JP2007026175A - Image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform drawing in conformity to a characteristic of each image forming device to provide efficient output according to use by a printer capable of outputting data to be outputted at actually fastest speed, a printer having high image quality, or the like. <P>SOLUTION: A document server is connected with a color or monochrome image forming device, or a plurality of image forming devices, and the document server acquires the characteristic or capability of the connected printer, and automatically selects the printer fit for a characteristic of the data to be outputted. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming system including a document server, a client, and an image forming apparatus.

  Conventionally, when forming an image, a user selects a desired printer from a computer and prints a desired job on the selected printer via a public line such as a LAN or a dedicated interface.

  Also known as a server / client method, a method in which a client user's job is sent to a printer via a document server is also widely known.

As another conventional example, Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2 can be cited.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-249784 JP 2002-007090 A

  However, in recent years, in the light printing market called print-on-demand, the opportunity to print a large number of jobs from a computer to an image forming apparatus has increased, and there is a demand for how cheaply and efficiently print a large number of jobs. It has been.

  For this purpose, efficient output is required depending on the application such as a printer that can actually output data to be output at the highest speed or a printer with high image quality.

  The present invention connects color / monochrome or a plurality of image forming apparatuses to a document server, grasps the characteristics / capability of the printer to which the document server is connected, and automatically selects a printer that matches the characteristics of the output data. By doing this, each RIP is performed according to the characteristics of each image forming device, and efficient output is provided according to the application such as a printer that can output the output data at the fastest speed or a high-quality printer Is.

  As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of image forming apparatuses are connected to the document server, the characteristics / capabilities of the printer to which the document server is connected are grasped, and the user's needs for the output data are met. By automatically selecting the printer, it is possible to perform each RIP according to the characteristics of each image forming apparatus and provide an efficient output.

  Next, details of the present invention will be described in accordance with the description of the embodiments.

[System overview]
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an embodiment system of the present invention, which is drawn in comparison with FIG. 27 of the conventional example.

In FIG. 1, the network 101 of FIG. 27 is divided into two systems in order to prioritize performance, and are called a public network 101a and a private network 101b.

  The document server 102 has two network interface cards (NICs) on the hardware, one connected to the NIC 111 connected to the public network 101a side, and the other connected to the private network 101b side connected to the printer side. NIC112 exists.

  The computers 103a, 103b, and 103c are clients that send jobs to the document server. Although not shown, many other clients are connected. Hereinafter, the client is represented as 103.

  Further, an MFP (Multi Function Peripheral) 105 and a printer 107 are connected to the private network 101b. An MFP 105 scans and prints in monochrome, or performs low-resolution or binary simple color scan, color print, or the like. Although not shown, other devices such as an MFP other than the above, a scanner, a printer, and a FAX are also connected to the private network 101b.

  The MFP 104 is a full-color MFP that can scan or print in full color with high resolution and high gradation, and may send and receive data by connecting to the private network 101b. It is assumed that a plurality of bits can be simultaneously transmitted and received by an independent interface, and is connected to the document server 102 by a unique interface card 113.

  The scanner 106 is a device that captures an image from a paper document. There are two types of scanners 106b connected via a SCSI interface and 106a connected to a public network 101a (or a private network 101b).

  Next, the hardware configuration of the document server 102 is the above-described NIC (Network Interface Card) 111, 112 or a dedicated I / F card 113 with an interface called a PCI bus on a part called a motherboard 110 on which a CPU, memory, etc. are mounted. Alternatively, a SCSI card 114 or the like is connected.

  Here, on the client computer 103, application software for executing so-called DTP (Desk Top Publishing) is operated to create / edit various documents / graphics. The client computer 103 converts the created document / figure into a page description language, and is sent to the MFP 104 or 105 via the network 101a to be printed out.

  Each of the MFPs 104 and 105 has a communication means capable of exchanging information with the document server 102 via the network 101b or the dedicated interface 109, and the information and status of the MFPs 104 and 105 are sent via the document server 102 or via it. The client computer 103 is informed in sequence. Further, the document server 102 (or client 103) has utility software that operates in response to the information, and the MFPs 104 and 105 are managed by the computer 102 (or client 103).

[Configuration of MFP104,105]
Next, the configuration of the MFPs 104 and 105 will be described with reference to FIGS. However, the difference between MFP104 and MFP105 is the difference between full color and monochrome, and in many parts other than color processing, the full color device often includes the configuration of the monochrome device. Therefore, a description of the monochrome device will be added as needed.

  MFPs 104 and 105 are a scanner unit 201 that reads an image, a scanner IP unit 202 that performs image processing on the image data, a fax unit 203 that transmits and receives images using a telephone line typified by a facsimile, and a network. Thus, there is a NIC (Network Interface Card) portion 204 that exchanges image data and device information, and a dedicated I / F unit 205 that exchanges information with the full-color MFP 104. Then, the core unit 206 temporarily stores an image signal and determines a path according to the usage of the MFPs 104 and 105.

