JP2010058352A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively perform a reprinting operation in connection with processing of a job of which the attribute is not matched with a state of a printer. <P>SOLUTION: A printer controller 100 is equipped with a reprinting processing sequence table 113a in which a prioritized sequence is prescribed in accordance with an attribute and an operation information change processing section 113b that changes the prioritized sequence of the attribute in the reprinting processing sequence table 113a on the basis of an input by a user via a panel section 300. The printer controller 100 compares each of attributes in a temporarily stored print job group with the attribute to be prioritized in accordance with the reprinting processing sequence table 113a and performs a reprinting operation by prioritizing a print job having the matched attribute. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that prints a plurality of print jobs from a host apparatus.

  In recent years, printing apparatuses having a network communication function are increasing. Similarly, a printing apparatus connected to a communication network such as a local area network (LAN) is shared by a plurality of host apparatuses (hosts) connected to the LAN. At this time, the printing apparatus may receive different job print requests from users of the host apparatus. Specifically, for example, there is a print request to a different paper size (or paper feed from a different paper feed unit, paper discharge to a different paper discharge unit, etc.).

  Normally, these user requests are held as print attribute information in a print job. The control unit of the printing apparatus analyzes the received print job and performs processing according to the user's request. In this process, the control unit compares the printing attribute requested by the user with the current printing apparatus state to determine whether printing is possible. If the print attribute matches the state of the printing apparatus, the printing process is performed. On the other hand, if the printing attribute does not match, the printing is not performed, and a process for notifying the user of the fact is performed. In such a conventional printing apparatus, when print jobs having different print attributes are continuously received, if a print attribute job that does not match the state of the print apparatus at the time of reception is received, the user is notified. The printing process was interrupted, and the subsequent print job was similarly interrupted and was not printed.

  For this reason, for example, the printing operation is interrupted for a job that is determined not to match the status of the printing device, but the job that matches the status of the printing device in the subsequent job is printed first. A configuration is known that avoids interruption of printing for all jobs (see, for example, Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2).

  In addition, an image forming apparatus is known in which a user who has canceled an error among jobs whose processing has stopped due to an error can select a job to be preferentially printed after the cancellation (see, for example, Patent Document 3). .

  In addition, a configuration in which a plurality of jobs whose processing is stopped due to an error is arranged in order of priority and printing is resumed (for example, refer to Patent Document 4), or a print job is set in a plurality of queues according to the priority, It is described that when queue printing is suspended due to an error or the like, printing is performed from a queue having a high priority after error recovery (see, for example, Patent Document 5).

JP 2002-307794 A JP 2002-240369 A JP 2006-51615 A JP 2004-1320 A JP 2001-92619 A

  According to the method of Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2 described above, jobs whose attributes match the status of the printing apparatus are continuously printed, and when all the matching jobs are printed, only the jobs that do not match, The state is held in the control unit of the printing apparatus.

  However, when viewing a job that does not match the status of the printing apparatus and the attribute, the configuration is such that the user is notified of information about the mismatched state only for the earliest job. For this reason, even when there are a plurality of jobs that do not match, the user is not notified of information about the status where the second and subsequent jobs do not match. In other words, even when a plurality of errors occur at the same time, only an error that can eliminate the print suspension factor of the earliest job is displayed.

  Therefore, if the details of the attributes of the first job and the next job among the jobs that are found not to match are different, the user cancels the cause of the mismatch of the first job, or the first job Unless the job itself is canceled, an error regarding the second and subsequent jobs that do not match is not notified to the user. Therefore, the error is not eliminated, and as a result, the second and subsequent jobs are not printed.

  Specifically, for example, when A4 size paper is set in the printer apparatus, the first (first) job among the jobs that do not match is the A3 size print request and the second and later. Suppose that all the jobs are B5 size print requests. In this case, only the paper replacement request for the A3 size is notified to the user.

  When the user who has recognized the notification loads A3 size paper in the printer, the first job is printed. Then, upon completion of the first job printing, the user is notified of a paper replacement request to B5 size for the second job.

  On the other hand, if there is no A3 size paper and only B5 size paper in the vicinity of the installation location of the printer device, the user cancels the first job and starts reprint processing for the second and subsequent jobs for the first time. A user is notified of a paper replacement request for the B5 size. Here, if the user mounts B5 size paper in the printer apparatus, all the second and subsequent jobs are printed.

