JP2007320084A - Printer, managing method for printing job, and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a printer which is made into a trustee for the suitable substitute machine for a printing job for a user to be properly and easily selected. <P>SOLUTION: An image forming device 1 has a function for executing a printing job which is requested to be substituted by another image forming device. For the image forming device 1, a requested number of times counting section 102, a printing job accepting section 104, a substitute candidate presenting process section 103, and a printing job substitution requesting section 107 are provided. In this case, the requested number of times counting section 102 counts a requested number of times being a number of times by which the image forming device 1 itself is requested to substitute a printing job for each image forming device which is the requesting agency. The printing job accepting section 104 accepts a command that the printing job should be executed from a user. The substitute candidate presenting process section 103 presents one or a plurality of other image forming devices to the user from the one having a larger requested number of times as a candidate to be made to substitute the printing job related to the accepted command with priority. The printing job substitution requesting section 107 requests the substitution of the printing job to the other printer which has been selected by the user. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus such as an MFP and a print job management method therefor.

  In general, when there are a plurality of printing apparatuses on the network, the user designates a specific printing apparatus from among them and requests a print job. However, there are cases where the printing apparatus cannot be used immediately due to an error or a long print waiting time. If the user wants to quickly execute the print job, the user needs to re-request the print job by transferring the print job data from the printing apparatus to another printing apparatus.

  However, if the number of printing apparatuses on the network is large, it takes a lot of time and effort to search for another printing apparatus suitable for executing the job.

  As methods for selecting a transfer destination of print job data, methods as described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 have been proposed.

  According to the method described in Patent Document 1, when a designated printing apparatus cannot execute a print job for some reason, information on conditions for determining a transfer destination with reference to a database held in a server computer is used. A printing apparatus that best matches a condition specified by certain data transfer destination priority information is determined as a transfer destination of the print job.

According to the method described in Patent Literature 2, when the transfer destination and the reception capability when the facsimile apparatus receives an image are registered and the function is set to be valid, the transfer is performed to the reception capability of the own device. Declare the reception capability together with the previous reception capability and start communication. Next, store the image parameters sent prior to the start of reception, and if there is no registration of the reception capability at the transfer destination, or if the function is set to invalid, declare only the reception capability of your device. Start communication. Then, depending on the received image information, processing is performed by the own device, or the image information is transferred to the transfer destination using the parameter information.
JP-A-10-198532 JP 2002-77565 A

  In the methods described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, information relating to the capabilities of other printing apparatuses is collected, and a printing apparatus that is a suitable transfer destination of print job data, that is, a print job request destination, based on the information. select.

  However, when a plurality of printing apparatuses having the same level of capability exist on the network, it is difficult to select a printing apparatus suitable for the user by the methods described in Patent Documents 1 and 2. This is because the selection cannot be made based on the difference in performance.

  In addition to performance, there is a standard for determining a suitable printing apparatus as a request destination of a print job. For example, the installation location or the daily congestion of the job. However, in order to select a suitable transfer destination based on various criteria, a complicated mechanism is required.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it is possible to accurately and easily select a printing apparatus that is a request destination for a substitute for a print job suitable for a user.

  The printing apparatus according to the present invention is a printing apparatus having a function of executing a print job requested to substitute by another printing apparatus, and the number of times the printing apparatus itself has been requested to substitute the print job. A counting unit that counts the number of requested requests for each other printing apparatus that is a request source, a command receiving unit that receives a command to execute a print job from a user, and the command received by the command receiving unit As a candidate for substituting a print job according to the above, a presentation process for preferentially presenting one or a plurality of other printing apparatuses to a user from the one with the highest number of requested counts counted by the counting unit is performed. The command is sent to the presentation processing means and another printing apparatus selected by the user from the other printing apparatuses presented by the presentation processing means. A print job requesting unit for requesting to intercept the print job that is characterized by having a.

  Alternatively, it is predicted that the print job request unit cannot start executing the print job according to the command received by the command receiving unit within a predetermined time without performing the presentation process by the presentation processing unit. If so, another printing apparatus having the largest number of requested times counted by the counting means is requested to perform the printing job.

  The printing apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention is configured so that for each of the other printing apparatuses, the number of times that the printing apparatus itself requests a print job from the other printing apparatus and the printing apparatus itself performs the printing job. Counting means for counting the total number of times requested from other printing apparatuses, command receiving means for receiving a command to execute a print job from a user, and the command received by the command receiving means As a candidate for substituting such a print job, a presentation process for preferentially presenting one or a plurality of other printing apparatuses to the user from the one with the highest total count counted by the counting unit is performed. A print job related to the command to a processing unit and another printing device selected by the user from among the other printing devices presented by the presentation processing unit. And having a print job requesting unit for requesting to behalf.

  Alternatively, it is predicted that the print job request unit cannot start executing the print job according to the command received by the command receiving unit within a predetermined time without performing the presentation process by the presentation processing unit. If so, another printing apparatus having the largest total number of times counted by the counting means is requested to substitute the print job.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to accurately and easily select a printing apparatus that is a request destination of a print job suitable for the user.