  Next, the image data output from the core unit 206 is sent to the printer unit 209 that performs image formation via the printer IP unit 207 and the PWM unit 208. The sheet printed out by the printer unit 209 is sent to the finisher unit 210, where sheet sorting processing and sheet finishing processing are performed.

[Configuration of scanner unit 201]
The configuration of the scanner unit 201 will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 301 denotes a platen glass on which a document 302 to be read is placed. The original 302 is irradiated by an illumination lamp 303, and the reflected light is imaged on a CCD 308 by a lens 307 through mirrors 304, 305, and 306. The first mirror unit 310 including the mirror 304 and the illumination lamp 303 moves at a speed v, and the second mirror unit 311 including the mirrors 305 and 306 moves at a speed 1 / 2v, thereby scanning the entire surface of the document 302. The first mirror unit 310 and the second mirror unit 311 are driven by a motor 309.

[Configuration of Scanner IP Unit 202]
The scanner IP unit 202 will be described with reference to FIG. The input optical signal is converted into an electric signal by the CCD sensor 308. The CCD sensor 308 is an RGB 3-line color sensor and is input to the A / D converter 401 as RGB image signals. Here, after gain adjustment and offset adjustment, each color signal is converted into 8-bit digital image signals R0, G0, and B0 by an A / D converter. Thereafter, a known shading correction using a read signal of the reference white plate is performed for each color in the shading correction 402. Further, since the color line sensors of the CCD sensor 308 are arranged at a predetermined distance from each other, the line delay adjustment circuit (line interpolation unit) 403 corrects the spatial deviation in the sub-scanning direction.

  Next, the input masking unit 404 is a part that converts the reading color space determined by the spectral characteristics of the R, G, and B filters of the CCD sensor 308 into the NTSC standard color space. The sensitivity characteristic / illumination lamp of the CCD sensor 308 Performs 3 × 3 matrix calculation using device-specific constants that take into account various characteristics such as spectral characteristics, and converts the input (R0, G0, B0) signal into a standard (R, G, B) signal. Convert.

  Further, the luminance / density conversion unit (LOG conversion unit) 405 is configured by a look-up table (LUT) RAM, and converts the RGB luminance signal into C1, M1, and Y1 density signals.

  When monochrome image processing is performed by the MFP 105, the A / D conversion 401 and shading 402 are performed in a single color using the single-line CCD sensor 308 according to FIG. Sent.

[Configuration of FAX section 203]
The FAX unit 203 will be described with reference to FIG. First, when receiving data, the NCU unit 501 receives data from the telephone line, converts the voltage, performs A / D conversion and demodulation operation by the demodulation unit 504 in the modem unit 502, and then performs rasterization by the decompression unit 506. Expand to data. In general, a run length method or the like is used for compression / decompression by FAX. The image converted into the raster data is temporarily stored in the memory unit 507, and is sent to the core unit 206 after confirming that there is no transfer error in the image data.

  Next, at the time of transmission, compression such as a run length method is performed on the image signal of the raster image coming from the core unit by the compression unit 505, and D / A conversion and modulation operation are performed by the modulation unit 503 in the modem unit 502 Is sent to the telephone line via the NCU unit 501.

[Configuration of NIC unit 204]
The NIC unit 204 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b). The NIC unit 204 has an interface function with respect to the network 101. For example, an Ethernet (registered trademark) cable such as 10Base-T / 100Base-TX is used to obtain information from the outside. It plays the role of flowing information to the outside.

  When obtaining information from the outside, first, the voltage is converted by the transformer unit 601 and sent to the LAN controller unit 602. The LAN controller unit 602 has a first buffer memory (not shown) in its interior, and after determining whether the information is necessary information, it is sent to the second buffer memory (not shown), A signal is passed through the core unit 206.

  Next, when providing information to the outside, the data sent from the core unit 206 is added with necessary information by the LAN controller unit 602 and connected to the network 101 via the transformer unit 601. .

[Configuration of dedicated I / F unit 205]
The dedicated I / F unit 205 is an interface through which multi-value bits of CMYK are sent in parallel at the interface portion with the full-color MFP 104, and is composed of image data of 4 colors × 8 bits and a communication line. If an Ethernet (registered trademark) cable is used for transmission, the dedicated parallel interface such as this cannot be used because it cannot output at a speed suitable for the MFP104 and the performance of other devices connected to the network is sacrificed. Used.

[Configuration of core unit 206]
The core unit 206 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7A and 7B. The bus selector unit 611 of the core unit 206 plays a role of traffic control in using the MFPs 104 and 105. That is, the bus is switched according to various functions in the MFPs 104 and 105 such as a copying function, network scanning, network printing, facsimile transmission / reception, or display display.

  The path switching pattern for executing each function is shown below.

