JP2010042631A - Printing system and printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing system and a printer which display CO2 emissions. <P>SOLUTION: In the printing system 3, a computer 1 accepts a setting to display the CO2 emissions upon a printing processing by the printer 2, then, transmits printing data together with the setting to display the CO2 emissions to the printer 2. When the printer 2 receives the printing data and the setting to display the CO2 emissions, the printer 2 carries out the printing processing based on the printing data, also, calculates the CO2 emissions resulting from the printing processing, and transmits the calculated CO2 emissions to the computer 1. The computer 1 displays the CO2 emissions transmitted from the printer 2 on the display. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system and a printing apparatus.

  In recent years, interest in environmental problems of organizations such as companies has increased, and for example, various techniques for reducing power consumption of printing apparatuses such as printers, copiers, and multifunction peripherals have been developed.

  In addition, a technique for displaying information on power consumption for each print job executed by a printer on a computer in order to improve the user's awareness of energy saving is known (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2002-297715 A

  By the way, in recent years, the issue of global warming has attracted more and more attention, and not only organizations such as corporations but also individuals are raising awareness of CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions.

  However, the technique of Patent Document 1 only displays information about power consumption, and cannot meet the user's desire to know the CO2 emission amount.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for displaying the CO2 emission amount.

  One aspect of the invention for solving the above-described problem is a printing system including a printing apparatus and a computer, and the computer performs setting for displaying the CO2 emission amount of a printing process executed by the printing apparatus. A setting reception unit that receives the print data, and a print data generation unit that generates print data and transmits the print data to the printing apparatus together with the setting. The printing apparatus executes a printing process based on the print data; And a discharge amount calculating means for calculating a CO2 emission amount of the printing process and transmitting it to the computer when the setting is received, and the setting receiving means is configured to transmit the setting information received from the printing apparatus. It is characterized by displaying the CO2 emission amount.

  Here, in the above printing system, the printer includes a time measuring unit that measures a processing time of the printing process, and the setting receiving unit receives a setting of a CO2 emission coefficient, and the emission amount calculating unit Calculating the CO2 emission amount based on the power corresponding to the printing condition specified from the print data, the measured processing time of the printing process, and the CO2 emission coefficient. Good.

  Further, in the above printing system, the emission amount calculation unit calculates a cumulative value of the CO2 emission amount calculated during a predetermined period and transmits the cumulative value to the computer, and the setting reception unit includes the printing system. The cumulative value transmitted from the apparatus may be displayed.

  Another aspect of the invention for solving the above-described problem is a printing apparatus, a setting reception unit that receives a setting for displaying the CO2 emission amount of the printing process, print data to be printed, and printing Print data generation means for generating data; printing means for executing print processing based on the print data; and emission amount calculation means for calculating the CO2 emission amount of the print processing when the setting is accepted; And the setting receiving means displays the calculated CO2 emission amount.

  Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the system configuration and functional configuration of a printing system 3 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in the figure, the printing system 3 includes a computer 1 and a printer 2. The computer 1 and the printer 2 are connected via a network such as a LAN, for example.

  The computer 1 has a printer driver unit 100. The printer driver unit 100 receives a print instruction from a user via an application program that creates data to be printed, and generates print data. Further, the generated print data is transmitted to the printer 2 to cause the printer 2 to execute printing. Further, the CO2 emission amount sent from the printer 2 is displayed.

  The printer driver unit 100 includes a setting reception unit 110 and a print data generation unit 120.

  When the printer driver unit 100 is activated by a user operation via an input device such as a mouse, the setting reception unit 110 performs various print settings (for example, duplex printing, simplex printing, color printing, monochrome printing, enlargement, reduction). Etc.) is displayed on the display device. In addition, various print settings input on the user interface screen by the user's operation are accepted.

  The setting reception unit 110 receives a print instruction (for example, the number of copies, a print page, data to be printed, and the like) from the application program. Then, the received various print settings and print instructions are sent to the print data generation unit 120.