[First embodiment]
1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the overall configuration of the print processing system PNS, FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 1, and FIG. 3 is an example of a functional configuration of the image forming apparatus 1. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the print processing system PNS includes an image forming apparatus 1, a terminal device 2, a communication line 3, and the like as a printing apparatus according to the present invention. The image forming apparatus 1 and the terminal device 2 can be connected to each other via the communication line 3. As the communication line 3, the Internet, a LAN, a public line, a dedicated line, or the like is used. Hereinafter, each image forming apparatus 1 may be described separately as “image forming apparatus 1A”, “image forming apparatus 1B”, “image forming apparatus 1C”,.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a CPU 10a, a RAM 10b, a ROM 10c, a hard disk 10d, a control circuit 10e, a communication interface 10f, a scanner unit 10g, a printing unit 10h, a touch panel 10j, and an operation key unit 10k. Is done.

  The control circuit 10e is a circuit for controlling the hard disk 10d, the communication interface 10f, the scanner unit 10g, the printing unit 10h, the touch panel 10j, the operation key unit 10k, and the like.

  The communication interface 10f is used to perform so-called IP communication with a modem and another image forming apparatus 1 for performing data communication with a fax terminal such as G3 with a fax terminal external to the print processing system PNS, using TCP / IP or the like. NIC (Network Interface Card).

  The operation key unit 10k is configured by a numeric keypad, a cursor key, and the like, and is used by the user to give an instruction to the image forming apparatus 1 such as start of processing, to specify processing conditions, and to specify various other items. It is done. The touch panel 10j displays a screen for giving a message or an instruction to the user, a screen for inputting the type of processing and processing conditions desired by the user, and a screen showing the result of the processing executed by the CPU 10a. The Further, the user can give a command to the image forming apparatus 1 or specify processing conditions by touching a predetermined position on the touch panel 10j. As described above, the touch panel 10j and the operation key unit 10k serve as a user interface of a user who operates the image forming apparatus 1. The user can cause the image forming apparatus 1 to execute a print job by operating the image forming apparatus 1 using these user interfaces.

  The scanner unit 10g optically reads an image of a document such as a sentence, a mathematical formula, a symbol, a photograph, a chart, or an illustration drawn on a sheet to generate image data.

  The printing unit 10h forms an image based on the image data obtained by the scanner unit 10g or a print job transmitted from the terminal device 2 or the like, and prints the image on paper.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the hard disk 10d includes a waiting job database DB1, a print job substitution reception unit 101, a requested number counting unit 102, a substitution candidate presentation processing unit 103, a print job reception unit 104, and a job execution start time prediction. A program and data for realizing functions such as the unit 105, proxy request destination selection receiving unit 106, print job proxy request unit 107, and job execution control unit 108 are installed. These programs and data are read into the RAM 10b as necessary, and the programs are executed by the CPU 10a. Alternatively, part or all of the functions shown in FIG. 3 may be realized by the control circuit 10e.

  As the terminal device 2, a personal computer, a workstation, or the like is used. A driver corresponding to each image forming apparatus 1 is installed in the terminal device 2. By operating the terminal device 2, the user can cause the desired image forming apparatus 1 to execute a print job remotely.

  Incidentally, there is a case where the image forming apparatus 1 that is a request destination of the print job cannot immediately execute the print job for some reason, although the user wants to execute the print job immediately. According to the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present invention, even in such a case, the user can make the other image forming apparatus 1 perform the job as a substitute. This will be described in detail later.

  4 is a diagram showing an example of the job database DB1 waiting for execution, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the requested number count table TL1, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the proxy necessity selection screen HG0, and FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the selection screen HG1.

  Next, the processing content of each unit in FIG. 3 will be described using the image forming apparatus 1A of the image forming apparatuses 1 provided in the print processing system PNS as an example.

  Each time the print job is accepted by the print job proxy accepting unit 101 or the print job accepting unit 104, the job data JD of the print job is stored in the job queue database DB1 as will be described later.

  The print job reception unit 104 performs a process for receiving a command to execute a print job from the user. Such processing is performed in the following procedure.

  The user prepares document data to be printed in the terminal device 2 by creating it with application software or downloading it from a website. Then, the image forming apparatus 1A is designated as an output destination (printing destination), the document is designated as a printing target, and a network printing command is input to the terminal device 2. Then, the terminal device 2 generates print data 71 corresponding to the page description language (for example, PostScript, PCL, etc.) of the image forming apparatus 1A for printing an image representing the document. Then, the print data 71 is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 1A together with a print command indicating that the print job for the document should be executed.

  When the print job reception unit 104 receives the print command and the print data 71 from the terminal device 2, the print job reception unit 104 generates job data JD of the print job related to the print command, and stores the job data JD in the waiting job database DB1 of FIG. Then, a job ID for distinguishing the print job from other print jobs already registered in the pending job database DB1 is issued and stored in the “job ID” field of the job data JD. “Reception date” stores the date and time when the print command is received. The “request source” stores the identification information (for example, the device name or IP address) of the terminal device 2 that is the transmission source of the print command, that is, the terminal device 2 of the requester of the print job. The “print data” stores the print data 71 received together with the print command.