・ Copy function: Scanner 201 → Core 206 → Printer 209
・ Network scan: Scanner 201 → Core 206 → NIC unit 204
・ Network printing: NIC unit 204 → core 206 → printer 209
・ Facsimile transmission function: Scanner 201 → Core 206 → FAX section 203
-Facsimile reception function: FAX section 203-> core 206-> printer 209
Next, the image data output from the bus selector unit 611 is sent to the printer unit 209 via a compression unit 612, a memory unit 613 composed of a large capacity memory such as a hard disk (HDD), and an expansion unit 614. The compression method used in the compression unit 612 may be a general method such as JPEG, JBIG, or ZIP. The compressed image data is managed for each job and stored together with additional data such as a file name, a creator, a creation date and time, and a file size.

  Furthermore, if a job number and password are provided and stored together, the personal box function can be supported. This is a function for temporarily saving data and making it possible for only a specific person to print out (read from the HDD). When an instruction to print out a stored job is issued, authentication is performed using a password, and then a call is made from the memory unit 613, the image is decompressed, returned to a raster image, and sent to the printer unit 207.

[Configuration of Printer IP Unit 207]
Reference numeral 701 denotes an output masking / UCR circuit unit that converts the M1, C1, Y1 signals into Y, M, C, K signals, which are toner colors of the image forming apparatus, using a matrix operation. The C1, M1, Y1, and K1 signals based on the read RGB signals are corrected to C, M, Y, and K signals based on the spectral distribution characteristics of the toner and output.

  Next, the gamma correction unit 702 converts the data into C, M, Y, K data for image output using a look-up table (LUT) RAM that takes into account the color characteristics of the toner, and the spatial filter 703 Then, after sharpness or smoothing is performed, the image signal is sent to the core unit 206.

[Configuration of PWM unit 208]
The PWM unit 208 will be described with reference to FIG. Image data separated into four colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) from the printer IP unit 207 (in the case of MFP105, it is a single color) is the respective PWM Each image is formed through the portion 208. Reference numeral 801 denotes a triangular wave generator, and 802 denotes a D / A converter (D / A converter) that converts an input digital image signal into an analog signal. The signal from the triangular wave generator 801 (FIG. 8 (2a)) and the signal from the D / A converter 802 (FIG. 8 (2b)) are compared in magnitude by the comparator 803, and the signal shown in FIG. 8 (2c) is obtained. Are sent to the laser drive unit 804, and each CMYK is converted into a laser beam by each CMYK laser 805.

  The polygon scanner 913 scans the respective laser beams and irradiates the respective photosensitive drums 917, 921, 925, and 929.

(Configuration of printer unit 209 (for color MFP104))
FIG. 9 shows an overview of the color printer unit. A polygon mirror 913 receives four laser beams emitted from the four semiconductor lasers 805. One of them scans the photosensitive drum 917 through the mirrors 914, 915 and 916, the next one scans the photosensitive drum 921 through the mirrors 918, 919 and 920, and the next one scans the mirror 922. , 923, 924 through the photosensitive drum 925, and the next one scans the mirror 926, 927, 928 through the photosensitive drum 929.

  On the other hand, 930 is a developing device that supplies yellow (Y) toner, forms a yellow toner image on the photosensitive drum 917 in accordance with the laser beam, and 931 is a developing device that supplies magenta (M) toner. According to the laser beam, a magenta toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 921, and a developing device 932 supplies cyan (C) toner. According to the laser beam, a cyan toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 925. , 933 is a developing device that supplies black (K) toner, and forms a magenta toner image on the photosensitive drum 929 in accordance with the laser beam. The toner images of the four colors (Y, M, C, K) are transferred onto the sheet, and a full color output image can be obtained.

  The sheet fed from any of the sheet cassettes 934 and 935 and the manual feed tray 936 is attracted onto the transfer belt 938 via the registration roller 937 and conveyed. In synchronism with the timing of paper feeding, toner of each color is developed in advance on the photosensitive drums 917, 921, 925, and 929, and the toner is transferred to the sheet as the sheet is conveyed. The sheets on which the toners of the respective colors are transferred are separated and conveyed by the conveyance belt 939, and the toner is fixed to the sheets by the fixing device 940. The sheet that has passed through the fixing device 940 is once guided downward by the flapper 950, and after the trailing edge of the sheet has passed through the flapper 950, the sheet is switched back and discharged. As a result, the sheets are discharged face down, and the correct page order is obtained when printing is performed in order from the first page.

  The four photosensitive drums 917, 921, 925, and 929 are arranged at equal intervals with a distance d, and the sheet is conveyed at a constant speed v by the conveying belt 939, and this timing synchronization is made. Thus, the four semiconductor lasers 805 are driven.

(Configuration of printer unit 209 (monochrome MFP 105))
FIG. 10 shows an overview of the monochrome printer unit. A polygon mirror 1013 receives laser beams emitted from the four semiconductor lasers 805. The laser beam scans the photosensitive drum 1017 through the mirrors 1014, 1015, and 1016. On the other hand, reference numeral 1030 denotes a developing device for supplying black toner, which forms a toner image on the photosensitive drum 1017 in accordance with the laser beam and transfers the toner image to a sheet, thereby obtaining an output image.

