JP2008201035A - Printer, printing method, and printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer, a printing method, and a printing system, which earlier determine printability by extracting a print setting in a received print job before an image data is generated, and by determining whether the print job is printable. <P>SOLUTION: The printer 30 receives a print job sent from a PC 10-1, with an I/F 31, and stores it in an input buffer 32. A print setting management section 33 extracts the print setting from the print job, and makes an engine controller 37 store engine condition information of an print engine in an engine condition management table 39. The print setting management section 33 acquires the engine condition information from the engine condition management table 39, compares the extracted print setting with the acquired engine condition information, determines whether the print job is printable with the print engine 38, and notifies the PC 10-1 of the unprintability when the print job is determined to be unprintable. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, a printing method, and a printing system, and more particularly, a printing apparatus that determines whether printing can be performed at an early stage by extracting print settings in a received print job before generating image data and determining whether printing is possible. And a printing method and a printing system.

  In recent years, there are many cases where a printer is connected to a network to which a personal computer is connected so that the printer can be shared in a place such as an office provided with a large number of personal computers.

  In such a printer, a print job is received from a personal computer on a connected network, and printing is performed. However, when a plurality of personal computers transmit print jobs at the same time, the print job is basically accepted. Since the print jobs are processed in order, if a paper with low remaining capacity is specified in the print settings in one print job and a jam such as out of paper occurs, the jam is resolved in the print job after waiting in the queue. There is a problem that printing is not performed until printing is started, and even a print job that is supposed to be printed without jam and without a problem of print settings is waited for and printing is not started.

In order to solve such a problem, in Patent Document 1, after generating the image data of the received print job, it is determined whether or not the print job can be printed based on the engine state, and the print job in which the image data is generated is determined. Among them, a printer and a printing method have been proposed that perform printing from a print job that has been determined to be printable, thereby reducing the overall waiting time.
JP 2001-187468 A

  In the invention of Patent Document 1, it is possible to determine whether or not printing is possible before printing. However, since the determination of whether or not printing is performed is after the generation of image data, in the case of a print job with a large amount of data, image data Since it takes a long time to be generated, it takes time to determine whether printing is possible.

  For a user, there is a case where it is desired to know whether or not printing is possible at an early stage, and thus a technology that can quickly know whether or not printing is desired is desired.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides a printing apparatus, a printing method, and a printing system that determine whether printing is possible at an early stage by extracting print settings in a received print job before image data formation and determining whether printing is possible. With the goal.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 includes a print job reception unit that receives a print job, a print image data generation unit that generates print image data based on the print job received by the print job reception unit, In a printing apparatus having a print engine that executes printing based on the print image data generated by the print image data generation unit, a print setting extraction unit that extracts a print setting from a print job received by the print job reception unit, and the print Engine status information acquisition means for acquiring engine status information, and print settings extracted by the print setting extraction means and the engine status information acquisition means before generating the print image data by the print image data generation means. Compare the acquired status information of the print engine If the print job determination unit determines whether the print job is printable by the print engine, and the print permission determination unit determines that the print job is not possible, the print job is not printable. And a non-printable notification means for notifying that.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, when the print availability determination unit determines that printing is not possible, the print image data generation unit does not generate print image data of the corresponding print job. The print processing of the corresponding print job is ended.

  Further, in the invention of claim 3, in the invention of claim 1, when it is determined that printing is not possible by the printing availability determination unit, the printing setting is changed to determine whether the printing job can be printed, and printing is performed. If possible, the print image data generation unit generates print image data of the corresponding print job.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, when the printability determination means determines that printing is not possible, the print setting is changed and printing processing for the print job is continued or terminated. If the print setting is changed and the print process is continued, the print setting is changed, the print image data generation unit generates the print image data of the corresponding print job, and the print process is continued. When the print process is terminated, the print image data generation unit terminates the print process of the corresponding print job without generating the print image data of the corresponding print job.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, the print settings extracted by the print setting extraction unit include a paper size designated by the print job, a paper feed hopper, and a paper At least one of type, color printing or monochrome printing, double-sided printing or single-sided printing is included, and the status information of the print engine acquired by the engine status information acquisition unit includes paper size, paper type, paper remaining amount, toner At least one of the remaining amount, the remaining ink amount, and the full stack state of the discharge tray is included.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print job receiving means for receiving a print job, a print image data generating means for generating print image data based on the print job received by the print job receiving means, and the print image data generating means. In a printing method performed by a printing apparatus having a print engine that executes printing based on the print image data generated in step, a print setting is extracted from a print job received by the print job reception unit by the print setting extraction unit, and the print The engine status information is acquired by the engine status information acquisition means, and before the print image data is generated by the print image data generation means, the print settings extracted by the print setting extraction means and the engine status information acquisition means Status information of the acquired print engine and By comparing, it is determined whether or not the print job is printable by the print engine by the print permission determination unit. If the print permission determination unit determines that the print job is not printable, the print job is not printable. It is characterized by notifying that it is present by means of non-printable notification means.

