JP2010137455A - Image forming apparatus, image forming system, and print control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus, an image forming system and a print control method capable of obtaining output results as expected, even in a case of not holding font data necessary for printing job treatment. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus for processing the printing job using the font data is provided with a function in which: the font data necessary for the printing job processing are specified by analyzing the printing job to determine whether font data are stored in a storing part of the own device or not; sending requirement of the font data to the other device connected to a communication network is transmitted in the case of not storing the font data; the font data from any one of the other devices are received; and the printing job is processed by using the received font data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming system, and a print control method, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus, an image forming system, and a print control method that process a print job using font data in the system.

  Printing apparatuses (hereinafter referred to as image forming apparatuses) such as printers and digital multi-function peripherals have become widespread, and image forming apparatuses receive a print job from a computer terminal and a font is specified in the print job. The print job is processed using the font data held in the image forming apparatus.

  At that time, if the font data necessary for the processing of the print job is held in the image forming apparatus, an expected output result can be obtained, but if the font data is not held in the image forming apparatus, There is a problem that an expected output result cannot be obtained because the data is garbled or output using alternative font data.

  In particular, in the case of so-called distributed printing in which a print job is distributed and processed by a plurality of image forming apparatuses, it is correctly printed on an image forming apparatus that holds font data, and is correct on an image forming apparatus that does not hold font data. Printing is not performed, and output results vary.

  In order to deal with such a problem of font data, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 discloses a method for restricting an interface so that built-in font data cannot be used when distributed printing is set in a printing condition input unit. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-259259 discloses a management server that manages a built-in font table for each printer, and discloses a method for determining an output printer based on the built-in font table.

JP 2005-92255 A JP-A-2005-182105

  Since the method described in the patent document cannot be output by an image forming apparatus that does not have the font data necessary for processing a print job, the font data held by the image forming apparatus must be confirmed in advance. In the case of distributed printing, an image forming apparatus that holds predetermined font data must be selected from a large number of image forming apparatuses.

  Here, if predetermined font data is stored in advance in all the image forming apparatuses connected to the communication network, the expected output result can be obtained regardless of which image forming apparatus processes the print job.

  However, this method requires installation of font data for all image forming apparatuses. Further, in this method, since a large number of font data is held in the storage unit of the image forming apparatus, other processing may be hindered by occupying the storage area of the storage unit. Further, in order to hold font data in all image forming apparatuses, it is necessary to acquire licenses for the number of units.

  In particular, in a system that performs distributed printing, since a large number of image forming apparatuses are connected to a network, installation work becomes complicated and the cost of a license also increases. In such a system, addition and replacement of image forming apparatuses are frequently performed. Therefore, font data must be installed every time an image forming apparatus is added or replaced.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its main purpose is to obtain an expected output result even when font data necessary for processing a print job is not held. Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus, an image forming system, and a printing control method.

  To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, in an image forming apparatus that processes a print job using font data, the print job is analyzed to identify font data necessary for processing the print job, and the font It is determined whether the data is stored in the storage unit of the device, and when the font data is not stored, the font data sending request is transmitted to another device connected to the communication network, and A function of receiving the font data from any one of the other devices and processing the print job using the received font data is provided.

  According to the present invention, in an image forming system including a plurality of image forming apparatuses, an image forming apparatus that processes a print job analyzes the print job, specifies font data necessary for processing the print job, and It is determined whether the font data is stored in the storage unit of its own device. If the font data is not stored, a request for sending the font data is transmitted to another image forming apparatus connected to the communication network. And the function of receiving the font data from any one of the other image forming apparatuses and processing the print job using the received font data, wherein the other image forming apparatus includes the font data Is received, a determination is made as to whether the font data is stored in the storage unit of its own device, and the font data is stored. If you are those having a function of returning the font data.

  The present invention is also a printing control method in an image forming system including a plurality of image forming apparatuses, wherein an image forming apparatus that processes a print job analyzes the print job and uses a font necessary for processing the print job. The data is specified, it is determined whether the font data is held in the storage unit of the apparatus, and if the font data is not held, the font is transferred to another image forming apparatus connected to a communication network. When the data transmission request is transmitted and the other image forming apparatus receives the font data transmission request, the other image forming apparatus determines whether the font data is held in the storage unit of the own apparatus, and holds the font data. If the image forming apparatus returns the font data, the image forming apparatus that processes the print job transmits the font data from any one of the other image forming apparatuses. Receive data, and processes the print job using the font data received.

  According to the image forming apparatus, the image forming system, and the print control method of the present invention, an expected output result can be obtained even when font data necessary for processing a print job is not held.

  The reason is that the image forming apparatus that processes the print job checks whether or not the font data necessary for processing the print job is held in the own apparatus. This is because control for receiving font data is performed. Further, the storage / deletion of font data is controlled according to the free space of the storage unit, the usage frequency, the number of licenses, and the like.

  This eliminates the need to store font data in all image forming apparatuses, reduces the installation work of font data, suppresses the storage area occupied by holding font data, and further reduces the license for font data. The problem can be solved.

