JP2007196475A - Printing controlling device, and printing controlling program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the determination of a printing sequence in a plurality of printing jobs while taking both of the printing emergency degree and the printing period of time including a post-treatment into consideration. <P>SOLUTION: A transmitting/receiving section 11 receives a printing job which includes printing data to be printed on a printing media such as a paper, group indicating information for a printing priority group, and post-treatment indicating information for the printing media after printing. An analysis section 19 performs a group analysis for judging which printing priority group the printing job belongs to from the group indicating information, and analyzes the content of the post-treatment indication from the post-treatment indicating information. A printing managing section 21 allots the printing job to the applicable printing sequence group depending on the analysis result, and at the same time, calculates a printing period of time including the post-treatment based on the post-treatment indicating data, and determines the printing sequence in the order of printing periods of time from the shorter side within each group. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a print control apparatus and a print control program, and for example, relates to a print control apparatus and a print control program suitable for use in a printing apparatus 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 printer via a wired or wireless network line, and the printing apparatuses are mutually used from the plurality of computers.

  FIG. 5 exemplifies a state in which a plurality of such computers 1, 3, 5 and the printing apparatus 7 are connected via the network 9. For example, a print job is transmitted from each of the computers 1 to 5, and one computer is transmitted. 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 actual print end time tends to be delayed or the time until the end of printing tends to be uncertain.

  Therefore, conventionally, a print control for determining a fixing temperature in the printing apparatus 7 based on print medium designation information included in a print job transmitted from a plurality of computers 1 to 5 and controlling printing in ascending order of the fixing temperature required at the time of printing. Proposals have been made to reduce the total printing time of a plurality of print jobs by configuring the apparatus in the printing apparatus 7 and shortening the fixing idle time in the printing apparatus 7. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-280461 (Patent Document 1) is of this type.

Further, the printer drivers installed in the plurality of computers 1 to 5 sort the paper size instruction information and the print direction instruction information included in the print job, and each page corresponding to the paper size and the print direction of each print job is set. There has also been proposed a configuration in which transmission control is performed in a batch so that pages with the same paper size and orientation can be replaced and printed together when printing a print job transmitted from the 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, in the configuration as described in Patent Document 1 described above, only the fixing temperature is used as a criterion for determining the printing order. When (Finishing) instruction information is included, the print control is performed without considering the time required for post-processing, so the actual print time may be different from the expected result. There is a difficulty that the total printing time is difficult to shorten.

  On the other hand, in the configuration as in Patent Document 2, since these are realized by the printer driver function on the computer 1-5 side, only the sorting at the stage of transmitting the print job to the printing apparatus 7 can be performed, and the plurality of computers 1-5 Since the print jobs sent from the printer cannot be sorted and the time required for post-processing is not taken into account, the total print time is unlikely to be shortened unlike the actual print time.

  Furthermore, when the user actually performs printing, the urgency level of printing, that is, the printing priority is often an important factor, and the printing is performed together with the shortening of the total printing time until the end of printing or the total printing end time. There is a demand for a printing control apparatus that considers the degree of urgency more.

  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.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and based on the print priority information and post-processing instruction information included in the print job, the determination of the print order considering both the print priority and the print time is possible. An object of the present invention is to provide a print control apparatus and a print control program that can be used.

  In order to solve such a problem, the print control apparatus of the present invention includes print data to be printed on a print medium, group designation information indicating which one or more print priority groups correspond to, and printing after printing. Receiving means for receiving at least a print job including post-processing instruction information for media, group analysis of the print priority group to which the print job corresponds from the group instruction information, and post-processing contents from post-processing instruction information Based on the analysis means for analysis and the analysis result of the analysis means, the print job is assigned to the corresponding print priority group, and the print time including the subsequent processing is calculated to print the print job in each group. Printing management means for determining the order.

  In the present invention, the print management means may be configured to have a function of re-determining the printing order within a group when a new print job is received and analyzed.

  In the present invention, the print management unit may have a function of determining the print order in the order of short print time.

  Further, according to the present invention, the print management unit may have a function of changing the print job of the next priority group to the highest priority group and determining the print priority when printing of the highest priority group is completed.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, it is possible to employ a configuration in which a change operation means for changing the print order determined by the print management means from the outside is provided.

  In addition, according to the present invention, when a new print job is input after the change operation unit changes the print order, the print management unit newly sets the print order after the print job whose print order has been changed by the change operation unit. A configuration having a function of redetermining a printing order including a simple print job is also possible.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, the print management means can be configured to have a function of fixing the printing order within the highest priority group.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, the print management unit has authentication information for permitting determination of the print order in advance, and has a function of setting the print order when the change operation unit inputs the authentication information. Configuration is also possible.