  According to the printing apparatus, the printing method, and the printing system of the present invention, the print setting extraction unit that extracts the print setting from the print job received by the print job reception unit, and the engine state information acquisition unit that acquires the state information of the print engine Before the print image data is generated by the print image data generation means, the print job extracted by the print setting extraction means is compared with the print engine status information acquired by the engine status information acquisition means. Print availability determination means for determining whether or not the print engine can be printed, and print impossible notification means for notifying that the print job is not printable when the print availability determination means determines that printing is not possible So that the print settings in the received print job can be changed before generating the image data. By performing printing permission determination out, there is an effect that it is possible to determine the printability early.

  Embodiments of a printing apparatus, a printing method, and a printing system according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a network configuration including an image forming apparatus 30 which is a printing apparatus according to the present invention.

  The image forming apparatus 30 is connected to personal computers 10-1, 10-2,... 10-N (collectively described as the personal computer 10) via the communication line 20.

  A print job created by the personal computer 10 is sent to the image forming apparatus 30 via the communication line 20, and the print job received by the image forming apparatus 30 is printed.

  The image forming apparatus 30 includes an interface (hereinafter referred to as I / F) 31, an input buffer 32, a print setting management unit 33, a job management table 34, an image generation unit 35, an output buffer 36, an engine control unit 37, a print An engine 38 and an engine state management table 39 are provided.

  The I / F 31 receives a print job transmitted from a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) 10 through the communication line 20.

  The input buffer 32 stores the print job received by the I / F 31.

  The print setting management unit 33 extracts the print settings of the print job stored in the input buffer 32, determines whether printing is possible before generating image data, and notifies the user who operates the PC 10 of information, etc. I do.

  Here, the print setting of the print job means a print condition such as a paper size designated by the print job, a paper feed hopper, a paper type, color printing or monochrome printing, double-sided printing or single-sided printing.

  The print setting management unit 33 can transmit engine state information stored in the engine state management table 39 to a device connected to the communication line 20 via the I / F 31.

  The job management table 34 manages jobs and records print jobs that require recovery and image data is generated first.

  The image generation unit 35 generates image data from the drawing data of the print job stored in the input buffer 32, and passes the generated image data to the output buffer 36.

  The output buffer 36 stores the image data passed from the image generation unit 35.

  The engine control unit 37 acquires engine state information of the print engine 38 and passes it to the print engine state management table 39, and causes the print engine 38 to print the image data passed from the output buffer 36.

  The engine status information refers to the paper size, paper type and remaining amount of paper stored in each paper feed tray in the print engine 38, the remaining amount of ink, the remaining amount of toner, and the presence / absence of the duplex printing option. This is information on what cannot be printed depending on the state such as the full stack state of the paper discharge tray.

  The print engine 38 prints the image data passed from the engine control unit 37 on a sheet under the control of the engine control unit 37, and engine status information such as a paper feed tray, ink, and toner in the print engine 38 is stored in the engine. It passes to the control part 37.

  The engine state management table 39 receives engine state information of the print engine 38 from the engine control unit 37 and stores the information.

  In the image forming apparatus 30 configured as described above, the print job received by the I / F 31 is stored in the input buffer 32, and the print setting management unit 33 stores the print job stored before the image data is generated. Extract print settings.

  Further, the print setting management unit 33 sends information on the state of the paper in the paper feed tray of the print engine 38 and the remaining state of the toner, such as the remaining state of the toner, from the engine control unit 37 via the engine state management table 39. Get.

  Then, the print setting management unit 33 compares the print setting of the print job with the engine status information of the print engine 38 to determine whether the print job can be printed.

  When it is determined that printing is possible, the print job stored in the input buffer 32 is generated on the basis of the drawing data in the print job, and is printed on the paper.

  If it is determined that printing is impossible, the print setting management unit 33 notifies the PC 10 that has transmitted the print job that printing is not possible, and the print job stored in the input buffer 32 as a preparation for the print instruction after recovery. Generation of image data (corresponding to the second embodiment), change of print settings, etc. are performed by exchanging information with the PC 10 that transmitted the print job (corresponding to the third and fourth embodiments).

  If only image data generation is performed as preparation for a print instruction after recovery, printing is performed using image data generated in advance in the print instruction after recovery, so that the overall print processing time can be reduced.

  Further, when printing is enabled by changing the print setting by exchanging information with the PC 10 of the print setting management unit 33, the print job is printed with the changed print setting.