  Alternatively, the user can directly operate the image forming apparatus 1A as follows to give a print command that is a print job command. The user sets a paper sheet of a document to be copied on the document table of the image forming apparatus 1A, and selects the operation screen displayed on the touch panel 10j by pressing a button corresponding to the copy.

  Then, the print job receiving unit 104 receives a print command indicating that the print job for this document should be executed, and generates job data JD for the print job in the following procedure.

  The scanner unit 10g of the image forming apparatus 1A itself is controlled so that the image of the document is read and print data 72 for printing the document is generated. The job data JD of the print job related to the print command is generated and stored in the execution waiting job database DB1 of FIG. Then, the job ID of the print job is issued and stored in the “job ID” field of the job data JD. In “Reception date / time”, the date / time when the print command is received is stored. The “request source” stores a value (for example, a character string “local user”) indicating that the requester of the print job is a local user. In the “print data”, the generated print data 72 is stored.

  The print job proxy accepting unit 101 performs processing for accepting a request to substitute a print job from another image forming apparatus 1 (1B, 1C,...). Such processing is performed in the following procedure.

  For example, it is assumed that the image forming apparatus 1B transmits print data 73 of the print job to the image forming apparatus 1A together with request data 80 indicating that the print job is requested to be executed instead of the image forming apparatus 1B. .

  Then, the print job proxy reception unit 101 of the image forming apparatus 1A generates job data JD of the print job related to the request data 80 and stores it in the job queue database DB1 shown in FIG. Then, the job ID of the print job is issued and stored in the “job ID” field of the job data JD. In “Reception date and time”, the date and time when the request data 80 is received is stored. In the “request source”, identification information of the image forming apparatus 1B that is the transmission source of the request data 80 is stored. In the “print data”, the print data 73 received together with the request data 80 is stored.

  Hereinafter, the print data 71, 72, 73 stored in the “print data” field of the waiting job database DB1 may be collectively referred to as “print data 7”.

  The requested number counting unit 102 indicates the number of requests for substitution of print jobs accepted by the print job substitution accepting unit 101 so far (hereinafter referred to as “requested number”) for each request source. To count.

  The requested number counting unit 102 includes a requested number counting table TL1 in which a record for each image forming apparatus 1 other than the image forming apparatus 1A itself in the print processing system PNS is provided as shown in FIG. Each record includes a field for storing the value of the requested number of times. The initial value of the number of requests is “0”.

  Each time the print job proxy reception unit 101 receives a print job proxy request from another image forming apparatus 1, the request count counter 102 requests a record related to the other image forming apparatus 1. Add (increment) “1” to the number of times.

  The job execution control unit 108 controls the print unit 10h and the like so that print jobs managed by the job queue database DB1 are executed in the order of reception date and time.

  Specifically, the job execution control unit 108 repeatedly executes the following processing as appropriate. The job data JD with the earliest reception date is searched from the job data JD stored in the job database DB1 waiting for execution, and print processing (print job) is executed using the print data 7 included in the job data JD. Thus, a command is given to the printing unit 10h. Then, the print unit 10h calls the print data 7 from the job database DB1 waiting for execution, forms an image based on the print data 7, and prints the image on paper. This completes the execution of the print job. Then, the job execution control unit 108 deletes the job data JD of the print job from the execution waiting job database DB1.

  The job execution start time prediction unit 105 predicts how many hours after the reception date and time the execution of the print job received by the print job reception unit 104 starts. For example, by multiplying the number of other print jobs already registered in the waiting job database DB1 at the time when the print job is received by the average time required to complete one print job, Predict. Alternatively, it may be predicted by obtaining a total value of the number of pages related to other print jobs already registered in the job queue database DB1 and multiplying the total value by the printing speed of the image forming apparatus 1A itself. Good. Hereinafter, the time predicted by the job execution start time prediction unit 105 is referred to as “job execution start predicted time Ts”.

  The proxy candidate presentation processing unit 103 displays a message indicating that the print job cannot be immediately executed and the print job when the estimated job execution start time Ts of the print job received by the print job receiving unit 104 exceeds the predetermined time To. A process for displaying a substitute request destination selection screen HG1 for presenting a candidate for another image forming apparatus 1 suitable for substitution to the user is executed in the following procedure.

  The proxy candidate presentation processing unit 103 performs another image so as to substitute the print job as shown in FIG. 6A based on the estimated job execution start time Ts predicted by the job execution start time prediction unit 105. A proxy necessity selection screen HG0 is generated for allowing the user to select whether or not to request the forming apparatus 1.

  When the command source (request source) of the print job is a local user, the generated substitution necessity / unnecessity selection screen HG0 is displayed on the touch panel 10j. On the other hand, in the case of any terminal device 2 in the print processing system PNS, screen data 81 for displaying the proxy necessity selection screen HG0 is transmitted to the terminal device 2. The terminal device 2 that has received the screen data 81 displays the proxy necessity selection screen HG0 on its own monitor. The same applies to the display of the proxy request destination selection screen HG1.