  The print control program of the present invention includes print data to be printed on a print medium, group instruction information indicating which one or more print priority groups correspond to, post-processing instruction information for a print medium after printing, In the print control computer that determines and controls the print order of the print job including the print job, the process for receiving the print job, the group analysis of the print priority group to which the print job corresponds from the rank instruction information, and the later Analyzing the post-processing content from the processing instruction information, and assigning the print job to the corresponding print priority group based on the analysis result, and calculating the printing time including the subsequent processing within each group. And a determination process for determining the print order of the print job.

  In the print control apparatus and the print control program according to the present invention configured as described above, the reception unit receives a print job including print data, print priority group instruction information, and post-processing instruction information for the print medium after printing. The analysis unit performs group analysis of the print priority group to which the print job corresponds from the group instruction information, and post-processing content analysis from the post-processing instruction information, and the print management unit performs analysis based on the analysis result. Both the print priority and the total print time are determined because the print job is assigned to the corresponding print priority group and the print time including subsequent processing is calculated to determine the print order of the print job within each group. Can be printed in consideration of multiple print jobs from multiple computers. It is possible to perform order determination.

  In the configuration in which the print management unit has a function of re-determining the print order in the group when a new print job is received and analyzed, the print order is automatically re-determined when the print job is received. There are advantages.

  In the configuration in which the print management unit has a function of determining the print order in the order of short print time, the print time is short and the print efficiency is good.

  Further, in a configuration in which the print management unit has a function of determining the print order by changing the print job of the next rank group to the highest priority group when printing of the highest priority group is completed, printing with the print priority order is performed. When the printing of the job is completed, the printing of the print job of the next rank group can be automatically started.

  Furthermore, in the configuration in which the change operation means for changing and determining the printing order determined by the print management means is provided from the outside, it is possible to further cope with the usage state of the user.

  In addition, when a new print job is input after the print operation unit has changed the print order by the change operation unit, a new print job is placed in a later order than the print job whose print order has been changed by the change operation unit. In the configuration having the function of re-determining the included print order, the print order of the print job can be fixed to some extent, while the print order can be changed, and a wide range of usage modes can be handled.

  Further, in the configuration in which the print management unit has a function of fixing the printing order in the highest priority group, it is possible to prevent the printing order from being changed too frequently, and it is possible to deal with a wide range of usage modes.

  Furthermore, in the configuration in which the print management unit has authentication information for permitting the determination of the print order in advance and the change operation unit has a function of setting the print order when the authentication information is input, Limitation is possible, and the printing order is not determined carelessly including changing the printing order.

  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 transmission / reception 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.

  The print job is a character to be actually printed on a print medium such as paper or print data as image data, and a print control signal arranged before this print data to indicate that these are print data and to control the printing Is included.

  The print control signal includes the following instruction information. That is, group designation information corresponding to one or more preset print priority groups (details will be described later), and which print priority group the print job priority order corresponds to, and the print page In addition to information on the number and the number of copies, in addition to paper size and print media type designation information, at least post-processing instruction information for the print medium after printing on the print medium is included.

  One or more print priority groups are stored in the print priority group, for example, in the analysis unit 19 to be described later so as to be fixed or settable from the outside.

  When a plurality of print priority groups are set, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, the highest priority print group (hereinafter referred to as the highest priority group) to be printed with the highest priority, and the second sequential group that is the next sequential. Further, the next third group or the like can be set. The last third group may be a normal group that does not specify the print priority.

  In the highest priority group, the second group, and the third (normal) group, one or more print jobs J1, J2,..., J21, J22.

  The group instruction information in the print control signal of the print job includes, for example, the names and numbers of individual print priority groups, that is, the highest priority group, the second group, and the third (normal) group.

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

  The transmission / reception unit 11 converts, for example, a function of converting a serially transmitted print job into a parallel signal under the control of the internal processing control unit 15, and a parallel control signal from the internal processing control unit 15 indicating a printing order as described later. It has an interface function that converts it into a serial control signal and outputs it to the outside.

  In the present invention, the transmission / reception unit 11 may have at least a reception function and form a reception unit together with the internal processing control unit 15.

  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 transmission / reception unit 11 and other data to be described later under the control of the internal processing control unit 15 and is held until the printing of the print job is completed. When printing is completed, it is deleted.

  Under the control of the internal processing control unit 15, the analysis unit 19 analyzes the content of the received print job, that is, which print priority group the group instruction information included in the print control signal corresponds to, and post-processing Instruction information, particularly double-sided printing, stapling, punching (hole punching), booklet (bookbinding), etc. is analyzed, and the analyzed contents are stored again in the internal storage unit 17 as data. Analyzing means is formed together with the control unit 15.