  In this manner, since the print job is determined to be printable before the image data is generated by the image generation unit 35, the user operating the PC 10 can quickly know whether the transmitted print job can be printed.

  Next, determination of whether or not printing is possible performed by the print setting management unit 33 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing an image of print permission / inhibition determination performed by the print setting management unit 33.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the print setting management unit 33 extracts the print settings 51 of the print job 50 received and stored in the input buffer 32 before generating image data (reference number 60).

  Further, the print setting management unit 33 stores the engine state information 55 of the print engine 38 at that time in the engine state management table 39 through the engine control unit 37, and acquires the stored engine state information 55.

  Then, the print setting management unit 33 compares the print setting 51 with the engine state information 55.

  As a result of the comparison, if the print of the extracted print setting 51 can be printed by the print engine 38 indicated by the engine state information 55 at that time, it is determined that printing is possible, and the print of the extracted print setting 51 is If printing cannot be performed by the print engine 38 indicated by the engine status information 55 at that time, it is determined that printing is impossible (reference number 61).

  As described above, the print setting 51 is extracted before the image data is generated, and the print setting management unit 33 determines whether or not the print job can be printed. Therefore, even if the data amount of the print job is large, Before time is consumed by the generation of image data, it is determined whether printing is possible at an early stage.

  Further, there are three patterns after determining whether printing is possible and determining that printing is not possible, which will be described in Examples 1 to 4, respectively.

  In the first to fourth embodiments, the hardware configuration is the same, but different processing is possible depending on the difference in software input.

  If another print job is being processed by the print engine 38 when the print setting management unit 33 determines whether printing is possible, the engine state information of the print engine 38 has already been acquired and the engine state management table 39. The determination of whether or not printing is possible may be performed using the engine status information managed in step (b).

  In the fifth embodiment, a printing system in which the print propriety determination performed by comparing the print setting and the engine state information is performed not by the image forming apparatus 30 but by a transmission terminal that transmits a print job will be described.

  In this embodiment, when the print setting management unit 33 of the image forming apparatus 30 determines that the received print job is not printable, FIG. 3 illustrates a process for notifying the PC 10 that has transmitted the print job of a print impossible notification. The description will be given with reference.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing of the image forming apparatus 30 that issues a print impossible notification when it is determined that the received print job is not printable.

  When the image forming apparatus 30 receives a print job sent from the PC 10, the image forming apparatus 30 stores the print job in the input buffer 32.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the print setting management unit 33 extracts the print settings of the print job stored in the input buffer 32 (step 301).

  Thereafter, the print setting management unit 33 causes the print engine control unit 37 to acquire the engine state information of the print engine 38 and stores it in the engine state management table 39 in order to acquire the engine state information at that time.

  The print setting management unit 33 acquires the engine state information stored in the engine state management table 39 (step 302), compares the extracted print setting with the engine state information, and prints the received print job. Whether printing is possible or not is determined (step 303).

  If it is determined that printing is impossible as a result of determining whether printing is possible (NO in step 303), the print setting management unit 33 cannot print to the PC 10 that has transmitted the print job through the I / F 31. A notification indicating that printing is not possible is transmitted (step 304).

  The non-printable notification is displayed on the display or the like of the PC 10 so that the user of the PC 10 that transmitted the print job can understand.

  If the print setting management unit 33 determines that printing is possible (YES in step 303), the image generation unit 35 is based on the drawing data of the print job stored in the input buffer 32. (Step 305), the generated image data is passed to the engine control unit 37 via the output buffer 36, and the engine control unit 37 controls the print engine 38 to print the image data (step). 306).

  As described above, whether or not the print job can be printed is determined before the image data is generated, so that the user of the PC 10 can know that printing is impossible at an early stage when printing is impossible.

  Note that after determining whether printing is possible in step 303 and determining that printing is possible, at the same time as generating image data, the fact that the printing job is determined to be printable and printing is sent to the PC 10 that sent the printing job. You may make it do.

  In this embodiment, if the print setting management unit 33 of the image forming apparatus 30 determines that the received print job is not printable, whether or not the printing process can be continued by performing simple recovery such as sheet addition. A process for further determining the above and notifying the user of this will be described.

  First, processing performed in the image forming apparatus 30 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process in which the image forming apparatus 30 notifies the user that the printing process can be continued if recovery is performed after it is determined that printing is impossible.

  When the image forming apparatus 30 receives the print job sent from the PC 10 by the I / F 31, the image forming apparatus 30 stores the print job in the input buffer 32.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the print setting management unit 33 extracts the print settings of the print job stored in the input buffer 32 (step 401).

  Thereafter, the print setting management unit 33 causes the print engine control unit 37 to acquire the engine state information of the print engine 38 and stores it in the engine state management table 39 in order to acquire the engine state information at that time.

