JP2007011053A - Printing controller and image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing controller that can forecast the toner amount required at each printing to prevent unfinished printing and also provide an image forming system that can print images by using another image forming system when the toner is out. <P>SOLUTION: This printing controller 10 has a communication means to communicate with several other image forming systems, a remaining toner amount memory 20 to store the toner amounts remaining in other image forming systems as obtained through the communication means, a toner amount calculating means to calculate the toner amount required to print a copy of the print data, a total toner amount calculating means 18 to calculate the total toner amount from the number of copies to print and the toner amount, a comparing means 21 to compare the toner amount remaining in the system printing the print data and the total toner amount required, and a switch means 22 to switch the system to another image forming system and to transmit the print data matching its toner amount when the comparing means decides that the toner amount remaining in the system is less than the required total toner amount. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a print control apparatus that eliminates non-execution of printing due to running out of toner, and an image forming system in which an image forming apparatus including the print control apparatus and a plurality of image forming apparatuses are connected to be communicable with each other.

The image forming apparatus consumes paper, toner, and the like, and cannot print when the paper or toner is exhausted. The image forming apparatus detects a paper out or a toner out, or detects immediately before the paper runs out or immediately before the toner runs out, and displays it on the screen of the image forming apparatus or generates an alarm sound.
Patent Document 1 inputs the number of printable sheets when the toner of each printer is full to a printer toner information input unit, and counts the number of printed pages by each printed page number measuring unit every time distributed printing is instructed. A system for executing distributed printing by selecting a printer to be printed by a printer selection unit so that the remaining printable number of printers becomes “0” at the same pace is disclosed.
JP 2004-94562 A

According to Patent Document 1, a printer that performs printing is selected so that the remaining printable number of each printer becomes “0” at the same pace, and distributed printing can be executed. However, since distributed printing is performed by counting the number of printed pages from the number of printable sheets when the toner is full, if the bitmap distribution or pixel density of the print data is different, the amount of toner consumed will be different and the number of printable sheets will be exactly the same. Distributed printing cannot be performed so that the pace becomes zero.
The present invention provides a print control apparatus that predicts the amount of toner for each print data and prevents printing from not being performed, and an image forming system that performs printing with another image forming apparatus when the toner runs out. Is.

  The print control apparatus of the present invention includes a communication unit that communicates with a plurality of image forming apparatuses, a toner remaining amount storage unit that stores toner remaining amount data of each image forming apparatus acquired via the communication unit, and print data. A toner amount calculating means for calculating a toner amount when one copy is printed, a total toner amount calculating means for calculating a total toner amount from the toner amount and the number of copies, and a toner remaining amount of an image forming apparatus for printing the print data. A comparison unit that compares the amount of toner with the total toner amount, and when the comparison unit determines that the remaining amount of toner in the image forming apparatus that prints the print data is less than the total toner amount, And switching means for switching to the apparatus and transmitting the print data according to the remaining amount of toner of each image forming apparatus, thereby solving the above-mentioned problem.

The printing control apparatus according to the present invention solves the problem more effectively by assigning more printing copies to the image forming apparatus having a large amount of remaining toner than the image forming apparatus having a small amount of remaining toner. To do.
The print control apparatus according to the present invention further includes coefficient storage means for previously storing a toner amount coefficient of each image forming apparatus when the toner amounts differ when the plurality of image forming apparatuses print the same print data. The total toner amount calculation unit may calculate the total toner amount of each image forming apparatus using the coefficient of the coefficient storage unit.
The print control apparatus of the present invention may further include a display unit, and display the image forming apparatus switched by the switching unit.

The print control apparatus according to the present invention further includes print data writing means for writing print data onto a recording medium, and the toner amount calculating means sums up the respective pixel densities of the print data input to the print data writing means. It is preferable to further include a pixel density summing unit.
In the printing control apparatus of the present invention, the pixel density summing unit includes an adder and a pixel count memory, and the adder adds each pixel density data of the print data and the added density data stored in the pixel count memory. The pixel count memory may store the output data of the adder.
In the printing control apparatus according to the aspect of the invention, it is preferable that the toner amount calculation unit supplies print data to one of the image forming apparatuses, executes one copy, and calculates the toner amount.
In the printing control apparatus of the present invention, the toner amount calculation unit can calculate the toner amount before printing the print data.

