JP2008230184A - Printer and network printing system using it - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To speed up an updated information acquisition process by eliminating an operation procedure to use a PC, and by automating acquisition and printing of updated data at the arbitrary time indicated only with a printer. <P>SOLUTION: The printer is provided with an RSS updated information acquisition means in its printer controller, and also has a printing controlling means to print only site updated information updated after the last connection. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that acquires and prints resources updated at any time on a network based on a predetermined communication protocol and access information, and a network printing system thereof.

  In recent years, personal computers (hereinafter referred to as personal computers) have been widely used in general households, and information distribution systems that distribute information desired by users have been implemented. A technology that actively pushes update information by RSS or the like has been adopted. ing. For example, it is possible to efficiently acquire only updated information by registering update information installed in an arbitrary website in an RSS reader or a web browser.

  When a user starts an application such as an RSS reader or a Web browser having an RSS subscription function and wants to obtain distributed information as a printed output, it is necessary to give a print instruction. For this reason, as disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, a technique for printing resources of a Web site designated only by a printing apparatus without using a personal computer is disclosed. Further, as disclosed in Patent Document 3, a method for processing Web site information with a unique algorithm is also disclosed.

JP 2006-256125 A JP 2004-074810 A JP 2006-140929 A

  As described above, when the information registered on the website is updated, a personal computer is used to obtain the updated information, and an application such as an RSS reader or a web browser having an RSS subscription function is used. The method is general, and it is necessary for the user to perform an operation of actively acquiring updated information using the application. However, the update execution times of these websites are irregular, and the user Since it is not always updated at the time of using the personal computer, the only way to obtain the update information in real time is for the user to always monitor from the personal computer.

  In order to solve the above problems, a printing apparatus of the present invention is specified in a printing apparatus that is connected to a network that performs network communication according to a predetermined communication protocol, and that acquires various resources on the network and executes printing. Update information acquisition control means for accessing the information distribution server or website and acquiring site update information, network connection control means having an interface for setting a time for acquiring the site update information, and the acquired site update information Is automatically acquired at a designated time, and an image of the acquired resource is developed and printed on recording paper.

  Moreover, when acquiring update information of the information distribution server designated by the user, based on the control means for selecting only unacquired update information excluding the previously acquired information, and one or more site update information, A layout processing means for generating print information according to a predetermined rule is provided.

  The information processing apparatus may further include control means for individually setting an update information acquisition time from the designated information distribution server and a time for printing the acquired resource on a recording sheet.

  In the network printing system of the present invention, in the printing apparatus described above, the designated information distribution server or Web site is a server that distributes update information using RSS (RDF Site Summary) feed information. Features.

  According to the present invention, as a means for acquiring site update information of a specified Web site on the Internet, use of a conventional personal computer can be eliminated, and acquisition and printing of update information can be completed by a printing apparatus alone. For this reason, it is possible to speed up the update information acquisition process by omitting the operation procedure using a personal computer and automating the acquisition and printing of update data at an arbitrary time designated only by the printing apparatus.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of the configuration of a network-connected printing apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

  A printing apparatus 1 having a communication function is configured to be connected to a network 20 including the Internet.

  Connected to the network 20 are a website A31 and a website B32 for distributing RSS feed information. The number of websites is equivalent to the number of websites registered by the user for acquiring site update information, but in the figure, for simplification, the two sites are omitted. The printing apparatus 1 connected to the network 20 accesses the designated website A31 or website B32 by designating a predetermined URL (Uniform Resource Locator), acquires RSS update information, and HTML (HyperText Markup Language). ) Can be converted into a format and displayed or printed.

  As shown in this figure, the printing apparatus 1 includes a CPU, a RAM, and an HDD, acquires site update information from a website A31 or a website B32 connected to the network 20, and converts the information into an HTML format. Unit 10, a user interface unit 11 that receives instructions from a user, displays changes or status of settings of the printing apparatus 1, and a Web interface that uses functions equivalent to the user interface unit 11 in a Web browser of a personal computer Unit 12, a calendar / timer setting unit 13 that can automatically set the current time by accessing a time server on the Internet and set the operation time of various functions, and the acquired site update information is converted into a database and in HTML format The database processing unit 14 managed by the A storage device 15 that stores programs and external resources, a print data expansion processing unit 16 that converts data in HTML format converted by the RSS update information processing unit 10 into a printer language that can be printed by the printer, and printing by the engine unit The engine control unit 17 controls the operation, and the print engine unit 18 performs printing based on the image data.

