JP2006082242A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To determine which printer outputs information, when a host PC selects the printer, which is desired to output the information, from among a plurality of printers. <P>SOLUTION: When a PC command reception part 11 of the printer 3 receives printer selection information from the host PC 2, an interlocking/noninterlocking switching part 12 checks switching information included in the received printer selecting information. When the switching part 12 checks that a click of a mouse or button of the host PC 2 is not interlocked with an operation of a display lamp, a flashing pattern generating part 13 generates different flashing patterns for each host PC. A display part 14 makes the display lamp operate depending on the generated flashing pattern inherent in the host PC. When the switching part 12 receives the switching information on interlocking/noninterlocking, the click of the mouse etc., of the host PC 2 is interlocked with the lighting/flashing of the display lamp. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer, a scanner, a copier, a facsimile, and an image forming apparatus such as an MFP (Multi Function Printer) in which these functions are combined, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus in which a large number are connected by a LAN line or the like. .

  Conventionally, in general offices, there are many information processing system environments in which a plurality of host computers (hereinafter referred to as host PCs) and a plurality of printers are connected to an in-house LAN. In such an information processing system environment, output information sent from one host PC can be output by selecting a corresponding printer from a plurality of printers according to the application and usage status. Environment. In such an information processing system environment, when only one printer from which information is to be output is selected from a plurality of printers, the corresponding printer is often selected from the name, IP address, etc. of the printer. For this reason, for example, when there are printers of the same model among a plurality of printers or when the number of printers connected on the LAN is large, information is to be output when selecting a desired printer. There is a case where it is unclear which printer the machine corresponds to (which machine is physically).

As a countermeasure for such a case, a technique is disclosed in which when a host PC instructs a selected printer to output information, a display lamp of the corresponding printer is turned on or blinked (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this technology, when a terminal device (such as a personal computer) selects an information output device (such as a printer) and a mutual connection is established, a selection designation signal is transmitted from the terminal device to the information output device. The received information output device is configured to turn on / flash the display lamp or sound the buzzer.
JP 2003-186661 A (see paragraph numbers 0018 to 0032, FIG. 1 and FIGS. 4 to 6)

  However, in the above prior art, since the display lamp of the printer that has instructed the information output from the terminal device is lit or blinking, which printer is the selected printer until the information output is performed. It is unknown. Furthermore, when information output instructions are issued from a number of host PCs to a plurality of printers, the plurality of printers are simultaneously turned on / flashed, so that the destination printer to which each host PC has instructed information output is selected. It can happen that it is difficult to identify.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and when selecting a printer from which information is to be output from a plurality of printers, the printer is identified before outputting the information. It is another object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus that can determine in advance in advance which printer will output information reliably even in an environment where output requests from many host PCs are made.

  An image forming apparatus of the present invention has been developed to achieve the above object, and is an image forming apparatus that forms and outputs information received from a host computer. The PC command receiving unit that receives the selection information and the output information, and the switching information included in the selection information received by the PC command receiving unit interlocks the mouse click or button click of the host computer with the lighting / flashing of the display lamp. The blinking pattern of the display lamp when the interlock / non-interlock switching section that switches between switching and non-interlocking, and when the interlock / non-link switching section selects mouse click or button click and display lamp lighting / flashing non-interlocking In conjunction with the blink pattern generation unit that generates the In response to the blinking pattern of the pattern generating unit has generated adopts a configuration including a display unit for lighting / blinking the indicator lamp.

  According to this configuration, when the host computer selects one printer from a plurality of image forming apparatuses (for example, printers) connected on the LAN and outputs information, the stage before the printer outputs information. A display lamp for confirming which printer is selected can be turned on or blinked. Also, when turning on or blinking the display lamp for confirmation, even if multiple host computers request confirmation of information output at the same time, the display lamps can be identified so that each host computer can identify the selected printer. The blinking pattern can be changed. Alternatively, the display lamp can blink in conjunction with mouse clicks or button clicks.

  In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, when the interlock / non-interlock switching unit performs a selection of interlocking mouse click or button click with lighting / flashing of the display lamp, the host computer outputs a print job. After the forming apparatus is specified, the time between the two print jobs, the time from the start of the print job until the paper is taken out from the sorter, or the time until at least one of the predetermined conditions is canceled The display lamp blinks in conjunction with mouse clicks or button clicks.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention, when a plurality of printers are connected to the LAN line, the printer selected when the host PC selects the printer before instructing the printer to output information to the printer. It is possible to determine which one is. Even when information output confirmation requests are simultaneously issued from a plurality of host PCs, it is possible to easily determine which printer is selected by each host PC. Therefore, the usability of the printer in the information processing system in which a plurality of printers are connected to the LAN line is further improved.