The print control apparatus of the present invention further includes a document reading unit, and the toner amount calculation unit includes a histogram total unit that creates a histogram of print data obtained from the document reading unit and calculates a toner amount from the histogram. It is good to prepare further.
The print control apparatus according to the present invention further includes rasterizing means for rasterizing the print data, and the toner amount calculating means creates a histogram of the rasterized print data and calculates the toner amount from the histogram. A histogram summing unit is further provided.
The present invention is also an image forming apparatus provided with the print control apparatus as described above.
The present invention is also an image forming system in which the above image forming apparatuses are connected by a plurality of networks.

  The print control apparatus of the present invention includes a communication unit that communicates with a plurality of image forming apparatuses, a toner remaining amount storage unit that stores toner remaining amount data of each image forming apparatus acquired via the communication unit, and print data. A toner amount calculating means for calculating a toner amount when one copy is printed, a total toner amount calculating means for calculating a total toner amount from the toner amount and the number of copies, and a toner remaining amount of an image forming apparatus for printing the print data. A comparison unit that compares the amount of toner with the total toner amount, and when the comparison unit determines that the remaining amount of toner in the image forming apparatus that prints the print data is less than the total toner amount, Switching means for switching to the apparatus and transmitting the print data according to the remaining amount of toner of each image forming apparatus, so that the toner amount can be predicted for each print data, It does not occur the print non-execution due to over exhaustion.

In the printing control apparatus of the present invention, the switching unit assigns a larger number of copies to an image forming apparatus having a large amount of remaining toner than an image forming apparatus having a small amount of remaining toner. The variation of the can be reduced.
The print control apparatus according to the present invention further includes coefficient storage means for previously storing a toner amount coefficient of each image forming apparatus when the toner amounts differ when the plurality of image forming apparatuses print the same print data. The total toner amount calculation means calculates the total toner amount of each image forming apparatus using the coefficient of the coefficient storage means. Therefore, even when a plurality of image forming apparatuses having different performances are incorporated in the system, It is possible to reduce variations in the remaining amount of toner in the apparatus.
The printing control apparatus of the present invention further includes a display unit, and the switching unit displays the switched image forming apparatus, so that the user can be notified of the image forming apparatus from which the printed matter is output.

The print control apparatus according to the present invention further includes print data writing means for writing print data onto a recording medium, and the toner amount calculating means sums up the respective pixel densities of the print data input to the print data writing means. Since the pixel density totaling unit is further provided, the toner amount can be predicted for each print data.
In the printing control apparatus of the present invention, the pixel density summing unit includes an adder and a pixel count memory, and the adder adds each pixel density data of the print data and the added density data stored in the pixel count memory. Since the pixel count memory stores the output data of the adder, the configuration is simple, and the toner amount can be calculated immediately after the pixel image data is input.
In the printing control apparatus of the present invention, the toner amount calculating means supplies print data to one of the image forming apparatuses to execute one copy, and calculates the toner amount. The total toner amount can be predicted more accurately with respect to the toner amount.
In the printing control apparatus of the present invention, since the toner amount calculation unit calculates the toner amount before printing the print data, the printing can be completed quickly without the trouble of printing one copy.

The print control apparatus of the present invention further includes a document reading unit, and the toner amount calculation unit includes a histogram total unit that creates a histogram of print data obtained from the document reading unit and calculates a toner amount from the histogram. Further, since the pixel density is added for each print data, the toner amount can be predicted more accurately.
The print control apparatus according to the present invention further includes rasterizing means for rasterizing the print data, and the toner amount calculating means creates a histogram of the rasterized print data and calculates the toner amount from the histogram. Since the histogram summation unit is further provided, it is possible to rasterize the print data acquired via the network and sum the pixel density for each print data.

