JP2006039636A - Bidding-type network print system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a user to select the most effective printer in a printing time, without grasping the functions or the characteristics of printers connected to a network. <P>SOLUTION: A client issuing a print job generates print conditions of the job as bidding data to send them to the printers and leaves decision whether the print job is to be printed and estimation of possible print conditions in the case of printing to the printers. Then, the client decides a printer used for printing, based on the bidding response data received from the printers. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a bid-type network printing system that selects an optimal printer from various printers and print consignment services existing on a network by a bidding method and inputs a print job to the printer.

  In recent years, network environments have been improved in offices, and when printing is performed from a client such as a PC connected to the network, many printers existing on the LAN can be used. There are many types of printers that can be connected to a LAN, and they are differentiated by printing speed, color printing, finishing, printing cost, and the like. Furthermore, some large companies have a print center for mass printing using a distributed printing system or an ultra-high-speed printer, and can make print requests via a network. In addition, there is also a service in which printing is ordered from an outside contractor via the Internet and the output is delivered to the office.

  When the user currently prints from a PC or the like, it is usually necessary to set a printer driver corresponding to the printer he / she uses. When printing application documents and image data, normal printing is performed in the following procedure. First, the user selects a printer driver to be used for printing from a list of registered printer drivers. Next, on the user interface screen of the driver, various settings for the job such as finishing and imposition sorting method are selected. When the user selects print execution, the printer driver sends the job setting value set by the user together with the image data of each page to the printer. The printer performs imposition of image data according to the received job setting value, and performs finishing processing and sorting processing of the printed output. If the job setting value set by the user does not match the printer to which the job is sent at that time, the setting value is ignored or the job is canceled as an error.

One conventional method for solving such a problem is a distributed printing system. In such a system, the printer monitoring server has a function of collecting information from printers on the network on behalf of the user and distributing jobs to appropriate printers based on the information obtained from the printer monitoring server. It is. In such a conventional distributed printing system, the printer is selected by the user himself or herself based on the information presented from the printer monitoring server, or the print server spooling the print job is selected from the printer monitoring server. The optimum printer is automatically selected by inputting the presented information to the determination algorithm. (Patent Document 1)
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-141281

  In this way, in the conventional print job processing procedure, the user himself / herself understands what functions are in each printer and what state they are in, and is appropriate for the job to be printed from among them. It is necessary to determine and select a printer that is likely to be used, and to perform various print settings within a range that is suitable for the selected printer. However, it is very difficult to grasp all the characteristics of a large number of printers connected to the LAN, and many users use their usual printers even when print jobs are not suitable. Tend. For this reason, a large-volume page job is input to a low-speed printer and the printer is occupied for a long time, or a high-speed printer is released from another job just to print one copy of one page. It often happens that waiting for a long time. Furthermore, it is advantageous in terms of cost and time to request a print center with an ultra-high-speed distributed printing environment to obtain output, or to order an outside contractor to deliver the output. Even in this case, since a normal user does not grasp the usage method and characteristics, printing is often performed using a printer in the office.

  Further, in the conventional distributed printing system that attempts to solve the above problem, in order to increase the accuracy of selecting the optimum printer, the function information included in all the printers to be managed is collected, and always at the time of further determination. Since it is necessary to grasp the status of all printers that are printing candidates, the amount of information necessary to acquire the printer status increases. As a method for acquiring the status, there are a method in which the printer actively notifies the printer status monitoring server of the status, and a method in which the printer status monitoring server inquires of the printer and the printer passively notifies the status. However, in the former case, since the status notification is frequently performed even when printing is not performed at all, there is a problem that the network bandwidth is wasted. In the latter case, since it is necessary to acquire a large amount of information at once, there is a problem that the load on the network bandwidth and the printer status monitoring server increases instantaneously. There is a problem that the state of the printer changes before printing. Furthermore, in both methods, it is necessary to notify the printer status monitoring server status, including printers that are in a very high load state during printing processing, and this has the problem of affecting the processing capability of the printer.

