JP2008221639A - Job processor capable of providing client with notification associated with job execution time, and system having the job processor and its client - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the possibility that a job processor of a printer etc. can complete a job by a time expected by a user. <P>SOLUTION: The client 5 notifies the printer 3 of an expected time 33 associated with a certain job and input by the user. Before the job is actually executed, the printer 3 estimates a time for the execution of the job, predicts whether or not the estimated time is delayed from the expected time, and transmits a delay notification 43 on the basis of a predicted effect to the clienet 5. The client displays the delay notification 43. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a job processing apparatus that receives a job from a client, such as a printer, and a system including such a job processing apparatus and a client, and more particularly, to report information related to a job execution time from the job processing apparatus to the client. Related to technology.

  In Patent Document 1, in a system in which a network printer, which is an example of this type of job processing apparatus, and a printer server are combined, the printer server estimates a printing time required for a print job received from a client, and all printing is performed. Notifying a client of an estimated print time of a job and preferentially printing a document with a short print time are disclosed.

JP 2000-353060 A

  According to the above-described prior art, there is a problem in that a print job with a low priority has a printing order that is delayed one after another, and the user may not be able to obtain a printed matter when he / she expects. A similar problem is not limited to a printer, but may be other types of job processing apparatuses that require a certain amount of time to execute a job.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to improve the possibility that a job can be completed by the time expected by the user in the job processing apparatus.

  A system according to one aspect of the present invention includes a client that generates a job, and a job processing device that receives and executes the job from the client, and the client determines an expected time for a specific job from a user. The job processing apparatus comprising: a time input means for inputting; a time notification means for notifying the job processing apparatus of the input expected time; and a notification display means for receiving and displaying a delay notification from the job processing apparatus. A time receiving means for receiving a notification of the expected time from the client, and a time when the specific job is to be executed before the specific job is actually executed. A prediction means for predicting whether or not to delay from the time; and a delay for transmitting the delay notification to the client in response to the prediction means. And a notification means.

  According to this system, the client receives a notification from the job processing apparatus whether execution of a certain job is delayed from the time expected by the user, and displays this notification. In response to the displayed notification, for example, it becomes easy for the user to perform a response such as requesting the job to another job processing apparatus, so that the possibility of completing the job by the expected time is improved. .

  The system may include a plurality of the job processing devices. The time notification unit of the client may be configured to send the notification of the expected time in parallel to the plurality of job processing devices. As a result, a notification can be obtained from a plurality of job processing devices as to whether or not the execution of the job is delayed from the expected time. Therefore, for the user, a job processing device that does not cause a delay is selected, and the job processing device can receive the job It is easy to request execution.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, a job processing apparatus for receiving and executing a job from a client includes time receiving means for receiving a notification of an expected time for a specific job from the client, and the specific reception received from the client. In response to the prediction means, a prediction means for predicting whether or not the time that the specific job will be executed is delayed from the notified expected time before the job is actually executed. Delay notification means for transmitting the delay notification to the client.

  This job processing apparatus notifies the client whether execution of a certain job is delayed from the time expected by the user. In response to the notification, for example, the user can easily perform a response such as requesting the job to another job processing apparatus, so that the possibility that the job will be completed by the expected time is improved.

  In a preferred embodiment of the job processing apparatus, the predicting means includes a calculating means for calculating an estimated time, which is an estimated time for completion or start of execution of the specific job, and the calculated Determination means for determining whether or not the estimated time is delayed from the expected time, and the delay notification means transmits the delay notification in response to the determination means.

  In a preferred embodiment, the calculation means further calculates a difference between the estimated time and the expected time, and the delay notification means includes the calculated difference in the delay notification.

  In a preferred embodiment, the calculation means is required to execute each of the waiting jobs when waiting for one or more waiting jobs to be executed in a predetermined execution order in the job processing apparatus. Job time estimating means for estimating a job time that is a time; and means for calculating the estimated time based on the job time estimated for the waiting job that is in the order of execution before the specific job in the execution order. Have.