  The print setting management unit 33 acquires the engine state information stored in the engine state management table 39 (step 402), compares the extracted print setting with the engine state information, and prints the received print job. It is determined whether or not printing is possible in step 38 (step 403).

  If the print setting management unit 33 determines that printing is impossible as a result of determining whether printing is possible (NO in step 403), can the cause of the determination that printing is impossible be resolved immediately by simple recovery? It is determined whether or not (step 404).

  The recovery by the user includes adding paper to the paper feed tray, replacing the toner with insufficient remaining amount, and the like. By performing this recovery, the printing process can be continued.

  If the cause of non-printing has been solved by the user's recovery and the printing process can be continued (YES in step 404), the print setting management unit 33 creates the contents of the recovery process. (Step 405), a print processing continuation selection screen 500 is transmitted to the PC 10 that has sent the print job to notify whether or not printing is possible and to select whether or not to continue the print processing (Step 406).

  When receiving a selection to recover from the PC 10 and continue the printing process (YES in step 407), the image forming apparatus 30 uses the image generating unit 35 to generate image data of the print job stored in the input buffer 32. The generated image data is stored in the output buffer 36, and the job management table 34 records that the image data of the received print job has been generated (step 408).

  If the reason why printing is impossible in step 404 cannot be continued early due to recovery (NO in step 404), the print setting management unit 33 cannot print to the PC 10 that sent the print job. A notification indicating that printing is not possible is transmitted (step 409).

  The non-printable notification is displayed on the display or the like of the PC 10 so that the user of the PC 10 that transmitted the print job can understand.

  In addition, when a selection to cancel the printing process without continuing from the PC 10 is received from the PC 10 in Step 407 (NO in Step 407), a print cancellation notification to stop printing is transmitted to the PC 10 and the process in the image forming apparatus 30 is ended. (Step 410).

  When the user of the PC 10 selects to continue the printing process after performing the recovery (YES in step 407), the user recovers the content notified from the image forming apparatus 30 and prints the same document as the previous time. Submit the job again.

  When the second transmission of the same original print job to the image forming apparatus 30 is performed, the received second print job is stored in the input buffer 32 in the image forming apparatus 30 and is printed by the print setting management unit 33. The print setting extraction (step 401) is compared with the engine state information (step 402) stored in the engine state management table 39 to determine whether printing is possible (step 403).

  If it is determined that printing is possible because the recovery has been performed (YES in step 403), whether or not the image data of the received print job stored in the input buffer 32 is stored in the output buffer 36 is determined. Is checked with reference to the job management table 34 (step 410), and it is found that image data is generated and stored in the output buffer 36 when the previous print job is received (step 410). YES), the image data stored in the output buffer 32 is sent to the engine control unit 37, and the print engine 38 prints the image data under the control of the engine control unit 37 (step 412).

  Further, when it is determined that printing is possible when the print job is received in step 403 when the image forming apparatus 30 receives the print job (YES in step 403), the image data of the print job is still in the output buffer. 36 (NO in step 410), the image data of the print job is generated by the image generation unit 35 and sent to the output buffer 36 (step 411), and the image data is output from the output buffer 36 to the engine control unit 37. The image data is printed by the print engine 38 (step 412).

  As described above, in this embodiment, the image data is generated in advance for the print instruction after the recovery after the image forming apparatus 30 determines that the printing is impossible. Therefore, after the recovery is performed, the print job is performed again. When it is transmitted, it is not necessary to generate image data, and the overall print processing time can be shortened by the amount of image data generated.

  Next, in step 406 of FIG. 4, a print processing continuation selection screen that is displayed on the display of the PC 10 that has transmitted the print job and that selects whether or not to continue the print processing by performing a non-printable notification and recovery. This will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a screen configuration diagram showing a print processing continuation selection screen 500 that is displayed on the display of the PC 10 to notify that printing is impossible, and to select whether to continue the printing process by performing recovery. is there.

  As shown in FIG. 5, on the print processing continuation selection screen 500, the content (reference number 501) indicating that the transmitted print job cannot be printed because the designated remaining amount of paper is 0, and the paper are displayed. The contents (reference number 502) for selecting whether or not to continue the printing process by performing recovery to be added are displayed.

  Then, the user operating the PC 10 selects, from the print processing continuation selection screen 500, whether to perform recovery by adding paper and continue print processing of the print job, or to cancel printing without performing recovery. It can be performed.

  In this embodiment as well, after it is determined that printing is possible in step 403 described with reference to FIG. 4 and printing is possible, image data is generated and at the same time it is determined that a print job can be printed and printing is performed. May be transmitted to the PC 10 that has transmitted the print job.

  In this embodiment, when the print setting management unit 33 of the image forming apparatus 30 determines that the received print job is not printable, the print setting of the print job can be changed to continue printing. A process for notifying the user to that effect will be described.