  As described above, when there are a plurality of jobs that are put on hold due to a cause that does not match, if the printing resume or cancel of the first job is not performed, the cause of the print holding of the second and subsequent jobs is determined by the user. Cannot be known, and as a result, there is a problem that the restart of a job that is pending printing is delayed.

  In the configuration described in Patent Document 3, an error relating to a print job that is a target of print processing is notified to the user, and after the user has resolved the error, the priority of the user's job can be increased. Even if it is possible, the error relating to the job itself is not necessarily canceled, and it cannot be said that the recovery process is efficient. In addition, in this case, it is impossible for the user to select a method for eliminating the print suspension factor in consideration of other suspended jobs.

  Furthermore, as shown in Patent Literature 4 and Patent Literature 5, only a plurality of jobs that have been stopped due to an error are arranged and printed in order of priority, and the priorities themselves are determined in advance. However, the configuration is not arbitrarily changeable.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to efficiently perform a reprint operation regarding processing of a job in which the status of the printer apparatus does not match the attribute.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a printer controller that controls a print job received from a host device and a general printing device, a printing unit that prints on paper using print job data from the overall control unit, a user, A panel unit that accepts notifications to the user and input from the user, and the printer controller receives a print job including attributes from the host device, analyzes the attributes included in the print job, and It is determined whether or not the attribute included in the print job matches, and the matched print job is instructed to print according to the designated attribute, while the print job that does not match is temporarily put on hold. The mismatch attribute information corresponding to the print job saved first among the print job groups that have been saved and not matched is displayed on the panel unit. In the printing apparatus, the printer controller includes a reprint processing order table in which the priority order is defined by attributes, and the priority order of the attributes of the reprint processing order table based on an input from the panel unit by a user Order information changing means, and each attribute of the temporarily stored print job group is compared with the priority attribute in the reprint processing order table, and the priority is given to the print job having the matching attribute. A reprinting process is performed.

  The order information changing unit may change, add, or delete attribute data in the reprint processing order information table in accordance with a user input from the panel unit.

  The reprint processing order information table includes a plurality of attribute data, and the priority order among the attributes is set and changed according to a user input value from the panel unit, and all the temporarily stored print job groups are set. It is characterized in that it is confirmed whether or not the print jobs are matched in the order of priority of the attributes, and reprint processing is sequentially performed.

  According to the present invention, when there are a plurality of jobs in which the status of the printer part and the attribute details of the print job do not match, and there are print jobs having different attribute details, the job is re-executed in the order expected by the user. Printing processing can be performed.

  The present invention provides means for changing the job processing order so that the printer apparatus has a condition for determining the order of jobs to be reprinted, and the reprint process is preferentially performed from the job that matches the condition. As a result, the user can appropriately set the conditions that have the highest priority when performing the reprint process in the printer apparatus.

  Thus, for example, when A4 size paper is set in the printer, the first (first) job among the jobs that do not match is the A3 size print request, and the second and subsequent jobs are Even in the case of all B5 size print requests, the user changes the reprint processing conditions by means of changing the job processing order, whereby the user is requested to change the paper to B5 size, and the B5 size is changed. Since the suspension of the B5-size print job is canceled after the paper replacement, the B5-size print job is resumed.

  Embodiments relating to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a printer system including a printer device to which the present invention is applied and a host device.

  The printer device 10 and the print server 20a that is the host device 20 are connected via a LAN 15.

  The printer device 10 includes a printer controller 100 that processes data from the host device 20, a printer unit 200 that performs printing, and a panel unit 300 that processes information display to the user and input from the user.

  In addition to controlling the printer controller itself, the printer controller 100 includes a printer controller 110 that communicates with the host device 20, the printer unit 200, and the panel unit 300, a storage unit 120 that stores data related to printing and control, and a printer unit. And a printer engine controller 130 that controls the control 200.

  The printer control unit 110 is connected to the host device 20 via the LAN 15, and is also connected to the storage unit 120, the printer engine controller 130, and the panel unit 300.

