JP2007125756A - Printer and printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer which has the direct printing function and enables a use situation of the apparatus to be correctly obtained/managed. <P>SOLUTION: The printer 10 is configured as an apparatus which stores information that shows contents of performed normal printing in a form made corresponding to a computer name included in printing job data or a user name when the normal printing (printing based on the received printing job data) is carried out, and which stores information that shows contents of performed direct printing in a form made corresponding to a memory ID or the like recorded in a USB memory 40 when direct printing (printing of a file on the USB memory 40 set in the own apparatus) is carried out. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus having a function of reading and printing a file stored in a USB memory, a memory card or the like, and a printing system including such a printing apparatus and a usage status management apparatus.

  In recent years, some commercially available printing apparatuses (printers, multifunction devices) have a function for storing information indicating the contents of an executed print job, a function for transmitting the stored information to another computer, and the like. An apparatus (for example, see Patent Document 1) exists. That is, there is a device that can grasp the usage history of a device (which computer has processed print data from) from a computer or the like connected to a network.

  In recent years, some commercially available printing apparatuses read and print image files stored on a recording medium (memory card, USB memory, etc.) (hereinafter referred to as a direct printing function). However, any existing printing apparatus having a direct printing function grasps the usage history of the direct printing function from a network-connected computer or the like. It is a device that can not be. For this reason, when an existing printing apparatus having a direct printing function is used, there is a problem in that it is impossible to grasp an accurate usage status of the printing apparatus for billing or the like.

JP 2002-259103 A “PM-D800 Operation Guide”, Seiko Epson Corporation

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus that has a direct printing function and that can accurately grasp / manage the usage status of the apparatus, and to accurately determine the usage status of the apparatus including such a printing apparatus. The object is to provide a printing system capable of grasping / managing.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a printing apparatus according to the present invention includes a recording medium interface unit capable of setting a recording medium having a predetermined specification in which recording medium identification information is recorded, and printing for receiving print data. A data interface means, a print execution means for printing on paper, a direct printing process for causing the print execution means to print a file stored in a recording medium set in the recording medium interface means; , Print control means having a function of executing normal printing processing for causing the printing means to print the content indicated by the print data received by the print data interface means, and executed by the print control means Print content information indicating the contents of each normal print process is sent to the transmission data transmission instructions processed by each normal print process. A function that stores information in association with transmission instructor information that can identify a user and print content information that indicates the contents of each direct print process executed by the print control means are the targets of each direct print process. Job management means having a function of storing in association with the recording medium identification information recorded on the recording medium and a function of outputting the stored information is provided.

  In other words, the printing apparatus of the present invention can send transmission instruction information (for example, print data) that can specify the transmission instruction of the print data to be processed during normal printing (when printing based on received print data). Stores print content information that indicates the content of normal printing performed in association with the computer name or user name set in the transmission source computer at the time of direct printing (set in the device itself) Print content information, which is information indicating the content of direct printing performed in association with the recording medium identification information recorded on the recording medium to be processed (when printing a file on the recording medium) It is a device to memorize. Furthermore, since the printing apparatus of the present invention has a function of outputting (printing / transmitting) stored information (transmission instructor information, recording medium identification information, print content information), this printing is performed. If the device is used, the usage status of the device can be accurately grasped / managed.

  The printing system of the present invention is a system including a printing apparatus and a usage status management apparatus, and the printing apparatus can set a recording medium having a predetermined specification in which recording medium identification information is recorded. Medium interface means, print data interface means for receiving print data, print execution means for printing on paper, printing of files stored in a recording medium set in the recording medium interface means Has a function of executing a direct printing process for causing the printing execution means to perform printing and a normal printing process for causing the printing means to print the contents indicated by the print data received by the print data interface means Print control information, and print content information indicating the contents of each normal print process executed by the print control means, A function for storing the transmission instructor of the print data processed by the regular print processing in a form associated with transmission instructor information that can be specified, and print content information indicating the contents of each direct print processing executed by the print control means Is stored in association with the recording medium identification information recorded in the recording medium that is the target of each direct printing process, and a predetermined print content information transmission request is transmitted from the usage information management apparatus. A job management means having a function of sending each stored print content information to the usage information management apparatus together with the corresponding transmission instructor information or recording medium identification information, and then discarding it. The usage status management device transmits a print content information transmission request to the printing device, and the information transmitted from the printing device as a result is internally stored. The process of storing, has a configuration which is a device having a function of regularly performed.

  That is, the printing system of the present invention is a system that includes a printing apparatus having substantially the same function as the printing apparatus of the present invention, and a usage status management apparatus that collects information about each print processing executed from the printing apparatus. Therefore, if this printing system is used, the usage status of the printing apparatus can be accurately grasped / managed by the usage status management apparatus (from information stored in the usage status management apparatus).

