JP2007272503A - Printing system and printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing system and a printing method capable of detecting lack, duplication, insertion, etc. of pages of printing data by counting and comparing the number of pages of the printing data in plurality of positions of transfer and printing processes of the printing data. <P>SOLUTION: The printing system at least includes: a printer engine; a controller for the printer engine; and an editing terminal and further includes; a plurality of number of page counting means for counting the number of pages of printing data in a plurality of positions of transfer and printing processes of the printing data transferred to and printed by the printer engine through the controller from the editing terminal; and a comparison means for comparing the numbers of pages counted by the plurality of number of page counting means with each other. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system and a printing method for printing on a recording medium in units of pages, including at least a printer engine, a controller, and an editing terminal. The number of pages of print data transferred by the editing terminal and the controller and the printer engine The present invention relates to a printing system and a printing method for counting and comparing the number of printed data pages.

  In a printing system comprising an editing terminal, a controller, a printer engine, etc., print data created by an application such as a word processor or spreadsheet that is operated on the editing terminal is transferred to the printer engine via the controller, In general, the printer engine performs printing on a recording medium. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  In this specification, the creation of print data in the editing terminal means that the print data is stored in a computer, server, external storage means, etc. different from the editing terminal. It is assumed that the print data is only given to the controller 2 for transfer or the like.

  In such a printing system, the cause is not clear, but the print data page may be missing or duplicated during the transfer printing process of the created print data.

  For example, when print data having 100 pages in total is generated and transferred and printed, one page is missing and only 99 pages are printed in total, or conversely, one page is duplicated and 101 pages in total. Is printed. In some cases, for example, a blank page is inserted between two pages, resulting in 101 pages as a whole.

  The cause of this missing page, duplication, insertion, etc. is not clear, but it is also thought to be due to extremely rare electrical and radiation noise.

  In this specification, the number of pages created, transferred, and printed is expressed as the number of pages, and the number assigned to each page in turn is expressed as a page number, the first page, the second page, or the like. And

  In the prior art, there is no means for counting the number of pages of print data transferred by the editing terminal and the controller, and there is no means for counting the number of pages of print data printed by the printer engine. For this reason, even if the above-described missing pages, duplicates, insertions, etc. occur, they cannot be found.

  Also, although there is no abnormality in the number of pages, in the print data transfer process, part of the data is missing, replaced with other parts, or blank data is unnecessary in a specific page In some cases, problems such as the addition of unnecessary data occur. This is a phenomenon in the printed result that a part of the image in the page is blank, completely solid, replaced with an image in another place, or an unrelated image is added.

  In such a case, there is no means for comparing the print data created in the page memory of the printer controller with the print data created in the page memory of the video board of the controller. When the copy is missing, the missing print data could not be found.

JP-A-2-217281

  An object of the present invention is to provide a counting means for counting the number of pages of the print data at a plurality of locations in the transfer and printing process of the print data, and by comparing the number of pages counted by each counting means, It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing system and a printing method for detecting page missing, duplication, insertion, and the like.

  In addition, a means for comparing the print data created in the page memory of the printer controller and the print data created in the page memory of the video board of the controller is provided to detect the occurrence of missing, duplicated or added data in the page. There is to do.

  Of the inventions disclosed in the present application, the outline of typical ones will be briefly described as follows.

  A printing system that has at least a printer engine, a controller for the printer engine, and an editing terminal, and performs printing on a recording medium in units of pages, and the printing system further includes the printing terminal from the editing terminal via the controller. Transfer of print data to be transferred to the printer engine At a plurality of locations in the printing process, a plurality of page number counting means for counting the number of pages of the print data, and a count page number counted by the plurality of page number counting means A printing system having comparison means for comparing with each other.

  Further, the printing system has at least a printer engine and a controller for the printer engine, and performs printing on a recording medium in units of pages. The controller includes a video board and a printer controller that transfer print data to the print engine. The printing system further includes a comparison unit that compares the print data amount written in the page memory of the video board with the print data amount created in the printer controller.

  Further, the number of pages of the print data is counted at a plurality of locations in the printing process, which is created on the editing terminal, transferred to the printer engine via the controller, and transferred and printed. The printing method is characterized in that printing is performed while comparing and verifying each other.