  Also, in the conventional distributed printing system, if all the information collected from all the printers is presented, the user will end up with too much information and cannot judge to select the optimum printer. In order to avoid this, it is necessary to implement an algorithm for analyzing a large amount of collected information and determining a printer suitable for a job to be printed, regardless of whether the user selects or automatically selects a printer. This algorithm needs to know all the functions that all printers have and the states that all printers transition. If the program becomes complicated and processing becomes heavy, and new printers are added and functions and states increase. Need to change its algorithm. Since complicated algorithm processing and a large amount of information are required and a large amount of storage area and high-speed arithmetic processing capability are required, it is difficult to implement a state monitoring server on each client PC in a conventional distributed printing system. The load on the network bandwidth described above increases as the number of state monitoring servers increases, making it difficult to implement the state monitoring server on each client PC.

  Due to such problems, it is difficult for the conventional distributed printing system to be realized other than in the form of independent distributed printing servers that manage a certain limited number of printers. In the form of such a centrally managed print server, if the print server is stopped due to maintenance or failure, it is not escaped from the vulnerability that the distributed printing system cannot be used from the operating printer or client.

  In the invention according to claim 1, the client that issues the print job generates the print condition of the print job as bid data and sends it to the printer to determine whether or not to print the print job. Then, it is left to the printer to estimate whether printing is possible, and based on the bid data received from the printer, the printer that performs printing is determined.

  In the invention according to claim 2, the bid data is distributed to a large number of unspecified printers at once using broadcast transmission or multicast transmission of packets as means for distributing the bid data.

  In the invention according to claim 3, the printing conditions included in the bid data are provided with essential, recommended, or further subdivided levels.

  In the invention according to claim 4, when the successful bid printer is determined, a successful bid failure notification is transmitted immediately to the other bidding printer.

  In the invention according to claim 5, when the successful bid printer receives the successful bid notification, it immediately transmits the successful bid confirmation notification. If the client that has transmitted the successful bid notification cannot receive the successful bid confirmation notification, it changes the successful bid printer and transmits the successful bid notification again to another new successful bid printer.

  In the invention according to claim 6, when the printer performs the bidding determination means, it is possible to cancel participation in the bidding prior to the analysis of the bidding data according to the state of the printer.

  In the invention according to claim 7, the bid data is analyzed, and when an unknown condition is found among the conditions essential for bidding, participation in the bid is immediately stopped.

  In the invention according to claim 8, the bid data is analyzed, and even when the function of the printer satisfies the bid condition, participation in the bid is canceled according to the bid participation condition set in the printer.

  In the invention according to claim 9, the bidding data is provided with an expiration date so that the printer does not participate in other bids during the expiration date.

  In the invention according to claim 10, the proxy server performs a bid participation determination and a bid processing instead of a printer that does not support bidding.

  In the invention according to claim 11, the proxy server that places an order to the printing center or an external printing company performs a bid participation determination and a bid processing instead of the printer.

  The following effects can be obtained by the bid type network printing system according to the present invention.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the user can select the most effective printer at the time of printing without grasping the functions and characteristics of the printer connected to the network. Further, the client side does not need to know the status of each printer, and the processing load and resource consumption on the client side are reduced. The amount of data flowing on the network has also been greatly reduced compared to the case where the same management is performed by the conventional distributed printing system. Also, because there is no centralized management type server, the printer system can continue to be used by other printers and client PCs even when maintenance is performed on each printer and client PC.

  The invention of claim 2 eliminates the need for the client PC to have information on where the printer is located on the network and to search for it, and the network processing load on the client PC is dramatically reduced.

  According to the invention of claim 3, the user can flexibly perform the setting conditions of his / her print job. Thus, for example, when there are few printers that respond to bids and bids are made again after changing the conditions, the bid conditions can be relaxed without largely changing the settings intended by the user.

  According to the invention of claim 4, it is possible to minimize the influence on the printer that has failed to make a successful bid, and the efficiency of the entire printing system is improved.

  According to the invention of claim 5, the printer that should have made a successful bid accepts a print job due to an unexpected trouble such as the power-off of the printer or the disconnection of the network when the expiration date of the bidding data expires immediately before the successful bid notification arrives If not, the situation can be detected and the successful bid printer, that is, the printer that performs printing can be changed.

  According to the invention of claim 6, since the printer can forego participation in the bidding at an early stage according to its own condition, for example, the influence on the processing load on the printer which is carrying out a very heavy RIP processing. Can be minimized.