  When the user presses the “proxy request” button, the proxy candidate presentation processing unit 103 calls all the records in the requested number count table TL1 included in the requested number count unit 102 and arranges these records in descending order of the total number of times. Change. Select a predetermined number of records at the top. In other words, the image forming apparatuses 1 from the first rank to the predetermined rank, which have been frequently requested to be substituted for the print job to the image forming apparatus 1A, are selected. A proxy candidate list LS1 is generated based on the selected record, and this is applied to a predetermined template to generate a proxy request destination selection screen HG1 as shown in FIG. Then, the generated proxy request destination selection screen HG1 is displayed on the touch panel 10j or the monitor of the terminal device 2.

  The proxy candidate presentation processing unit 103 also performs a print job of the user even when a failure related to the printing process (for example, an error such as out of paper, paper jam, or out of toner) occurs in the image forming apparatus 1A. Is executed in the predetermined time To, and processing for displaying the proxy necessity selection screen HG0 and the proxy request destination selection screen HG1 is performed. In this case, however, the proxy necessity selection screen HG0 includes a message indicating that the content of the fault that has occurred and a message that the execution of the print job cannot be performed immediately, as shown in FIG. 6B. HG0 is displayed.

  When the proxy request destination selection screen HG1 is displayed on the touch panel 10j of the image forming apparatus 1A or the monitor of the terminal device 2, the user selects another image forming apparatus 1 to perform the print job from the proxy candidate list LS1. Then press the “OK” button. Then, the identification information of the selected other image forming apparatus 1 is received by the proxy request destination selection receiving unit 106 of the image forming apparatus 1A.

  When the selection of another image forming apparatus 1 that substitutes the print job is accepted by the substitute request destination selection accepting unit 106, the print job substitution request unit 107 substitutes the other image forming apparatus to substitute the print job. For example, the process of requesting 1 is performed as follows.

  The print job proxy request unit 107 searches job data JD of the print job from the job database DB1 (see FIG. 4) waiting for execution. Call the print data 7 of the job data JD. Then, the print data 7 (71 or 72) is transmitted as the print data 73 to the other image forming apparatus 1, and request data 80 indicating that the print job should be substituted is transmitted. After the request for substitution, the job data JD is deleted from the job database DB1 waiting for execution.

  The print data 73 and the request data 80 transmitted by the print job proxy request unit 107 of the image forming apparatus 1A are received by the print job proxy reception unit 101 of the other image forming apparatus 1 that is the request destination. Then, the job data JD of the print job related to the request data 80 is registered in the execution waiting job database DB1 of the other image forming apparatus 1, and the print job is executed by the job execution control unit 108.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the flow of processing for counting the number of requests, and FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the flow of processing in which the image forming apparatus 1A requests another image forming apparatus 1 for a print job. is there.

  Next, the overall processing flow regarding the handling of print jobs in the image forming apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. The execution of the processes in the flowcharts of FIGS. 8 and 9 is controlled by the CPU 10a.

  In FIG. 8, when the image forming apparatus 1 receives the request data 80 and the print data 73 from the other image forming apparatus 1 (# 11), the other image forming apparatus is selected from the requested number count table TL1 in FIG. The record related to 1 is searched, and “1” is added to the number of requested times of the record (# 12). The job data JD of the print job related to the request data 80 is generated before or after or in parallel with the process of adding the number of requests, and stored in the job queue database DB1 in FIG. 4 (# 13).

  In FIG. 9, when the image forming apparatus 1 receives a print command and print data 71 from the terminal device 2 or inputs a copy command using the touch panel 10 j of the image forming apparatus 1 itself (# 21), the printing related to the command is performed. Job data JD for the job is generated and stored in the job database DB1 waiting for execution (# 22).

  The estimated job execution start time Ts for the print job is calculated (# 23). That is, it is predicted how many hours after the reception date and time the print job can be executed. If the calculated estimated job execution start time Ts does not exceed the predetermined time To (Yes in # 24), the image forming apparatus 1 itself does not request the other image forming apparatus 1 to perform a substitute job. Execute (# 27).

  If the calculated estimated job execution start time Ts exceeds the predetermined time To (No in # 24), the substitute necessity selection screen HG0 is displayed on the touch panel 10j or the monitor of the terminal device 2 (# 25), and the print job is displayed. The user is allowed to select whether or not the other image forming apparatus 1 is substituted.

  When the user selects a print job request (Yes in # 26), the image forming apparatus 1 generates the substitution candidate list LS1 by rearranging the number of requested times of each record in the requested number count table TL1 in descending order. Then, the proxy request destination selection screen HG1 as shown in FIG. 7 is presented (# 28). Then, the print job request data 80 and the print data 7 (73) are transmitted to the other image forming apparatus 1 selected by the user from the proxy candidate list LS1, thereby requesting the print job proxy. (# 29). After the request, the job data JD of the print job is deleted from the job database DB1 waiting for execution.

  On the other hand, when the user does not select a print job request on the proxy necessity selection screen HG0 (No in # 26), the image forming apparatus 1 itself executes the print job (# 27).

  The image forming apparatus 1 appropriately executes the process illustrated in FIG. 8 and the process illustrated in FIG. 9 described above.