  In a preferred embodiment, the job time estimating means grasps the job attribute of each waiting job and estimates the job time of each waiting job based on the grasped job attribute.

  In a preferred embodiment, when the job is a print job, the job attributes include monochrome printing or color printing classification, double-sided printing or single-sided printing classification, print paper size, and number of printed pages. Including.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, a method for notifying a client of information related to job execution from a job processing apparatus to a client includes: a step in which the client inputs an expected time for a specific job; A step of notifying the job processing apparatus of the input expected time, and a time when the job processing apparatus is to execute the specific job before the specific job is actually executed. Predicting whether to delay from the expected time notified from the client, the job processing device transmitting a delay notification to the client in response to the prediction result, and the client Displaying the delay notification from the job processing apparatus.

  According to the present invention, the possibility of completing a job by the time expected by the user is improved.

  FIG. 1 shows a printing system 1 including a printer 3 as a peripheral device according to an embodiment of the present invention and a client (for example, a general-purpose computer, a digital camera, a mobile phone, etc.) 5 that transmits a print job to the printer 1. The overall configuration of is shown.

  The printer 3 and the client 5 can communicate with each other via a communication network or a dedicated cable. Although the printer 3 is described here as a single device, it may be a system composed of a combination of a plurality of devices such as a printer and a printer server.

  The client 5 includes a printer driver 7 for communicating with the printer driver 7 and the printer 3. The printer driver 7 includes a job generation / transmission unit 11, a time input unit 13, a completion time request unit 15, and a delay display unit 17 as functions related to the present invention. The printer 3 includes a job reception standby unit 21, a job execution unit 23, a job time estimation unit 25, and a delay determination unit 27 as functions related to the present invention.

  In response to a print request from the user, the job generation / transmission unit 11 of the client 5 receives document data of a specific print job from an application program (not shown), and receives the specific print from the received document data. Print job data 31 for the job is generated, and the print job data 31 is transmitted to the printer 3.

  In response to the job generation / transmission unit 11, the time input unit 13 completes execution of the print job expected by the user for the specific print job (for example, when the print job data 31 is transmitted to the printer 1 or The user's expected value for the length of time from the current time until the printout of all pages of the print job has been output, or the time at which the printout of all pages has been output) (hereinafter referred to as “expected completion time”) 33, The user inputs the expected completion time 33 input by the user and sends it to the completion time request unit 15. Here, typically, the time when the user inputs the expected completion time 33 can be selected before the job generation transmission unit 11 starts generating the print job data 31 of the specific print job. This is not necessarily the case, and it may be during generation of the print job data 31 or after transmission of the print job data 31. The completion time request unit 15 generates a completion time request 35 incorporating the expected completion time 33 for the specific print job, and the completion time request 35 is generated by a predetermined method (for example, identification information of the print job data 31). Is transmitted to the printer 3 in a form associated with the print job data 31 by a method such as incorporating the completion time request 35 into the completion time request 35 or incorporating the completion time request 35 into the print job data 31 itself. The transmitted completion time request 35 is received by the delay determination unit 27 of the printer 3.

  In the printer 3, the job reception standby unit 21 receives the print job data 31 from the client 5, stores the received print job data 31, and registers the print job in a job queue (not shown). The job execution unit 23 extracts one print job having the first print order from the job queue, reads the print job data 37 of the extracted print job from the job reception standby unit 21, and then reads the read print job Data 37 is interpreted and printing is executed. The job execution unit 23 repeats the above operation as long as one or more print jobs exist in the job queue.

  In the printer 3, the job time estimation unit 25 also grasps which specific print job is associated with the completion time request 35 transmitted from the client 5, and the specific job in the job reception waiting unit 21. From the print job data 31 of the print job (for example, from the header of the print job data 31), the attribute (hereinafter referred to as “job attribute”) 39 of the specific print job is grasped, and the specification based on the job attribute 39 The time required for executing the print job (that is, the time required from the time when the print job data 31 is read into the job execution unit 23 until the output of all printed pages of the print job is completed) is estimated. Here, the above-described job attribute 39 is an attribute of the print job that affects the print job execution time. For example, in this embodiment, the print job mode (for example, monochrome printing or color printing, Including a classification of single-sided printing or double-sided printing and a classification of the size of the printing paper) and the amount of a print job (for example, the number of pages of a printed material). The job time estimation unit 25 notifies the delay determination unit 27 of a print job execution time (hereinafter referred to as “estimated job time”) 41 estimated for the specific print job.