  The storage unit 120 receives a print job received from the host device, performs processing of print job data from the reception buffer 121, stores the data, and stores the data in the printer control unit 110. When each processing unit operates, it has a printer status table 123 and a job management table 124 for performing setting and reference.

  FIG. 2 shows a detailed configuration of the printer system according to the present embodiment described in FIG.

  As the host device 20, two print servers (print server 1 (20a) and print server 2 (20b)) are connected. The two print servers have printer drivers 21a and 21b, respectively. 1 shows the configuration of one printer device and one print server, and FIG. 2 shows the configuration of one printer device and two print servers. However, the configuration is not limited to these. Any number of printer devices and host devices can be connected.

  The printer device 10 includes a printer unit 200 that prints a print job on paper, a printer controller 100 that performs operation control of the printer unit 200 and processing of the print job, a panel unit 300 that displays the status of the printer device, and receives input from the user. It consists of.

  The printer unit 200 includes a paper feed unit 210, a printer engine 220, and a paper discharge unit 230.

  The panel unit 300 displays the status of the printer device 10 on the display unit 320 to notify the user, or receives user intervention from the key unit 310.

  The printer controller 100 controls the operation of the printer unit 200, processes the print job received from the printer engine controller 130 that holds the status of the printer unit 200 as information and the host device 20, and the printer unit 200. From the printer control unit 110 for monitoring the status of the printer and instructing the printer engine controller 130 to perform printing, and the storage unit 120 for storing data for the printer control unit 110 to control and print data. Composed.

  Note that the printer engine controller 130 and the printer control unit 110 each store control data in a nonvolatile memory (not shown). This is to prevent loss of control information due to the stop of the power supply of the printer apparatus 10.

  The printer control unit 110 instructs the printer engine controller 130 regarding the printer unit 200. The printer control unit 110 includes a print job replacement processing unit 111, a print job control unit 112, a printer operation setting unit 113, a printer status monitoring unit 114, and a print processing unit 115. Each of these parts will be described later.

  The printer engine controller 130 controls paper feeding from the paper feeding unit 210 of the printer unit 200 (paper conveyance) and paper conveyance to the printer engine 220 that performs printing processing and the paper discharge unit 230. The printer engine 220 has, for example, a belt-type image carrier, and attaches toner to the image carrier, transfers the toner to the paper, and then fixes the toner on the paper with a fixing device. However, it is not limited to this.

  The storage unit 120 includes a reception buffer 121 necessary for storing a print job transmitted from the host device 20, a frame memory 122 that performs data analysis of the attribute part of the print job, and compression processing of the print data unit, and a printer engine 220. A printer status table 123 for holding the status and a job management table 124 for managing print job information are secured.

  The job management table 124 includes a print job processing order management table 125 and a mismatch attribute job management table 126. The information stored in each table can be set / referenced from the printer control unit 110, and the setting / reference of the information in each table and the control operation can be performed asynchronously. The configuration and contents of each table will be described later.

  Note that the printer status table 123 and the job management table 124 include, for example, a status change of the printer unit 200 such as a paper loading state of the paper supply unit 210, a print job data processing, a print job being printed, or a paper discharge completed. The information is stored in the volatile memory because it is updated as the processing status of the print job changes. The frame memory 122 and the reception buffer 121 are also secured on the volatile memory because the held information is deleted / updated as the processing status of the print job changes.

  Next, print processing in the printer system of this embodiment will be described.

  The print servers 20a and 20b convert various application data into code data so that the printer device 10 can perform print processing. This code data generation processing is performed using printer drivers 21a and 21b incorporated in the print servers 20a and 20b, respectively, and is converted into data as one print job for each print instruction. The print servers 20 a and 20 b transmit a print job to the printer device 10 via a general-purpose interface (not shown) connected to the print server via the LAN 15.

  Next, a processing flow of the printing apparatus 10 that has received a print job from the print server 20a (or 20b) will be described.

  The printer control unit 110 stores the print job transmitted from the host device 20 in the reception buffer 121.

  The print job stored in the reception buffer 121 is stored in the frame memory 122 for data processing, and data processing such as attribute portion extraction, data analysis, and print data portion compression processing is performed.