  According to the printing system and the printing method of the present invention, the print data pages are counted by counting the number of pages of the print data at a plurality of locations in the transfer and printing process of the print data and comparing the number of pages. Missing, duplicated, inserted, etc. can be detected.

  Further, since the print data amount developed in the page memory of the printer controller 24 and the video board 25 can be compared, even if a page loss or a part of the print data is lost due to a trouble in the printing system, the operator Can recognize.

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

  FIG. 1 illustrates the basic configuration of a printing system according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system includes a printer engine 1, a controller 2 to which the printer engine 1 is connected, and an editing terminal 4. The controller 2 is connected to the network 3. The network 3 is an electronic communication network such as the Internet or a local area network (LAN). This system prints drawing data activated by an application 41 on a client editing terminal 4 connected to the network 3 on a recording medium using the printer controller 24 and the printer engine 1.

  The drawing data is obtained by converting print data created by the application 41 into a graphic device interface of the operation system (OS) 42 such as a font or a bitmap.

  The client editing terminal 4 has a printer driver 43 for this system. The printer driver 43 is software having a function of converting drawing data created by an application into control language data for a printer. This control language is interpreted by the printer controller 24 and converted into video data to be transmitted to the printer engine 1. As the control language, for example, Postscript (registered trademark) can be used.

  The controller 2 is a computer that transmits video data and control data to the printer engine 1, and includes a spooler 21, a printer controller 24, and a video board 25. The spooler 21 is a collection of dynamic libraries (DLLs) that receive, store (spool), process, schedule, and distribute control language data output from the printer driver 43, and is usually a part of the functions of the computer operating system. Is provided.

  The printer controller 24 is software having a function of receiving control language data from the spooler 21, converting it into video data and control data for the printer engine 1, and transmitting it to the printer engine 1. The video data is bitmap data corresponding to the resolution of the printer engine 1, and the control data is data that causes the operation and processing of the printer engine 1 to be executed. The operation here means, for example, paper feeding and the like, and the processing means obtaining status such as error information of the printer engine 1.

  The printer controller 24 transmits control data for the printer engine 1 to the printer engine 1 to control operation and processing. The video board 25 is hardware having a function of transmitting video data and control data for the printer engine 1 transmitted from the printer controller 24 to the printer engine 1.

  The video board 25 also has a function of receiving a status from the printer engine 1. The video board 25 communicates with the printer controller 24 through the PCI bus of the controller 2. The video board 25 and the printer engine 1 communicate through a dedicated video cable.

  The printer engine 1 is a printing apparatus having a function of printing on a recording medium based on video data transferred from the printer controller 24 through the video board 25.

  The flow of printing in the printing system of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  The video data transmitted from the video board 25 to the printer engine 1, the video data transmitted from the printer controller 24 to the video board 25, and the video data information transmitted from the printer driver 43 to the printer controller 24 are described. The drawing data in which the control language data and the control language data information transmitted from the application 41 to the printer driver 43 are described are collectively referred to as print data.

  As shown in FIG. 2, when printing of the print data edited by the application 41 on the client editing terminal 4 is activated, the print data is once stored in the operating system (OS) 42. The operating system 42 transmits print data to the printer driver 43 of this system. In the application 41, it is also possible to directly convert the control language data into the format of the control language data and transfer the control language data to the printer driver 43.

  The printer driver 43 receives print data from the operating system 42, converts these into control language data for the printer engine 1, and transfers the data to an arbitrary port. A printer port is generally used as the port to be transferred, but it may be a printer server on the network, or transfer to an arbitrary device such as a hard disk on the network. Here, a case where data is transferred to the spooler 21 in the controller 2 on the network 3 will be described.

  The spooler 21 has a function of receiving control language data created by the printer driver 43 and temporarily storing (spooling) it. Also, schedule and distribute to any device. In this system, the printer controller 24 reads the control language data of the spooler 21 as necessary. The printer controller 24 analyzes the control language data of the spooler 21 and converts it into video data for the printer engine 1. After receiving the print data from the printer controller 24, the video board 25 transfers the print data to the printer engine 1.

(Function)
FIG. 3 illustrates the data flow between the application 41 and the printer driver 43 in the printing system of the present invention. As described above, the printer driver 43 is software having a function of converting print data created by the application 41 on the editing terminal 4 into control language data for the printer engine 1. The editing terminal 4 includes first count means 31 that counts the number of pages of print data transferred from the application 41 to the printer driver 43 via the operation system.