(Embodiment 1)
The image forming system of the present invention is configured as shown in the block diagram of FIG. In this block diagram, there are three printers 1a, 1b and 1c serving as image forming apparatuses, which are connected to each other via a network. A digital copier is preferably used. In order to constitute the image forming system of the present invention, at least two units are required, and any number of two or more units may be used.
The printer 1 a includes a scanner 11, and pixel image data read by the scanner 11 is output to a copy image processing unit 12 and further printed by a print engine 15 through a print data switching unit 13. The printer engine 15 includes an image writing unit (LSU: Laser Scanning Unit) 14 that writes an image on a recording medium such as printing paper, a laser driving circuit, a paper feeding mechanism, and the like.
The printer 1a receives print data created by another printer or another print data creation apparatus (not shown) such as a computer or print data read by another scanner via the network via the communication interface 26. The received print data is subjected to raster processing by the rasterizing means 17, converted into pixel image data, and output to the print data switching means 13. The print data switching means 13 selectively switches the print data from the scanner 11 or the print data received via the network and prints it by the printer engine 15.

In the image forming apparatus as described above, the print control apparatus 10 includes the pixel counter unit 16, the total toner amount calculation unit 18, the coefficient storage unit 19, the remaining toner storage unit 20, the comparison unit 21, the print switching unit 22, and the display unit. 23.
As described above, when printing is performed by the image forming apparatus, the pixel image data is supplied to the pixel count means 16 constituting the pixel density summing means, and the density values of all the pixels of the print data are summed. The toner amount of the print data is calculated from the sum of the density values.
As shown in FIG. 2, the pixel count means 16 includes an adder 41 and a pixel count memory 42, and pixel image data is input to the input terminal of the adder 41. Pixel image data consists of bitmap image data, and represents the density value of each bit. The adder 41 adds the input density value of each bit and the output of the pixel count memory 42, and sums the density values of all bits of the print data. The toner amount is calculated from the total density value. As described above, the toner amount can be sequentially calculated as the pixel image data is input.

In order to predict the toner amount more accurately, the pixel number counting unit 16a that forms a pixel group including the target pixel and its neighboring pixels and counts the number of pixels to be developed is provided. Counting may be performed when the target pixel is a pixel to be developed, and an addition value to be added to the count value of the target pixel may be corrected depending on whether or not a neighboring pixel included in the pixel group is developed. Thus, when the toner amount is predicted by counting the number of pixels, even if the toner amount changes depending on the presence or absence of a pixel adjacent to the target pixel, the change amount can be corrected, and a more accurate toner amount can be predicted. it can.
The toner amount data calculated by the pixel count unit 16 is supplied to the total toner amount calculation unit 18. The total toner amount calculating means 18 calculates the total toner amount by multiplying the toner amount by the number of copies. It is known that the printer performance such as the printing speed of each printer, or the setting or secular change at the time of printing such as fineness and density adjustment of printing are different, and therefore the toner amount when the same print data is printed is different. In this case, a toner amount coefficient indicating that the toner amount is different is stored in advance in the coefficient storage unit 19 for each printer. The total toner amount calculation unit 18 acquires the coefficient stored in the coefficient storage unit 19, multiplies the total toner amount by the coefficient, and calculates the total toner amount of each printer.

The toner remaining amount storage means 20 stores the remaining toner amount of the printer and the remaining toner amount of other printers. The remaining amount of toner of other printers is acquired via the network by the communication interface 26. The comparison unit 21 compares the output data of the total toner amount calculation unit 18 with the remaining amount of toner of each printer stored in the remaining toner amount storage unit 20, and operates the printer switching unit 22 based on the comparison result to perform printing. The printer which executes is switched and print data is transferred to the printer. The printer is switched in the order of printers with the largest remaining amount of toner. Alternatively, installation location information of each printer is stored in advance, and based on the installation location information, switching is performed in the order of the printer closest to the user's location and the printer closest to the printer. The switching result of the printer switching means 22 is displayed on the display means 23 to inform the user of the printer switching destination. As a display example, for example, “the number of copies A is output to the printer 1a and the number of copies B is output to the printer 1b”.
Although the configuration of the printer 1a has been described above, other printers have the same configuration. Alternatively, at least one printer may be configured as described above, and one printer may control another printer. Further, each component described above may be provided in a distributed manner in each printer, and one printer may control another printer so that the components communicate with each other and function by integrating them.