  Thereafter, the reception buffer 121 is cleared to prepare for reception of the next print job. This process is repeated each time a print job is transmitted, and stored in a different area in the frame memory 122 for each print job.

  On the other hand, the printer control unit 110 issues a status acquisition request for the printer engine 220 to the printer engine controller 130, and stores the acquired information in the printer status table 123. This status acquisition request to the printer engine controller 130 is periodically executed, and when the status of the printer engine 220 changes, the printer status table 123 is also updated at the same time, and the information in the printer status table 123 is always kept up-to-date.

  When the print job is received and the data analysis processing on the frame memory 122 is completed, the print job attribute is compared with the printer status stored in the printer status table 123 to determine whether printing is possible and printing is possible. Is determined, the printer engine controller 130 is instructed to print.

  The printer unit 200 performs a printing operation under the control of the printer engine controller 130 that has received the print instruction.

  The printer control unit 110 monitors the printing operation after the printing instruction, and when the paper discharge unit 230 completes the paper discharge, erases the print job on the frame memory 122 and the data stored in the job management table 124. .

  3A is a conceptual diagram of the configuration of a print job, and FIG. 3B is a specific example of a print job.

  The print job 401 includes a print attribute part 402 and a print data part 403.

  The print attribute section 402 has one detailed attribute information for each attribute, and the two attributes are associated one-to-one. Therefore, the details of each attribute 404 and attribute 405 are linked, and N groups of attribute details are further connected.

  These N attributes 404 and attribute details 405 are specified by the user with the printer drivers 21a and 21b incorporated in the host device 20, and the specified values are coded as attributes and attribute details, and printed. Included as job data.

  The print data portion 403 is encoded in a form in which the data portion of the application data is subjected to data compression processing for efficiently performing a printing operation via the printer driver to be converted into image data 307 and connected to the back of the print attribute portion. Embedded as print job data.

  A specific example of the print job will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3B shows data in which four attributes and details of the attributes are held.

  The attribute is an item of various conditions that the user wants to perform printing, such as a paper feed unit, a paper size, a print mode, and a paper discharge unit. The attribute details are specific values of the items. For example, the paper feed unit is “standard tray”, the paper size is “A4”, the print mode is “monochrome printing”, and the paper discharge unit is “standard equipment”. Stacker ", etc.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the printer status monitoring unit 114.

  Hereinafter, the acquisition of “paper feeding unit information” will be described as an example. The printer status monitoring unit 114 has a function of monitoring the status of the printer unit 200 at regular intervals and storing the information in the printer status table 123. The printer status monitoring unit 114 includes a printer status table information processing unit 114a, a panel display processing unit 114b, and a printer unit 200 status acquisition processing unit 114c.

  The state of the printer unit 200 is roughly divided into the configuration state of the printer device 10 and the operation state of the printer device 10. The former is the mounting state of the paper feed unit 210, the paper size set in the paper feed unit 210, and the paper discharge unit 230. The latter is information indicating whether printing is possible or not, and if it is not possible, the cause and location of occurrence, the paper transport status, the status of the printer 10 described later, and the attributes of the print job match. This is also the case when printing is not possible. The printer status table 123 stores each status of the printer unit 200 collectively.

  Here, processing of the printer status monitoring unit will be described.

  First, the status acquisition processing unit 114 c of the printer unit makes a request for acquisition of “paper feeding unit information” to the printer engine controller 130.

  When the printer engine controller 130 receives the acquisition request, the printer engine controller 130 returns “paper feeding unit information” as a response.

  The status acquisition processing unit 114c of the printer unit acquires the returned information and passes it to the information processing unit 114a of the printer status table.

  The information processing unit 114 a of the printer status table compares the received information with the information stored in the printer status table 123. If they do not match as a result of the comparison, the paper feed unit information stored in the printer status table 123 is updated to “paper feed unit information” passed from the printer unit status acquisition processing unit 114c.

  The panel display processing unit 114 b performs processing for acquiring information stored in the printer status table 123 and displaying the information on the panel unit 300.

  In this way, the printer status monitoring unit 114 performs the printer status table information update process at regular intervals regardless of the status of the printer apparatus 10, and stores the printer unit information held in the printer status table 123. Keep up to date.

  Next, the data format of the printer status table 123 will be described. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a printer status table.

