JP2005219343A - Printing controller - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing controller that calculates a consumption of consumables by receiving a print command from a user terminal before performing the printing. <P>SOLUTION: The user terminal, a printer 10, and a communication control section 2 of the printing controller 1 are connected to a network 12. The communication control section 2 receives a print command from the user terminal. A printing control section 4 interprets the print command by detecting a compression algorithm corresponding to a compression format of the received print command, calculates a consumption of consumables used by the printer 10 from the interpreted content, and then calculates a fee to be charged from the consumption. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a print control apparatus that calculates a consumption amount of consumables.

In the conventional technology, before the printing is performed on the user's computer, the operation time of the print head of the inkjet printing apparatus is predicted from the print data, and the ink usage based on the operation time of the print head is predicted. Yes. A charging fee is calculated from the amount of ink used, and the charging fee is notified to the user before printing is performed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2002-215368 A

  However, the print control apparatus shown in Patent Document 1 needs to be incorporated in the user's computer, and there is a problem that a load is imposed on the user's computer and a burden on management such as version upgrade. In the case of a laser printer, the operation time of the print head is a fixed time without depending on the print medium. Therefore, the mechanism shown in Patent Document 1 has a problem that it is not possible to calculate a charge fee.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to calculate a charging fee before printing without placing a burden on the user's computer and without depending on the type of printer. To provide a print control apparatus.

  The invention according to claim 1 is connected to a user terminal and a printing device via a network, receives a print command from the user terminal, and transmits the print command to the printing device; and A compression algorithm corresponding to the compression format of the print command received by the communication control unit is detected, the print command is decoded, a consumption amount used by the printing apparatus is calculated, and based on the usage amount And a print control unit that calculates a charging fee.

  According to a second aspect of the invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the print control unit detects a printer description language used in the decoded print command, and based on the printer description language, The amount of consumables used by the printing device is calculated according to the print command, and the duty ratio, which is the ratio of the area actually printed on the printing paper to the entire printing area on the printing paper, is calculated based on the amount used. Then, the calculated duty ratio is classified by a range of preset values, and the charging fee corresponding to the duty ratio among the charging fees set in advance corresponding to the value range is obtained. .

  The invention according to claim 3 is connected to a user terminal and a printing device via a network, receives a print command from the user terminal, and transmits the print command to the printing device; and A print job storage unit that stores a print command received by the communication control unit as a print job, and a storage in which the same ID as the user ID of the print job is set when the print job is read from the print job storage unit A print control unit that detects another print job, combines the read print job and the print job having the same detected user ID, and transmits the print job as a print command to the printing apparatus. A printing control apparatus.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing control method for a printing control apparatus connected to a user terminal and a printing apparatus via a network, wherein the print command is received from the user terminal via the network. Detecting a compression algorithm corresponding to the compression format of the received print command, decoding the print command based on the compression algorithm, and using the printing apparatus based on the decoded print command A printing control method comprising: a step of calculating a consumption amount of a consumable; a step of calculating a charging fee based on the usage amount; and a step of transmitting the printing command to the printing apparatus. is there.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the print control method according to the fourth aspect of the invention is based on the process of detecting a printer description language used in the decoded print command and the printer description language. The process of calculating the amount of consumables used by the printing device and the duty ratio, which is the ratio of the area actually printed on the printing paper and the area of the entire printing area on the printing paper, is calculated based on the amount used. A process of classifying the calculated duty ratio at a stage of several preset value ranges, and a process of obtaining a corresponding charge charge among charge charges preset for each value range And further comprising.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print control method of a print control apparatus connected to a user terminal and a printing apparatus via a network, the process of receiving a print command from the user terminal, and the communication The process of storing the print command received by the control unit as a print job, the process of reading the print job being stored, and detecting other print jobs being stored that have the same ID as the user ID of the print job A step of combining the print job having the same detected user ID with the read print job, and a step of transmitting the combined print job to the printing apparatus as a print command. Is a printing control method.

  The invention according to claim 7 is a procedure of receiving a print command from the user terminal via the network to the computer of the print control apparatus connected to the user terminal and the printing apparatus via the network, A procedure for detecting a compression algorithm corresponding to a compression format of a print command, a procedure for decoding the print command based on the compression algorithm, and calculating a consumption amount of a consumable used by the printing apparatus based on the decoded print command And a computer program for executing a procedure for calculating a charging fee based on the usage amount and a procedure for transmitting the print command to the printing apparatus.