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  First, the configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in the figure, the printing system according to the present embodiment is a system including a printing apparatus 10, a management PC (personal computer) 50, and several user PCs 60.

  Each user PC 60 included in the printing system is a computer in which a printer driver (not shown) for the printing apparatus 10 is installed.

  The printing apparatus 10 includes an operation panel 11 including an LCD, a plurality of LEDs, a plurality of push button switches, a USB host circuit, a panel interface circuit, a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, a parallel interface circuit, a network interface circuit, an EEPROM, an image processing The apparatus includes a controller 12 including a circuit, an engine interface circuit, and the like, and a print engine 13 for performing printing on paper. Note that the printing engine 13 included in the printing apparatus 10 is an engine that can perform electrophotographic color printing (an engine that performs printing using Y, M, C, and K toners).

  The management PC 50 is a computer in which a usage status management program 51, a memory ID / user name database 52, and a job management database 53 are installed. Although details of the usage status management program 51 and the databases 52 and 53 will be described later, the memory ID / user name database 52 and the job management database 53 installed in the management PC 50 are both empty (information is set. Not).

  Next, the operation of the printing apparatus 10 used in the printing system according to the present embodiment will be described.

  The printing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment performs printing of contents specified by the print job data transmitted from the user PC 60 (hereinafter referred to as normal printing), and is specified by the user on the USB memory 40. Normal printing (hereinafter referred to as file printing) for files, and printed matter on which images (so-called thumbnail images) representing the outline of each file stored in the USB memory 40 are printed (printed matter on which a plurality of images are printed) ) To generate (hereinafter referred to as index printing).

  Then, the printing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment can perform various types of printing as described above, as illustrated in FIG. 2, on the controller 12, the panel control module 21, the USB memory job input module 22. The print job input module 23, the job information management module 24, and the print control module 25 (all of which are program modules) are configured to execute in parallel.

  The panel control module 21 is a module for performing various control processes on the operation panel 11 (panel interface circuit). Among the control processes that can be performed by the panel control module 21, an instruction about the contents (processing target / processing conditions) of direct printing (file printing / index printing) to be executed from the user via the operation panel 11. And for acquiring an instruction to start direct printing.

  When the panel control module 21 acquires a start instruction for direct printing of a certain content, the panel control module 21 outputs a direct printing start request including information indicating the content to the USB memory job input module 22 It has become.

  The print job input module 23 receives print job data transmitted from the user PC 60 and inputs it to the print control module 25 (receives the print job data and prints the received print job data to be printed. This is a module that performs processing to be passed to the control module 25. When receiving the print job data, the print job input module 23 outputs a job management request including a computer name (PC name in the figure), a user name, and the like included in the print job data to the job information management module 24. It has become a module.

  The USB memory job submission module 22 is a module having a function of accessing the USB memory 40 (a function of reading various information stored in the USB memory 40 under the control of the USB host circuit).

  When the direct print start request described above is input, the USB memory job input module 22 reads a file necessary for printing the content specified in the direct print start request from the USB memory 40 and reads the read file. Print job data (data including various job control commands before and after the read file) is created and input to the print control module 25. In addition, when a direct print start request is input, the USB memory job input module 22 receives a memory ID (information combining a vendor ID, a product ID, and a serial number), a manufacturer name of the USB memory 40, and a USB memory 40 from the USB memory 40. The product name (both are information originally stored in the USB memory 40) is read, and the read information, the file name of the file to be printed (or the file name indicating index printing), and the data to be printed A process of outputting a job management request including the received interface name (information indicating printing from the USB memory 40) to the job information management module 24 is also performed.

  The print control module 25 is a module that performs processing for causing the print engine 13 to generate a printed matter having the content specified by the print job data input to the own module. Each time the print control module 25 causes the print engine 13 to perform printing (image formation on paper), the job information management module 24 indicates information indicating the contents of printing performed by the print engine 13 (paper). Information indicating size, color printing / monochrome printing, etc.).

  The job information management module 24 converts various types of information notified from the print control module 25 into information included in each job management request input from the print job input module 23 / USB memory job input module 22 (information including a memory ID and the like). Or a module (stored on the EEPROM) that is managed in association with information consisting of a computer name or the like (hereinafter referred to as job identification information). When a job information request command having a predetermined content is transmitted to the printing apparatus 10, the job information management module 24 associates all the managed job information (some job identification information with the job identification information). Information to the transmission source computer of the job information request command, and after confirming that all the job information has been received by the transmission source computer, all the transmitted job information is discarded. It is a module (erasing from the EEPROM).

  Note that the printing apparatus 10 stops the operations of the USB memory job input module 22 and the print job input module 23 when the number of job information managed by the job information management module 24 reaches a predetermined number. Even if the number of job information managed by the mode (operation mode when connected to the management PC 50) and the job information management module 24 becomes a predetermined number, the USB memory job submission module 22 and the print job submission Operation mode in which the operation of the module 23 is not stopped (used when the job information management module 24 is not connected to the operation mode / management PC 50 in which the job information management module 24 discards the oldest job information when the number of job information exceeds a predetermined number) Operation mode).