The image forming system having the above configuration operates as follows.
As shown in FIG. 3, one of the print data read by the scanner 11 or the print data generated by the personal computer and received by the communication interface 26 via the network is selected by the print data switching means 13 in step S1. Switching and printing one copy by the printer engine 15. One copy is one of the total number of copies, and one copy is one or more print sheets. Next, in step S2, the amount of toner when the one copy is printed is calculated by the pixel counting means 16. Further, the total toner amount calculating means 18 calculates the total toner amount R by multiplying the toner amount when one copy is printed by the remaining number of copies (that is, the total number of copies-1). In step S3, the total toner amount R is compared with the remaining toner amount Sa of the printer 1a stored in the remaining toner amount storage unit 20 by the comparison unit 21 to determine whether the remaining number of copies can be printed. To do. The determination is made based on whether R ≦ Sa. If R ≦ Sa, the remaining number of copies is printed by the printer 1a using the printer 1a (S4). When printing is finished, this flow is finished.

If it is determined in step S3 that printing is not possible, that is, if R> Sa, the number of copies A that can be printed by the printer 1a and the remaining number B that cannot be printed are calculated in step S5. In step S6, a printer capable of printing the remaining number of copies B is searched. The search is to sequentially compare the remaining amount of toner of each printer stored in the toner amount storage unit 20 and the total toner amount T when the remaining number of copies B is printed. The total toner amount of each printer is calculated by multiplying the toner amount coefficient, and the total toner amount is compared with the remaining toner amount of each printer. The order of the printers to be compared by the comparing means 21 is arbitrary, but the order of the printer having a large amount of remaining toner and the printer close to the place where the user is present are preferable. In step S7, the remaining toner amount Sb of the printer 1b with the highest comparison order is compared with the total toner amount T to determine whether there is a printer capable of printing the remaining number of copies B. That is, it is determined whether T ≦ Sb is satisfied. If printing is possible with the printer 1b, the number of copies A is printed with the printer 1a in the next step S8, and the remaining number of copies B is printed with the other printer 1b.
If it is determined in step S7 that there is no printer that can print the remaining number of copies B, printing of the number of copies A that can be printed by the printer 1a is continued in step S9. Interrupt. If the toner is replenished, printing is resumed and printing of all the numbers is completed. Alternatively, the remaining number of copies B may be distributed and printed by the other printers 1b, 1c,..., And printing may be interrupted when all of the printer toner is used up.

(Embodiment 2)
A block diagram of the second embodiment is shown in FIG.
The second embodiment is characterized in that the total toner amount predicted to be used is calculated before printing one copy of the print data. In the second embodiment, the pixel image data read by the scanner 11 is output to the print data switching unit 13 via the copy image processing unit 12. Alternatively, the print data received by the communication interface 26 via the network is rasterized by the rasterizing unit 17 and converted into pixel image data, and is output to the print data switching unit 13. The print data switching means 13 selectively switches the image data and performs printing with the printer engine 15 including the LSU 14.

In the second embodiment, the printing control apparatus receives the pixel image data read by the scanner 11 or the pixel image data rasterized by the rasterizing unit 17 through the network 26 before printing. A histogram is created by the histogram creating means 24. For example, in the case of print data having 256 gradations, the histogram is a graph representing the number of pixels for each gradation of 1-255 as shown in FIG. For the gradation and the number of pixels, the sum of the density value of each gradation and the number of pixels of each gradation is obtained by the histogram summing unit 25, and the amount of toner that will be used is calculated. That is, toner amount = Σpixel number × density value is calculated.
The toner amount data calculated by the histogram summation unit 25 is supplied to the total toner amount calculation unit 18. The subsequent configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and the same reference numerals are given. In the case of the second embodiment, the printer 1a has the above-described configuration, and other printers may have the same configuration. Alternatively, at least one printer may be configured as described above, and one printer may control another printer. Further, each component described above may be provided in a distributed manner in each printer, and one printer may control another printer so that the components communicate with each other and function by integrating them.