  In the present embodiment, the first counting means 31 is a software counter, but it is also possible to provide a hardware counter. Further, the application 41 can also have a counting function. In this case, the application 41 also serves as the first counting means 31. The printer driver 43 according to the present embodiment can directly communicate with the application 41, and the control data output from the application 41 and data describing text information can be directly incorporated into the control language data.

  In the printing system of the present embodiment, print data printed by the printer engine 1 is transmitted from the application 41 to the printer driver 43 and converted into control language data on the printer driver 43. On the other hand, the number of count pages counted by the first counting means 31 is converted into a control language data format by the first counting means 31 and transferred to the printer driver 43. The printer controller 24 interprets a control command of control language data output from the printer driver 43, and identifies video data to be transmitted to the printer engine 1 and control language data in which the number of pages is described.

  A general application notifies a device driver such as the operation system and the printer driver 43 that the transfer of one page of print data from the application has been completed by a program function such as EndPage. In the printing system of this embodiment, the number of pages transferred from the application to the printer driver 43 is counted by counting the number of EndPage issued from the application by the first counting means 31.

  The printer driver 43 of this embodiment receives print data and control language data transmitted from the application 41. The print data of the present embodiment is structured in page units, and the printer driver 43 receives EndPage issued by the application 41 through the operation system after receiving one page of print data. The printer driver 43 converts the received print data into printer control language data. Of course, the print data output from the printer driver 43 is organized in units of pages, and the printer driver 43 adds a control command such as “ESCOC” to the control language data at the end of the page.

  The number of control commands indicating the end of the page such as “ESSCOC” is counted by the second counting means 32. The second counting means 32 is a software counter, but a hardware counter can also be used. The printer driver 43 can also have the function of the second counting means 32. In this case, the printer driver 43 also serves as the second count unit 32. The second counting means 32 adds the number of count pages counted by itself to the end of the control language data.

  FIG. 4 illustrates the flow of data in the printer controller 24 and the video board 25 in the present invention. The control language data transmitted from the printer driver 43 is transferred to the printer controller 24 through the spooler of the controller 2. The printer controller 24 creates print data in a page memory in the printer controller 24 for each page. In this embodiment, the control language data is composed of control data indicating the start and end of a page of print data, an image position, and the like, and bitmap data corresponding to the resolution of the printer engine 1.

  The printer controller 24 of this embodiment identifies the start and / or end of a page of control language data, and creates one page of print data in the page memory. Further, the print data for one page created in the page memory is transferred from the printer controller 24 to the video board 25. The third count means 33 counts the number of pages of print data transferred to the video board 25.

  In the present embodiment, a software counter is used as the third count means 33, but a hardware counter can also be used. The printer controller 24 itself can also have a page number counting function. In this case, the printer controller 24 also serves as the third count unit 33.

  FIG. 5 shows page number counting means (fourth counting means 34) in the printer engine 1 of the present invention. The printer engine 1 receives print data transferred from the video board 25 of the controller 2 and prints it on a recording medium. In the printer engine 1 of this embodiment, a signal called a final raster signal is transmitted to the printer controller 24 at the timing when the final raster of the page is printed.

  If the final raster signal is counted, the number of pages printed by the printer engine 1 can be counted. In the present embodiment, the final raster signal to be transmitted to the controller 2 is also transmitted to the hardware counter which is the fourth counting means 34, and the final raster signal number is counted by the hardware counter.

  Further, the fourth counting unit 34 can communicate with the printer controller 24, and can transmit the total number of final raster signals counted, that is, the total number of printed pages, to the printer controller 24. A hardware counter connected to the printer engine 1 is referred to as a fourth count unit 34.

  As described above, in the printing system of the present invention, the first count unit 31 that counts the number of pages of print data created by the application 41 on the editing terminal 4 and transferred to the printer driver 43, and the printer driver 43 The second counting means 32 that counts the number of pages of print data transferred from the controller 2 to the controller 2, the third counting means 33 that counts the print data transferred from the controller 2 to the printer engine 1, and the printer engine 1 There is a fourth counting means 34 for counting the number of pages of the printed print data. The number of pages counted by the first count means 31, the second count means 32, and the fourth count means 34 can be received by the printer controller 24.