  The RSS update information processing unit 10 acquires update information of the website A31 or the website B32 connected to the network 20 from URL information designated by the user from the user interface unit 11 or the web interface unit 12, and the previously acquired data and Only the unacquired update information is selected by comparison, and the acquired resource is converted into the HTML format.

  The user interface unit 11 is configured using, for example, a display panel device provided with a liquid crystal display device and buttons.

  The web interface unit 12 is a web server function that displays the setting contents or status of the printing apparatus 1 using a web browser of a personal computer.

  The calendar / timer setting unit 13 includes a calendar function unit for acquiring the current time from a time server on the Internet and a timer setting unit that can set operation times of various functions of the printing apparatus 1. Detailed settings of the calendar unit and the timer unit can be set from the user interface unit 11 or the Web interface unit 12.

  The database processing unit 14 converts the site update information converted into the HTML format generated by the RSS update information processing unit 10 into a database in HTML format for each user, acquisition destination website, and acquisition time.

  The storage device 15 is configured using a hard disk device or the like, and stores the startup program of the printing device 1, saves external resources including font data, and acquires HTML resources generated by the RSS update information processing unit 10. Save every time.

  The print data expansion processing unit 16 uses the recording paper size designated by the user interface unit 11 or the Web interface unit 12 in order to print the HTML resource generated by the RSS update information processing unit 10 by the print engine unit 18. Perform image expansion processing.

  The engine control unit 17 controls printing processing such as printing operation and error processing in the print engine unit 18. In addition, the user interface unit 11 or the Web interface unit 12 executes paper feed / discharge control from the paper feed tray and paper discharge tray specified by the user.

  The print engine unit 18 includes a printing mechanism, a paper supply / discharge mechanism, and the like, and is a laser-type or inkjet-type color or monochrome printer that performs printing on recording paper set in the printing apparatus 1.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation example from obtaining update information of an arbitrary designated Web site to printing automatically at a specified time.

  The laser or inkjet printer used in the present invention includes a plurality of paper feed trays, and the attribute information (paper size, etc.) of the paper set in the paper feed tray is displayed in the user interface unit 11 in FIG. The printer includes a network interface that can be set from the Web interface unit 12 and can be connected to a network including the Internet.

  In step S <b> 1, the user provides from a display panel device provided in the user interface unit 11 or a personal computer connected to the printing device 1 via the network 20 from a web server built in the web interface unit 12 of the printing device 1. The web page is accessed, and the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) data is input.

  The user interface unit 11 or the Web interface unit 12 acquires URL information (the address of the Web site for which each user wants to acquire site update information) input by the user, and stores the user name and URL data in the storage device 15 ( Register and save).

  In step S 2, the time / acquisition interval (timing) for acquiring the update information of the website registered by the user in step S 1 from the user interface unit 11 or the web interface unit 12 is set / registered in the calendar / timer setting unit 13.

  In step S3, settings related to printing of the site update information acquired in steps S1 and S2 are set from the user interface unit 11 or the web interface unit 12.

  The update information acquisition time, the presence / absence of printing, the printing time, and the setting function for the paper size and paper supply / discharge tray at the time of printing are provided for each Web site registered in step S1. Can be set.

  In step S4, the calendar / timer setting unit 13 monitors whether it is the time set in step S3 described above. If the update information acquisition set time or the set acquisition interval (timing) is reached, the process proceeds to step S5. If the update information acquisition set time or acquisition interval has not been reached, the process proceeds to step S6.

  In step S5, it is determined whether or not the website for which update information is to be acquired in step S1 is registered. If one or more websites are registered, the process proceeds to step S6. If no website is registered, the process ends.

  When the set update information acquisition time or update information acquisition interval is reached in step S6, or when update information is delivered by the RSS feed from the website registered in step S1 described above, in step S1 described above The RSS update information processing unit 10 acquires update data by connecting to the registered website. If there is a difference between the update data and the previous acquired data, only the difference is acquired and the process proceeds to step S7. When there is no update information, or when there is no difference compared with the update acquisition data acquired last time, the process proceeds to step S4.