  Here, the setting receiving unit 110 receives the setting for displaying the CO2 emission amount and the value of the CO2 emission coefficient as print settings via the user interface screen. Further, the CO 2 emission amount sent from the printer 2 is displayed on the display device. The CO2 emission coefficient is a value used for calculation of the CO2 emission amount, and is a value disclosed by an electric power company or the like.

  The print data generation unit 120 generates print data that can be interpreted by the printer 2 in accordance with the contents of various print settings and print instructions sent from the setting reception unit 110. The generated print data includes, for example, a print control command group corresponding to various print settings and the contents of the print instruction, data to be printed, and the like. The print data generation unit 120 transmits the generated print data to the printer 2.

  Here, the print data generation unit 120 includes the instruction for displaying the CO2 emission amount sent from the setting reception unit 110 and the value of the CO2 emission coefficient in the print data as a print control command.

  The printer 2 includes a print control unit 200 and a print execution unit 240.

  The print control unit 200 interprets the print data sent from the computer 1 and performs control for executing printing based on the print data by the printer 2. For example, the print control unit 200 refers to a print control command included in the received print data and specifies a print condition (for example, double-sided printing, single-sided printing, color printing, monochrome printing, enlargement, reduction, etc.). In addition, according to the specified printing conditions, various processing (for example, rasterization, enlargement / reduction processing, color conversion processing, halftone processing) is performed on the print target data included in the print data, and printing can be performed by the print execution unit 240 Format print data is generated for each page. In addition to the generated print data, a control signal for instructing printing conditions such as double-sided printing, single-sided printing, color printing, and monochrome printing is output to the print execution unit 240 to execute printing.

  In addition, the print control unit 200 includes a CO2 emission amount calculation unit 210 and a print time calculation unit 230. The CO2 emission amount calculation unit 210 has a power information table 220.

  When the print control command includes an instruction for displaying the CO2 emission amount, the CO2 emission amount calculation unit 210 calculates the CO2 emission amount for each print job according to a predetermined calculation formula, and transmits it to the computer 1.

Here, the predetermined calculation formula is
Formula: CO2 emission amount (kg) = electric energy (kWh) x emission factor (kg / kWh)
It is. The electric energy (kWh) is calculated by electric power (kW) × time (h).

  The CO2 emission amount calculation unit 210 identifies the printing condition with reference to the printing control command. Here, the CO2 emission amount calculation unit 210 specifies information indicating double-sided printing, single-sided printing, color printing, and monochrome printing as printing conditions. Further, the power corresponding to the specified printing condition is acquired from the power information table 220.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the power information table 220. As shown in the figure, the power information table 220 stores an entry in which the printing condition 221 and the power 222 are associated with each other.

  The printing condition 221 is information for specifying a predetermined printing operation content. For example, information specifying monochrome single-sided printing, monochrome double-sided printing, color single-sided printing, and color double-sided printing is set as the printing condition 221.

  The power 222 is a value indicating the power (kW) of the printing operation specified from the printing condition 221. For example, as the power 222, a value indicating the power of each printing operation such as monochrome single-sided printing, monochrome double-sided printing, color single-sided printing, and color double-sided printing is set.

  Of course, the configuration of the power information table 220 is not limited to the above. The data structure is not limited to the table format.

  The CO2 emission amount calculation unit 210 specifies an entry having the print condition 221 corresponding to the print condition specified with reference to the print control command from the power information table 220. Then, the power 222 of the entry is acquired.

  Further, the CO2 emission amount calculation unit 210 acquires the time taken for the printing process based on the print data sent from the computer 1 from the printing time calculation unit 230.

  The CO2 emission amount calculation unit 210 obtains the electric energy (kWh) by calculating the product of the electric power and time acquired as described above. The CO2 emission amount calculation unit 210 acquires a CO2 emission coefficient with reference to the print control command. Then, the CO2 emission amount calculation unit 210 obtains the CO2 emission amount (kg) by calculating the product of the calculated electric energy (kWh) and the acquired CO2 emission coefficient (kg / kWh). The CO2 emission amount calculation unit 210 transmits information indicating the CO2 emission amount calculated as described above to the computer 1.