  The printer status table 123 holds, as items, paper feed unit information 123a, paper size 123b, paper discharge unit information 123c, unprintable status 123d, and mismatch attribute 123e for each attribute. Further, the sheet conveyance information 123f is also held.

  FIG. 6 shows the data format of the frame memory 122. Job identifiers (A to Z in this example) are assigned to a plurality of print jobs received from the host apparatus 20 via the reception buffer 121. Each print job has a configuration including a plurality of attributes, a set of details of the attributes, and a print data portion including print data.

  Next, the processing of the print job control unit 112 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In this embodiment, a case where the printer apparatus 10 has received Z print jobs will be described as an example.

  The print job control unit 112 has a function of receiving a print job transmitted from the host apparatus 20, analyzing and cutting out attributes and attribute details included in the print job, and storing print job information in a necessary table. ing.

  The print job control unit 112 temporarily stores the print job transmitted from the host apparatus 20 in the reception buffer 121, and then moves the job from the reception buffer 121 to the frame memory 122 to clear the reception buffer.

  After storing in the frame memory 122, a job identifier is assigned to the print job. The job identifier is referred to when managing the processing order of a plurality of print jobs, and one job identifier is assigned to one print job, and the value is unique for each print job. Is granted as follows. At this time, as shown in FIG. 6, the job identifier: A is assigned to the first received print job, and B, C,. . . , Z.

  After assigning the job identifier, the job identifier is stored in the print job processing order management table 125. The print job processing order management table 125 stores the processing order of print jobs, and the print job processing order management table 125 stores job identifiers in the order of jobs received by the printer 10. FIG. 9A is a schematic diagram of a print job processing order management table. As shown in FIG. 9A, job identifiers are stored in order from A to Z.

  After that, the print job control unit 112 analyzes the attributes and attribute details of the print job on the frame memory 122, and performs a process of cutting out the attribute and attribute detailed information so as to facilitate the processing of the print processing unit 115 described later. Do. Then, after the processing of the print attribute part, the print data part is cut out, and a compression process for efficiently performing data transfer to the printer part 200 is performed. When a print job is transmitted from the host apparatus 20, the print job control unit 112 repeats each process described above.

  Next, the configuration of the print processing unit 115 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the print processing unit 115.

  The print processing unit 115 compares the status of the printer unit 200 with the attribute information of the print job, determines whether the print job is printable, and if it is possible, issues a print instruction and is impossible. If it is determined, the job information is stored in the mismatch attribute job management table 126. The print processing unit 115 includes a print instruction unit 112a, a paper discharge monitoring unit 112b, and a print availability determination unit 115c.

  Here, processing in the print processing unit 115 will be described below. A case where the job identifier of a print job to be printed is A will be described.

  First, the printability determination unit 115 c compares whether the status of the printer unit 200 held in the printer status table 123 matches the attributes and attribute details of the print job stored in the frame memory 122. If they match as a result of the comparison, it is determined that the job can be printed, and the print instruction unit 115a is notified of the fact. On the other hand, if the two do not match, the mismatched attribute job management table 126 stores the job identifier of the print job and all the attribute information and attribute detailed information that did not match.

  Next, the print instruction unit 115 a performs data processing of the print data portion of the job developed on the frame memory 122. Thereafter, the printer engine controller 130 is instructed to perform an operation by specifying the details of the attribute of the job, an operation instruction of a video signal line to the printer engine 200 for printing, and a paper conveyance instruction. Then, after the paper conveyance instruction, the paper discharge monitoring unit 115b is notified of the start of paper conveyance monitoring.

  Next, the paper discharge monitoring unit 115 b determines the completion of paper discharge based on the paper conveyance information held in the printer status table 123. When the paper discharge is completed, the print data portion held in the printer status table 123 of the print job to which the job identifier A is assigned, information including the attribute and attribute details, and the job identifier stored in the print job processing order management table 125 Erase. After erasing the job identifier, the paper discharge monitoring unit 115b notifies the printability determination unit 115c of paper discharge completion. When receiving the notification of paper discharge completion, the printability determination unit 115c repeats the above-described processing for the next job.

