JP2007111935A - Print controller and print control program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten a printing time by printing print jobs in order of their printing time including a post processing after printing, starting from the shortest one. <P>SOLUTION: A receiving section 11 receives print jobs including print data to print on a print medium such as paper, and post processing instruction information for the print medium after printing. An analyzing section 19 analyzes the contents of the post processing instruction from the post processing instruction information. A printing managing section 21 calculates a printing time including the post processing, based on the analyzed post processing instruction data, thereby determining printing order, starting from the print job having the shortest printing time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a print control apparatus and a print control program, for example, a print control apparatus and a print control program suitable for use in a copying machine that prints on a print medium such as paper.

  In recent years, a plurality of computers (personal computers) are connected to a printing apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer via a wired or wireless network line, and the printing apparatuses are mutually used by the plurality of computers.

  FIG. 4 exemplifies a state in which such a plurality of computers 1, 3, 5 and the printing device 7 are connected via a network 9. For example, a print job is transmitted from each computer 1 to 5, The printer 7 can be used jointly.

  In such a configuration, when a plurality of print jobs are transmitted from the plurality of computers 1 to 5, the time for actually ending printing tends to be delayed or the time until the end of printing tends to be uncertain.

  Therefore, conventionally, a print control apparatus that determines a fixing temperature in a printing apparatus from print media designation information included in a print job transmitted from a plurality of computers 1 to 5 and performs printing control in ascending order of fixing temperature required at the time of printing. A proposal has been made to shorten the total printing time of a plurality of print jobs by shortening the fixing idling time in the printing device 7 in the printing device 7. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-280461 (Patent Document 1) is of this type.

On the other hand, the paper size instruction information and the print direction instruction information included in the print job are sorted by the printer drivers installed in the plurality of computers 1 to 5, and the pages having the same paper size and print direction for each print job are respectively displayed. There has also been proposed a configuration in which transmission control is performed collectively so that pages having the same paper size and orientation can be replaced and printed together when printing a print job transmitted from a plurality of computers 1 to 5. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-225379 (Patent Document 2) is of this type.
JP 2003-280461 A JP 2002-225379 A

  However, as described above, in the configuration in which the fixing temperature at the time of printing is determined from the print medium designation information included in the print jobs transmitted from the plurality of computers 1 to 5 and the print control is performed in the order from the lowest fixing temperature, only the fixing temperature is selected. Therefore, if the print job includes post-processing instruction information such as double-sided printing, stapling, punching (punching), booklet (binding), etc. Since printing control is performed without considering the necessary time, the actual printing time may be different from the expected result, and there is a difficulty that the total printing time until the end of printing is difficult to shorten.

  On the other hand, in the configuration in which the paper size instruction information and the print direction instruction information included in the print jobs transmitted from the plurality of computers 1 to 5 are sorted and the pages having the same paper size and the same print direction are collectively controlled, the computer 1 Since these are realized by the printer driver function on the -5 side, only sorting at the stage of transmitting the print job to the printing apparatus 7 can be performed, and there is a problem that the printing jobs transmitted from the plurality of computers 1 to 5 cannot be sorted. .

  Moreover, since the time required for post-processing is not taken into account, the actual printing time may be different from the expected result, and the total printing time is hardly reduced.

  In particular, when a large number of print jobs are transmitted to one printing apparatus 7, a device for solving the above-described difficulties has been desired.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to provide a printing apparatus and a print control program capable of changing the printing order in consideration of the time required for post-processing instruction information included in a print job. And

  In order to solve such a problem, the print control apparatus of the present invention includes a receiving unit that receives print data including print data to be printed on a print medium and post-processing instruction information for the print medium after printing, and post-processing. Analyzing means for analyzing the contents of the post-processing from the instruction information, and print management means for calculating the printing time including the post-processing analyzed by the analyzing unit and determining the print order of the print job.

  In the present invention, the print management means can be provided with a function for determining the print order of these print jobs in the order of short print time.