  According to the invention of claim 7, when a printer finds an unknown condition, there is no influence other than the printer canceling participation in bidding. The system can be mixed and incorporated into the printing system, increasing the flexibility of adding functions.

  According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, conditions for bid participation can be set on the printer side. Therefore, when the printer administrator sets the usage guidelines for the printer, the client PC managed by the user has nothing to do with it. No longer need to do.

  According to the invention of claim 9, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the conditions for bidding change greatly after a successful bid.

  According to the invention of claim 10, the printing system can be easily introduced even in an environment in which local printers that do not support the network and conventional printers that do not have a bidding function coexist.

  According to the invention of claim 11, the user can use the printing center or the external printing company in the same line as the familiar printer, and the printing center or the external printing company sets conditions for participating in the bidding. By doing so, it became possible to receive orders for jobs that each one is good at.

  FIG. 1 shows an outline of a bid type network printing system according to the present invention.

  In the bid type network printing system, a client PC (101) and a bid corresponding printer (102) are connected by a network (103) such as a LAN. When the local printer proxy server (104) is prepared, a local printer (105) that does not support the network can be incorporated into the bid-type network printing system. In addition, a network printer (106) that does not support bidding can be incorporated into a bid-type network printing system by preparing a printer proxy server (107) that does not support bidding. Similar to the server in the conventional distributed printing system, the local printer proxy server and the non-bidding printer proxy server need to grasp the function of the managed printer and monitor the status. Also, the local printer proxy server and the non-bidding compatible printer proxy server can manage a plurality of printers by one server. In the case of the local printer proxy server, unlike the printer monitoring server of the conventional distributed printing system, since the influence on the network bandwidth is small even if the number increases, a large number may exist on the LAN. The local printer proxy server and the bid non-compliant printer proxy server may be prepared as independent servers, or may be installed as a service program in the client PC. Furthermore, if a bid-compatible printer (109) that exists in another subnet connected by the router (108) can obtain an address by using a directory service, it can be incorporated into a bid-type network printing system. is there. In the bid type network printing system, printing means other than the printer can be incorporated in the system by interposing a proxy server. For example, a print center proxy server (110) is prepared, and the print center (111) in the company is incorporated into the system, or an external contractor proxy server (112) is prepared and externally connected via the Internet (113). An outsourcing to a printer (114) can be incorporated into the system.

  The bidding system processing on the client PC is shown in the flow of FIG. 2, and the bidding system processing of the printer and proxy server is shown in the flow of FIG.

(Function)
In the bid type network printing system according to the present invention, according to claim 1, the amount of data flowing between networks when a printer is selected is limited to bid data, bid data, and bid notification. In addition, the amount of information passed to the client side can be minimized.

  According to claim 2, bid data is distributed to a large number of unspecified printers all at once.

  According to the third aspect, it is possible to set essential, recommended, or further subdivided levels for each set value of the print job.

  According to claim 4, when a successful bid printer is determined, a printer that has failed to make a successful bid can immediately know the failure of the successful bid.

  According to the fifth aspect, it is possible to determine whether or not the successful bid printer that has successfully received the successful bid notification can accept the print job at that time.

  According to the sixth aspect, the printer can skip the processing after the analysis of the bid data according to its own state.

  In the invention according to claim 7, when an unknown condition is found in the bid data, participation in the bid can be canceled and other problems can be prevented from occurring.

  According to the eighth aspect, even when the function of the printer satisfies the bidding condition, participation in the bidding can be canceled at the judgment of the printer according to the bidding participation condition set for each printer.

  According to the ninth aspect, the printer status is changed as much as possible while the bidding data is valid.

  According to the tenth aspect, even when printers do not support bidding, these printers can participate in bidding by providing a proxy server.

  According to the eleventh aspect, a printing center or an external printer can participate in bidding as a virtual printer.

  An embodiment of a bid type network printing system according to the present invention will be described below.

  In the printing system of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a client PC is connected to various printers via a LAN. A proxy server is prepared for a printer that does not support a local printer or a bidding system, and a proxy server for consignment to a printing center or an external printer is also provided.