  The delay determination unit 27 determines the estimated job time 41 of the specific print job notified from the job time estimation unit 25 and the estimated job time 41 of other print jobs whose printing order is earlier than the specific print job. Based on this, the time for which the execution of the specific print job is completed (for example, the waiting time until the execution of the print job is completed from the present time or the time when the execution of the print job is completed) is estimated. The delay determination unit 27 includes the estimated execution completion time of the specific print job (hereinafter referred to as “estimated completion time”) and the specific print job completion time request 35 received from the client 5. Is compared with the expected completion time 33 to determine whether the estimated completion time of the print job is later than the expected completion time 33. When it is determined that the estimated completion time is later than the expected completion time 33, the delay determination unit 27 transmits a delay notification 43 for notifying the user that the estimated printing completion time is delayed from the expected completion time to the client 5. To do. Here, the delay notification 43 preferably includes not only a delay but also information on a difference (delay time) between the estimated print completion time and the expected completion time. When it is determined that the estimated completion time is earlier than the expected completion time 33, the delay determination unit 27 does not transmit any notification to the client 5 in the present embodiment. A notification for notifying the user that printing is completed may be transmitted to the client 5.

  In the client 5, the delay display unit 17 receives the delay notification 43 from the printer 3 and displays it on the display screen (not shown) of the client 5. The user can know from the displayed delay notification 43 that the completion of the specific print job is delayed from the expected completion time. When the delay notification 43 includes a delay time, the user can also know how long the delay time is. As a result, the user cancels the print job data 31 that has been transmitted to the printer 3 without delay, or transmits the print job data 31 to another printer (not shown) that can communicate with the client 5. You can make corrections and options. Therefore, the possibility of completing the print job by the time expected by the user is improved. Note that since a known method can be adopted as a method of canceling a print job or a method of re-sending to another printer, description of those methods is omitted in this specification.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of the functional configuration inside the job time estimation unit 25 in the printer 3 shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the job time estimation unit 25 includes a nominal unit job time storage unit 51, a job amount grasping unit 53, and a job time calculation unit 55.

  The nominal unit job time storage unit 51 stores a nominal unit job time 61 set in advance for each of various modes of print jobs (hereinafter referred to as “job mode”). Here, the nominal unit job time is a nominal value or an average value of the time (unit job time) required to execute a print job of a predetermined unit amount (for example, one page). The job mode is a print job attribute that causes the unit job time to change. For example, the classification of monochrome printing or color printing, the classification of single-sided printing or double-sided printing, the classification of the size of printing paper, It is a variation of the combination. The nominal unit job time 61 in each job mode may be a specific time value such as how many seconds as illustrated in FIG. 2, or a relative value based on a predetermined time. (For example, only in monochrome, single-sided, and A4 size job modes, a specific time value is set as a reference time, and in other job modes, a ratio to the reference value is set).

  The job amount grasping unit 53 uses the job attribute 39 described in the print job data 31 of the specific print job in the job reception waiting unit 21 shown in FIG. The number of pages to be obtained) (hereinafter referred to as “job amount”) 63 is grasped, and the grasped job amount 63 is notified to the job time calculation unit 55.

  The job time function calculating unit 55 grasps the job mode of the specific print job from the job attribute 39 of the specific print job described above, and stores the nominal unit job time 65 of the grasped job mode in the nominal unit job time storage. Read from the unit 51. Then, the job time function calculation unit 55 multiplies the read nominal unit job time 65 by the notified job amount 63 to estimate the estimated job time of the specific print job (that is, execution of the print job data 31). (Estimated value of time required) 41) is calculated. The calculated estimated job time 41 is notified to the delay determining unit 27 as described above.