  The print time calculation unit 230 calculates a processing time for each print process (print job) based on the print data. For example, the print time calculation unit 230 measures the time from when the print control unit 200 causes the print execution unit 240 to start printing until the print processing by the print execution unit 240 ends. And it outputs to the CO2 emission amount calculation part 210.

  The print execution unit 240 performs printing on the print medium according to the print data and control signal sent from the print control unit 200. The print execution unit 240 is realized by a printer engine or the like.

  The printing system 3 having the above functional units is realized by, for example, a computer 1 and a printer 2 as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the computer 1 and the printer 2 included in the printing system 3.

  The computer 1 and the printer 2 are connected via a network such as a wired LAN or a wireless LAN.

  The computer 1 includes a CPU 10, a RAM 11, a ROM 12, an auxiliary storage device 13, a display device 14, an input device 15, a media reading device 16, and a communication device 17. The computer 1 is a general computer such as a personal computer, for example.

  The CPU 10 controls other hardware by executing a predetermined program (not shown) loaded from the auxiliary storage device 13 to the RAM 11 and executes various processes.

  Here, the printer driver unit 100 (see FIG. 1) is realized, for example, by executing a predetermined printer driver program loaded into the RAM 11 by the CPU 10.

  The printer driver program may be installed in the auxiliary storage device 13 from a portable storage medium via the media reading device 16, for example. Alternatively, it may be downloaded from the network to the auxiliary storage device 13 via the communication device 17. Alternatively, it may be loaded directly from the network to the RAM 11 via the communication device 17 and executed by the CPU 10.

  The RAM 11 stores a program executed by the CPU 10, data necessary for executing the program, and the like. The ROM 12 stores a program necessary for starting up the computer 1.

  The auxiliary storage device 13 is, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive). An SSD (Solid State Drive) using a flash memory or the like may be used.

  The display device 14 is, for example, a CRT display, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display, or the like. The input device 15 is, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, or the like.

  The media reader 16 is a device that reads information from a portable storage medium having portability such as a CD-ROM. The communication device 17 is a device for communicating information with an external device such as the printer 2 by a wired LAN or a wireless LAN. The communication device 17 is, for example, a network adapter or a NIC (Network Interface Card).

  Of course, the configuration of the computer 1 is not limited to the above. For example, the auxiliary storage device 13 may be an external storage connected via the communication device 17.

  The printer 2 includes a CPU 20, a RAM 21, a ROM 22, a communication device 23, an operation panel 24, and a printer engine 25.

  The CPU 20 executes a predetermined program (not shown) loaded from the ROM 22 to the RAM 21, thereby controlling other hardware and executing various processes.

  Here, the print control unit 200 (see FIG. 1) is realized, for example, by executing a predetermined program loaded into the RAM 21 by the CPU 20. Of course, a dedicated image processing circuit or the like may be used.

  The RAM 21 is a memory into which programs, data, and the like stored in the ROM 22 are loaded. The ROM 22 is a non-volatile memory that stores various programs, data, and the like.

  The communication device 23 is a device for communicating information with an external device such as the computer 1 by a wired LAN or a wireless LAN. The communication device 23 is, for example, a network adapter or a NIC (Network Interface Card). Of course, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) or the like may be used.

  The operation panel 24 is a unit for receiving user operations. The operation panel 24 includes, for example, a display such as an LCD and a touch panel provided on the display surface side of the display. The operation panel 24 has various hard switches such as button keys.

  The printer engine 25 is a unit that prints on paper based on print data sent from the CPU 20. The printer engine 25 includes a paper feed cassette (tray), a paper feed / discharge unit that feeds printing paper loaded in the paper feed cassette to a transfer unit, a toner cartridge that stores toner of each color, and an electrostatic latent image on a photoreceptor. It includes a photosensitive unit that forms and adheres toner, a transfer unit that transfers a toner image attached to the photosensitive member to printing paper, a fixing unit that fixes the toner image transferred onto the printing paper to printing paper, and the like. The printer engine 25 is not limited to the laser method as described above, and may be an ink jet method.