  In order to use the printing system of this embodiment, the user installs a printer driver for bidding and selects this driver for printing from the application. With this driver, the media size, media type, number of copies, imposition (single-sided, double-sided and closed position, margin size, reduced N-up printing, enlarged poster printing, bookbinding printing, etc.), sorting method, etc. (Collate, group), finishing method (staple, punch, saddle stitch, trimming, Z-fold, etc.), image quality (resolution, color, smoothing, density, etc.), special processing (OHP insertion, cover page), printing method (secured) (Print, Mailbox Save, Proof Print) can be specified. Other than the necessary parameters such as media size and the number of copies, it is possible to specify at three levels: “required specification”, “desired specification”, and “not specified”. Can be left.

  When the user executes printing, the driver converts the data on the application into an intermediate language and spools it. When spooling, the driver picks up all necessary conditions. First, count the number of pages in the job. If another media size is included, the paper size to be used is listed. If a built-in font is available, a list of fonts is also generated. Then, an ID for bidding is generated, and bidding condition data for the received job is generated based on information such as the user name and document name, the extracted conditions, and the conditions set by the user. List 1 in FIG. 4 is an example of bid condition data. In this embodiment, data is generated in XML format, and each condition and information is set as a tag attribute or element. When the bid condition data is generated, it is sent to all bid-compatible printers and proxy servers. As a sending method, there are a method of using a broadcast packet, a method of sending to a pre-registered printer, and a method of sending to a printer detected by a directory service. These methods can be used in combination. If a proxy server for external printing means is prepared in the same subnet, bid data can be transmitted only by broadcasting.

  When the bid corresponding printer or proxy server receives the bid condition data, it first determines whether or not the bid can be accepted at that time. If the printer is unable to print due to jam or out of toner, or if you do not want to apply a load because of other heavy processing, you can ignore the bid data received at this point. When it is possible to bid, the data is interpreted to determine whether to participate in the bid or to avoid it. This determination is made based on the matching between the bidding conditions and the functions of the printer, the bidding conditions set in the printer, and the status of the printer at that time.

  As an example where the bid conditions do not match the functions of the printer, it is mandatory to specify two staples at the top of the page when the bid condition data in list 1 is received. This is the case when such functions are not provided. At least all the “mandatory” conditions must be met. Count how many items are satisfied for the “desired designation” item.

  Also, if the “required specification” condition of the received data includes a condition that does not know the process of making a bid participation decision for the printer, it will not participate in the bid because it does not match the job. .

  Even if the bidding conditions are satisfied, it is not always necessary to accept the bid. The bid response printer and the proxy server can set a standard according to the bid. If the standard is not satisfied, participation in the bid can be avoided. For example, in the case of a high-speed printer, a print center proxy server, or an external vendor proxy server, set a setting to avoid participation in bidding for jobs with a number of prints less than a certain standard, and only for mass printing. Can be set to participate in bidding. Similarly, a low-speed printer can avoid participating in bidding for jobs with a number of prints exceeding a certain reference. It is also possible to prevent the color printer from participating in a black and white only print job. Furthermore, the printer avoids participation in bidding depending on its own condition. In the case of a proxy server of a printing center or a proxy server of an outside contractor, it is possible to set an acceptable time, and to cancel participation in bidding during other times.

  If you decide to participate in bidding, calculate the time to finish printing the job and the estimated cost of printing. In addition to the time required to actually print the media, the time until printing is completed, the time required for printer warm-up and calibration, and other jobs occupy the job. It is necessary to take into account the time until. When outsourcing to an outside contractor and delivering the output result, the time required for delivery is also included. Regarding costs, it is desirable to include not only paper and toner consumption but also maintenance fees and electricity. When consigning to a printing center or an outside contractor, it is calculated in the same manner as a normal estimated fee, such as a printing fee, a service fee, and a delivery fee.

  Bidding data is generated by adding the information of the printer itself to the estimated time and cost, and the number of conditions satisfying “desired designation”. List 2 in FIG. 5 is an example of bid data. This example is described in XML like the bid condition data. The bidding data includes the expiration date of the data. If the bid result is not sent from the bid server within the validity period, the bid data is invalid. The bid corresponding printer does not perform processing that greatly changes the contents of the bid data during the expiration date. For this reason, it does not participate in bidding for other print jobs during this period.