  Next, the processing of the print job replacement processing unit 111 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The print job replacement processing unit 111 refers to the reprint processing order information table 113a of the printer operation setting unit 113 when there are a plurality of print jobs whose attributes do not match the state of the printer unit 200. The priority is determined in order of priority, the mismatch attribute of the print job whose attribute does not match is compared with the factor determined by the means, and the processing order of the print job is changed so that the reprint processing is performed from the print job with the highest priority.

  The state at the start of the operation of the print job replacement processing unit 111 is a state where printing is completed for all print jobs in which the details of the attributes of the print unit 200 and the print job match, and any attribute does not match 1 One or more print jobs are in a print pending state, and the print job information remains in the frame memory 122, the mismatch attribute job management table 126, and the print job processing order management table 125.

  Here, FIG. 10 shows an example of the mismatch attribute job management table 126.

  In FIG. 10, there are three print jobs that do not match any of the attributes, and job identifier a, job identifier b, and job identifier c are assigned to these print jobs, respectively, and job identifier a and job identifier. The printer device 20 receives the job identifier c in the order of b, job identifier c, the print job with the job identifier a has a mismatch attribute of 1 to q, the print job with the job identifier b has only the mismatch attribute 1, and the print job with the job identifier c This means that the mismatch attribute is only q.

  Further, since any of the attributes does not match, the printer is not in a printable state. Therefore, the printer status table 122 shown in FIG. 5 includes information on a plurality of attributes that do not match the print impossible state 123d. This is a state in which the mismatch attribute 123e is stored.

  First, if there is one or more print jobs whose attributes do not match the status of the printer unit 200, the print job replacement processing unit 111 refers to the reprint processing order information table 113a and determines the print processing order of the jobs that do not match. Among the information to be determined, the highest priority factor is determined (step S1). Here, the “reprint processing order information” is information for determining the print processing order of jobs that do not match, and the reprint processing order information table 113a is ordered in descending order of priority as a print processing order determination factor. Stored.

  FIG. 11 shows an example of the reprint processing order information table 113a. In FIG. 11, P pieces of order information are stored in the reprint processing order information table 113a. The order information with the highest priority is “order information 1”, and the order information with the lowest priority is “order information P”. The order information 1 means that the print job whose attribute q is a mismatch factor is information for reprinting.

  Next, the print job replacement processing unit 111 refers to the reprint processing order information table 113a and acquires the highest priority information stored at the top of the table (step S2). The order information stored in the reprint processing order information table 113a can be arbitrarily changed by the user using the key unit 310 of the panel unit 300.

  Here, a specific example of the determination of the priority degree by the user will be shown. In addition, the following example is an example, and determination of the priority of an attribute is suitably performed by the user.

    <Case 1> “User B wants to print at least his job B even if his job B is not expected to be output with the highest priority.” → User B is a printer driver, etc. The attribute specified in is given the highest priority.

    <Case 2> “User B wants to expect other users' jobs to be printed in addition to his own job B.” → User B asks the printer administrator in advance which attribute (example: A3) After checking if there are many jobs printed, priority is set in order from the attribute with the largest number.

    <Case 3> “I want to print a job of a specific user group preferentially.” → User B increases the priority of an attribute commonly set by the specific user group.

    <Case 4> “I want to lower the priority of displaying error factors for nonexistent resources (eg, A3 paper, option tray, option stacker, etc.)” → Solution: User B informs the printer administrator in advance of the resource status After confirming, if there is no, lower the priority. Also, prioritize resources if they exist.

  After the information having the highest priority for reprint processing is determined, the print job replacement processing unit 111 collates the mismatch attributes of all the print jobs stored in the mismatch attribute job management table 126 (step S3). In the example shown in the reprint order information table in FIG. 11, the highest priority information is defined as “attribute q is a mismatch factor”, and therefore, among the print job information stored in the mismatch attribute job management table 126. Thus, the print job having the attribute q mismatch is searched.

