predetermined range. The print management apparatus according to claim 13.   The print management apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the display unit arranges and displays the aggregate information in order of aggregate values in the aggregate information.   A printer integrally including the print management apparatus according to claim 1.   17. A print management system comprising: the print management apparatus according to claim 1; a printer that performs printing based on a print instruction from the print management apparatus; and a user terminal connected via a communication network. . A print management method of a print management apparatus for instructing a printer to print based on a print request from a user,
The print management apparatus is appropriateness determination rule information that is a criterion for determining the appropriateness of print settings that are settings relating to printing, and includes an appropriateness determination rule including a correspondence relationship between a print purpose and the appropriateness of the print settings A storage means for storing information;
A print purpose acquisition step for acquiring a print purpose;
A print setting acquisition step for acquiring the print settings;
Based on the print purpose acquired in the print purpose acquisition step and the print setting acquired in the print setting acquisition step, by referring to the appropriateness determination rule information stored in the storage means, the print setting A print management method comprising: an appropriateness determination step for determining appropriateness.   17. A print management program for operating the print management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the computer functions as the print purpose acquisition unit, the print setting acquisition unit, and the suitability determination unit. Print management program to let you.   A computer-readable recording medium on which the print management program according to claim 20 is recorded.

Images