  In step S7, the acquired update information is converted into an HTML (Uniform Resource Locator) format by the RSS update information processing unit 10, and the process proceeds to step S8. The converted HTML data can be displayed by an application such as a web browser that can be used on a personal computer connected to the network 20. When the user designates the IP address of the printing device in the URL of a web browser such as a personal computer, the web server of the printing device is activated, a link destination to the latest update information acquired in step S7 from the web page, and a step described later A button linked to the database constructed in S9 is displayed. When the link destination button to the latest acquired information is pressed, a Web page composed of the HTML data converted into the HTML format described above is displayed.

  In step S8, the presence / absence of print data is detected based on the print settings set in step S3. If there is update information data to be printed, the process proceeds to step S9.

  In step S 9, the update information data converted into the HTML format in step S 7 described above is converted into a database in the HTML format by the database processing unit 14 and stored in the storage device 15. The database is composed of the user name and URL data registered in step S1, the update information converted into HTML format in step S7, and the time information when the update information was acquired, and the information is converted and stored in HTML format. To do. The database information is displayed on a Web page provided by the Web server function of the printing apparatus, and when a link destination button to the database is pressed, a Web page composed of a database constructed in the HTML format is displayed.

  The database is defined to be searchable for each website, user, and update date and time, and the access right to the database is set so that each item can be individually set for each user from an account with administrator authority. The

  In step S10, the HTML data generated in step S7 described above is converted into a printer language by the print data expansion processing unit 16, and an image expansion process capable of printing by the print engine unit 18 is performed. The developed image is configured together with the header information of the print page. The header information includes a user name, URL data, a website name, update information acquisition date / time, printing date / time, and the like. Whether or not each information is printed is set for each user by the operation of the user interface unit 11 or the Web interface unit 12, and whether or not each information is printed for each user is also recorded in the storage device 15.

  In step S11, the printer is ready for printing and printing is started.

  As described in the above embodiment, the present invention automatically obtains update information of a specified arbitrary website without using a personal computer by having a site update information acquisition means in the printing apparatus. I can do it.

  In addition, since it has a control unit for selecting only the update data of the site update information acquisition unit and includes a layout processing unit, it is a time distributed by an RSS feed or the like, or an arbitrary set time specified by the user In addition, only updated and unacquired information can be printed or converted into HTML data, and an operation process for using an application such as a Web browser or browsing as a printed material can be automated.

  In addition, the site update information is acquired by control means (calendar function built in the printer control device) for individually setting the site update information acquisition time from the information distribution server and the time for printing the acquired resource on the recording paper. Acquisition and printing operation can be executed individually or simultaneously at specified times, and the printed site update information can be viewed without using a personal computer.

  In addition, since the information distribution server or website is a server that distributes update information using RSS (RDF Site Summary), the update information is updated by the RSS feed information when the information distribution server or website side is updated. Therefore, the immediacy of the update information of the information distribution server or the website is improved, and it becomes possible to efficiently acquire only the updated information.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of a network-connected printing apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the operation example until it acquires the update information (RSS) of the designated arbitrary websites, and prints it automatically at the designated time.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printing apparatus, 10 ... RSS update information processing part, 11 ... User interface part, 12 ... Web interface part, 13 ... Calendar / timer setting part, 14 ... Database processing part, 15 ... Storage device, 16 ... Print data expansion | deployment process , 17 ... engine control unit, 18 ... print engine unit, 20 ... network, 31 ... Web site A, 32 ... Web site B.

Claims (4)

In a printing apparatus that is connected to a network that performs network communication in accordance with a predetermined communication protocol, acquires various resources on the network, and executes printing.
Update information acquisition control means for acquiring site update information by accessing a specified information distribution server or website;
Network connection control means comprising an interface for setting a time for acquiring the site update information;
A printing apparatus comprising: a printing unit that automatically obtains the obtained site update information at a specified time, develops an image of the obtained resource, and prints it on a recording sheet. In the printing apparatus according to claim 1, when acquiring site update information of an information distribution server designated by a user, a control unit that selects only unacquired update information excluding previous acquired information;
A printing apparatus comprising layout processing means for generating print information according to a predetermined rule based on one or a plurality of site update information.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit that individually sets a site update information acquisition time from the designated information distribution server and a time for printing the acquired resource on a recording sheet. A printing device.   4. The network printing system using the printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the specified information distribution server or Web site distributes update information using RSS (RDF Site Summary) feed information. 5. A network printing system characterized by being a server.

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