  A sheet fed from any one of the sheet cassettes 1034 and 1035 and the manual feed tray 1036 is adsorbed onto the transfer belt 1038 via a registration roller 1037 and conveyed. The toner is developed on the photosensitive drum 1017 in advance in synchronization with the sheet feeding timing, and the toner is transferred to the sheet as the sheet is conveyed. The sheet to which the toner has been transferred is separated, and the toner is fixed to the sheet by the fixing device 1040. The sheet that has passed through the fixing device 1040 is once guided downward by the flapper 1050, and after the trailing edge of the sheet has passed through the flapper 1050, the sheet is switched back and discharged. As a result, the sheets are discharged face down, and the correct page order is obtained when printing is performed in order from the first page.

[Configuration of Finisher 209]
FIG. 11 shows an overview of the finisher section. The sheet exiting the fixing unit 940 (or 1040) of the printer unit 209 enters the finisher unit 209. The finisher unit 209 includes a sample tray 1101 and a stack tray 1102, which are switched and discharged according to the type of job and the number of discharged sheets.

  There are two sort methods: a bin sort method that has a plurality of bins and distributes to each bin, and an electronic sort function and a bin (or tray), which will be described later, are shifted in the back direction to distribute output sheets for each job. Sorting can be performed by the shift sort method. The electronic sort function is called collate. If you have the large-capacity memory described in the core section above, the so-called collate function is used to change the buffered page order and discharge order using this buffer memory. It can also support electronic sorting functions. Next, the group function is a function for sorting by page, while sorting is sorted by job.

  Further, when the sheets are discharged to the stack tray 1102, it is possible to store the sheets before being discharged for each job and bind them by the stapler 1105 immediately before the discharge.

  In addition to the above two trays, there are a Z-folder 1104 for folding paper into a Z-shape and a puncher 1106 for punching two (or three) holes for files, depending on the type of job. Each process.

  Furthermore, the saddle stitcher 1107 binds the central portion of the sheet at two places, and then folds the sheet in half by engaging the central portion of the sheet with a roller, thereby creating a booklet such as a weekly magazine or pamphlet. . The sheets bound by the saddle stitcher 1107 are discharged to the booklet tray 1108.

  In addition, although not shown in the drawing, it is also possible to add binding by glue (gluing) for bookbinding or trim (cutting) for aligning the end surface opposite to the binding side after binding.

  The inserter 1103 is for sending a sheet set on the tray 1110 to one of the trays 1101, 1102, and 1108 without passing it through the printer. Thus, the sheet set on the inserter 1103 can be inserted (inserted) between the sheets fed into the finisher 209. The tray 1110 of the inserter 1103 is set in a face-up state by the user, and is fed in order from the uppermost sheet by the pickup roller 1111. Accordingly, the sheet from the inserter 1103 is discharged to the trays 1101 and 1102 as it is and is discharged face down. When sending to the saddle stitcher 1107, the face is aligned by sending it back to the puncher 1106 side and then switching back.

[Configuration of Document Server 102]
Next, the document server 102 will be described with reference to FIG.

  A job input from the NIC 111 or SCSI 114 enters the server from the input device control unit 1201 and plays a role in connecting to various client applications in the server. Accepts PDL data and JCL (Job Control Language) data as input. It corresponds to various clients with status information about printers and servers, and the output of this module is responsible for combining all the appropriate PDL and JCL components.

  Next, the input job control unit 1202 manages the requested list of jobs and creates a job list for accessing individual jobs submitted to the server. Furthermore, this module has three functions: job routing for determining the route of the job, job split for determining whether to divide and RIP, and job scheduling for determining the job order. Furthermore, the characteristics of the input job are analyzed from PDL data and JCL (Job Control Language) data. For example, is it a large addition as a characteristic of JOB? It is analyzed whether the data is mainly text data, image data, graphics, or the like.

  The data conversion unit 1204 plays a role of performing format conversion, and selects an optimal image type that matches each printer. For example, if you want to handle a job in units of pages, perform processing such as editing TIFF or JPEG as PDF data.

  The output job control unit 1205 manages how it is handled based on job command settings. The page is printed on the printer or saved on the hard disk 1207. Whether or not to leave the job after printing in the hard server 1207 can be selected, and can be recalled when saved. Furthermore, this module manages the interaction between the hard disk 1207 and the RAM 1208.

  The output device control unit 1206 controls to which device the data is output and which devices are clustered (multiple devices are connected and printed simultaneously), and is sent to the interface card 112 or 113 of the selected device. This module also plays a role of monitoring the status of the devices 104 and 105 and transmitting the device status to the document server 102.

[Page Description Language (hereinafter abbreviated as PDL)]
Next, PDL data will be described. PDL represented by PostScript (registered trademark) language of ADOBE (registered trademark) is classified into the following three elements.

(a) Image description by character code
(b) Image description by graphic code
(c) Image description based on raster image data In other words, PDL is a language for describing an image composed of a combination of the above elements, and the data described with this is called PDL data.