  The invention according to claim 8 is used by the printing apparatus according to the invention according to claim 7, based on the procedure for detecting the printer description language used in the decoded print command and the printer description language. A procedure for calculating the consumption amount of consumables, a procedure for calculating a duty ratio that is a ratio of the area actually printed on the printing paper and the area of the entire printing area on the printing paper based on the usage amount, and the calculated duty ratio Are further classified by a range of several preset values, and a procedure for obtaining the corresponding charging fee among the charging fees preset for each of the value ranges is further provided.

  The invention according to claim 9 is a procedure for receiving a print command from the user terminal to the computer of the print control apparatus connected to the user terminal and the printing apparatus via the network, received by the communication control unit A procedure for storing a print command as a print job, a procedure for reading out the print job being stored, a procedure for detecting another print job being stored that has the same ID as the user ID of the print job, and the read print A computer program that executes a procedure for combining a print job having the same detected user ID with a job and a procedure for transmitting the combined print job to the printing apparatus as a print command.

  According to this invention, before the print command is transmitted from the user terminal to the printing device, the print command is received by the print control device, and the print command is decoded based on the compression algorithm used for the print command. Is taking. Therefore, the charge fee can be calculated centrally in the print control apparatus, and there is an effect of not burdening the user's computer. In addition, by responding to the user's terminal with the calculated charging fee, the charging fee can be confirmed before printing, and the user can determine whether or not to print.

  According to the present invention, the printer control language used in the print command decoded based on the compression algorithm is detected in the print control device, and the toner used by the print device according to the print command based on the printer description language. It is configured to calculate the usage amount. In addition, the duty ratio, which is the ratio of the area printed on the printing paper and the area of the entire printing paper, is calculated from the calculated usage amount, and further, the duty ratio corresponds to a predetermined charge stage. The structure to judge is taken. Therefore, the print control apparatus can calculate an accurate usage amount based on the printer description language, and has an effect of being able to calculate a duty ratio and a charging fee corresponding to the usage amount.

  Further, according to the present invention, the print command is accumulated in the print control apparatus, and the print command having the same user ID is detected from the print commands accumulated when the print command of a certain user is read out. Thus, a configuration is adopted in which the data is transmitted to the printing apparatus in a batch. Therefore, it is possible to continuously print a print command for each user, and to reduce the amount of consumption reduced by continuous printing to the user as a discount fee.

Hereinafter, a printing control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a print control apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention and a connection configuration with peripheral devices.
The terminal 11 is a personal computer used by a user. The network 12 is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network) installed in an office, and connects the print control apparatus 1 and the printing apparatus 10 to each other in addition to the terminal 11. The print control apparatus 1 is assumed to be used by, for example, a printer who specializes in printing.
The communication control unit 2 of the print control apparatus 1 receives a print command from the user terminal 11 via the network 12, and after performing predetermined processing in the print control apparatus 1, the print command is transmitted via the network 12 to the printing apparatus. 10 to send. The print job storage unit 3 stores the print command received by the communication control unit 2 as a print job. The print control unit 4 determines the compression algorithm used for the received print command data and decodes the print command data. Then, the printer description language used in the data of the decoded print command is determined, and the usage amount of consumables such as the photoconductor, toner, ink, and paper used by the printing apparatus 10 is calculated based on the printer description language. . Also, a duty ratio, which is a ratio between the area printed on the printing paper and the area of the entire printing paper, is calculated based on the calculated consumption amount of the consumables. Further, since the duty ratio is obtained as a value including a decimal point, it is classified into three stages such as a preset duty ratio of 1%, 3%, and 5%. Predetermined charging charges are set in advance at each stage such as 1%, 3%, and 5%, and the charging charges at the stage corresponding to the calculated duty ratio are transmitted to the user terminal, for example. By doing so, the user can know the billing fee before executing the printing. The billing fee is composed of the cost required for maintenance of the printing apparatus necessary for one-time printing and the fee based on the usage amount of paper, photoconductor, toner, ink and the like.

FIG. 2 shows a basic setting screen of a printer driver set by the user on the user terminal 11. The following parameters can be selected on the basic screen 20 of the printer driver. Hereinafter, parameters related to the amount of consumables used will be described.
The paper selection 21 is a parameter for selecting a paper size such as B5 or A4. The paper type 22 is a parameter for selecting plain paper, recycled paper, glossy paper for printing photographs, matte paper, and the like used for normal printing. Depending on the type of paper, the type and amount of toner and ink used will change. The color type 23 is a parameter for selecting color printing or monochrome printing, and the amount of color toner or ink used changes. The print quality 24 is a parameter for selecting standard quality or high quality. The number of copies 25 is a parameter for selecting how many copies of the same data are to be printed. These parameters are reflected in the printer description language when generating the print command.