  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 obtains and references storage data for each print job in the internal storage unit 17, and distributes the print job to the corresponding print priority group based on the group instruction information. The table-like data formed for each printing priority group has a function of storing in the internal storage unit 17 and forms a print management means together with the internal processing control unit 15.

  When the print management unit 21 acquires and refers to the storage data for each print job in the internal storage unit 17 under the control of the internal processing control unit 15, the print management unit 21 specifies the number of pages to be printed, the number of copies, the paper size, and the print media type designation. In addition to the information, it also has a function of calculating the time required for total printing for each print job including post-processing instruction information.

  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.

  The print management unit 21 determines, for example, the print order in ascending order of print required time (ascending order) based on the time required for printing each print job in each print priority group, and the above-described print job table. It has a function of creating the data and storing it in the internal storage unit 17.

  In addition, when a new print job is received and analyzed by the analysis unit 19, the print management unit 21 reads the table-like data in the internal storage unit 17, and sets the print time of each print job in the corresponding print priority group. It has a function of storing the table-like data in which the printing order is updated so as to be in ascending order and stored in the internal storage unit 17 in order.

  Under the control of the internal processing control unit 15, the print management unit 21 refers to the table-like data and outputs the first print job of the highest priority group to the print control unit 23, and prints the print job next to the top to the first print job. When the print job in the print highest priority instruction group is finished, the second group next to the highest priority group shown in FIG. 2 is changed to the highest priority group and the subsequent jobs are determined. Each print group is determined to be moved up sequentially, and all have the function of changing the table data and storing it 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 transmission / 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 transmission / 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 apparatus 29 includes the print control apparatus of the present invention including the transmission / reception unit 11, the internal processing control unit 15, the internal storage unit 17, the analysis unit 19, and the print management unit 21, and the actual print function configuration is the same as the conventional one. 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, it is determined in step S2 whether or not printing is currently being performed. If printing is in progress and step S2 is YES, printing priority that is the urgent printing priority in step S3. The group instruction information of the group is acquired from the print job, the information of the corresponding print priority group is acquired in step S4, and it is determined whether or not there is a print job waiting for printing in the group in step S5.

  If there is a print job waiting to be printed in that group and the answer is YES, a print group determination process is performed in step S6, and a print order determination process in each print group is performed in the subsequent step S7. The printing order determination process in each printing group in step S7 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  If step S5 described above is NO, the highest priority group information is acquired in step S8, and it is determined in step S9 whether there is a print job waiting for printing in the highest priority group.

  If there is a print job waiting to be printed and the answer is YES, in step S10, the print job is registered and decided at the end of the highest priority group, and the process proceeds to step S7.

  If step S9 is NO, in step S11, the print job is registered and determined at the beginning of the highest priority group, and the process proceeds to step S7.

  If there is no print job currently being printed in step S2 and the answer is NO, the process jumps to step S11 to perform registration determination processing for the print job first in the highest priority group.

  Next, a procedure for determining the printing order in each printing priority group will be briefly described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In FIG. 4, when a print job is received in step S71, post-processing instruction information is analyzed by the analysis unit 19 in step S72, and the print management unit 21 calculates the print time T1 of the print job in step S73. .

  In subsequent step S74, it is determined whether or not there is a print job waiting to be printed. If the received print job in step S71 is the first and step S74 is NO, the process proceeds to step S77 and the print order of the print job is first. It is determined and stored in the internal storage unit 17 as tabular data. That is, the first printing order is secured.

  This example is mainly the case of the first print job in the group, or the case where the second print job is received during the printing of the first print job.

  On the other hand, if the waiting print job already exists and step S74 is YES, the printing time T2 of the first print waiting print job in the group is read from the internal storage unit 17 in step S75, and the waiting time is waited in step S76. The print time T2 of the print job with the earlier order is compared with the print time T1 of the print job received in step S1, and if the print time of the received print job is short and step S76 is YES, the process proceeds to step S77.

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

  In step S77, as described above, the printing order of the print job is updated and stored as table-like data in the internal storage unit 17.

  If the print time of the received print job is long and step S76 is NO, the process proceeds to step S78 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 S78 is NO, the print job is arranged at the end of the sequence in step S79, and the process proceeds to step S77 to perform the above-described operation.

  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-waiting print job and step S78 is YES, the print time T2 of the next print-waiting print job is acquired in step S80, and the process proceeds to step S76 to perform the above-described operation.

  If there is only one print job, it is assigned to the corresponding print priority group and then stored in the highest priority group.

