JP2007135047A - Multifunctional printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multifunctional printer capable of performing high speed pull-printing by instructions from a panel. <P>SOLUTION: The multifunctional printer comprises a pull-printing function of printing files on a server or web pages by the instructions from the panel of the device. The multifunctional printer can increase the speed of processing by continuously inputting jobs, acquiring data in parallel, and asynchronously notifying and displaying print completion. The multifunctional printer can also print an inputting order by storing the inputting order in a list and developing data in the inputting order. Further, these functions are switchable. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a multi-function peripheral having a function of acquiring and printing external data from a device, which is called pull printing.

  Not only a single-function machine such as a copy machine and a printer, but a multi-function device called a multi-function machine or a multi-function machine has come out, and it is expected to be used in a variety of ways. Among the various usage methods, a method in which a device is mainly used to acquire configuration information of a file or a WEB page from a server on the LAN or the Internet via a network and print is called pull printing.

  There are two known types of use for pull printing.

  (1) A user uses a WEB browser on a client to access a WEB server included in the device, and inputs location information of the external server. The device accesses the external server based on the external server information, and acquires and prints file and WEB page configuration information (Patent Document 1).

  (2) The user inputs the location information of the external server from the panel attached to the device. The device accesses the external server based on the external server information, and acquires and prints file and WEB page configuration information (Patent Document 2).

  In the former (1), there is little difference in the usage method by the user, and functions can be prepared for general use. Therefore, some devices are equipped as standard, but in the latter (2), the area of the panel is small. Therefore, it is necessary to narrow down the display and functions specialized for the user's purpose of use and prepare them for each user. A device panel display and functions are created on a PC or the like and downloaded to the device for use, thereby realizing a pull print function.

  The general print processing procedure in the latter form (2) is that the user selects content on the server from the panel and issues a print instruction, the device acquires the content on the server via the network, and the acquired content is a bitmap. , The bitmap is printed on paper, the printing completion information is transmitted to the panel when printing is completed, and the user selects the next content.

This is almost the same processing procedure as copying, and there is an advantage that the user can easily imagine what is being done on the device, and the content is printed in the specified order.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-134125 JP 2004-358800 A

  However, in this processing procedure, the next content cannot be designated until one print result is obtained. If the content to be designated next is determined, it is still wasted time to search for the target content by referring to the name and time stamp. It is also possible to start a plurality of browsers using the method (1) above and send print instructions one after another while searching for content. However, a client PC is required and it is not possible to know which instruction has finished printing. There is a problem that the printing order becomes disjointed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional example, and an object of the present invention is to provide a multi-function machine that can perform pull printing at high speed according to an instruction from a panel.

In order to achieve the above object, the multifunction machine of the first invention has the following configuration. That is,
In a multifunction device connected to a server via a network,
A panel that receives input instructions from the user and performs display output to the user;
Means for displaying information in a server connected to the network on the panel;
Means for specifying content based on information in the server;
A means of obtaining the specified content;
A means of analyzing the acquired content and developing a bitmap;
Means for printing bitmaps on paper;
The panel is
An input means capable of performing the next input instruction asynchronously regardless of the processing by the immediately preceding input instruction;
Means for displaying and outputting the processing status of the content asynchronously with the input instruction;
Have
A plurality of means for acquiring the contents operate simultaneously in parallel.

In order to achieve the above object, the multifunction machine of the second invention has the following configuration. That is,
In a multifunction device connected to a server via a network,
A panel that receives input instructions from the user and performs display output to the user;
Means for displaying information in a server connected to the network on the panel;
Means for specifying content based on information in the server;
Means for storing the specified order;
A means of obtaining the specified content;
A means of analyzing the acquired content and developing a bitmap;
Means for activating content content analysis and bitmap expansion means in accordance with the stored designation order;
Have
The panel is
An input means capable of performing the next input instruction asynchronously regardless of the processing by the immediately preceding input instruction;
Means for displaying and outputting the processing status of the content asynchronously with the input instruction;
Have
A plurality of means for acquiring the contents operate simultaneously in parallel.