  According to the first embodiment, for example, the image forming apparatus 1A performs print processing as a candidate for substituting a print job received by the image forming apparatus 1A when the print unit 10h is busy or an error has occurred in the image forming apparatus 1A. Among the other image forming apparatuses 1B, 1C,... Constituting the system PNS, the image forming apparatus 1 having a large number of requests is preferentially presented to the user.

  The large number of requests of the image forming apparatuses 1B, 1C,... Is the preference of the image forming apparatus 1A as a request destination for a print job substitution viewed from the image forming apparatuses 1B, 1C,. It can be said that it represents the degree of similarity between the image forming apparatus 1A and the image forming apparatuses 1B, 1C,. This is because, in general, when a user substitutes a print job, another image forming apparatus 1 having an attribute close to the attribute (for example, installation location or performance) of the image forming apparatus 1 that is the command destination of the print job, This is because it is determined and selected as a suitable request destination.

  Therefore, the large number of requests of the image forming apparatuses 1B, 1C,... Represents the preference of the image forming apparatuses 1B, 1C,. It can be said that.

  Therefore, the image forming apparatus 1A counts the number of requests, and when a request for substitution occurs, the image forming apparatus 1A only needs to display the image forming apparatus 1 with a large number of requests with priority. The destination can be presented to the user. Therefore, the user can easily select the image forming apparatus 1 that executes a print job instead of the image forming apparatus 1A without using a complicated mechanism as in the past.

[Second Embodiment]
10 is a diagram showing a modification of the functional configuration of the image forming apparatus 1, FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the request count table TL2, FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the total count table TL3, and FIG. 13 is a proxy request. It is a figure which shows the example of the destination selection screen HG2.

  In the first embodiment, as described with reference to FIG. 4, the image forming apparatus 1 counts the number of times that the image forming apparatus 1 itself has received a print job substitution request, that is, the number of requests, for each request source. Then, as described with reference to FIG. 7, the candidates for which the image forming apparatus 1 itself substitutes the print job are preferentially presented with the number of requested times. In the second embodiment, not only the number of requests, but also the number of times the image forming apparatus 1 itself has requested a print job (hereinafter referred to as “number of requests”) is counted for each request destination. Based on the number of requests and the number of requests, a candidate for substituting a print job is presented.

  Hereinafter, a description will be given focusing on differences from the first embodiment. Description of points common to the first embodiment is omitted.

  The overall configuration of the print processing system PNS and the hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 1 in the second embodiment are the same as those in the first embodiment, and are as shown in FIGS. However, the hard disk 10d includes a job database DB2 waiting for execution as shown in FIG. 10, a print job proxy reception unit 121, a requested number count unit 122, a proxy candidate presentation processing unit 123, a print job reception unit 124, a job execution start time. Programs and data for realizing the functions of the prediction unit 125, the substitution request destination selection reception unit 126, the print job substitution request unit 127, the job execution control unit 128, and the request count counting unit 129 are installed.

  Execution job database DB2, print job substitution reception unit 121, number-of-requests counting unit 122, print job reception unit 124, job execution start time prediction unit 125, substitution request destination selection reception unit 126, print job substitution request unit 127, and The processing contents of the job execution control unit 128 are the execution job database DB1, the print job proxy reception unit 101, the requested number count unit 102, the print job reception unit 104, the job of the first embodiment described in FIG. This is the same as the processing contents of the execution start time prediction unit 105, proxy request destination selection reception unit 106, print job proxy request unit 107, and job execution control unit 108.

  Here, the contents of these processes in the second embodiment will be described taking the request count counting unit 129 and the proxy candidate presentation processing unit 123 of the image forming apparatus 1A as an example.

  The request count counting unit 129 counts the number of times that the print job proxy request unit 127 has so far requested other image forming apparatuses 1 to perform a print job proxy, that is, the request count for each request destination, for example, as follows. .

  The request count unit 129 has a request count table TL2 in which a record is provided for each image forming apparatus 1 other than the image forming apparatus 1A itself in the print processing system PNS as shown in FIG. Each record includes a field for storing the value of the number of requests. The initial value of the number of requests is “0”.

  Each time the print job proxy request unit 127 requests another image forming apparatus 1 to perform a print job proxy, the request count counting unit 129 counts the number of record requests related to the other image forming apparatus 1. "1" is added to.

  The proxy candidate presentation processing unit 123 performs the process for displaying the proxy request destination selection screen HG2 when the predicted job execution start time Ts of the print job received by the print job receiving unit 124 exceeds the predetermined time To. Follow the procedure below.

  As in the case of the proxy candidate presentation processing unit 103 of the first embodiment, the proxy candidate presentation processing unit 123 uses the job execution start prediction time Ts predicted by the job execution start time prediction unit 125 based on the job execution start prediction time Ts shown in FIG. The proxy necessity / unnecessity selection screen HG0 as shown in FIG. 6A or FIG. 6B is generated and displayed on the touch panel 10j of the image forming apparatus 1A itself or the monitor of the terminal device 2 of the user who has commanded the print job.