<Outline of the present invention>
When an image forming apparatus (for example, a printer) of the present invention selects an image forming apparatus for which information is to be output (printed out) from the host PC, the display lamp of the corresponding image forming apparatus is turned on / off with a pattern designated by the host PC. It is configured to blink. Alternatively, the display lamp of the corresponding image forming apparatus is lit / flashed in conjunction with the mouse or button click of the host PC. Further, when there is a request for information output from a plurality of host PCs, “in use” is displayed without turning on / flashing the display lamp in response to requests from the second and subsequent host PCs. Instead of lighting / flashing the display lamp, a buzzer sound or a melody may be sounded, or the name of the host PC that has requested information output may be displayed on the display of the corresponding image forming apparatus.

<Embodiment>
Hereinafter, embodiments of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, taking a printer as an example. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of an information processing system in which a number of host PCs and a number of printers are connected by a LAN line or the like. As shown in FIG. 1, the LAN line 1 is connected to host PCs 2a, 2b,... 2n and printers 3a, 3b,. Each of the host PCs 2a, 2b,... 2n can select and designate the desired printers 3a, 3b,... 3n and output the information held by the host PCs 2a, 2b,. At this time, each of the host PCs 2a, 2b,... 2n confirms which of the printers 3a, 3b,... 3n selected and designated for outputting the information by lighting / flashing the display lamp of the corresponding printer. Be able to.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the printer 3 (3a to 3n in FIG. 1) receives printer selection information and output information from the printer driver of the host PC 2 (2a to 2n in FIG. 1) connected to the LAN line 1. Whether the mouse click or button click of the host PC and the lighting / flashing of the display lamp are linked or not linked according to the switching information included in the selection information received by the PC command receiving unit 11 and the PC command receiving unit 11 Blinking that generates a blinking pattern of the display lamp when the interlock / non-linkage switching unit 12 selects switching between mouse click or button click and display lamp lighting / blinking non-linkage. In conjunction with the pattern generation unit 13 and the mouse click or button click operation or the flashing pattern generated by the flashing pattern generation unit 13 It has a configuration that includes a display unit 14 for lighting / blinking the indicator lamp and.

  Next, the lighting / flashing operation of the display lamp in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 2 will be described. The description will be made with reference to FIG. 1 as necessary. In FIG. 1, for example, when selecting the printer 3a for which information is to be output by the driver of the host PC 2a, the confirmation button on the driver in the host PC 2a is pressed by mouse click or button click. As a result, a selection information request command is transmitted from the host PC 2a to the printer 3a to be selected, and when the printer is selected, the display lamp of the printer is turned on or blinks.

  At this time, when the display lamps of the printer are simply turned on or blinked, when the selection information is simultaneously transmitted from the plurality of host PCs 2a, 2b,... 2n to the plurality of printers 3a, 3b,. The printer cannot distinguish which host PC selection information is received. Therefore, in the present invention, one of the following two lighting or blinking methods is used.

  In the first lighting or blinking method, the printer has a plurality of blinking patterns, and these blinking patterns can be designated from the driver side of the host PC. For example, the printer has a blinking pattern such as changing the blinking interval or blinking rhythm of the display lamp. The second lighting or blinking method links the mouse click or button click on the host PC side with the lighting / flashing of the display lamp. Note that these two blinking patterns are not limited to lighting / flashing of the display lamp, but a buzzer sound or a melody may be played according to the pattern. By providing such a pattern, even when requests for selection information are simultaneously transmitted from a plurality of host PCs to a plurality of printers, it is possible to easily determine which printer the host PC has selected. it can.

  The image forming apparatus (that is, the printer 3) in FIG. 2 is configured so that any one of the above-described two lighting or blinking methods can be arbitrarily selected. That is, when the PC command receiving unit 11 of the printer 3 receives printer selection information from the printer driver of the host PC 2, the linked / non-linked switching unit 12 is included in the selection information received by the PC command receiving unit 11. Check the switching information. When the link / non-link switching unit 12 confirms that the switching information that does not link the mouse click or button click of the host PC 2 with the lighting / flashing of the display lamp is received, the blink pattern generation unit 13 A different blinking pattern of the display lamp is generated for each PC. That is, the blinking pattern generation unit 13 generates a unique blinking pattern for each host PC 2. As a result, the display unit 14 lights / flashes the display lamp corresponding to the flashing pattern unique to the host PC 2 generated by the flashing pattern generation unit 13. Therefore, the user of the host PC 2 can confirm the lighting / flashing state of the display lamp, identify the printer 3 selected by the user, and visually confirm it.

  When the link / non-link switching unit 12 confirms that it has received switching information that links the mouse click or button click of the host PC 2 with the lighting / flashing of the display lamp, the link / non-link switching unit 12 The flashing pattern generation unit 13 is bypassed and directly connected to the display unit 14. As a result, the display unit 14 turns on / flashes the display lamp in conjunction with the mouse click or button click operation of the host PC 2. Therefore, the user of the host PC 2 identifies the printer (for example, the printer 3a in FIG. 1) that he / she has selected by checking the display lamps that are lit / flashing in conjunction with the mouse click or button click operation that he / she operates. Can be visually confirmed.