  Next, the operation of the management PC 50 will be described.

  The memory ID / user name database 52 installed in the management PC 50 stores the correspondence between the memory ID of each USB memory 40 that may be set in the printing apparatus 10 and the user name of each USB memory 40. It is a database to keep. The job management database 53 is a database for storing job information related to direct printing and job information related to normal printing. The job management database 53 is a database that can also store user names for job information related to direct printing.

  Then, the usage status management program 51 provides the printing apparatus 10 with a function for executing a process in which the contents of the memory ID / user name database 52 are designated by the operator of the management PC 50 and the job information request command described above. The job information relating to each normal printing transmitted from the printing apparatus 10 is stored in the job management database 53 as it is, and each job information relating to the direct printing corresponds to the memory ID in each job information. The program has a function of executing processing to be stored in the job management database 53 with a user name in the attached memory ID / user name database 52 added at a specified cycle.

  As is clear from the above description, the printing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment has the computer name set in the print job data transmission source computer during normal printing (when printing based on received print job data). Job identification information (in other words, information including transmission instructor information that can identify the transmission instructor of the print data to be processed) in correspondence with job identification information including the user name, etc. Stores information indicating the contents, and a job including a memory ID or the like recorded in the USB memory 40 to be processed during direct printing (when printing a file on the USB memory 40 set in the apparatus) The apparatus stores information indicating the contents of the direct printing performed in association with identification information (in other words, information including recording medium identification information). Further, the printing apparatus 10 is a device having a function of transmitting stored job information to the management PC 50. The management PC 50 according to the present embodiment has a function of collecting information stored by the printing apparatus 10 during various printings from the printing apparatus 10 and storing it in the job information database 53. Therefore, if the printing system according to the present embodiment is used, the usage status of the printing apparatus 10 can be accurately grasped / managed by the management PC 50 (from information in the job information database 53).

<Deformation>
The printing system described above can be variously modified. For example, the printing apparatus 10 can be modified into an apparatus that does not have a function of transmitting job information but has a function of printing job information, or an apparatus that also has a function of printing job information.

  In addition, it is obvious that the printing apparatus 10 may be modified to an apparatus that prints a file on a memory card, or a specific software configuration may be modified to an apparatus different from that described above. That is.

1 is a configuration diagram of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation (software configuration) of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Printing apparatus 11 Operation panel 12 Controller 13 Print engine 21 Panel control module 22 USB memory job input module 23 Print job input module 24 Job information management module 25 Print control module 40 USB memory 50 Management PC 51 Usage status management program 52 Memory ID / user name database, 53 Job management database 60 User PC

Claims (2)

Recording medium interface means capable of setting a recording medium of a predetermined specification in which recording medium identification information is recorded;
Print data interface means for receiving print data;
Print execution means for printing on paper,
Direct print processing for causing the print execution means to print a file stored in the recording medium set in the recording medium interface means, and print data received by the print data interface means are shown. Printing control means having a function of executing normal printing processing for causing the printing means to perform printing of the content being stored, and
Print content information indicating the contents of each normal print process executed by the print control means is stored in association with transmission instruction information that can identify a transmission instruction person of print data processed by each normal print process. And the print content information indicating the contents of each direct print process executed by the print control means are associated with the recording medium identification information recorded on the recording medium that is the target of each direct print process. A printing apparatus comprising: a job management unit having a function of storing the stored information and a function of outputting the stored information. A printing system including a printing device and a usage status management device,
The printing device is
A recording medium interface means capable of setting a recording medium of a predetermined specification in which recording medium identification information is recorded;
Print data interface means for receiving print data;
Print execution means for printing on paper,
Direct print processing for causing the print execution means to print a file stored in the recording medium set in the recording medium interface means, and print data received by the print data interface means are shown. Printing control means having a function of executing normal printing processing for causing the printing means to perform printing of the content being stored, and
Print content information indicating the contents of each normal print process executed by the print control means is stored in association with transmission instruction information that can identify a transmission instruction person of print data processed by each normal print process. And the print content information indicating the contents of each direct print process executed by the print control means are associated with the recording medium identification information recorded on the recording medium that is the target of each direct print process. And when the predetermined print content information transmission request is transmitted from the usage information management device, the stored print content information is associated with the transmission instructor information associated therewith. Or a job management means having a function of transmitting to the usage information management apparatus together with the recording medium identification information and then discarding the function,
A function of periodically performing processing in which the usage status management apparatus transmits the print content information transmission request to the printing apparatus and stores the information transmitted from the printing apparatus as a result of the request. A printing system characterized by comprising a device.