  The bid data is returned to the sender of the bid condition data. In this embodiment, when receiving bid condition data, the transmission source address of the packet is acquired, and bid data is transmitted to the address. The client PC accepts bidding data for a certain period. Then, a list of the accepted bid data is generated and shown to the user, or a printer for automatically printing is selected, and information on the selected printer is shown to the user. When the user uses it for printing from the list or automatically selects a printer, the selected printer is notified that a successful bid has been made, and the fact that the successful bid has been confirmed is received. When the confirmation of the successful bid is received, the other bidders are notified that the successful bid has failed. Then, the spooled job is converted into a format suitable for the printer, and the same print job as the conventional print job is input to the successful bid printer.

Overview of the bid type network printing system Bid system processing flow on client PC Bidding system processing flow for printers and proxy servers Bid data example Bidding data example

Explanation of symbols

101 client PC
102 Bid printer
103 Network such as LAN
104 Local printer proxy server
105 Local printer
106 Network printer not supporting bid
107 Non-bidding printer proxy server
108 router
109 Bid-ready printers on different subnets
110 Printing center proxy server
111 Printing Center
112 Subcontractor proxy server
113 Internet
114 External printer

Claims (11)

Bid data generating means for generating bid data including printing conditions;
Bid data distribution means for distributing the bid data to a printer on the network;
Bidding data receiving means for receiving bidding data for the bidding data from the network; successful bid printer selecting means for selecting a successful bid printer from the received bidding data;
A successful bid notification transmitting means for transmitting a successful bid notification to the successful bid printer;
A printing request device comprising: a bid data receiving means for receiving the bid data from a network;
Bidding determination means for determining whether to perform bidding on the bid data;
Bidding data generation means for generating bidding data when performing the bidding,
Bidding data transmitting means for transmitting the bidding data to the print requesting device that is the issuer of the bidding data;
Receiving a successful bid notification for receiving the successful bid notification for the bid;
A bid-type network printing system comprising: a printing commissioned device characterized by comprising: In the bid type network printing system according to claim 1,
The bid type network printing system, wherein the bid data distribution means distributes the bid data to an unspecified number of printers at a time by broadcast transmission or multicast transmission of packets. In the bid type network printing system according to claim 1,
The bidding type network printing system, wherein the printing conditions included in the bidding data are classified into at least essential and recommended levels. In the bid type network printing system according to claim 1,
The print requesting device has a successful bid failure notification transmitting means for transmitting a successful bid failure notification to the print consignment device that is the transmission source of the received bidding data when the successful bid printer is determined,
The bid type network printing system, wherein the commissioned printing device has a successful bid failure notification receiving means for receiving the successful bid failure notification. In the bid type network printing system according to claim 1,
When the printing consignment device receives the successful bid notification, it has a successful bid confirmation notification transmitting means for transmitting a successful bid confirmation notification,
The print requesting device receives a successful bid confirmation notification receiving means for receiving the successful bid confirmation notification;
A bid type network printing system comprising: a successful bid printer changing means for changing a successful bid printer when the successful bid confirmation notification is not received. In the bid type network printing system according to claim 1,
The bid-type network printing system, wherein the bidding determination means cancels participation in the bidding according to the status of the printer before the analysis of the bidding data. In the bid type network printing system according to claim 1,
The bid-type network printing system, wherein the bidding judging means analyzes the bidding data and immediately stops participation in bidding when an unknown condition is found among the conditions essential for bidding. In the bid type network printing system according to claim 1,
The bidding judging means analyzes the bid data, and even if the printing consignment device satisfies the bidding conditions, if the bidding condition set in advance for the printing consignment device is not satisfied, the bidding is immediately applied to the bid. A bid-type network printing system characterized by canceling participation. In the bid type network printing system according to claim 1,
The bidding data has an expiration date,
The bid-type network printing system, wherein the bidding determination means does not participate in other bids during the period of the expiration date. In the bid type network printing system according to claims 1 to 9,
The bidding network printing system, wherein the commissioned printing device is a proxy server connected to the printing device. In the bid type network printing system according to claims 1 to 9,
The bid type network printing system, wherein the commissioned printing device is a proxy server provided with a printing ordering unit for placing an order with a printing center or an external printing company.

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