  When the user presses the “proxy request” button, the proxy candidate presentation processing unit 123 records the request count table TL1 (see FIG. 5) of the request count counter 122 (hereinafter, “first record”). All the records (hereinafter referred to as “second record”) of the request count table TL2 (see FIG. 11) of the request count counter 129 are called. The total number of times table TL3 as shown in FIG. 12 is generated by summing up the number of requests indicated in the first record having the same device name and the number of requests indicated in the second record.

  The substitution candidate list LS2 is generated by rearranging the records in the total number table TL3 in the descending order of the number of requested times and selecting a predetermined number of higher-order records. By applying the proxy candidate list LS2 to a predetermined template, a proxy request destination selection screen HG2 as shown in FIG. 13 is generated. Then, the generated proxy request destination selection screen HG2 is displayed on the touch panel 10j or the monitor of the terminal device 2.

  The user selects a proxy job request destination while viewing the proxy request destination selection screen HG2 as in the case of the first embodiment. Then, the print job proxy request unit 127 requests the proxy by transmitting the request data 80 and the print data 73 to the request destination selected by the user.

  Note that the overall processing flow of the image forming apparatus 1 in the second embodiment is basically the same as that in the first embodiment, as described with reference to FIGS. However, in step # 25 of FIG. 9, the proxy request destination selection screen HG2 is generated based on both the number of requests and the number of requests. Further, after step # 29, the number of requests is counted.

  According to the second embodiment, for example, the image forming apparatus 1 </ b> A is the number of requested times among the other image forming apparatuses 1 </ b> B, 1 </ b> C,... Constituting the print processing system PNS as candidates for substituting the print job received by itself. The image forming apparatus 1 having a large total number of requests is preferentially presented to the user. That is, a candidate for a suitable proxy request destination is presented in consideration of not only the number of requests but also the number of requests.

  As described above, the number of requests of the image forming apparatuses 1B, 1C,... Represents the similarity between the image forming apparatus 1A and the image forming apparatuses 1B, 1C,. It can be said that it represents the preference (appropriateness) of the image forming apparatuses 1B, 1C,... On the other hand, the number of requests for the image forming apparatuses 1B, 1C,... Represents the number of times that the user of the image forming apparatus 1A has directly selected as a suitable proxy request destination. Therefore, according to the second embodiment, it is possible to present a proxy request destination candidate to the user more accurately than the first embodiment based on two types of values representing suitable proxy candidates.

  In addition, according to the second embodiment, when either one of the number of requests and the number of requests is hardly counted, there are a plurality of image forming apparatuses 1 having the same number of requests, or the request Even when there are a plurality of image forming apparatuses 1 with the same number of times, it is possible to present a suitable proxy request destination candidate.

  In the first and second embodiments, the user selects the request destination for the print job substitution, but the image forming apparatus 1 may automatically select it regardless of the user's intention. In this case, if the image forming apparatus 1 predicts that the execution of the print job cannot be started within the predetermined time To, the proxy necessity selection screen HG0 (see FIG. 6) and the proxy request destination selection screens HG1, HG2 ( 7), the other image forming apparatus 1 having the highest number of requests or the other image forming apparatus 1 having the largest sum of the number of requests and the number of requests is displayed. Request a print job for you.

  In the first and second embodiments, the image forming apparatus 1 presents a candidate for a request for substitution of a print job based only on the number of requests, or based only on the total value of the number of requests and the number of requests. However, it may be presented based on other matters. For example, the image forming apparatus 1 compares its own performance with the performance of the other image forming apparatus 1, excludes other image forming apparatuses 1 having performance lower than its own performance from candidates, Candidates may be selected from other image forming apparatuses 1 having performance equivalent to or higher than performance. For example, when the image forming apparatus 1A has a color printing function, the image forming apparatus 1A excludes other image forming apparatuses 1 having only a monochrome printing function from candidates. Alternatively, when the image forming apparatus 1A supports a resolution of 600 dpi, other image forming apparatuses 1 having a resolution of less than 600 dpi are excluded from candidates.

  Selection of candidates based on such performance may be performed during the process of step # 28 in FIG. Alternatively, other image forming apparatuses 1 having performance lower than their own performance may be configured not to count the number of requests and the number of requests from the beginning.

  When the image forming apparatus 1 receives a request for a print job substitution, the image forming apparatus 1 acquires and records information indicating the reason for the request from the request source. When requesting an agent, a request candidate may be selected based on the contents. For example, the number of times that a print job has been requested due to an error (number of times requested) may be totaled, and those whose total number or frequency is greater than or equal to a predetermined value may be excluded from the candidates.

  When the image forming apparatus 1 is busy or has an error in itself, the image forming apparatus 1 may reject a request for substitution of a print job from another image forming apparatus 1. Even in the case of refusal, the number of requested times may be counted. This is because, as described above, it can be said that the number of requests represents the degree of similarity between the image forming apparatus 1 and the request source. You may comprise so that the frequency | count of request may not be counted. On the other hand, the other image forming apparatus 1 whose request is rejected may or may not count the number of requests. Whether or not to count may be set according to the purpose or environment in which the print processing system PNS is used.