FIG. 3 shows a detailed setting screen 30 for setting the print quality in more detail in the printer driver. The color type 31 is a parameter for selecting color printing or monochrome printing, and the amount of color toner or ink used changes. The resolution 32 is a parameter for selecting standard quality or high quality, and the amount of toner or ink to be used changes. The toner save 33 is a parameter for suppressing the amount of toner used. A RIT (Resolution Improvement Technology) 34 is a parameter used when printing image data including a photograph or the like, and the amount of toner or ink used changes.
The color adjustment 35 includes parameters for performing color correction in color printing. The color correction 36 includes parameters that can change colors such as cyan, magenta, and yellow in addition to brightness, contrast, and saturation. The amount of color toner and ink used varies depending on the color adjustment 35 and the color correction 36. These parameters are also reflected in the printer description language when generating the print command.

    FIG. 4 shows an extended setting screen 40 for setting other parameters in the printer driver. In the extended setting screen 40, parameters that affect the usage amount of paper, toner, ink, and the like during printing include parameters of the high-speed graphic 41. This parameter is also reflected in the printer description language when generating the print command.

FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing of the print control apparatus 1. First, in the user terminal 11, a user creates a document or an image with an application or the like on the terminal (step S5-1). Next, print parameters are set on the printer driver in order to print those documents and images (step S5-2). When the user selects printing on the terminal screen, the printer driver generates print data in a printer description language based on document or image data. The print data includes parameter information at the time of printing such as paper size, color or black and white, in addition to document and image data to be printed. Next, the printer driver compresses the generated print data with a predetermined compression algorithm (step S5-4). Then, the compressed print data is transmitted as a print command to the print control apparatus 1 (step S5-5).
The print control apparatus 1 receives the print command (step S5-6). It is determined from the header of the received print command which compression algorithm is used to compress the data (step S5-7). Then, a corresponding one of the compression algorithms stored in advance is read out, and the print command is decoded based on the compression algorithm (step S5-8). It should be noted that here, the contents are not read and decompressed all at once, but are decompressed and read sequentially from the first bit of the print command. Then, the printer description language used for the print command is detected from the read data (step S5-9). Then, the corresponding one of the printer description languages stored in advance is read, and the contents of the print command are decoded based on the printer description language (step S5-10). Next, since the contents to be printed are found from the decoded printer description language, the amount of toner and ink used is calculated (step S5-11). Furthermore, a duty ratio that is a ratio of the area of the printed paper surface to the area of the entire paper is calculated. Since the calculated duty ratio is obtained including a value after the decimal point, for example, the duty ratio is classified into predetermined stages such as 1%, 3%, and 5%. A charging fee is assigned to each stage in advance, and the charging fee at the stage to which the calculated duty ratio belongs can be returned to, for example, the user's terminal (step S5-12). When the calculation is completed, the stored print command is transmitted to the printing apparatus. At this time, the user may confirm the billing fee and send it to the printing apparatus after receiving an instruction to permit printing (step S5-13). The printing apparatus receives the print command (step S5-14). Then, the printing apparatus outputs the received print data to paper (step S5-15).

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the difference between the operation of the laser printer when the same data is printed in three times and the operation when the number of copies to be output is three. The laser printer adjusts the engine before print output, but each time it adjusts the photosensitive drum and the fixing device, it consumes extra consumables such as the photosensitive member.
When the data is printed three times, the engine adjustment in the laser printer is performed three times like 50a, 50b, and 50c. On the other hand, when printing with 3 copies, the print jobs are combined into one as shown in FIG. 51, so that the engine adjustment is performed only once as shown in FIG. 50, thus saving the consumption of consumables. It becomes possible to do.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing processing for reading and printing a print job stored in the print job storage unit 3 of the print control apparatus 1. First, the print control unit 4 reads a print job from the print job storage unit 3 (step S7-1). The user ID of the read print job is detected, and it is detected whether or not a print job in which the same user ID is set exists in the print job storage unit 3 (step S7-2). If there is a print job of the same user, the print job is read from the print job storage unit 3 and combined with the previously read print job (step S7-3). Combining print jobs means combining print jobs so that the engine adjustment of the laser printer is handled as if it were the first copy. When there is no print job in the print job storage unit 3, the combined print job is transmitted to the printing apparatus 10 (step S7-4). The printing apparatus 10 performs engine adjustment once and outputs the received print job. As a result, it is possible to reduce the amount of consumables used for the user's print job, and to perform processing such as reducing the accounting fee.

  The print control apparatus described above has a computer system therein. The processing process of the above-described print control apparatus is stored in a computer-readable recording medium in a program format, and the above-described processing is performed by the computer reading and executing this program. Here, the computer-readable recording medium means a magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a semiconductor memory, or the like. Alternatively, the computer program may be distributed to the computer via a communication line, and the computer that has received the distribution may execute the program.