  On the other hand, the number of pages counted by the third counting unit 33 is held in a memory in the printer controller 24, and the number of pages counted by each counting unit can be compared by the printer controller 24. That is, in the present embodiment, the printer controller 24 also serves as a comparison means. Of course, a separate comparison means 35 may be provided on the controller 2. As the comparison means 35, either a software counter or a hardware counter can be used.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the comparison result of the comparison means 35 can be displayed on the display of the controller 2. Further, when there is an inconsistency in the number of pages in the comparison result, a warning is issued to the operator, and the number of pages with inconsistency, the page number, etc. are displayed on the display.

  FIG. 6 shows the data flow of the printer controller 24 and the video board 25 in the printing system of the present invention. The printing system of this embodiment transfers print data from the printer driver 43 to the printer controller 24 in the form of control language data. The printer controller 24 develops print data for one page in the page memory of the printer controller 24.

  The print data expanded in the page memory is a bitmap image corresponding to the resolution of the printer engine 1, and 1 is described in the bit corresponding to the dot to be printed, and 0 is described in the bit corresponding to the dot not to be printed. ing. The printer controller 24 can count the total number of dots printed by the print data expanded in the page memory.

  On the other hand, the print data expanded in the page memory of the printer controller 24 is transferred to the video board 25 of the controller 2. The controller 2 of this embodiment uses a computer, and the video board 25 receives print data from the printer controller 24 using the PCI bus of the computer.

  The video board 25 has a page memory for storing one page of print data. The print data stored in the page memory of the video board 25 also has the same data structure as the print data stored in the page memory of the printer controller 24. The video board 25 is similar to the printer controller 24 in the video board 25. It is possible to count the total number of dots printed by the print data expanded in the page memory.

  The total number of dots is the total number of dots of “1” in the print data expanded in the bitmap of “1” and “0”. This total number of dots is called the print data amount. The amount of print data counted on the page memory of the video board 25 can be received by the printer controller 24, and the amount of print data in the page memory of the printer controller 24 and the amount of print data in the page memory of the video board 25 are determined by the printer controller. 24 can be compared.

  In the printing system of this embodiment, the print data amount of the page memory of the printer controller 24 and the print data amount of the page memory of the video board 25 are compared with each other in the page cycle. The timing for comparing the print data amounts is that the printer controller 24 receives the print data amount in the page memory of the video board 25 from the video board 25 after the print data is transferred to the video board 25, and the page of the printer controller 24. Comparison is made with the amount of print data in the memory.

  As described above, print data is transferred from the printer controller 24 to the printer engine 1 in units of one page. Therefore, the comparison of the number of pages counted by the third counting unit 33 and the fourth counting unit 34 can be performed in the page cycle even during printing. It is also possible to hold the count value of the number of pages by the respective counting means and compare the number of pages by the third counting means 33 and the fourth counting means 34 when printing of the printer engine 1 is stopped. is there.

  On the other hand, in the printing system of this embodiment, the print data transferred from the editing terminal 4 passes through the spooler 21 of the controller 2. The spooler 21 has a function of storing print data as described above. In the printing system of the present embodiment, since the print data is temporarily stored in the spooler 21, the print data transferred from the editing terminal 4 cannot be compared with the printer controller 24 in the page cycle.

  The number of pages counted by the first counting means 31 and the second counting means 32 is described at the end of the control language data transferred from the printer driver 43. Therefore, the comparison of the number of pages of the first count unit 31 and the second count unit 32 is performed in units of the total number of pages of print data transferred from the application 41 of the editing terminal 4. When all pages of the print data are printed from the printer engine 1 and the printer engine 1 is stopped, the printer controller 24 compares the number of pages obtained by each counting means.

  The printing system of the present invention can issue a warning to the operator based on the comparison result of the number of pages and / or the amount of print data compared by the comparison unit. In the printing system of this embodiment, the hardware counter that counts the number of pages printed by the printer engine 1 has a display function. When the comparison result is the same, “normal” is displayed on the display monitor of the hardware counter, and when the comparison result is different, “abnormal” is displayed.

  If the comparison results are different, an error message and / or the number of pages with different comparison results are displayed on the printer controller 24 or the screen of a computer on the network.

  The printing system of the present invention can stop printing of the printer engine 1 based on the comparison result of the number of pages and / or the amount of print data compared by the comparison unit. In the printing system of the present embodiment, when the print data amount comparison results are different, the error message is displayed as described above. It is also possible to stop printing by the printer engine 1.