  In this way, when the host PC 2 selects one printer from which information is to be output from a plurality of printers on the LAN, the selected printer is displayed at a glance by turning on / flashing the display lamp on the selected printer. Can be confirmed. At this time, when blinking the display lamp, a specific blinking pattern is designated for each host PC, or the host PC mouse click or button click is linked with the lighting / flashing of the display lamp, so that a plurality of host PCs can Even when information output requests are made at the same time, it is possible to determine the requested printer for each host PC by associating those requests with the selected printer.

  In other words, even if multiple host PCs are connected to multiple printers on the company's LAN line, etc., the user of each host PC can check at a glance which printer is currently printing by the lighting / flashing status of the display lamp. can do. In other words, each user selects the printer by responding with a lighting pattern or ringing pattern that is unique to the user, or by responding with a blinking or ringing linked to the operation when the mouse or button is clicked. Can confirm the printer. For example, if the user looks at the printer while operating the mouse of the personal computer at hand, it can be recognized that the printer that is lit / flashing with his / her sense of operation is the printer he / she has selected. At this time, when clicking the mouse or button and the lighting / flashing of the indicator lamp are linked, even if the indicator lamp does not flash in multiple patterns, the printer selected by the user can be confirmed only by operating the mouse or button. be able to.

  In addition, when the display lamps of the printer are lit / flashed by a plurality of blinking patterns, the lighting / flashing patterns of the respective printers differ depending on which host PC has instructed which print. The printer selected by searching for a printer blinking in a pattern unique to the user can be identified. Of course, in this case, the click of the mouse or button and the blinking of the display lamp are not linked, and only the start of blinking of a predetermined pattern is instructed.

  Note that when the click of the mouse or button is linked with the lighting / flashing of the display lamp, various timings for performing the lighting / flashing operation can be selected. For example, there are the following three selection modes. First, when there is a certain print job (for example, one print command), the host PC remembers which printer to select before the next print job is started. In other words, the display lamp blinks in conjunction with the mouse or button click on the printer to be selected. Second, if the printer is provided with a sorter for each user (that is, a sorter that puts out paper on a separate tray for each user), a certain print job (for example, one print command) is issued. Until the paper is taken out from the user's sorter, the display lamp blinks in conjunction with the mouse or button click. Third, the display lamp blinks in conjunction with a mouse or button click for a predetermined time after a print command is issued from the host PC.

  That is, after outputting a print job from a host PC to a printer, the host PC remembers to which printer the print job has been sent, and a specific printer can be identified by outputting a print job for a certain period of time (for example, outputting a print job). The time between the two print jobs, the time from the start of the print job until the paper is taken out of the sorter, the time until at least one of the predetermined conditions is released) The indicator lamp blinks in conjunction with the button click.

  The image forming apparatus according to the present invention is not only used for specifying a printer when a user outputs information from a personal computer to a printer, but also on a LAN in a management tool for an administrator to manage the printer. Can be used to specify which printer is the management target printer from the search result list screen. That is, it can be used for a purpose such as a printer administrator confirming which printer is the desired printer on the data while viewing which printer is used and how much on the list screen.

  In the present invention, the lighting / flashing signal may be transmitted to the image forming apparatus (printer) in accordance with the lighting / flashing pattern, or the lighting / flashing command command and the identification number of the lighting / flashing pattern are transmitted to the printer. The printer may execute a lighting / flashing pattern of the identification number designated in accordance with the received command. In the present invention, the host PC name may be displayed on the display of an image forming apparatus such as a printer as well as lighting / flashing of the display lamp.

  The image forming apparatus according to the present invention specifies the image forming apparatus selected by the host computer for lighting / flashing of the display lamp when a plurality of units are connected on the LAN and information is output from each host computer. Therefore, it can be used effectively on a LAN line in a company or office.

1 is a conceptual diagram of an information processing system in which a number of host PCs and a number of printers are connected by a LAN line or the like. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 LAN or line 2, 2a, 2b ... 2n Host PC
3, 3a, 3b... 3n Printer 11 PC command receiving unit 12 Interlocking / non-interlocking switching unit 13 Flashing pattern generating unit 14 Display unit

Claims (2)

An image forming apparatus that forms and outputs information received from a host computer,
A PC command receiving unit for receiving selection information and output information of the image forming apparatus from the host computer;
Interlocking / switching whether the mouse click or button click of the host computer and the lighting / flashing of the display lamp are linked or not linked according to switching information included in the selection information received by the PC command receiving unit. A non-interlocking switching unit;
A blinking pattern generation unit that generates a blinking pattern of the display lamp when the interlocking / non-interlocking switching unit selects non-interlocking of the mouse click or the button click and the lighting / blinking of the display lamp;
A display unit that lights / flashes the display lamp in conjunction with the mouse click or the button click operation or in response to the flashing pattern generated by the flashing pattern generation unit;
An image forming apparatus comprising: When the linked / unlinked switching unit selects the mouse click or the button click to be linked with lighting / flashing of the display lamp, the host computer outputs a print job to identify the image forming apparatus. After that, the mouse click or the time between the two print jobs, the time from the start of the print job until the paper is taken out of the sorter, or the time until at least one of the predetermined conditions is canceled The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display lamp blinks in conjunction with the button click.

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