In order to achieve the above object, the multifunction machine of the third invention has the following configuration. That is,
In a multifunction device connected to a server via a network,
A panel that receives input instructions from the user and performs display output to the user;
Means for displaying information in a server connected to the network on the panel;
Means for specifying content based on information in the server;
Means for storing the specified order;
Means for selecting whether to output in the order of the input instructions;
A means of obtaining the specified content;
A means of analyzing the acquired content and developing a bitmap;
Means for activating content content analysis and bitmap expansion means in accordance with the stored designation order;
Means for controlling the activation order of means for developing a bitmap based on the selected result;
Have
The panel is
An input means capable of performing the next input instruction asynchronously regardless of the processing by the immediately preceding input instruction;
Means for displaying and outputting the processing status of the content asynchronously with the input instruction;
Have
A plurality of means for acquiring the contents operate simultaneously in parallel.

  According to the present invention, there is provided a multifunction machine capable of performing pull printing at a high speed according to an instruction from a panel.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a multifunction machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a multifunction machine MFP, 2 is a network control unit that controls communication, 3 is a job control unit that controls jobs in the MFP 1, 4 is a hard disk, 5 is a print engine, 10 is a control application, and 11 is control. A panel control unit in the application 10, 12 is a pull print control unit in the control application 10, 20 is a print result output from the print engine 5, 50 is a touch panel that is an input / output to the MFP 1 and is an interface with the user, 100 Is a network, and 101 and 102 are servers, which are connected to the MFP 1 via the network 100.

  FIG. 2 shows the contents of the processing sequence. From job instruction to completion, it can be divided into internal processing of instruction, data acquisition, data expansion, printing, and completion notification.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a processing sequence that is a problem. After printing is performed according to the instruction of job 1 and the completion is notified, the instruction of job 2 is performed. Similarly, after job 2 is printed and notified of completion, job 3 is instructed. The order of the print results 20 is naturally the order of instructions, but it takes time for the entire process.

  FIG. 4 shows the contents of the processing sequence. Of the divided internal processes, it is shown that parallel processing is possible in data acquisition and print processing.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a processing sequence as a solution. It is shown that data acquisition processing is performed in parallel after instructing jobs 1 to 3, and is processed at a higher speed than the method shown in FIG.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a processing sequence that is a problem. Data acquisition processing is performed in parallel after the instructions of jobs 1 to 3, and the processing is performed at a higher speed than the method shown in FIG. 3, but data expansion that is exclusive processing is started by being affected by the timing of the end of data acquisition. Therefore, the order of the final print result 20 is reversed.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a processing sequence as a solution. Since the order of instructions of jobs 1 to 3 is described in the list, and data expansion that is exclusive processing is started in the order described in the list, it takes more time than the method of FIG. 6, but from the method of FIG. Indicates that the processing is performed at high speed and the order of the final printing order 20 is not reversed.

  FIG. 8 shows an example of an initial pull print screen displayed on the panel 50. 51 is a button for printing according to the instruction order, and 52 is a button for printing at higher speed even if the instruction order is not observed.

  FIG. 9 shows an example of a pull print screen displayed on the panel 50. It consists of a frame for inputting a print file instruction and a frame for displaying and outputting the job status. 53 indicates a state in which a file is designated, and 54 indicates a button for starting printing of the designated file. A list 55 indicates the job status. Note that pull-print targets include not only files but also Web pages and the like, but in this embodiment, files are used for simplicity of explanation. The file format is described assuming that it is suitable for printing, such as a PDF file.

  FIG. 10 shows an example of the screen after starting printing in FIG. 56 indicates that the file instructed to be printed is displayed in a frame for displaying and outputting the job status. Reference numeral 57 indicates that another file can be searched for and designated even during job execution and a print instruction can be given.

  FIG. 11 is an example of a print setting screen displayed on the panel 50. Reference numeral 58 denotes a default print setting frame. The frame indicating the job status 55 indicates that it can also be displayed on the print setting screen or the like.

  12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 are flowcharts showing processing in the control application 10 in the MFP 1.