  FIG. 13A shows an example in which character information R1301 is described. L1311 is a description for designating the color of characters, and the parentheses indicate the densities of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black in order. The minimum is 0.0 and the maximum is 1.0. L1311 specifies that the character is black. Next, L1312 assigns the character string “IC” to the variable String1. Next, in L1313, the first and second parameters indicate the x and y coordinates of the starting position coordinates on the paper on which the character string is laid out, the third parameter is the character size, and the fourth parameter is the character spacing. The fifth parameter indicates a character string to be laid out. In short, L1313 is an instruction to lay out the character string “IC” with a size of 0.3 and an interval of 0.1 from the coordinates (0.0, 0.0).

  Next, in the example in which the graphic information R1302 is described, L1321 designates the line color as in L1311, and here, Cyan is designated. Next, L1322 is for designating that a line is to be drawn. The first and second parameters are the start end coordinates of the line, and the third and fourth parameters are the end coordinates, respectively. The fifth parameter indicates the line thickness.

  Further, in the example in which the raster image information is described, L1331 substitutes the raster image for the variable image1. Here, the first parameter represents the image type and the number of color components of the raster image, the second parameter represents the number of bits per color component, and the third and fourth parameters are the x direction and y direction of the raster image. Represents the image size. The fifth and subsequent parameters are raster image data. The number of raster image data is the product of the number of color components constituting one pixel and the image size in the x and y directions. In L1331, since the CMYK image is composed of four color components (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black), the number of raster image data is (4 × 5 × 5 =) 100. Next, L1332 indicates that image1 is laid out in the size of 0.5x0.5 from the coordinates (0.0, 0.5).

  FIG. 13B shows how the above three image descriptions are interpreted in one page and developed into raster image data. R1301, R1302, and R1303 are developed PDL data. These raster image data are actually expanded in the RAM 1208 (or ImageDisk 1207) for each CMYK color component. For example, the R1301 portion is stored in each CMYK RAM 1208 with C = 0, M = 0, Y = 0. , K = 255 is written, and C = 255, M = 0, Y = 0, and K = 0 are written in the portion of R1302, respectively.

  In the document server 102, the PDL data sent from the client 103 (or the document server itself) is stored in the RAM 1208 (or ImageDisk 1207) in the form of PDL data or expanded into a raster image as described above. Written and saved as needed.

[Network 101]
Next, the network 101 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 14, the network 101 is connected by a device called a router that connects the networks shown in FIG. 1 to form a further network called a LAN (Local Area Network).

  The LAN 1406 is connected to a router 1405 inside another LAN 1407 through a dedicated line 1408 via an internal router 1401, and these network networks are stretched around to construct a vast connection form. Yes.

  Next, data flowing in the data will be described with reference to FIG.

  There is data 1421 existing in the transmission source device A (1420a), and the data may be image data, PDL data, or a program. When this is transferred to the receiving device B (1420b) via the network 101, the data 1421 is subdivided and divided imagewise as 1422. A destination address called a header 1425 (IP address of the destination when using the TCP / IP protocol) is added to the divided data 1423, 1424, 1426, etc., and the packet 1427 is sequentially transmitted on the network 101. Send packets to. When the address of the device B and the header 1431 of the packet 1430 match, the data 1432 is separated and reproduced in a data state suitable for the device A.

[Scanner Driver]
Next, the scanner driver will be described.

  FIG. 15 shows a GUI (Graphic User Interface) of a scanner driver for instructing a scan operation on the computer 102 (or 103). By instructing the user, a user can set a desired setting parameter. By instructing it, it becomes possible to convert a desired image into data.

  First, reference numeral 1501 denotes a scanner driver window, and as a setting item therein, 1502 denotes a source device selection column for selecting a target transmission source. Generally, it is like the above-mentioned scanner 201, but it is also possible to bring in an image from the memory 108 or from a thing like a digital camera. 1503 is used to make detailed settings for the selected source device.Click here to enter the device-specific setting information on a separate screen and perform special image processing (for example, character mode / photo mode). It is possible to select and input an image in a processing mode suitable for it. Next, 1504 is an image size column to be selected for determining the image size. In 1505, the resolution is input. Reference numerals 1507 to 1509 are portions for determining the size of the image area, and a unit and length and width are input respectively.

  When the pre-scan key 1512 is pressed after making these designations, the computer 102 (or 103) instructs the device selected in the source device selection column 1502, and starts image input. Here, since pre-scanning is performed, image reading is performed coarser than the actual resolution, and the obtained image is displayed in 1511 as a preview image. In the display, the scale 1510 is displayed according to the unit 1507 of the image area.

  Here, when it is determined that the preview image is OK, by clicking the scan key 1513, this time, the resolution is set. If the preview image is NG, the pre-scan is performed again to confirm, and if the preview image is canceled, the cancel key 1514 is clicked.

[Printer Driver]
Next, the process of transmitting image data from the computer 102 (or 103) to the printer using the printer driver will be described with reference to FIG. The printer driver is a GUI for instructing a print operation. By instructing this, the user can instruct a desired setting parameter and send a desired image to a transmission destination such as a printer.