  In the flowchart of the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, in step S11, pixel image data read by the scanner 50 or print data received by the communication interface 26 via the network is rasterized and converted into pixel image data. From the image data, the amount of toner that will be used by the histogram creating means 24 and the histogram summing means 25 is calculated. The total toner amount R0 is calculated by multiplying this toner amount and the total number of copies by the total toner amount calculating means 18. Next, the total toner amount R0 and the remaining toner amount S of each printer stored in the remaining toner amount storage unit 20 are compared by the comparison unit 21 (step S12). The total toner amount of each printer is calculated by multiplying the toner amount coefficient, and the total toner amount is compared with the remaining toner amount of each printer. The order of the printers to be compared by the comparison unit 21 is arbitrary, but the order of the printer with a large amount of remaining toner, the printer near the user's location, and the printer near the personal computer is preferable. It is determined whether the remaining toner amount Sa and the total toner amount R0 of the printer 1a having a higher comparison order satisfy R0 ≦ Sa. If R0 ≦ Sa, all the numbers are printed by the printer 1a (step S13). When printing is finished, this flow is finished. If R0> Sa is determined in step S12, the process proceeds to step S5 in FIG.

(Embodiment 3)
As shown in FIG. 7, the third embodiment includes printers 1a, 1b, and 1c, a scanner 50, and a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a personal computer) 30. The print control apparatus 10 of the present invention is provided in the personal computer 30. The printer 1a, 1b, or 1c receives print data from the personal computer 30 or the scanner 50, the printer control means 31 converts the print data into pixel image data by the rasterizing means 32, and prints it by the LSU 33.
The personal computer 30 includes a print data creation unit 34, creates print data including character data and image data, and outputs the print data to the printer driver 35. The print data read by the scanner 50 is acquired via the network, converted into print data by the scan data print application 36, and output to the printer driver 35. The print data creation unit 34 may acquire print data from an arbitrary URL via a network. A print data creation application program is provided for creating print data.
The printer driver 35 converts the print data into bitmap data by the rasterizing means 17. The subsequent configuration is the same as that of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 4, and the same reference numerals are given.
In the case of the third embodiment, the personal computer 30 has the above-described configuration. However, the above-described configuration may be all provided in one personal computer, or may be distributed among a plurality of personal computers. Alternatively, it may be configured to be distributed with a printer, and to be controlled by one personal computer so that the respective components can be integrated and function by communicating via a network.
The flowchart of the third embodiment is the same as that of FIG.

The flowchart of FIG. 8 shows a preferred flowchart of processing after it is determined in the first to third embodiments that printing cannot be performed by the printer 1a. Steps S21 to 24 in FIG. 8 are the same as steps S1 to S4 in FIG. 6 differs from steps S11 to S13 in FIG. 6 in that the amount of toner is calculated using a histogram. However, the amount of toner is calculated and it is determined whether printing is possible with the printer 1a. It is equivalent in printing at 1a.
After it is determined in step S23 that printing cannot be performed by the printer 1a, the remaining amount of toner of the printer 1b connected via the network is acquired in step S25. In step S26, it is determined whether the remaining amount Sa of the printer 1a and the remaining amount of toner Sb of the printer 1b are the same. Whether or not the remaining amount of toner is the same may be determined to be substantially the same not only when the amount of toner is exactly the same but also when the amount of remaining toner differs by about 10%. If it is determined that the remaining amount of toner is the same or almost the same, the number of copies of the printer 1a and the printer 1b is set to be the same in step S27, and printing is executed by each printer. If it is determined in step S26 that the remaining toner amount Sa of the printer 1a is not the same as the remaining toner amount Sb of the printer 1b, whether or not the remaining toner amount Sa of the printer 1a is greater than the remaining toner amount Sb of the printer 1b in step S28. judge. If it is determined that the toner remaining amount Sa of the printer 1a is larger, the printer 1a and the printer 1b perform distributed printing in step S29. The number of copies to be printed is set so that the printer 1a has a larger number than the printer 1b. The ratio is the same as the remaining toner ratio.
If it is determined in step S28 that the toner remaining amount Sa of the printer 1a is smaller than the toner remaining amount Sb of the printer 1b, the number of copies is set so that the printer 1b is larger than the printer 1a in step S30. And the printer 1b. The ratio is the same as the remaining toner ratio.
As described above, the number of copies to be printed can be allocated in accordance with the ratio of the remaining amount of toner, and variations in the remaining amount of toner can be reduced.