  First, processing performed in the image forming apparatus 30 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  FIG. 6 shows that when the image forming apparatus 30 determines that printing is not possible and can continue printing by changing the print settings of the print job, the user is notified of this and printing is performed by the user. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing in which the setting is changed and printing is continued.

  When the image forming apparatus 30 receives the print job sent from the PC 10 by the I / F 31, the image forming apparatus 30 stores the print job in the input buffer 32.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the print setting management unit 33 extracts the print settings of the print job stored in the input buffer 32 (step 601).

  Thereafter, the print setting management unit 33 causes the print engine control unit 37 to acquire the engine state information of the print engine 38 and stores it in the engine state management table 39 in order to acquire the engine state information at that time.

  The print setting management unit 33 acquires the engine state information stored in the engine state management table 39 (step 602), compares the extracted print setting with the engine state information, and prints the received print job. Whether printing is possible or not is determined in step 383.

  If the print setting management unit 33 determines that printing is not possible as a result of determining whether printing is possible (NO in step 603), the print setting of the print job is changed for the reason for determining that printing is impossible. It is then determined whether printing can be continued (step 604).

  If printing can be continued by changing the print settings of the print job (YES in step 604), the print setting management unit 33 notifies the PC 10 that has transmitted the print job that the print is not possible and print settings. And an option of whether to continue printing or cancel printing (step 605).

  Then, a reply to the content notified in step 605 is received from the PC 10 (step 606). If the reply from the PC 10 is a content for changing the print setting and continuing printing (YES in step 607), the print setting is set. The management unit 33 changes the print setting of the print job stored in the input buffer 32 to the content described in the reply received from the PC 10 in step 606 (step 608), and the print finally determined in this way is changed. The setting contents are notified to the PC 10 (step 609).

  The final determined print setting is, for example, “50 copies, size A3, no duplex setting, monochrome printing, no output destination designation”. When the PC 10 receives the final determined print setting, it is displayed on the PC 10 display. The received content is displayed, and the user can know the print settings for printing to be performed.

  When the print setting is determined, the image forming apparatus 30 generates image data for the print job stored in the input buffer 32 by the image generation unit 35 (step 610), and the generated image data is stored in the output buffer 36. Under the control of the engine control unit 37, the print engine 38 prints the image data stored in the output buffer 36 according to the print setting finally determined in step 608 (step 611).

  If printing is not possible even if the print settings of the received print job are changed in step 604 (NO in step 604), the print setting management unit 33 cannot print to the PC 10 that sent the print job. A notification is sent, and the processing in the image forming apparatus 30 is terminated (step 612).

  Even if printing is possible if the print settings of the received print job are changed, if the reply from the PC 10 in step 606 is the content of print cancellation (NO in step 607), the print setting management unit 33 performs printing. Is notified to the PC 10 (step 613), and the processing in the image forming apparatus 30 is terminated.

  If the print setting management unit 33 determines in step 603 that the received print job is printable (YES in step 603), then the print job image received and stored in the input buffer 32. Data is generated by the image generation unit 35 (step 610), the generated image data is stored in the output buffer 36, and printing of the image data stored in the output buffer 36 under the control of the engine control unit 37 is performed by the print engine 38. (Step 611).

  As described above, even if it is determined that the print job received by the image forming apparatus 30 cannot be printed, if the print setting can be continued by changing the print setting, the user can change the print setting and print. If it is desired to print on paper as soon as possible regardless of the output medium or color, it is possible to print on paper as soon as the user desires by changing the print settings after it is determined that printing is not possible at an early stage.

  Next, the PC 10 to which the image forming apparatus 30 has transmitted the print job in step 605 of FIG. 6 is notified of the notification that printing is not possible and the option to continue printing by changing the print settings or to cancel printing. The print setting change information display screen to be described will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 7 is a screen configuration diagram showing a print setting change information display screen 700 that the image forming apparatus 30 notifies the PC 10.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the print setting change information display screen 700 includes a content (reference number 701) indicating that printing is not possible, and whether to cancel printing or change printing settings and continue printing. Is displayed (reference number 702).

  The contents indicating that printing is not possible (reference number 701) include “the transmitted print job is not printable because the color toner is out of print”, the cause that it is determined that printing is impossible, and the fact that printing is impossible. Is displayed.

  Thus, the user can proceed with the printing process by changing the color / monochrome setting to monochrome printing in response to “color toner running out” which is the cause of the printing failure.

  The contents (reference number 702) for selecting whether to cancel printing or to continue printing after changing the print settings include a print cancel button 703 for canceling printing and a setting item for changing print settings. Are arranged with a plurality of setting change buttons.