  Alternatively, if the image forming apparatus 1 requests a print job, the image forming apparatus 1 can inquire the other image forming apparatuses 1 in advance to determine how many hours it needs to wait before starting the execution, and can execute it within a predetermined time To. Only those responding to that effect may be selected as candidates for the request destination.

  In the first and second embodiments, the image forming apparatus 1 presents the request destination for the print job substitution when the estimated job execution start time Ts exceeds the predetermined time To or when an error has occurred. The job execution start prediction time Ts and the presence or absence of an error may be presented.

  In the proxy request destination selection screen HG2 in FIG. 13, the breakdown, that is, the number of requests and the number of requests may be displayed together with the total number.

  In the first embodiment, candidates are preferentially selected in descending order of the number of requests. In the second embodiment, candidates are preferentially selected in descending order of the total number of requests and requests. Candidates may be selected preferentially in descending order.

  Alternatively, in principle, when candidates are preferentially selected in descending order of the number of requests, and there are a plurality of other image forming apparatuses 1 having the same number of requests, the other requests are based on the number of requests. The image forming apparatus 1 may be configured to be ranked.

  The image forming apparatus 1 substitutes a print job even when a failure occurs in which the print job cannot be executed until the execution of the print job is completed after the print job command is received from the user. Candidates may be presented or substitutions may be automatically requested.

  In the first and second embodiments, the printing apparatus (image forming apparatus) has been described as an example. However, the present invention is also applied to a printing system configured by connecting a server machine or a personal computer and a printing apparatus via a LAN or USB. The invention can be applied.

  In addition, the configuration of the entire print processing system PNS and the image forming apparatus 1 or each part, processing contents, processing order, table configuration, and the like can be changed as appropriate in accordance with the spirit of the present invention.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an overall configuration of a print processing system. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of an image forming apparatus. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of an execution waiting job database. It is a figure which shows the example of a request count count table. It is a figure which shows the example of a substitute necessity selection screen. It is a figure which shows the example of a substitute request destination selection screen. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the example of the flow of a count process of the number of requests. 6 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a flow of processing in which an image forming apparatus requests a print job to another image forming apparatus. It is a figure which shows the modification of a functional structure of an image forming apparatus. It is a figure which shows the example of a request frequency count table. It is a figure which shows the example of a total frequency table. It is a figure which shows the example of a substitute request destination selection screen.

Explanation of symbols

1A Image forming device (printing device)
1B, 1C Other image forming apparatuses (other printing apparatuses)
102, 122 Requested count unit (counting means)
103, 123 Proxy candidate presentation processing unit (presentation processing means)
104, 124 Print job reception unit (command reception means)
107, 127 Print job proxy request section (print job request means)
129 Request count section (counting means)

Claims (17)