  In the present invention, it is also possible to provide change operation means for changing the print order determined by the print management means from the outside.

  Further, according to the present invention, when a new print job is input after the change operation means changes the print order of the print management means, the print operation means changes the print order after the change of the print order by the change operation means. It is also possible to provide a function for redetermining the printing order including a new print job.

  The print control program according to the present invention includes a print control computer for determining and controlling a print order of a print job including print data to be printed on a print medium and post-processing instruction information for the print medium after printing. , A process for analyzing the contents of the post-process from the process instruction information, and a process for calculating the print time including the analyzed post-process and determining the print order.

  In the print control apparatus and the print control program according to the present invention having such a configuration, a print job including print data actually printed on a print medium and post-processing instruction information of the print medium after printing is received and processed thereafter Since the printing time including post-processing is calculated based on post-processing instruction information obtained by analyzing the instruction information and the printing order is determined, it is possible to determine the printing order considering the time required for post-processing. Thus, it is possible to determine an appropriate printing order for a plurality of print jobs from a plurality of computers.

  In the configuration in which the print management unit has a function for determining the print order of print jobs in the order of short print time, the print time can be greatly shortened.

  Further, in the configuration in which the change operation means for changing the printing order determined by the print management means from the outside is possible, printing according to various situations is possible and a wide range of printing modes can be handled.

  Further, when a new print job is input after the change operation means has changed the print order for the print management means, the print order is re-determined later than the print job whose print order has been changed by the change operation means. In the configuration in which the function to perform is provided, printing according to various situations can be performed while ensuring the change of the printing order from the outside, and a wide range of printing modes can be handled.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a printing control apparatus according to the present invention, which is shown together with a printing apparatus equipped with the printing control apparatus for convenience.

  In FIG. 1, a receiving unit 11 receives a print job transmitted from, for example, an external host computer 13 connected via a network (not shown), and is connected to an internal processing control unit 15 described later. For convenience, one host computer 13 is illustrated in FIG. 1 and is simply referred to as a computer.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the print job is print data as characters or image data actually printed on a print medium such as paper, and indicates that the print data is arranged before the print data and is print data. And a print control signal for controlling printing.

  The print control signal positioned before the print data includes at least the number of pages to be printed and the number of copies, paper size and print medium type designation information, and at least post-processing instruction information for the print medium after printing on the print medium. Yes.

  The post-processing instruction information includes, for example, double-sided printing, stapling, punching (punching), booklet (binding), etc. as described above.

  The receiving unit 11 has an interface function, for example, a function for converting a serially transmitted print job into a parallel signal to facilitate later-described processing under the control of the internal processing control unit 15. Together with this, a receiving means is formed.

  An internal storage unit 17, an analysis unit 19, a print management unit 21, and a print control unit 23 are connected to the internal processing control unit 15.

  The internal storage unit 17 temporarily stores and saves the print job received by the receiving unit 11 and other data described later under the control of the internal processing control unit 15.

  Under the control of the internal processing control unit 15, the analysis unit 19 performs the contents of the received print job, that is, post-processing instruction information included in the print control signal, in particular, duplex printing, stapling, punching (punching), or booklet (binding). ) And the like, and the analyzed contents are stored again in the internal storage unit 17 as data, and together with the internal processing control unit 15, an analysis means is formed.

  This analysis process is performed every time a print job is received, and the analyzed contents are held until the printing of the print job is completed, and deleted when printing is completed.

  Under the control of the internal processing control unit 15, the print management unit 21 acquires and refers to the storage data for each print job in the internal storage unit 17, and information on the number of pages to be printed, the number of copies, the paper size, and the print media type designation In addition to this, it calculates the time required for total printing for each print job including post-processing instruction information, and forms a print management means together with the internal processing control unit 15.

  The print management unit 21 controls the internal processing control unit 15 with the count and parameters that are the basis for calculating the printing time according to the number of pages to be printed, the number of copies, the paper size, the print media type, and various types of post-processing instruction information. The setting is stored in advance or from the outside.