  For example, when it is desired to perform printing at an early stage in response to “color toner exhaustion” which is the cause of the determination that printing is impossible, the color / monochrome setting change button 704 is selected from among a plurality of arranged setting change buttons. When the button is pressed, a color / monochrome setting change screen 705 is newly displayed. By selecting monochrome on the color / monochrome setting change screen 705, monochrome printing can be selected as a print setting.

  When the OK button 706 is pressed, the print setting changed to monochrome printing is transmitted as a reply to the image forming apparatus 30.

  In this embodiment as well, after it is determined that printing is possible in step 603 described with reference to FIG. 6 and printing is possible, image data is generated and at the same time it is determined that the print job can be printed and printing is performed. May be transmitted to the PC 10 that has transmitted the print job.

  In this embodiment, when the print setting management unit 33 of the image forming apparatus 30 determines that the received print job is not printable, it is determined that the print can be continued by further changing the print setting of the print job. When the image generation unit 35 generates image data of the print job in advance, the print setting management unit 33 notifies the user that the print setting can be changed and printing can be continued. Do.

  FIG. 8 shows the image of the print job in the image generation unit 35 when the image forming apparatus 30 determines that the received print job is not printable and can continue printing by changing the print setting of the print job. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process of generating data in advance and simultaneously notifying the user that the print setting can be continued by changing the print setting by the print setting management unit 33;

  When the image forming apparatus 30 receives the print job sent from the PC 10 at the I / F 31, the image forming apparatus 30 stores the received print job in the input buffer 32.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the print setting management unit 33 extracts the print settings of the print job stored in the input buffer 32 (step 801).

  Thereafter, the print setting management unit 33 causes the print engine control unit 37 to acquire the engine state information of the print engine 38 and stores it in the engine state management table 39 in order to acquire the engine state information at that time.

  The print setting management unit 33 acquires the engine state information stored in the engine state management table 39 (step 802), compares the extracted print settings with the engine state information, and prints the received print job. In step 803, it is determined whether printing is possible or not.

  If the print setting management unit 33 determines that printing is not possible as a result of determining whether printing is possible (NO in step 803), the print setting of the print job is changed for the reason for determining that printing is impossible. It is then determined whether printing can be continued (step 804).

  If the print setting management unit 33 determines that printing can be continued by changing the print settings of the print job (YES in step 804), the image generation unit 35 generates image data of the print job in advance. The print setting management unit 33 notifies the PC 10 that has transmitted the print job of the notification that printing is not possible and the option to continue printing or cancel printing by changing the print settings (step 805). ).

  As described above, in this embodiment, generation of image data is started in advance by the image generation unit 35 without waiting for a reply from the PC 10, and thus when the reply from the PC 10 changes the print setting and continues printing. Overall print processing time can be shortened.

  Then, a reply to the content notified in step 805 is received from the PC 10 (step 806). If the reply from the PC 10 is a content for changing the print setting and continuing printing (YES in step 807), the print setting is set. The management unit 33 changes the print setting of the print job stored in the input buffer 32 to the content described in the reply received from the PC 10 in step 806 (step 808), and the print finally determined in this way is changed. The setting contents are notified to the PC 10 (step 809).

  When the final print settings are determined, the image forming apparatus 30 checks in advance whether or not the generation of the image data started in step 805 is completed (step 810), and the generation of the image data is completed. If not (NO in step 810), the image generation unit 35 continues to generate image data for the print job (step 811).

  When the generation of the image data is completed in the image generation unit 35 (YES in step 810), the generated image data is stored in the output buffer 36, and finally determined in step 808 under the control of the engine control unit 37. The print engine 38 prints the image data stored in the output buffer 36 according to the print settings (step 812).

  As described above, in this embodiment, generation of image data is started in advance without waiting for a reply from the PC 10, so whether or not image data has already been generated or image data generation has been completed when continue printing is selected. As a result, the overall print processing time can be shortened.

  If it is determined in step 804 that printing is not possible even if the print settings of the received print job are changed (NO in step 804), the print setting management unit 33 sends the PC 10 that has transmitted the print job. A notification indicating that printing is not possible is sent to the image forming apparatus 30, and the processing in the image forming apparatus 30 is terminated (step 813).

  Even if printing is possible if the print settings of the received print job are changed (YES in step 804), if the response from the PC 10 in step 806 is the content of print cancellation (NO in step 807), the image The image data generated by the generation unit 35 is deleted (step 814), the print setting management unit 33 notifies the PC 10 that printing has been stopped (step 815), and the processing in the image forming apparatus 30 ends.

  If the print setting management unit 33 first determines in step 803 that the received print job is printable (YES in step 803), then the print job received and stored in the input buffer 32. Is generated by the image generation unit 35 (step 816), the generated image data is stored in the output buffer 36, and printing of the image data stored in the output buffer 36 is printed under the control of the engine control unit 37. This is performed by the engine 38 (step 812).