  Here, the print control unit 200 (see FIG. 1) is realized by the printer engine 25 or the like.

  Of course, the configuration of the printer 2 is not limited to the above.

  Next, characteristic processing realized by the printing system 3 will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of processing for displaying the CO2 emission amount.

  First, the setting reception unit 110 acquires print settings (S100).

  Specifically, when the printer driver unit 100 is activated, the setting reception unit 110 displays a print setting screen 500 as illustrated in FIG. 5 as a user interface screen, for example.

  In the print setting screen 500, a menu for accepting various settings relating to printing is prepared in advance over a plurality of pages. This figure has shown an example of the application setting page including the menu regarding CO2 emission amount.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the application setting page includes a CO2 emission amount display selection column 510, a CO2 emission coefficient setting column 520, an OK button 530, and a cancel button 540.

  The CO2 emission amount display selection column 510 is a column for selecting execution of displaying the CO2 emission amount. The CO2 emission coefficient setting column 520 is a column for inputting an arbitrary CO2 emission coefficient. The OK button 530 is a button for confirming the contents of the print settings. The cancel button 540 is a button for canceling the change of the print setting content.

  Here, the setting reception unit 110 displays a predetermined coefficient value in the CO2 emission coefficient setting field 520. In addition, since the value of the CO2 emission coefficient changes depending on the electric power company and the time when the user is supplied with electricity, the user may input the value as appropriate. For example, the user can easily know the value of the CO2 emission coefficient using the Internet or the like.

  When accepting selection of the OK button 530, the setting accepting unit 110 obtains various print settings set on the print setting screen 500. When a print instruction is received via an application program or the like, various print settings and a print instruction are sent to the print data generation unit 120.

  Subsequently, the print data generation unit 120 generates print data (S110). Specifically, the print data generation unit 120 generates print data that can be interpreted by the printer 2 in accordance with the contents of various print settings and print instructions sent from the setting reception unit 110.

  Then, the print data generation unit 120 transmits the generated print data to the printer 2 (S120). Thereafter, the setting reception unit 110 determines whether or not the CO2 emission amount display is set (S130).

  Specifically, the setting reception unit 110 determines whether or not the print setting acquired in S100 includes a setting for executing the CO2 emission amount display. If the setting of the CO2 emission amount display is included (S130: YES), the setting reception unit 110 advances the process to S200. On the other hand, when the setting of the CO2 emission amount display is not included (S130: NO), the process is terminated.

  On the other hand, the print control unit 200 receives the print data transmitted from the computer 1 (S140). Then, the print control unit 200 executes printing (S150).

  Specifically, the print control unit 200 interprets the received print data and generates print data in a format that can be printed by the print execution unit 240 according to the print conditions. Then, a control signal is output to the print execution unit 240 together with the generated print data, and printing is executed.

  When the printing process is started (S150), the CO2 emission calculation unit 210 determines whether or not the received print data includes a setting for executing the CO2 emission display (S160). Specifically, the CO2 emission amount calculation unit 210 determines whether or not the print data includes a print control command that instructs to display the CO2 emission amount. If the setting of the CO2 emission amount display is included (S160: YES), the CO2 emission amount calculation unit 210 advances the process to S170. On the other hand, when the setting of the CO2 emission amount display is not included (S160: NO), the process ends.

  If the print data includes the setting for CO2 emission display (S160: YES), the print time calculation unit 230 acquires the print time (S170). Specifically, the printing time calculation unit 230 calculates the time from when the printing control unit 200 causes the printing execution unit 240 to start printing (S150) until the printing process by the printing execution unit 240 ends. measure. Then, the measured print processing time is output to the CO2 emission amount calculation unit 210.

  Thereafter, the CO2 emission calculation unit 210 calculates the CO2 emission (S180).