  FIG. 17 is a conceptual diagram of processing appearing in the pull print control 12. In implementation, it is mapped to units such as processes, tasks, threads, and classes.

  Next, processing of the panel control unit 11 in pull printing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When the pull print function of the MFP 1 is activated, an initial screen is displayed on the panel 50 (S1). At this time, the display of FIG. 8 corresponds. Whether the instruction order printing button 51 is pressed or the high-speed printing button 52 is pressed (S2). If the instruction order printing is performed, a list for storing the instruction order is created (S3). If no list is created, a print file instruction screen as shown in FIG. 9 is displayed (S4). In this state, it waits for an input from the panel or an event from another control unit (S5). If the input is from the panel (S6) and it is an Exit (S7), the process is terminated. If it is not Exit but a print instruction (S8), the job is started (S9), and if there is a list for storing the order of instructions, it is added (S10), and the process returns to S5 and waits for the next input. If it is not a print instruction but a directory hierarchy move in S8 (S11), the contents of the moved directory are displayed (S12), and the process returns to S5. If it is not an input from the panel but an event from the pull print control unit in S6 (S13), the display of the job status is updated (S14), and the process returns to S5.

  Next, data acquisition processing of the pull print control unit 12 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  Since this processing is started by the job activation in S9 of the flowchart of FIG. 12, the same processing is performed in parallel for the number of instructions.

  First, the server 101 is accessed via the network 100 with respect to the network control unit 2 to try to acquire a file (S21). Wait until it is completely acquired (S22), and if a time-out error occurs (S23), notify the job status display processing of the error (S24) and end. When it is completely acquired, it is stored in the hard disk 4 (S25), and this process is terminated. Even if the acquisition of a file from the server 101 is started by a certain instruction and then the acquisition of a file from the server 102 is started by another instruction, the latter may end this processing first depending on the speed of the server and the size of the file. Is enough. Then, when high-speed printing is performed, the rotation is reversed as shown in FIG. 6, and during instruction order printing, the order is maintained as shown in FIG.

  Next, control of data expansion processing of the pull print control 12 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  This processing is activated by the number of units that enter from the initial screen in a series of pull-print processing units, for example, S1 in FIG.

  First, looking at the hard disk 4, it is picked up whether there is a file to be developed that has been saved in S 25 of FIG. 13 (S 31). At this time, if there is no list for storing the instruction order (S32), the data expansion / printing process is started for the file (S33). If the job input has been completed (S34), this process ends. If the job input has not been completed, the process returns to S31. If there is a list in which the order of instruction is stored in S32, it is checked whether there is a job that has not yet started data expansion on the list (S35). It is checked whether or not the data acquisition has been completed (S36). If the data acquisition is completed, the data expansion / printing process is started (S37), and the list for storing the instruction order is updated (S38). If the data acquisition is not completed in S36, nothing is done. In either case, the process returns to S31 and is repeated. There is no job whose data expansion has not started in S35, and the input of the job does not continue (S39), and the process returns to S31. If the job has been submitted, the list is deleted (S40), and the process ends.

  Next, data expansion / print processing of the pull print control unit 12 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This is a detailed description of the processing of S33 and S37 in FIG.

  The job control unit 3 is originally provided with an API for data expansion / printing. The control application 10 including the pull print control calls this API and generates an internal job to perform data expansion / printing.

  First, a job start of an internal job is declared by calling an API from the pull print control unit 12 to the job control 3 (S41). Next, a document start is declared in the same manner (S42), and job attributes, that is, how to perform data expansion and how to perform printing are set (S43). Further, the file is transmitted (S44), the document end is declared (S45), the job end of the internal job is declared (S46), and the process ends.