  In addition to the method described above, a plurality of methods are known as the job time estimation method, and those known methods may be employed instead of or in combination with the method described above.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of the functional configuration inside the delay determination unit 27.

  As illustrated in FIG. 3, the delay determination unit 27 includes an incomplete job time storage unit 71, an expected completion time storage unit 73, a total waiting time calculation unit 75, a comparison unit 77, and a notification unit 79.

  The incomplete job time storage unit 71 stores the estimated job time 41 of each print job notified from the job time estimation unit 25. The incomplete job time storage unit 71 stores incomplete print jobs in the print jobs received so far (typically, for example, all print jobs currently present in the above-described job queue and the current executions). The estimated job time 81 of each of the print jobs in the form associated with the print job in a predetermined manner (eg, with each print job identification (hereinafter referred to as a “job ID”) 82). Saved.

  The expected completion time storage unit 73 receives the completion time request 35 for the specific print job from the client 5, extracts the expected completion time 83 from the received completion time request 35, Stored in a predetermined manner in association with the specific print job (for example, together with the identification (hereinafter referred to as “job ID”) 85 of the print job).

  The total waiting time calculation unit 75 grasps which specific print job corresponds to the expected completion time 83 stored in the expected completion time storage unit 73 (for example, a job ID 85 corresponding to the expected completion time 83). Is read from the expected completion time storage unit 73), and an uncompleted print job whose printing order is ahead of the specific print job is identified by referring to, for example, a job queue (not shown). To do. Then, the total waiting time calculation unit 75 reads from the incomplete job time storage unit 71 the estimated job time 87 of each of the identified specific print job and the uncompleted print job that precedes the print order. By adding all the estimated job times 87 that have been read, the waiting time (hereinafter referred to as “total waiting time”) from the current time until the execution of the specific print job is completed is calculated. The total waiting time is notified to the comparison unit 77 as the estimated completion time 89 of the specific print job.

  The comparison unit 77 reads the expected completion time 83 of the specific print job from the expected completion time storage unit 73, compares the read expected completion time 83 with the notified estimated completion time 89, and compares the result. 91 (ie, whether or not the estimated completion time 89 is later (longer) than the expected completion time 83 and / or the difference between both times 41 and 83) is notified to the notification unit 79.

  When the comparison result 91 indicates that the estimated completion time 89 is later (longer) than the expected completion time 83, the notification unit 79 transmits a delay notification 43 to the client 5. As described above, the delay notification 43 may also include the difference between the estimated completion time 89 and the expected completion time 83 (the length of the delay time).

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, the said embodiment is not the same as midnight for description of this invention, and is not the meaning which limits the scope of the present invention to the said embodiment. The present invention can be implemented in a form different from the above-described embodiment without departing from the gist thereof.

  For example, in the above embodiment, focusing on “completion” of job execution, the estimated “completion” time of the job is calculated, and it is determined whether or not the estimated completion time is in time for the time expected by the user. However, as a modification, focusing on the “start” time of job execution, the estimated “start” time of the job may be calculated, and a similar determination may be made for the estimated start time, or Instead of strictly distinguishing between “start” and “completion” of a job, it is possible to estimate the approximate time during which the “execution” of the job is performed, and make a similar determination regarding the estimated “execution” time.

  As another modification, in a system in which the client 5 can communicate with a plurality of printers, the client 5 notifies the plurality of printers of the time expected by the user in parallel, and the plurality of printers concurrently You may make it receive the notification of whether it delays in expected time. For example, before sending the print job data 31 of a certain print job, the client 5 sends time requests including the expected time input by the user to a plurality of printers (in this case, since the print job is not yet sent, The time request need not be associated with the print job as in the above embodiment). Each printer calculates the estimated “start” time of the print job assuming that it has received the print job data (this is the job of the waiting job already waiting for execution in each printer) It can be calculated from the time), it is determined whether the estimated start time is delayed from the expected time, the determination result is notified to the client 5, and the client 5 displays the loss determination result. The user sees the display, selects a printer that is considered to be in time for the expected time, and sends the print job data 31 to the printer. This improves the possibility that the job can be completed within the expected time.