  Next, the print job replacement processing unit 111 determines the reprint order from the search result so that print jobs that can be printed are preferentially reprinted (step S4). In the example of the mismatch attribute job management table 126 shown in FIG. 10, there are two print jobs, job identifier a and job identifier c, for which the attribute q does not match. Accordingly, the reprint processing of these two print jobs is performed first. The print job with the job identifier c has only the mismatch attribute attribute q, whereas the print job with the job identifier a has the mismatch attribute attribute. Since there are a plurality other than q, even if the status of the printer apparatus is changed to match the attribute q, only the print job with the job identifier c can be printed. Next, the reprint processing order of the print job is determined so that the reprint processing of the print job with the job identifier a is performed next.

  When the reprint processing order of the print job is determined, the print job replacement processing unit 111 uses the job identifier of the print job determined by the above-described method as a key, and starts the job identifier remaining in the print job processing order management table 125. The key identifier is searched, and the storage order of the job identifiers is changed so that the matched job identifier becomes the head of the print job processing order management table 125 (step S5). FIG. 9B shows an example before and after processing of the above-described print job order management table 125. Compared with the pre-processing 125-1, the post-processing 125-2 is switched so that the job identifier c becomes the highest (highest priority).

  After the job identifier storage order is switched, the print job replacement processing unit 111 performs a key search from the head of the mismatch attribute job management table using the job identifier stored at the head of the print job processing order management table 125 as a key. The mismatched attribute information corresponding to the matched job identifier is stored in the printer status table 126, and the mismatched attribute information is updated (step S6). As described with reference to FIG. 4, the updated attribute information is displayed on the panel unit 300 and notified to the user by updating the mismatched attribute information in the printer status table 123.

  After executing the above-described processing, the print job replacement processing unit 111 determines the next highest priority order information (order information 2 in FIG. 11), and all the print jobs whose order information does not match the mismatch attribute ( In FIG. 8, the process described above is repeated for the job with job identifier b).

  By performing these processes, the print job with the highest priority in the reprint order is placed at the top of the reprint processing order, and the status of the printer unit 200 and the print with the highest priority in the order of reprinting are performed. Information about the mismatch attribute of the job is displayed on the panel unit 300. Therefore, the user can print the print job by changing the mismatch attribute factor on the printer apparatus 10 side so as to match the attribute of the print job having the highest priority in the reprint order.

  Further, if there is no matching print job as a result of collating the order information with the mismatch attribute by the above-described method, the reprint process order change process does not occur. Note that the print job information in the frame memory 122 and the mismatch attribute job management table 126 is not updated in accordance with the job identifier storage order switching process.

  Next, the configuration of the printer operation setting unit 113 will be described. FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the printer operation setting unit 113.

  For the order information stored in the reprint processing order information table 113a held in the non-volatile memory (not shown), the printer operation setting unit 113 changes the order in which the order information is stored, adds, deletes, and information. Change the details of.

  The printer operation setting unit 113 includes an operation information change processing unit 113b of the printer unit 200 when performing a printing operation, and a reprint processing order information table 113a described with reference to FIG.

  The operation information of the printer unit 200 at the time of performing the printing operation is information preliminarily defined as to what conditions the printer apparatus 10 should operate when a specific condition is not specified by the user. For example, when the paper feeding unit 210 is composed of a plurality of trays, information indicating which tray has priority for paper feeding and the status of the printer unit 200 are displayed on the display unit 320 of the panel unit 300 to display the user. The display language at the time of notification, the information on the paper type most suitable for the printer engine 220 to print, and the like. The reprint processing order information table 113a is also included in the operation information of the printer unit 200 when performing this printing operation.

  These pieces of operation information are information that the user wants to operate under any one condition when the printer apparatus 10 is operable under a plurality of operation conditions. The operation conditions are arbitrarily set according to the use environment of the user. Need to be able to change.

  For example, the display language displayed on the display unit 320 of the panel unit 300 described above and notified to the user is such that when the printer device 10 has a function that can be displayed under either condition of Japanese or English, the user can In the case of Japanese, Japanese display can be set, and in the case where the user has changed to a Western person, the condition can be changed from Japanese display to English display.

  Regarding these operation information, after setting the conditions most suitable for the use environment of the user, the frequency of change is generally low unless the user changes the use environment. It is considered undesirable from the viewpoints of changes in operating conditions due to information loss due to stoppage and complexity of work for resetting each operation information after power supply is re-supplied, and loss of information due to power supply stop of the printer 10 It is held on a non-volatile memory (not shown) where no occurrence occurs.