  Next, the job status display process of the pull print control unit 12 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, an event is waited (S51), and if the event that came is an instruction from the panel, that is, a job start (S52), the job is added to the job status list (S53), and the job status list is sent to the panel control unit 11 (S54), and the process returns to S51. As a result, the process of S14 of FIG. 12 is performed, and panel display is performed as shown in FIGS. If the event is not from the panel but from the data acquisition in S52 (S55), the status of the job in the job status list is updated (S56), and the job status list is transmitted (S54). For example, if the file acquisition is completed, the status is updated from “Acquiring” to “Waiting for deployment”, and if the file cannot be acquired and a timeout error occurs, the status is updated from “Acquiring” to “Error”. To do.

  If the event is not from data acquisition but from job control in S55 (S57), the status of the corresponding job is updated in accordance with the content, for example, from “Developing” to “Printing” (S58). A status list is transmitted (S54).

  In this way, by specifying high-speed printing / instruction order printing in the print instruction for pull printing, as described in FIG. 13, files are acquired and printed one after another, or the designated order is maintained. The printing process can be switched, and the printing process can still be performed at high speed. In addition, the file to be printed next can be searched during the printing process, and the job status and completion can be displayed during input, which increases the convenience for the user and does not cause stress.

  From the above description, it is possible to provide a multi-function machine that can perform pull printing at high speed according to instructions from the panel.

1 is an overall view showing the configuration of a multifunction machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure showing the content of the processing sequence of 1st Example of the multifunctional device which concerns on this invention. It is a figure showing the process sequence used as the subject of the 1st Example of the multifunctional device which concerns on this invention. It is a figure showing the content of the processing sequence of 1st Example of the multifunctional device which concerns on this invention. It is a figure showing the processing sequence of the solution of the 1st Example of the multifunctional device which concerns on this invention. It is a figure showing the process sequence used as the subject of the 1st Example of the multifunctional device which concerns on this invention. It is a figure showing the processing sequence of the solution of the 1st Example of the multifunctional device which concerns on this invention. It is an example of the panel display of the 1st Example of the multifunctional device which concerns on this invention. It is an example of the panel display of the 1st Example of the multifunctional device which concerns on this invention. It is an example of the panel display of the 1st Example of the multifunctional device which concerns on this invention. It is an example of the panel display of the 1st Example of the multifunctional device which concerns on this invention. 3 is a flowchart showing the contents of panel control processing of the first embodiment of the multifunction peripheral according to the present invention; 3 is a flowchart showing the contents of data acquisition processing in the first embodiment of the multifunction peripheral according to the present invention; 4 is a flowchart showing the contents of control of data expansion processing of the first embodiment of the multifunction peripheral according to the present invention. 3 is a flowchart showing the contents of data expansion / print processing of the first embodiment of the multifunction peripheral according to the present invention; 5 is a flowchart showing the contents of job status display processing of the first embodiment of the multifunction peripheral according to the present invention. It is a conceptual diagram of each process in the pull print control part of the 1st Example of the multifunctional device which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Multifunction MFP
2 Network control unit 3 Job control unit 4 Hard disk 5 Print engine 10 Control application 11 Panel control unit 12 Pull print control unit 20 Print result output from the print engine 50 Touch panel 100 Network 101, 102 Server

Claims (3)

In a multifunction device connected to a server via a network,
A panel that receives input instructions from the user and performs display output to the user;
Means for displaying information in a server connected to the network on the panel;
Means for specifying content based on information in the server;
A means of obtaining the specified content;
A means of analyzing the acquired content and developing a bitmap;
Means for printing bitmaps on paper;
Have
The panel is
An input means capable of performing the next input instruction asynchronously regardless of the processing by the immediately preceding input instruction;
Means for displaying and outputting the processing status of the content asynchronously with the input instruction;
Have
A multi-function apparatus characterized in that a plurality of means for acquiring the contents operate simultaneously in parallel. The multifunction device according to claim 1,
Means for storing the order specified by the panel;
Means for activating bitmap expansion means for content contents according to the input designation order;
A multi-function machine characterized by having The multifunction device according to claim 1,
Means for storing the order specified by the panel;
Means for invoking means for bitmap development of content contents according to the input designation order;
Means for selecting whether to output in the order of the input instructions;
Means for controlling the activation order of means for developing a bitmap based on the selected result;
A multi-function machine characterized by having