  In this embodiment as well, it is determined that printing is possible in step 803 and it is determined that printing is possible. After the image data is generated, the print job is determined to be printed when it is determined that printing is possible. You may make it transmit to PC10 which transmitted.

  A printing system 90 performed at a transmission terminal that transmits a print job to the image forming apparatus 30 will be described as a system for quickly determining whether or not a print job can be printed.

  First, the configuration of the printing system 90 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram showing the printing system 90.

  As shown in FIG. 9, in the printing system 90, the PC 40 and the image forming apparatus 30 are connected via the communication line 20.

  The PC 40 is a print job transmission terminal that generates a print job and transmits the print job to the image forming apparatus 30.

  Since the configuration of the image forming apparatus 30 is as described with reference to FIG. 1, the description is omitted to avoid duplication.

  The I / F 41 is connected to the communication line 20, transmits a print job to the image forming apparatus 30, and receives engine state information from the image forming apparatus 30.

  The job generation unit 42 generates a print job that can be printed by the image forming apparatus 30.

  The engine state management table 43 stores engine state information transmitted from the image forming apparatus 30.

  The print permission determination unit 44 extracts the print setting of the print job generated by the job generation unit 42 and compares the print setting with the engine state information of the image forming apparatus stored in the engine state management table 43 so that the print job is an image. It is determined whether printing can be performed by the forming apparatus 30.

  Here, the engine state information of the image forming apparatus 30 is the same as the content described with reference to FIG. 1, and thus the description thereof is omitted to avoid duplication.

  The print settings extracted from the print job are the same as the print settings extracted from the print job by the print setting management unit 33 described with reference to FIG. 2. In this embodiment, the print settings are extracted by the print availability determination unit 44. Is done.

  In the printing system 90 configured as described above, the print setting of the print job generated by the PC 40 is extracted by the print enable / disable determining unit 44, and the print enable / disable determination is performed before the print job is transmitted.

  Next, processing performed in the printing system 90 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing processing performed in the printing system 90.

  In the PC 40, when a print instruction is issued by the user and a print job is generated by the job generation unit 42 (step 1001), the print availability determination unit 44 transmits the engine status information of the image forming apparatus 30 via the I / F 41. An inquiry is made (step 1002).

  In the image forming apparatus 30, the print setting management unit 33 transmits engine state information stored in the engine state management table to the PC 40 via the I / F 31 (step 1003).

  When the PC 40 receives the engine state information, the engine state management table 43 stores the information (step 1004).

  Then, the printability determination unit 44 extracts the print setting from the print job generated by the job generation unit 42 and compares it with the engine status information stored in the engine status management table 43 to determine whether the print job can be printed. Judgment is made (step 1005).

  The print permission determination process performed by the print permission determination unit 44 is performed in the same manner as the print permission determination process performed by the print setting management unit 33 of the image forming apparatus 30 in the first to fourth embodiments. The engine status information is compared, and if the print setting 38 can be printed by the print engine 38 indicated by the engine status information, it is determined that printing is possible, and the print setting print is determined as the engine status. If printing cannot be performed by the print engine 38 indicated by the information, it is determined that printing is impossible.

  As a result, if it is determined that printing is possible (YES in step 1005), the print job determined to be printable by the print availability determination unit 44 is transmitted from the I / F 41 to the image forming apparatus 30 (step 1006).

  The image forming apparatus 30 to which the print job has been sent prints the received print job (step 1007).

  If it is determined in step 1005 that printing is not possible (NO in step 1005), it is displayed on the display (not shown) of the PC 40 that printing is not possible (step 1008).

  It should be noted that an image forming apparatus that has received a print job to which the identifier has been assigned is sent to the image forming apparatus 30 by adding an identifier indicating that printing is possible to the print job that has been determined to be printable by the PC 40. 30, the print setting management unit 33 determines that the print job to which the identifier is assigned can be printed, so that the print setting of the print job received by the image forming apparatus 30 and the engine status information are displayed. Printing can be performed without the print setting management unit 33 comparing to determine whether printing is possible.

  Note that the printing system 90 may be configured by connecting the PC 10 to the communication line 20.

  When the printing system 90 is configured with only the image forming apparatus 30 and the PC 40 connected to the communication line 20 without being connected to the PC 10, the print setting management unit 33 in the image forming apparatus 30 includes the engine. A function for transmitting the status information to the PC 40 may be provided, and a function for determining whether printing is possible may not be provided.

  The present invention can be used in an image forming apparatus that is connected to a network, receives a print job, and performs printing.

  According to the present invention, the print settings in the received print job are extracted before the image data generation and the print propriety determination is performed, so that the print propriety can be determined at an early stage and notified to the user.