  The present invention can be applied not only to a printer or a print system that executes a print job as in the above-described embodiment, but also to an apparatus that executes another type of job (for example, various machining and information processing). is there.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a printing system 1 including a printer 3 as a peripheral device according to an embodiment of the present invention and a client 3 that transmits a print job to the printer 1. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of an internal configuration of a job time estimation unit 25 in the printer 3 shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of an internal configuration of a delay determination unit 27 in the printer 3 shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Print system, 3 Printer, 5 Client, 13 time input part, 15 Completion time request part, 17 Delay display part, 21 Job reception waiting part, 25 Job time estimation part, 27 Delay judgment part, 33 Expected completion time, 35 Completion Time request, 39 Job attribute, 41 Estimated job time, 43 Delay notification, 51 Nominal unit job time storage unit, 53 Job amount grasping unit, 55 Job time calculation unit, 71 Incomplete job time storage unit, 73 Expected completion time storage unit 75 Total waiting time calculation section, 77 Comparison section, 79 Notification section.

Claims (9)

In a system comprising a client that generates a job, and a job processing device for receiving and executing the job from the client,
The client
A time input means for inputting an expected time for a specific job from a user;
Time notification means for notifying the job processing apparatus of the input expected time;
Notification display means for receiving and displaying a delay notification from the job processing device,
The job processing device includes:
Time receiving means for receiving notification of the expected time from the client;
Predicting means for predicting whether or not the time at which the specific job is to be executed is delayed from the notified expected time before the specific job is actually executed;
A delay notification means for transmitting the delay notification to the client in response to the prediction means. The system of claim 1, wherein
A plurality of the job processing devices;
A system in which the time notification unit of the client sends notification of the expected time in parallel to the plurality of job processing devices. In a job processing device that receives and executes a job from a client,
Time receiving means for receiving notification of expected time for a specific job from the client;
Prediction means for predicting whether or not the time at which the specific job is to be executed is delayed from the notified expected time before the specific job received from the client is actually executed When,
A job processing apparatus comprising: delay notification means for transmitting the delay notification to the client in response to the prediction means. The job processing apparatus according to claim 3.
The prediction means includes
Calculating means for calculating an estimated time, which is an estimated time to complete or start, when execution of the specific job is performed;
Determining means for determining whether or not the calculated estimated time is delayed from the expected time;
The delay notification unit is a job processing apparatus that transmits the delay notification in response to the determination unit. The job processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein
The calculating means further calculates a difference between the estimated time and the expected time;
The delay notification unit is a job processing apparatus that includes the calculated difference in the delay notification. The job processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein
The calculating means includes
Job time estimating means for estimating a job time that is required for each of the waiting jobs when one or more waiting jobs are waiting to be executed in a predetermined execution order in the job processing apparatus; ,
A job processing apparatus comprising: means for calculating the estimated time based on the job time estimated for the waiting job in the execution order before the specific job. The job processing apparatus according to claim 6.
The job time estimation unit is a job processing apparatus that grasps job attributes of each waiting job and estimates the job time of each waiting job based on the grasped job attributes. The job processing apparatus according to claim 7.
When the job is a print job, the job attribute includes a classification of monochrome printing or color printing, a classification of double-sided printing or single-sided printing, a classification of the size of printing paper, and the number of printed pages. Method for notifying a client of information relating to execution of a job from the job processing device to a client in a system comprising a client that generates a job and a job processing device for receiving and executing the job from the client In
The client inputs an expected time for a specific job from a user;
The client notifying the job processing apparatus of the input expected time;
The job processing apparatus predicts whether the time that the specific job is to be executed is delayed from the expected time notified from the client before the specific job is actually executed. And steps to
The job processing device sending a delay notification to the client in response to the prediction result;
The client displaying the delay notification from the job processing device.

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