2 is a functional block diagram of a print control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram (part 1) illustrating a printer driver setting screen according to the embodiment. FIG. 8 is a (second) setting screen diagram of the printer driver in the embodiment. FIG. 8 is a setting screen diagram (part 3) for the printer driver in the embodiment. It is a flowchart of the decoding process of the print command based on the compression algorithm in the same embodiment. 6 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between print job combination and engine adjustment processing in the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of processing for combining print jobs with the same user ID in the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Print control apparatus 2 Communication control part 3 Print job storage part 4 Print control part 10 Printing apparatus 11 Terminal 12 Network

Claims (9)

A communication control unit connected to a user terminal and a printing device via a network, receiving a print command from the user terminal, and transmitting the print command to the printing device;
Based on the usage amount, detecting a compression algorithm corresponding to the compression format of the printing command received by the communication control unit, decoding the printing command, calculating a usage amount of a consumable used by the printing apparatus A print control unit for calculating a charged fee,
A printing control apparatus comprising: The print control unit
Detecting a printer description language used in the decoded print command, and calculating a consumption amount of a consumable used by the printing device according to the print command based on the printer description language;
Based on the usage amount, a duty ratio that is a ratio of an area actually printed on the printing paper and an area of the entire printing area on the printing paper is calculated,
The calculated duty ratio is classified by a range of preset values, and the billing charge corresponding to the duty ratio is obtained from billing charges set in advance corresponding to the value range. The printing control apparatus according to 1. A communication control unit connected to a user terminal and a printing device via a network, receiving a print command from the user terminal, and transmitting the print command to the printing device;
A print job storage unit that stores a print command received by the communication control unit as a print job;
When the print job is read from the print job storage unit, another print job stored with the same ID as the user ID of the print job is detected, and the read print job and the detected user ID are A print control unit that combines the same print jobs and transmits the print commands to the printing apparatus;
A printing control apparatus comprising: A printing control method of a printing control apparatus connected to a user terminal and a printing apparatus via a network,
Receiving a print command from the user's terminal via a network;
Detecting a compression algorithm corresponding to the compression format of the received print command;
Decoding the print command based on the compression algorithm;
Calculating the amount of consumables used by the printing device based on the decoded printing command;
Calculating a charging fee based on the usage amount;
Transmitting the printing command to the printing device;
A printing control method comprising: The printing control method includes:
Detecting a printer description language used in the decoded print command;
Calculating the amount of consumables used by the printing device based on the printer description language;
A process of calculating a duty ratio that is a ratio of an area actually printed on the printing paper and an area of the entire printing region on the printing paper based on the usage amount;
Classifying the calculated duty ratio in a range of several preset values;
The print control method according to claim 4, further comprising a step of obtaining the charging fee corresponding to a predetermined charging fee for each value range. A printing control method of a printing control apparatus connected to a user terminal and a printing apparatus via a network,
Receiving a print command from the user terminal;
Storing a print command received by the communication control unit as a print job;
Reading the print job being stored;
A process of detecting another print job being stored in which the same ID as the user ID of the print job is set;
Combining the read print job and the print job having the same detected user ID;
Sending the combined print job to the printing device as a print command;
A printing control method comprising: To the computer of the printing control apparatus connected to the user terminal and the printing apparatus via the network,
A procedure for receiving a print command from the user terminal via a network;
A procedure for detecting a compression algorithm corresponding to the compression format of the received print command;
A procedure for decoding the print command based on the compression algorithm;
A procedure for calculating a consumption amount of a consumable used by the printing apparatus based on the decoded printing command;
A procedure for calculating a charging fee based on the usage amount;
Transmitting the printing command to the printing apparatus;
A computer program that executes A procedure for detecting a printer description language used in the decoded print command;
A procedure for calculating the amount of consumables used by the printing device based on the printer description language;
A procedure for calculating a duty ratio, which is a ratio of the area actually printed on the printing paper and the area of the entire printing area on the printing paper, based on the usage amount;
A procedure for classifying the calculated duty ratio in a range of several preset values;
The computer program according to claim 7, further comprising: a procedure for obtaining the corresponding charging charge among charging charges set in advance for each range of values. To the computer of the printing control apparatus connected to the user terminal and the printing apparatus via the network,
Receiving a print command from the user terminal;
A procedure for storing a print command received by the communication control unit as a print job;
A procedure for reading the print job being stored;
A procedure for detecting another print job being stored in which the same ID as the user ID of the print job is set;
A procedure for combining the read print job and the print job having the same detected user ID;
Transmitting the combined print job to the printing apparatus as a print command;
A computer program that executes

Images