  When the operation information change processing unit 113b of the printer unit 200 receives a change request from the key unit 310 of the panel unit 300 by the user, the operation information change processing unit 113b updates the print processing order information table 113a held in the nonvolatile memory.

  The operation information change processing unit 113b of the printer unit 200 allows the user to set operation information of a plurality of printer units 200. The user can set different operation information for the set operation information of the printer unit 200. In this case, the priority order of the operation information of the set printer unit 200 and the newly set operation information is clarified. As a specific example, in the reprint processing order information table 113a shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 8, the setting from the order information 1 to the order information P and the relationship between the order information 1 having the highest priority and the order information P being lower. Set the priority of. The operation information change processing unit 113b of the printer unit 200 performs a process of storing both the operation information of the set printer unit 200 and the newly set operation information and the priority order of both in the reprint processing order information table 113a. .

1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a printer system including a printer device to which the present invention is applied and a host device. FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of the printer system shown in FIG. 1. 5A is a conceptual diagram and FIG. 5B is a specific example of a configuration of a print job transmitted from a host device to a printer device. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer status monitoring unit. FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a printer status table. It is the schematic which shows the detailed content of a frame memory. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a printing process part. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer operation setting unit including a reprint processing order information table. 5A is a schematic diagram illustrating a print job processing order management table, and FIG. 5B is a schematic diagram illustrating an example before and after processing. It is the schematic of a mismatch attribute job management table. An example of a reprint process order information table is shown.

Explanation of symbols

  10: Printer device, 20: Host device, 20a, 20b: Print server, 21a, 21b: Printer driver, 100: Printer controller, 110: Printer control unit, 111: Print job replacement processing unit, 112: Print job control unit, 113: Printer operation setting unit, 113a: Reprint processing order information table, 113b: Operation information change processing unit, 114: Printer status monitoring unit, 114a: Information processing unit of printer status table, 114b: Panel display processing unit, 114c: Status acquisition processing unit of the printer unit, 115: print processing unit, 115a: print instruction unit, 115b: paper discharge monitoring unit, 115c: printability determination unit, 120: storage unit, 121: reception buffer, 122: frame memory, 123 : Printer status table, 123a: Paper feed unit information, 123b: For Size, 123c: Paper discharge unit information, 123d: Unprintable state, 123e: Mismatch attribute, 123f: Paper transport information, 124: Job management table, 125: Print job print order management table, 125-1: Print job Example before processing of order management table, 125-2: Example after processing of print job order management table, 126: Mismatch attribute job management table, 130: Printer engine controller, 200: Printer unit, 210: Paper feeding unit, 220: printer engine, 230: paper discharge unit, 300: panel unit, 310: key unit, 320: display unit, 401: print job, 402: print attribute unit, 403: print data unit, 404: attribute 1, 405: Details of attribute 1, 406: Image data.

Claims (3)

A printer controller that controls the print job received from the host device and the overall printing device, a printing unit that prints on paper according to print job data from the overall control unit, and a panel that receives notifications and input from the user With
The printer controller receives a print job including an attribute from a host device, analyzes the attribute included in the print job, determines whether the state of the printing unit and the attribute included in the print job match, The print unit that instructs the printing unit to print the matched print job according to the specified attribute, while the print job that does not match is temporarily stored as a hold, and the highest print job group of the mismatched print jobs. In a printing apparatus that displays mismatch attribute information corresponding to a previously stored print job on the panel unit,
The printer controller includes a reprint processing order table whose priority is defined by attributes, and order information for changing the priority order of attributes of the reprint processing order table based on an input from the panel unit by a user Change means,
Comparing each attribute of the temporarily stored print job group with an attribute that is prioritized in the reprint processing order table, and performing reprint processing preferentially from a print job having a matching attribute, Printing device to do.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the order information changing unit changes, adds, or deletes attribute data in the reprint processing order information table based on a user input from the panel unit.   The reprint processing order information table includes a plurality of attribute data, and the priority order among the attributes is changed according to a user input value from the panel unit, and all the print jobs of the temporarily stored print job group 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein reprint processing is sequentially performed by checking whether the attributes are matched in descending order of priority of the attributes.

Images