1 is a configuration diagram showing a network configured by image forming apparatuses 30. FIG. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a print permission determination process performed by a print setting management unit 33. 6 is a flowchart showing a printing process in the image forming apparatus 30 that performs a printing impossible notification when printing is impossible. 6 is a flowchart illustrating printing processing in the image forming apparatus 30 that can continue printing processing by recovery processing when printing is impossible. The screen block diagram of the printing process continuation selection screen 500. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing of the image forming apparatus 30 that can continue printing processing by changing print settings when printing is impossible. 6 is a screen configuration diagram of a print setting change information display screen 700 and a color / monochrome setting change screen 705. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing processing of the image forming apparatus 30 that starts generation of image data in advance and notifies the user of options when printing is impossible. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a printing system 90. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing performed in the printing system 90.

Explanation of symbols

10, 10-1, 10-2,..., 10-N personal computer 20 network 30 image forming apparatus 31 interface 32 input buffer 33 print setting management unit 34 job management table 35 image generation unit 36 output buffer 37 engine control unit 38 Print engine 39 Engine state management table 40 Personal computer 41 Interface 42 Job generation unit 43 Engine state management table 44 Print availability determination unit 50 Print job 51 Print setting 55 Engine state information

Claims (7)

Print job reception means for receiving a print job, print image data generation means for generating print image data based on the print job received by the print job reception means, and printing based on the print image data generated by the print image data generation means In a printing apparatus having a print engine that executes
Print setting extraction means for extracting print settings from the print job received by the print job reception means;
Engine status information acquisition means for acquiring status information of the print engine;
Before the print image data is generated by the print image data generation means, the print settings extracted by the print setting extraction means are compared with the print engine status information acquired by the engine status information acquisition means. Print availability determination means for determining whether the print job can be printed by the print engine by:
A printing apparatus comprising: a printing impossibility notifying unit for notifying that the printing job is not printable when the printing permission determining unit determines that printing is impossible. The print processing of the corresponding print job is terminated without generating the print image data of the corresponding print job by the print image data generating unit when the print permission determination unit determines that the print is impossible. The printing apparatus according to 1. If it is determined that printing is not possible by the print permission determination unit, the print setting is changed to determine whether the print job can be printed. If printing is possible, the print image data generation unit determines whether the print job is The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein print image data is generated. If it is determined that printing is not possible by the print permission determination unit, it is determined whether to change the print settings and continue or end the print processing of the print job, change the print settings, and continue the print processing. If the print setting is changed, the print image data generation unit generates the print image data of the corresponding print job to continue the print process, and if the print process ends, the print image data generation unit The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing process of the print job is terminated without generating print image data of the print job. The print settings extracted by the print setting extraction unit are:
Including at least one of a paper size designated by the print job, a paper feed hopper, a paper type, color printing or monochrome printing, double-sided printing or single-sided printing,
The print engine status information acquired by the engine status information acquisition means is:
5. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one of a paper size, a paper type, a remaining amount of paper, a remaining amount of toner, a remaining amount of ink, and a full stack state of a discharge tray is included. Print job reception means for receiving a print job, print image data generation means for generating print image data based on the print job received by the print job reception means, and printing based on the print image data generated by the print image data generation means In a printing method performed by a printing apparatus having a print engine that executes
The print setting is extracted from the print job received by the print job receiving means by the print setting extracting means,
Obtaining the status information of the print engine by an engine status information acquisition means;
Before the print image data is generated by the print image data generation means, the print settings extracted by the print setting extraction means are compared with the print engine status information acquired by the engine status information acquisition means. To determine whether or not the print job can be printed by the print engine by the print permission / non-permission determining means
A printing method comprising: notifying that the print job is unprintable by the unprintable notifying unit when it is determined that the printing is impossible by the printing permission determining unit. The sending terminal that sends the print job to the printing device
Job generation means for generating a print job;
Print setting extraction means for extracting print settings from the print job received by the job generation means;
Engine information acquisition means for acquiring status information of a print engine that executes printing in the image forming apparatus from an image forming apparatus that is a transmission destination of the print job generated by the job generation means;
By comparing the print setting extracted by the print setting extraction unit and the status information of the print engine acquired by the engine status information acquisition unit, the print job extracted by the print setting extraction unit is A printability determination unit that determines whether or not printing is possible by an engine; and a transmission unit that transmits a print job determined to be printable by the printability determination unit to the printing apparatus,
The printing apparatus that receives a print job transmitted from the transmission terminal is:
Engine status information acquisition means for acquiring status information of a print engine that executes printing;
State information transmission means for transmitting the state information acquired by the engine state information acquisition means to the transmission terminal, and
A printing system including the transmission terminal and the printing apparatus.

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