  Here, 1601 is a printer driver window, and 1602 is a transmission destination selection column for selecting a target output destination as a setting item therein. Generally, it is the MFP 104 or 105 or the printer 107 described above. Reference numeral 1603 denotes a page setting column for selecting an output page from the job, and determines which page of the image image created by the application software operating on the computer 102 (or 103) is to be output. 1604 is a number setting column for specifying the number of copies. Also, 1607 is a property key for performing detailed settings related to the destination device selected in the destination selection column 1602. Click here to enter the device-specific setting information on a separate screen and display a special image. By processing, for example, changing the parameters of the gamma conversion unit 702 and the spatial filter unit 703 in the printer IP unit 207, finer color reproduction and sharpness adjustment can be performed.

  When the desired setting is completed, printing is started with the OK key 1605. When canceling, the cancel key 1606 is used to cancel printing.

[Job Submitter]
The job submitter 1701 will be described with reference to FIG. The usage method is the same as the print driver described above, but this is a tool that throws the file on the client 103 into the document server 102. The print driver starts up the data with the application on the client 103, and the data is sent to PS (or PCL The job submitter is for sending data in various formats directly to the document server 102.

  As a setting item, reference numeral 1702 denotes a transmission destination selection column for selecting a target output destination. Generally, it is the MFP 104 or 105 or the printer 107 described above. Reference numeral 1705 denotes a page setting column for selecting an output page from the job, and an arbitrary file in the computer 102 (or 103) can be selected and thrown into the document server 102. Furthermore, in order to make detailed settings, there is a property key 1704. Click here to display the job ticket menu in the next section. When the desired setting is completed, the job is transmitted to the document server 102 by the OK key 1710, and can be canceled by the cancel key 1711 when canceling.

[Job Ticket]
Next, the job ticket 1801 will be described with reference to FIG. When the print driver as shown in FIG. 16 or the job submitter property key (1607 or 1704) as shown in FIG. 17 is clicked, a job ticket setting screen as shown in FIG. 18 appears.

  The job ticket is a setting screen on which the user can freely select functions inherent to each of the MFPs 104 and 105, the printer 107, etc., and different setting items 1802 are displayed according to the target output destination 1702. At that time, the user can select an arbitrary setting item 1803.

  For example, ON and OFF are prepared in the Duplex setting column, and printing is performed by duplex printing when turned ON, and printing by simplex printing when turned OFF. However, when a printer that does not have the duplex function is selected, this item itself is not displayed. In addition, the default setting items are frequently set in advance, and the duplex is frequently used for single-sided printing, so OFF is selected as the default.

  In addition to the finishing function, the items set here can select and change basic functions of the printer such as image processing parameters, the number of copies, and paper size.

  When the desired setting is completed, the screen returns to the job submitter screen using the OK key 1804, and when canceling, the cancel key 1805 is used to cancel.

[Device status]
A standardized database called MIB (Management Information Base) is built in the network interface part of the MFPs 104 and 105 or the printer 107, and is connected to computers on the network via a network management protocol called SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol). Necessary information can be exchanged with the computer 102 (or 103) about the state of devices connected to the network, such as the MFPs 104 and 105, through communication.

  For example, it can detect what function the finisher 210 is connected to as the equipment information of the MFPs 104 and 105, or can detect whether an error or jam is currently occurring as status information, whether it is printing or idling, etc. , 105 equipment information, device status, network settings, job history, usage status management, control, and other static information can be obtained.

  FIG. 19 is a GUI (Graphic User Interface) of a utility representing the device status. For example, when a tab 1902 of the MFP 105a is selected, the equipment information of the device of the MFP 105a is represented by a graphic 1903. Can be judged. Also, it is possible to know details such as equipment information using the detail display key 1907.

[Job Status]
The job status 2001 will be described with reference to FIG. The job status screen is represented by three statuses: a job status 2002 for knowing the status of the job in the document server 102, a print status 2003 for notifying the status of the job passed to the printer, and a history of completed jobs. It is the finished job 2004 to inform.

  The job status 2002 is expressed by Waiting (before RIP) or Ripping (during RIP), and is passed to the next print status after RIP.

  The print status 2003 is normally expressed as Waiting (Printing waiting) or Printing (Printing), and if an error or jam occurs, it is displayed and notified to the user after printing. Passed to the job.

  In the finished job 2004, the job history can be viewed, and “Printed” is displayed when the job ends normally, and “Canceled” is displayed when the job is canceled.

[Job Merge Tool]
The job merge tool 2101 will be described with reference to FIG. With the Import / Open key 2104, the first file is read from the computer 102 (or 103) or from a device or floppy (registered trademark) disk connected to the network. This is Chapter-1 and is displayed as 2102. Next, the Import / Open key 2104 is pressed again to read the second file. This is the second file Chapter-2 added to the first file Chapter-1, and is displayed as 2103. Similarly, several files can be added sequentially and added as Chapter-3, -4, -5 ....