  Specifically, the CO2 emission calculation unit 210 refers to print data corresponding to the executed print processing, and specifies printing conditions such as monochrome single-sided printing, monochrome double-sided printing, color single-sided printing, and color double-sided printing. Also, with reference to the power information table 220, a value indicating the power corresponding to the specified printing condition is acquired. Further, the print data is referred to obtain the value of the CO2 emission coefficient.

  Then, the CO2 emission amount calculation unit 210 obtains the CO2 emission amount by calculating the product of the acquired power, the printing time output in S170, and the acquired CO2 emission coefficient.

  Thereafter, the CO2 emission calculation unit 210 transmits information indicating the CO2 emission calculated in S180 to the computer 1 (S190).

  On the other hand, the setting reception unit 110 receives information indicating the CO2 emission amount transmitted from the printer 2 (S200). In addition, the setting reception unit 110 displays the received CO2 emission amount.

  Specifically, the setting reception unit 110 displays, for example, a CO2 emission amount display screen 600 as shown in FIG. The CO2 emission display screen 600 has a message 610 and an OK button 630.

  The message 610 is a message for notifying the user of the CO2 emission amount transmitted from the printer 2 such as “The current print CO2 emission amount is 0.048 kg”. The OK button 630 is a button for deleting the display of the CO2 emission amount display screen 600.

  The CO2 emission amount is displayed as described above, and the setting reception unit 110 ends the process. The setting reception unit 110 deletes the display of the CO2 emission amount display screen 600 when the OK button 630 is selected by a user operation.

  The first embodiment of the present invention has been described above. According to this embodiment, the CO2 emission amount is displayed. That is, in the computer that has issued the print instruction, the user can easily confirm the CO2 emission amount discharged by the printing process according to the print instruction. In addition, it is possible to make a user with low awareness of CO2 emission recognize that CO2 is emitted every time printing is performed, and to reduce, for example, useless printing.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, the CO2 emission amount is displayed in a printer that operates stand-alone. Hereinafter, a description will be given focusing on differences from the first embodiment.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the printer 2 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in the figure, the printer 2 is connected to an information processing apparatus 4 such as a digital camera or a mobile phone. The connection method is, for example, USB (Universal Serial Bus). Of course, the printer 2 may be connected to a portable storage medium such as a USB flash memory.

  The printer 2 includes a print control unit 200, a print execution unit 240, and a setting reception unit 250.

  The processes performed by the print control unit 200 and the print execution unit 240 are basically the same as those in the first embodiment. Note that the print control unit 200 acquires data to be printed such as image data from the connected information processing apparatus 4, for example, a predetermined print setting or a print input via the setting reception unit 250. According to the setting, print data in a format that can be printed by the print execution unit 240 is generated. Further, the CO2 emission amount calculation unit 210 calculates the CO2 emission amount when an instruction for displaying the CO2 emission amount is included in the print setting input via the setting reception unit 250.

  The setting reception unit 250 displays a user interface screen for receiving various print settings including settings for displaying the CO2 emission amount and the value of the CO2 emission coefficient on the display of the operation panel. Also, various print settings input on the user interface screen are received via the input device of the operation panel. The received print settings are transmitted to the print control unit 200.

  Further, the setting reception unit 250 acquires the CO2 emission amount calculated by the CO2 emission amount calculation unit 210 and displays it on the display of the operation panel.

  The second embodiment of the present invention has been described above. According to this embodiment, the CO2 emission amount is displayed. That is, in the stand-alone printer, the user can easily check the CO2 emission amount discharged in the printing process. In addition, it is possible to make a user with low awareness of CO2 emission recognize that CO2 is emitted every time printing is performed, and to reduce, for example, useless printing.

  The present invention has been described in connection with exemplary embodiments. Obviously, many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in this art. Accordingly, the above-described embodiments of the present invention are intended to illustrate and not limit the gist and scope of the present invention.