A printing apparatus having a function of executing a print job requested to be substituted by another printing apparatus,
A counting means for counting the number of requested times, which is the number of times the printing device itself has been requested to act on behalf of the print job, for each other printing device as a request source;
Command receiving means for receiving a command to execute a print job from a user;
As a candidate for substituting a print job related to the command received by the command receiving unit, one or a plurality of other printing apparatuses are preferentially given to the user from the number of requested times counted by the counting unit. Presentation processing means for performing a presentation process for presentation to
Print job requesting means for requesting another printing device selected by the user from other printing devices presented by the presenting processing means to perform the print job according to the command;
A printing apparatus comprising: Execution start time prediction means for predicting a time until execution of a print job according to the command is started,
The presentation processing means executes the presentation process for the print job when the time of the print job according to the command predicted by the execution start time prediction means exceeds a predetermined time.
The printing apparatus according to claim 1. The presenting processing unit is configured when an error has occurred in the printing apparatus itself when the command is received by the command receiving unit, or when the printing device itself has received an error, or after the command is received. Executing the presenting process for the print job when the error occurs in the printing apparatus itself until the execution of the print job is completed;
The printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. The presentation processing means displays a list of one or a plurality of other printing devices as candidates for the presentation processing for the print job according to the command on the display of the printing device itself, or gives the command By transmitting the data of the list to the terminal device of
The printing apparatus according to claim 1. The presentation processing unit excludes other printing apparatuses having lower performance than the printing apparatus from the candidates.
The printing apparatus according to claim 1. The counting means does not count the requested number of times of other printing apparatuses having lower performance than the printing apparatus;
The printing apparatus according to claim 1. A printing apparatus having a function of executing a print job requested to be substituted by another printing apparatus,
A counting means for counting the number of requested times, which is the number of times the printing device itself has been requested to act on behalf of the print job, for each other printing device as a request source;
Command receiving means for receiving a command to execute a print job from a user;
When it is predicted that the execution of the print job related to the command received by the command receiving unit cannot be started within a predetermined time, the number of requested times counted by the counting unit is the largest. A print job requesting means for requesting the printing device to perform the print job on behalf of the printer;
A printing apparatus comprising: A printing apparatus having a function of executing a print job requested to be delegated by another printing apparatus,
For each other printing device, the total number of times that the printing device itself requested a print job to the other printing device and the number of times that the printing device itself requested that the other printing device act on behalf of the printing job Counting means for counting the number of times;
Command receiving means for receiving a command to execute a print job from a user;
As a candidate for substituting a print job related to the command received by the command receiving unit, one or a plurality of other printing apparatuses are preferentially given to the user from the one with the highest total number counted by the counting unit. Presentation processing means for performing a presentation process for presenting,
Print job requesting means for requesting another printing device selected by the user from other printing devices presented by the presenting processing means to perform the print job according to the command;
A printing apparatus comprising: A printing apparatus having a function of executing a print job requested to be substituted by another printing apparatus,
For each other printing device, the total number of times that the printing device itself requested a print job to the other printing device and the number of times that the printing device itself requested that the other printing device act on behalf of the printing job Counting means for counting the number of times;
Command receiving means for receiving a command to execute a print job from a user;
When it is predicted that the print job related to the command received by the command receiving unit cannot be started within a predetermined time, another print having the largest total number of times counted by the counting unit A print job requesting means for requesting the apparatus to perform the print job on behalf of the apparatus;
A printing apparatus comprising: A print job management method in a printing apparatus having a function of executing a print job requested to be delegated by another printing apparatus,
Count the number of requests, which is the number of times the printing device itself has been requested to act on behalf of the print job, for each other printing device that is the request source,
Accepts a command from the user to execute the print job,
As a candidate for substituting a print job according to the received command, a presentation process for preferentially presenting one or a plurality of other printing apparatuses to a user from the one with the highest number of requested times is performed.
Request the other printing device selected by the user from among the other printing devices presented to perform the print job according to the command.
A print job management method. A print job management method in a printing apparatus having a function of executing a print job requested to be delegated by another printing apparatus,
Count the number of requests, which is the number of times the printing device itself has been requested to act on behalf of the print job, for each other printing device that is the request source,
Accepts a command from the user to execute the print job,
When it is predicted that the execution of the print job related to the received command cannot be started within a predetermined time, the print job is substituted for the other printing apparatus having the largest number of requests. To ask,
A print job management method. A print job management method in a printing apparatus having a function of executing a print job requested to be delegated by another printing apparatus,
For each other printing device, the total number of times that the printing device itself requested a print job to the other printing device and the number of times that the printing device itself requested that the other printing device act on behalf of the printing job Count the number of times,
Accepts a command from the user to execute the print job,
As a candidate for substituting a print job related to the received command, a presentation process for preferentially presenting one or a plurality of other printing apparatuses to the user from the one with the highest total number of times is performed. Request the other printing device selected by the user from the devices to perform the print job according to the command;
A print job management method. A print job management method in a printing apparatus having a function of executing a print job requested to be delegated by another printing apparatus,
For each other printing device, the total number of times that the printing device itself requested a print job to the other printing device and the number of times that the printing device itself requested that the other printing device act on behalf of the printing job Count the number of times,
Accepts a command from the user to execute the print job,
If it is predicted that the execution of the print job related to the received command cannot be started within a predetermined time, the print job is substituted for the other printing apparatus having the largest total number of counts. To ask,
A print job management method. A computer program used in a computer for controlling a printing apparatus,
In the computer,
A process of counting the number of requested requests, which is the number of times a print job is requested to be delegated to the printing device, for each other printing device that is the request source;
A process of accepting a command to execute a print job from the user;
A process for preferentially presenting one or a plurality of other printing apparatuses to the user in descending order of the number of requests, as candidates for substituting a print job according to the received command;
A process of requesting another printing device selected by the user from other presented printing devices to perform the print job according to the command.
A computer program characterized by the above. A computer program used in a computer for controlling a printing apparatus,
In the computer,
Executing a process of counting the number of requested requests, which is the number of times a print job has been requested to be delegated to the printing device, for each of the other printing devices that are the request source;
Execute a process to accept a command to execute a print job from the user,
When it is predicted that the execution of the print job related to the received command cannot be started within a predetermined time, the print job is substituted for the other printing apparatus having the largest number of requests. Execute the requested process,
A computer program characterized by the above. A computer program used in a computer for controlling a printing apparatus,
In the computer,
For each other printing device, the total number of times that the printing device itself requested a print job to the other printing device and the number of times that the printing device itself requested that the other printing device act on behalf of the printing job Processing to count the number of times,
A process of accepting a command to execute a print job from the user;
A process for preferentially presenting one or a plurality of other printing apparatuses to the user from the one having the highest total number of times as a candidate for substituting a print job according to the received command;
A process of requesting another printing apparatus selected by the user from other presented printing apparatuses to perform a print job according to the command.
A computer program characterized by the above. A computer program used in a computer for controlling a printing apparatus,
In the computer,
For each other printing device, the total number of times that the printing device itself requested a print job to the other printing device and the number of times that the printing device itself requested that the other printing device act on behalf of the printing job Execute the process to count the number of times,
Execute a process to accept a command to execute a print job from the user,
If it is predicted that the execution of the print job related to the received command cannot be started within a predetermined time, the print job is substituted for the other printing apparatus having the largest total number of counts. Execute the process requested by
A computer program characterized by the above.