  Based on the time required for printing each print job, the print management unit 21 determines, for example, the print order in ascending order of the required print time (in ascending order), and internally stores the plurality of print jobs as data in a table form. Table-like data that has a function of storing in the unit 17 and that is sequentially compared with the print time of each print job when a new print job is received and analyzed by the analysis unit 19 and is updated in ascending order. Is stored in the internal storage unit 17.

  The print management unit 21 also has a function of deleting a print job from the print order table when the print job of the print job is completed, and sequentially storing the print jobs waiting for printing in the internal storage unit 17. .

  The print control unit 23 has a function of outputting a print job to the print engine 25 that actually prints on the print medium based on the print order of the print job determined by the print management unit 21 under the control of the internal processing control unit 15. Have.

  Since the print engine 25 is a conventionally known one, its description is omitted. Reference numeral 27 in FIG. 1 denotes a change operation unit, which will be described in detail later.

  As described above, the internal processing control unit 15 controls the operation of the reception unit 11, the internal storage unit 17, the analysis unit 19, and the print management unit 21, and controls the delivery of received print jobs from the reception unit 11 to the analysis unit 19. In addition to having the analysis storage and storage control of analysis contents from the analysis unit 19 to the internal storage unit 17 and the reference control function from the print management unit 21 to the internal storage unit 17, the print control unit 23 includes information on print jobs for which printing has been completed, Has a function to delete data.

  The printing device 29 includes the print control device of the present invention having the receiving unit 11, the internal processing control unit 15, the internal storage unit 17, the analysis unit 19, and the print management unit 21. Since it is the same, detailed illustration is abbreviate | omitted.

  The internal storage unit 17, the analysis unit 19, the print management unit 21 and the like centering on the internal processing control unit 15 include, for example, a CPU having various calculation determination functions (not shown), a ROM storing an operation program of the CPU, and an input. It is composed of a microcomputer for printing control having an output interface, and can be combined with a microcomputer having a conventional function mounted on the printing apparatus 29.

  Next, the operation of the print control apparatus according to the present invention will be briefly described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This flowchart is executed every time a print job is received.

  In FIG. 3, when a print job is received in step S1, post-processing instruction information is analyzed by the analysis unit 19 in step S2, and the print management unit 21 calculates the print time t of the print job in step 3. .

  In subsequent step S4, it is determined whether or not there is a print job waiting to be printed. If the received print job in step S1 is the first and step S4 is NO, the process proceeds to step S7 and the print order of the print job is first. It is determined and stored in the internal storage unit 17 in a table form.

  That is, the first printing order is secured, and the print job is output to the print engine 25 in step S8.

  This example is mainly the case of the first print job or when the second print job is received during the printing of the first print job.

  On the other hand, if a waiting print job already exists and step S4 is YES, the printing time ttx (x = 1) of the first print waiting print job is read from the internal storage unit 17 in step S5, and in step S6. The print time tt1 of the print job with the earlier waiting order is compared with the print job received in step S1, and if the print time of the received print job is short and step S6 is YES, the process proceeds to step S7.

  In this example, even when there is a waiting print job, a print job having the shortest print time is received.

  In step S7, as described above, the print order of the print jobs is updated and stored in a table in the internal storage unit 17, and the print job whose print order has arrived is output to the print engine in step 8.

  If the print time of the received print job is long and step S6 is NO, the process proceeds to step S9 to determine whether there is another print job waiting to be printed.

  If there is no other print job waiting to be printed and step S9 is NO, the print job is arranged at the end of the sequence in step S10, and the process proceeds to step S7, and the above-described operation is performed.

  In this example, a print job having the longest print time is received with respect to the waiting print job.

  If there is another print job waiting to be printed and step S9 is YES, step S11 advances one waiting print job to be compared in step S6 (x = x + 1), and the process proceeds to step S5. .