  For example, the printer 2 of the first embodiment may display the CO2 emission amount on the display of the operation panel. Alternatively, the print time calculation unit 230 may output the print processing time to the computer 1 and the printer driver unit 100 may calculate the CO2 emission amount. In this case, the printer driver unit 100 has the same function as the CO2 emission calculation unit 210.

  In addition, for example, the CO2 emission calculation unit 210 of the first and second embodiments may accumulate the CO2 emission for a predetermined period (for example, one month). Further, the CO2 emission amount may be accumulated by classifying according to printing conditions such as monochrome single-sided printing, monochrome double-sided printing, color single-sided printing, and color double-sided printing. The cumulative value of these CO2 emissions is transmitted to the computer 1 or displayed on the operation panel. Of course, the printer driver unit 100 may accumulate the CO2 emission amount. In this case, the printer driver unit 100 has the same function as the CO2 emission calculation unit 210.

  The present invention can be applied not only to a printer but also to a printing apparatus such as a copying machine or a multifunction machine. In this case, for example, the power information table 220 stores power information for each printing condition such as monochrome one-sided copy, monochrome two-sided copy, color one-sided copy, and color two-sided copy. Further, instead of the printing time, for example, the copying time from the start of the scanning process to the end of the printing process is used for the calculation of the CO2 emission amount.

1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration and a functional configuration of a printing system according to a first embodiment. The figure which shows the structural example of an electric power information table. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of a computer and a printer included in a printing system. The sequence diagram which shows the flow of the process which displays CO2 discharge | emission amount. The figure which shows the example of the print setting screen which receives the setting regarding a CO2 discharge | emission amount display. The figure which shows the example of the CO2 discharge | emission amount display screen which displays CO2 discharge | emission amount. FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a printer according to a second embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1: computer, 2: printer, 3: printing system, 4: information processing device, 10: CPU, 11: RAM, 12: ROM, 13: auxiliary storage device, 14: display device, 15: input device, 16: medium Reading device, 17: communication device, 20: CPU, 21: RAM, 22: ROM, 23: communication device, 24: operation panel, 25: printer engine,
100: Printer driver unit, 110: Setting reception unit, 120: Print data generation unit, 200: Print control unit, 210: CO2 emission calculation unit, 220: Power information table, 221: Printing conditions, 222: Power, 230: Print time calculation unit, 240: print execution unit, 250: setting reception unit,
500: Print setting screen, 510: CO2 emission amount display selection column, 520: CO2 emission coefficient setting column, 530: OK button, 540: Cancel button, 600: CO2 emission amount display screen, 610: Message, 630: OK button

Claims (4)

A printing system having a printing device and a computer,
The computer
Setting accepting means for accepting a setting for displaying the CO2 emission amount of the printing process executed by the printing apparatus;
Print data generation means for generating print data and transmitting the print data to the printing apparatus together with the settings,
The printing apparatus includes:
Printing means for executing a printing process based on the print data;
An emission amount calculating means for calculating a CO2 emission amount of the printing process and transmitting it to the computer when the setting is received;
The setting receiving means
Displaying the CO2 emission amount transmitted from the printing device;
A printing system featuring. The printing system according to claim 1,
The printer is
Having time measuring means for measuring the processing time of the printing process;
The setting receiving means
Accept setting of CO2 emission coefficient,
The emission calculation means includes
Calculating the CO2 emission amount based on the power corresponding to the printing condition specified from the print data, the measured processing time of the printing process, and the CO2 emission coefficient;
A printing system featuring. The printing system according to claim 2,
The emission calculation means includes
Calculate a cumulative value of the CO2 emission amount calculated during a predetermined period, and send it to the computer.
The setting receiving means
Displaying the cumulative value transmitted from the printing device;
A printing system featuring. A printing device,
Setting accepting means for accepting a setting for displaying the CO2 emission amount of the printing process;
Print data generation means for acquiring print target data and generating print data;
Printing means for executing a printing process based on the print data;
An emission amount calculating means for calculating a CO2 emission amount of the printing process when the setting is accepted;
The setting receiving means
Displaying the calculated CO2 emissions;
A printing apparatus characterized by the above.

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