  It is also possible to terminate the printer controller 24 that is running. Further, the comparison of the number of pages of the third counting unit 33 and the fourth counting unit 34 can be performed even during printing. When the comparison result of the number of pages is different, the printing of the printer engine 1 can be stopped. It is also possible to terminate the printer controller 24 that is running.

  The printing system of the present invention includes recording means for storing the number of pages compared by the comparison means and / or the comparison result of the print data. In the printing system of this embodiment, the comparison result is stored in the controller 2 or the hard disk of a computer on the network.

  Further, for example, a part and / or all image images of a page are acquired by a camera that reads an image printed on a recording medium in the latter stage of the printer engine 1 of the printing system of the present invention, and compared with the counter means and the print data amount. A fifth counting means may be provided.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of a printing system according to the present invention. It is a block diagram explaining the flow of printing in the printing system of the present invention. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a data flow between an application 41 and a printer driver 43 in the printing system of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the flow of data in the printer controller 24 and the video board 25 in the printing system of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing page number counting means (fourth counting means 34) in the printer engine 1 in the printing system of the present invention. 2 is a block diagram showing a data flow of a printer controller 24 and a video board 25 in the printing system of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer engine 2 Controller 4 Editing terminal 21 Spooler 24 Printer controller 25 Video board 31 First count means 32 Second count means 33 Third count means 34 Fourth count means 35 Comparison means 41 Application 43 Printer driver

Claims (15)

  A printing system that has at least a printer engine, a controller for the printer engine, and an editing terminal, and performs printing on a recording medium in units of pages, and the printing system further includes the printing terminal from the editing terminal via the controller. Transfer of print data to be transferred to the printer engine At a plurality of locations in the printing process, a plurality of page number counting means for counting the number of pages of the print data, and a count page number counted by the plurality of page number counting means A printing system comprising comparison means for comparing with each other.   The print data is created by an application on the editing terminal, transferred to the controller via a printer driver, and one of the plurality of page count means is transferred from the application to the printer driver. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the printing system is a first counting unit that counts the number of pages of print data to be printed.   The one of the plurality of page number counting means is a second counting means for counting the number of pages of print data transferred from the printer driver to the controller. Printing system.   4. One of the plurality of page number counting means is a third counting means for counting the number of pages of print data transferred from the controller to the printer engine. A printing system according to the above.   5. The fourth counting unit according to claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of page number counting units is a fourth counting unit that counts the number of pages of print data printed by the printer engine. Printing system.   6. The printing system according to claim 1, further comprising a storage unit that stores each of the counted page numbers by the plurality of page number counting units and / or a comparison result by the comparison unit.   7. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising warning means for issuing a warning when at least one of the counted page numbers by the plurality of page number counting means is different from the others in the comparison result by the comparing means. The printing system according to any one of the above.   2. The printing by the printer engine is stopped when at least one of the counted page numbers by the plurality of page number counting means is different from the others in the comparison result by the comparing means. 8. The printing system according to any one of 7 to 7.   Displaying means for displaying the counting means and / or the page number when at least one of the counted page numbers by the plurality of page number counting means is different from the others in the comparison result by the comparing means. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein:   A printing system having at least a printer engine and a controller for the printer engine, and performing printing on a recording medium in units of pages, the controller further including a video board and a printer controller for transferring print data to the printer engine. And a comparison unit that compares the amount of print data written in the page memory of the video board with the amount of print data created in the printer controller.   The printing system according to claim 10, further comprising a storage unit that stores a comparison result by the comparison unit.   A warning means for issuing a warning when the amount of print data written in the page memory of the video board differs from the amount of print data created in the printer controller in the comparison result by the comparison means; The printing system according to claim 10 or 11.   If the amount of print data written in the page memory of the video board is different from the amount of print data created in the printer controller in the comparison result by the comparison means, printing by the printer engine is stopped. The printing system according to claim 10, wherein the printing system is characterized.   A display means for displaying a page number when the amount of print data written in the page memory of the video board is different from the amount of print data created in the printer controller in the comparison result by the comparison means; The printing system according to claim 10, wherein the printing system is a printing system. Transfer of print data created on the editing terminal, transferred to the printer engine via the controller, and printed at a plurality of locations in the printing process, the number of pages of the print data is counted, and the counted number of pages is mutually A printing method characterized by printing while comparing and verifying.

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