  In such a print control apparatus according to the present invention, a transmission / reception unit (reception unit) 11 for receiving a print job including print data, group instruction information of a print priority group, and post-processing instruction information for a print medium after printing; Based on the analysis result (analysis means) 19 that performs group analysis of the print priority group to which the print job corresponds from the group instruction information and post-processing content analysis from the post-processing instruction information A print management unit (print management unit) that assigns the print job to the print priority group, calculates the print time including the subsequent processing, and determines the print order in the shortest print time of the print job in each group 21).

  Therefore, it is possible to print from a print job with a priority print order, and it is possible to print from a print job with a short post-processing time even in a print priority group, and a print job with a short print time is always given priority or a long print time. Since the print job is not always postponed, it is possible to determine the printing order considering both the urgency and the total printing time, and the printing time is shortened and the printing efficiency is good. Various printing modes can be supported.

  In addition, when a new print job is received and analyzed, it has a function of re-determining the print order within the group, so that when the print job is received, the print order is automatically re-determined.

  Further, when the printing of the highest priority group is completed, the printing order of the second group is changed to the highest priority group and the printing order is determined. You can automatically start printing a print job.

  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 the 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. That is, the print priority group and the print order within the group can be designated from the display / operation touch panel.

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

  In this way, by not changing the order of print jobs before the print job for which the print order has been changed, it is possible to change the print order while fixing the print order of the print job to some extent, so that it can be used in a wide range of usage modes. Yes.

  However, the print control apparatus according to the present invention can be configured to fix the print order in the highest priority group once determined by the print management unit 21 and prevent the print order from being changed too frequently. It is possible.

  Further, in the print control apparatus according to the present invention, authentication information (ID) permitting the determination of the printing order is registered in advance in the print management unit 21, and the print management unit 21 includes the transmission / reception unit 11 or the change operation unit 27. Authentication information (ID) that determines whether or not the authentication information (ID) corresponding to the authentication information (ID) permitting the determination of the printing order is added when the print job or the printing order change instruction is received from the server. It is also possible to form a printing order only when (ID) is added.

  With this configuration, the printing order is determined only by a limited user having authentication information (ID), and the printing order is not determined carelessly including the change of the printing order, so that the printing time can be shortened. It is.

  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 print control apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the form incorporated in the printing apparatus 29, and is disposed between the computers 1, 3, 5 and the printing apparatus 7 on the network 9 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 data to be printed on the print medium, the order instruction information indicating which of the print priority groups corresponds to one or more, and the print medium after the print are printed. In a print control computer that determines and controls the print order of print jobs including processing instruction information, the process for receiving the print jobs and which print priority group the print job corresponds to from the order instruction information Group analysis and analysis processing for analyzing post-processing contents from post-processing instruction information, and assigning print jobs to the corresponding print priority groups based on the analysis results and calculating the printing time including post-processing for each group Determination processing for determining the printing order of the print jobs in the printer.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a print control apparatus according to the present invention. It is a figure which shows the outline of a printing priority group. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the print control apparatus in FIG. 1. 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 Transceiver (Receiving means)
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 (9)

Reception for receiving at least a print job including print data to be printed on a print medium, group instruction information indicating which one or more print priority groups correspond to, and post-processing instruction information for the print medium after printing Means,
A group analysis of which print priority group the print job corresponds to from the group instruction information and an analysis means for performing a post-processing content analysis from the post-processing instruction information;
Based on the analysis result of the analysis means, the print job is assigned to the corresponding print priority group, and the print time including the post-processing is calculated to determine the print order of the print jobs in each group. Print management means to
A printing control apparatus comprising: The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print management unit has a function of redetermining a print order in the group when a new print job is received and analyzed. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print management unit has a function of determining a print order in ascending order of print time. 4. The print management unit according to claim 1, wherein, when printing of the group having the highest priority is completed, the print order of the group in the next order is changed to the group having the highest priority, and the print order is determined. The print control apparatus according to claim 1. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a change operation unit configured to change and determine 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 5, wherein the print control apparatus has a function of re-determining an included print order. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print management unit has a function of fixing a printing order within the group having the highest priority. The print management unit has authentication information for permitting determination of a print order in advance, and has a function of setting a print order when the change operation unit inputs the authentication information. The printing control apparatus described. Determines the print order of a print job including print data to be printed on a print medium, group instruction information indicating which one or more print priority groups correspond to, and post-processing instruction information for the print medium after printing In a computer for controlling printing,
Processing to receive the print job;
A group analysis of which print priority group the print job corresponds to from the group instruction information and an analysis process for performing a post-processing content analysis from the post-processing instruction information;
Based on the analysis result, the print job is assigned to the corresponding print priority group, and the print time including the post-process is calculated to determine the print order of the print job in each group. When,
Print control program to execute.

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