(Other embodiments)
In the first embodiment, the pixels are counted by the pixel counting unit 16 after printing one copy, but may be counted by the pixel counting unit 16 before printing one copy.
Further, instead of the pixel counting unit 16 of the first embodiment, the amount of toner may be calculated after printing one copy or before printing one copy by the histogram creating unit 24 and the histogram summing unit 25 of the second embodiment.
Further, the histogram creating means 24 and the histogram summing means 25 of the second and third embodiments may start operation after one copy is printed, and the pixels of the first embodiment are replaced with the histogram creating means 24 and the histogram summing means 25. The counting unit 16 may calculate the toner amount after printing one copy or before printing one copy.

3 is a block diagram of the first embodiment. FIG. It is a block diagram of a pixel count means. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the first embodiment. 6 is a block diagram of a second embodiment. FIG. It is a figure which shows a histogram. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a third embodiment. FIG. 4 is a preferred flowchart after the printer 1a determines that printing is impossible.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Print control apparatus 11 Scanner 15 Printer engine 16 Pixel count means 17 Rasterization means 18 Total toner amount calculation means 19 Coefficient storage means 20 Toner remaining amount storage means 21 Comparison means 22 Printer switching means 23 Display means 24 Histogram creation means 25 Histogram total Means 30 Personal computer 41 Adder 42 Pixel count memory 50 Scanner

Claims (12)

Communication means for communicating with a plurality of image forming apparatuses;
Toner remaining amount storage means for storing toner remaining amount data of each image forming apparatus acquired via the communication means;
A toner amount calculating means for calculating a toner amount when one copy of the print data is printed;
A total toner amount calculating means for calculating a total toner amount from the toner amount and the number of copies;
Comparison means for comparing the total amount of toner with the remaining amount of toner of the image forming apparatus that prints the print data;
Switching means for switching print data to another image forming apparatus when the comparison means determines that the remaining amount of toner in the image forming apparatus that prints the print data is less than the total toner amount;
A print control apparatus that transmits print data in accordance with a remaining amount of toner of each image forming apparatus.   The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the switching unit assigns more print copies to an image forming apparatus having a large amount of remaining toner than an image forming apparatus having a small amount of remaining toner.   When the plurality of image forming apparatuses print different amounts of toner when printing the same print data, the image forming apparatus further includes coefficient storage means for storing in advance the toner amount coefficient of each image forming apparatus, and the total toner amount calculating means The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a total toner amount of each image forming apparatus is calculated using a coefficient stored in a coefficient storage unit.   The printing control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit, wherein the switching unit displays the switched image forming apparatus.   Print data writing means for writing print data on a recording medium, and the toner amount calculating means further comprises pixel density summing means for summing up pixel densities of print data input to the print data writing means. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print control apparatus is a print control apparatus.   The pixel density summing unit includes an adder and a pixel count memory. The adder adds each pixel density data of the print data and the added density data stored in the pixel count memory. The pixel count memory is the adder. The print control apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the output data is stored.   7. The toner amount calculation unit according to claim 1, wherein the toner amount calculation unit supplies print data to one of the image forming apparatuses, executes one copy, and calculates the toner amount. The printing control apparatus described.   The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the toner amount calculation unit calculates a toner amount before printing the print data.   2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a document reading unit, wherein the toner amount calculating unit further includes a histogram summing unit that creates a histogram of print data obtained from the document reading unit and calculates a toner amount from the histogram. The print control apparatus according to any one of 1 to 8.   Rasterization means for rasterizing print data is further provided, and the toner amount calculation means further includes histogram summing means for creating a histogram of the rasterized print data and calculating toner amount from the histogram. The printing control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8. An image forming apparatus comprising the print control apparatus according to claim 1.   12. An image forming system comprising the image forming apparatus according to claim 11 connected by a plurality of networks.

Images