  In such a print control apparatus according to the present invention, the reception unit (reception unit) 11 receives a print job including print data actually printed on the print medium and post-printing instruction information of the print medium after printing. The analysis unit (analyzing unit) 19 analyzes the post-processing instruction information, and the print management unit (print management unit) 21 calculates the printing time including the post-processing based on the analyzed post-processing instruction information. Therefore, the print order can be determined in consideration of the time required for post-processing.

  For example, it is possible to perform a print order determination for print jobs from a plurality of host computers 13 to change the print order, and it is possible to deal with various printing forms.

  Therefore, if the print management unit 21 has a function for determining the print order from a print job with a short print time, it is possible to print in order from a print job with a short total print time, thereby further reducing the print time. It can be carried out.

  Next, another embodiment relating to the print control apparatus of the present invention will be described.

  In this configuration, a change operation unit 27 having a function of changing the print order of a print job determined by the print management unit 21 from the outside via the internal processing control unit 15 in FIG. 1 is provided.

  The change operation unit 27 also displays the print order of print jobs determined by the print management unit 21, and forms a change operation unit together with the print management unit 21. Specifically, for example, a liquid crystal display / operation touch panel disposed in the main body case of the printing apparatus 29.

  The print management unit 21 described above performs the print order change process for the print job for which the change of the print order from the change operation unit 27 is specified, and the print whose print order has been changed once by the change operation unit 27. While the order of the print jobs before the job is not changed, the print jobs after the print job for which replacement is designated have a function of changing the order again.

  The post-processing instruction information in the present invention is not limited to double-sided printing, stapling, punching (punching), booklet (binding), etc. as described above, but various post-processing after printing data is printed on printing media such as paper. Processing can be considered.

  Furthermore, the change operation unit 27 described above is not limited to a liquid crystal display / operation touch panel, but may be an input unit that changes via the network 9.

  Further, the above-described printing control apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the form built in the printing apparatus 29, and is disposed between the computers 1, 3, 5 and the printing apparatus 7 on the network 9 shown in FIG. It can be mounted on a print buffer (not shown) or can be arranged on the network 9 alone.

  By the way, referring to the print control program according to the present invention, the print order of the print job including the print data actually printed on the print medium and the post-processing instruction information of the print medium after printing is determined to the print engine. In the computer for print control that controls the output, the process for inputting the print job, the process for analyzing the post-processing instruction information, and the printing time including the post-process are calculated based on the analyzed post-processing instruction information. And a process for determining the printing order.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a print control apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a print job. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the print control apparatus in FIG. 1. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a computer and a printing apparatus which are references of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

1, 3, 5, 13 Computer 7, 29 Printing device (copier, printer)
9 Network 11 Receiver (Receiver)
15 Internal processing control unit 17 Internal storage unit 19 Analysis unit (analysis means)
21 Print Manager (Print Manager)
23 Print Control Unit 25 Print Engine 27 Change Operation Unit (Change Operation Unit)

Claims (5)

Receiving means for receiving a print job including print data to be printed on a print medium and post-processing instruction information for the print medium after printing;
Analyzing means for analyzing the contents of post-processing from the post-processing instruction information;
A print management means for calculating a print time including the post-processing analyzed by the analysis unit and determining a print order of the print job;
A printing control apparatus comprising: The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print management unit has a function of determining a print order of the print jobs in order of short print time. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a change operation unit that changes the print order determined by the print management unit from outside. The print management means, when a new print job is input after the change of the print order by the change operation means, the new print job in a later order than the print job whose print order has been changed by the change operation means. The print control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the print control apparatus has a function of re-determining the included print order. In a print control computer for determining and controlling the print order of a print job including print data to be printed on a print medium and post-processing instruction information for the print medium after printing,
Processing to receive the print job;
A process of analyzing the content of post-processing from the post-processing instruction information;
Processing for calculating the printing time including the analyzed post-processing and determining the printing order;
Print control program to execute.

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