  Next, the Delete key 2105 is used when deleting a Chapter or Page, and the Edit key 2106 is used when adding a header, footer, renumbering, or the like. Further, the Print key 2107 is clicked when printing the merged job, and when clicked, the print driver as shown in FIG. 16 is activated and printing can be performed.

Job split
Next, a case where a color image and a monochrome image are mixed in the same job will be considered with reference to FIG. At this time, in the document server 102 or the client 103, the printer is selected for color / monochrome cluster printing by the destination of the driver or the job submitter, and the job is sent to the document server 102.

  The sent job is temporarily spooled in S2201, and the processing order is determined in S2202 in consideration of the priority of the job. In the job designation S2203, the sent job proceeds to S2214 if the entire job is designated as Manual in advance whether it is a color job or a monochrome job. If the entire job is instructed to monochrome RIP, the output to monochrome MFP 105 is selected. If it is color, the output to color MFP 104 is selected. Each monochrome job is output to monochrome MFP 105. If it is a color job, color MFP 104 is selected. Printed out at

  On the other hand, if Auto is instructed in S2203, the process branches depending on whether page designation has been made in advance (S2204). If Manual is selected, the process proceeds to S2208. In step S2208, the sent job is converted into a format managed in units of pages so that RIP can be performed in units of pages. Here, for example, conversion into a PDF (Portable Data Format) file is performed. Next, a page for which a black and white page has been designated as specified in units of pages is selected for output to the monochrome MFP 105, and a page for which a color page has been designated is selected for output to the color MFP 104. . This operation is performed up to the page end, the process proceeds to the job output control unit S2206, and the output device control S2207 is performed to output the monochrome page to the monochrome MFP 105 and the color page to the color MFP 104, respectively.

[Clustering print]
Clustering printing is a method of printing simultaneously from a single controller to a plurality of connected printers. For example, the cluster server prints from a document server 102 in FIG. 1 to four monochrome MFPs (105a to 105d) or a color MFP 104. It is an operation that prints to the monochrome MFP 105 all at once.

  As described above, a job in which color / monochrome is mixed is divided and the destination of each job in which color / monochrome RIP is performed is determined by the output device control unit (1206 in FIG. 12) to the color MFP 104 and monochrome MFP 105, respectively. The job is sent to each printer and output.

  This clustering printing may be performed when there are a plurality of black and white clusters, color clusters, color / monochrome cluster printers, or a plurality of each.

[Job split]
Further, when performing clustering printing, there are the following three types of data division transfer methods.

  (A) Job division: Find a printer that is free so that there are relatively fewer waiting jobs so that the job is always equal to each printer, such as job 1 to MFP 105a and job 2 to MFP 105b. It is a method of performing load balancing (load balancing).

(B) Number of copies division: A method in which the number of copies of one job is equally divided by a clustered printer. (However, if a fraction is displayed, the fraction is assigned to one of the printers.)
(C) Page division: A method in which pages of one job are equally divided by a clustered printer. (However, if a fraction is displayed, the fraction is assigned to one of the printers.)
[Document Server]
The hardware configuration of the document server 102 in FIG. 23 is the above-described NIC (Network Interface Card) 111, 112 or a dedicated I / F with an interface called a PCI bus on a part called a motherboard 110 on which a CPU, memory, HD, etc. are mounted. A card 113 or a SCSI card 114 is connected.

  If the system is configured with the configuration shown in FIG. 23, an MFP (Multi Function Peripheral) 105 (60 ppm) and a printer 107 (20 ppm) are connected to the document server 102 and the private network 101b. . An MFP 105 scans and prints in monochrome, or performs simple color scanning, color printing, or the like with low resolution and binary values. Reference numeral 107 denotes a high-quality color LBP.

  In the case of the system configuration as shown in FIG. 23, the document server 102 has an image corresponding to the index in the order of PrintSpeed 105 and 107 and the image quality 107 and 105 in the order of two indicators of PrintSpeed and image quality as shown in FIG. The rank of the output device is registered.

  The computers 103a, 103b, and 103c are clients that send jobs to the document server. Although not shown, many other clients are connected. Hereinafter, the client is represented as 103.

  In the case of the system configuration as shown in FIG. 23, the document server 102 has an image corresponding to the index in the order of PrintSpeed 105 and 107 and the image quality 107 and 105 in the order of two indicators of PrintSpeed and image quality as shown in FIG. The rank of the output device is registered.

  At this time, when the user wants to change the ranking of the image forming apparatus with respect to the index, the index to be changed is selected on the screen of FIG. In this example, when PrintSpeed is selected and the change button is pressed, the screen shown in FIG. 25 is displayed. After the image forming apparatus is selected, the selected image forming apparatus can be moved up and down with the arrow keys. After the order is changed and confirmed by this operation, the change is saved by pressing the enter key, and the screen returns to the screen of FIG. 24 by the return key.

  In the system configuration of FIG. 23, when the print job is output from the client PC 103 in the configuration in which the index is ranked as shown in FIG. 24, the print driver as shown in FIG. A ticket is set. Further, the printer driver can select a priority index for output as shown in FIG.

[JOB distribution 1]
In the configuration shown in FIG. 23, when the ranking for the index as shown in FIG. 24 is registered in the document server 102, processing when a job of PRINT data is sent from the client 103 is shown below.

  When a print job is output from the client PC 103, a print driver as shown in FIG. 16 on the client PC 103 is activated and various job tickets are set. Further, the printer driver can select a priority index for output as shown in FIG.

  This example shows a case where PrintSpeed priority is selected.

  The output data and job ticket are transferred from the client PC 103 to the document server via the printer driver. The job ticket includes the PrintSpeed priority information selected on the screen of FIG.

  The document server enters the input PDL data and JCL (Job Control Language) data jobs into the server from the input device control unit 1201, and the input job control unit 1202 then manages the requested list of jobs. Create a job list to access individual jobs submitted to the server. Further, the characteristics of the input job are analyzed from PDL data and JCL (Job Control Language) data. Since the input data has priority to PrintSpeed, the job is sent to the MFP 105, which is higher than the PrintSpeed index, via the private network 101b.

[JOB distribution 2]
In the configuration shown in FIG. 23, when the ranking for the index as shown in FIG. 24 is registered in the document server 102, processing when a job of PRINT data is sent from the client 103 is shown below.

  When a print job is output from the client PC 103, a print driver as shown in FIG. 16 on the client PC 103 is activated and various job tickets are set. Further, the printer driver can select a priority index for output as shown in FIG.

  This example shows a case where image quality priority is selected.

  The output data and job ticket are transferred from the client PC 103 to the document server via the printer driver. The job ticket includes image quality priority information selected on the screen of FIG.

  The document server enters the input PDL data and JCL (Job Control Language) data jobs into the server from the input device control unit 1201, and the input job control unit 1202 then manages the requested list of jobs. Create a job list to access individual jobs submitted to the server. Further, the characteristics of the input job are analyzed from PDL data and JCL (Job Control Language) data. Since the input data has priority on image quality, the job is sent to the upper printer 107 with respect to the image quality index via the private network 101b.

The figure which shows the whole system of embodiment of this invention. 1 is a block diagram of an entire image forming apparatus. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a scanner unit of the image forming apparatus. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an IP unit of the image forming apparatus. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a FAX unit of the image forming apparatus. (A) is a block diagram of the NIC part of the image forming apparatus, (b) is a block diagram of the core part of the image forming apparatus. FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating a printer IP unit of a color image forming apparatus, and FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating a printer IP unit of a monochrome image forming apparatus. The block diagram of the PWM part of an image forming apparatus. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a printer unit of a color image forming apparatus. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a printer unit of a black and white image forming apparatus. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a finisher unit of the image forming apparatus. The job flow inside the document server of this invention. (A) is a description example of PDL data, (b) is a diagram showing the rasterized PDL data. The figure which shows a network environment. The figure which shows the example of a screen of a scanner driver. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example screen of a printer driver. The figure which shows the example of a screen of a job submitter. The figure which shows the example of a screen of a job ticket. The figure which shows the example of a screen of device status. The figure which shows the example of a screen of job status. The figure which shows the example of a screen of a job merge tool. Flow chart of color / monochrome mixed job division. The figure which shows the whole system of an Example. Settings and display screen for each indicator Image forming device ranking change screen for the index Index priority selection screen in the printer driver The figure which shows the whole system of a prior art example. The figure which shows network data transfer.

Explanation of symbols

101 Network 102 Document Server Computer 103 Client Computer 104 Color MFP
105 monochrome MFP

Claims (5)

Server and client computers connected to the network,
In an image forming system comprising at least two or more different types of image forming apparatuses connected to the network or the server,
Means for inputting a job to the server;
Job distribution means for distributing the input job to the image forming apparatus;
The image forming apparatus that performs RIP (Rasterize Image Processing) processing each of the distributed jobs,
An image forming system having at least two or more indexes relating to the output capability of the image forming apparatus in a server, and ranking and managing the image forming devices for each index. Server and client computers connected to the network,
In an image forming system comprising at least two or more different types of image forming apparatuses connected to the network or the server,
Means for inputting a job to the server;
Job distribution means for distributing the input job to the image forming apparatus;
The image forming apparatus that performs RIP (Rasterize Image Processing) processing each of the distributed jobs,
The server has at least two or more indices relating to the output capability of the image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatuses are ranked and managed for each index, and job distribution is performed to the image forming apparatus according to the indices. An image forming system.   The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus has at least two indexes relating to the output capability of the image forming apparatus in the server, and the ranking of the image forming apparatuses for each index can be changed by the user. An image forming system.   The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein a priority can be selected from a client PC among at least two or more indexes relating to output capability of the image forming apparatus in a server.   2. The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein at least two or more indicators relating to the output capability of the image forming apparatus in the server include at least a printing speed and an image quality.

Images