  As shown in the background art, unless the image forming apparatus holds font data necessary for processing a print job, an expected output result cannot be obtained by garbled characters. For this reason, an image forming apparatus that holds predetermined font data must be selected when printing is instructed, and the selection becomes difficult particularly in distributed printing. On the other hand, if font data is held in all image forming apparatuses, problems such as troublesome installation of font data, occupation of a storage area, and an increase in license costs arise.

  Therefore, in the present invention, the font data holding information is exchanged autonomously between the image forming apparatuses, and if the font data is not held in the image forming apparatus that processes the print job, the font data is transferred from another image forming apparatus. By receiving the transmission, a desired output result can be obtained regardless of which image forming apparatus processes the print job.

  Specifically, the image forming apparatus that processes the print job checks whether the font data used in the print job is held. If not, the image forming apparatus sends a request for sending font data to the other image forming apparatus. The font data is received from another image forming apparatus. Further, in order to efficiently transmit and receive font data, another image forming apparatus is inquired about the presence or absence of font data, and a font data sending request is transmitted to a specific image forming apparatus. Further, in order to suppress the occupation of the storage area by holding the acquired font data, the free space is confirmed or other font data is deleted. Further, in order to solve the license problem caused by sending and receiving font data, the number of licenses is compared with the number of image forming apparatuses holding font data. Delete the font data. Specific examples thereof will be described below.

  First, an image forming apparatus, an image forming system, and a printing control method according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming system according to the present exemplary embodiment, FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a computer terminal, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are diagrams illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus. 5 and 6 are flowcharts showing the operation of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing processing between the image forming apparatuses.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming system according to the present exemplary embodiment includes one or more computer terminals 10 that transmit a print job, and a plurality of image forming apparatuses 20 that receive the print job and execute processing. The plurality of image forming apparatuses 20 include a first image forming apparatus 20a that does not hold font data necessary for processing a print job, and a second image forming apparatus 20b that holds the font data. . These are connected by a communication network 30 such as a LAN (Local Area Network) and a WAN (Wide Area Network) defined by standards such as Ethernet (registered trademark), token ring, and FDDI (Fiber-Distributed Data Interface). .

  As shown in FIG. 2, the computer terminal 10 includes a control unit 11, a display unit 12, an operation unit 13, and the like.

  The control unit 11 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11a, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a memory 11b such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 11c, a communication I / F unit 11d, and the like. Are connected via a bus. The CPU 11a controls each part. The memory 11b is a part that temporarily stores various data read from the HDD 11c and the communication I / F unit 11d, and the stored data is processed by the CPU 11a, and the HDD 11c and the communication I / F unit 11d as necessary. Forwarded to The HDD 11c stores a program for the CPU 11a to control each unit, information on processing functions of the own apparatus, a print job, and the like, read by the CPU 11a as necessary, and executed on the memory 11b. The communication I / F unit 11d establishes a connection with a device connected via the communication network 30, and executes transmission / reception of data.

  The control unit 11 functions as an application for creating a document and a printer driver for instructing printing of the document. Document data created by the application can be read by a language (PCL (PCL) readable by the image forming apparatus 20 by the printer driver. It is converted into a PDL (Page Description Language) print job such as Printer Control Language (PS) or PS (Post Script), and is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 20 via the communication I / F unit 11d.

  The display unit 12 includes a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic EL (electroluminescence) display, and the like, and displays a printer driver screen, a property screen, and the like for setting a print job to be transmitted to the image forming apparatus 20. To do.

  The operation unit 13 is a part for operating information input on the display unit 12 and inputting information, and is configured by a pointing device, a keyboard, a trackball, a trackpad, a tablet, a stylus pen, and the like. .

  As shown in FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus 20 (the first image forming apparatus 20a and the second image forming apparatus 20b) includes a control unit 21, an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) 22, and The image reading unit 23, the display unit 24, the operation unit 25, the paper feeding unit 26, the image forming unit 27, the post-processing unit 28, and the like.

  The control unit 21 controls each component, and includes a CPU 21a, a memory 21b such as a ROM and a RAM, an HDD 21c, a communication I / F unit 21d, and the like, which are connected via a bus. The CPU 21a controls each part. The memory 21b is a part that temporarily stores various data read from the HDD 21c, the image reading unit 23, and the communication I / F unit 21d. The stored data is subjected to image processing by the CPU 21a, and the HDD 21c or image is stored as necessary. Transferred to the forming unit 27. The HDD 21c is a program for the CPU 21a to control each unit, information related to the processing function of its own device, and data necessary for correctly printing information specified in the print job (in this embodiment, characters specified in the print job are displayed). Font data for printing correctly) is stored, read by the CPU 21a as necessary, and executed on the memory 21b. The communication I / F unit 21d establishes a connection with a device connected via the communication network 30, and executes data transmission / reception.

  The control unit 21 analyzes the print job, determines whether or not the font data necessary for processing the print job is held in its own device, and if it does not hold the font data, the control unit 21 sends the image data to another image forming apparatus. A function to send a request for sending font data and receive font data from other image forming devices. Rasterize each page of a print job using the received font data to generate image data for each page. After performing image processing (processing such as color adjustment, density adjustment, slide and reduction) and screening, the image forming unit 27 has a function of converting into print image data that can be printed. The above functions may be realized by hardware, or may be configured as a control program that causes a computer to realize the above functions, and the control program may be operated on the control unit 21.

  The ADF 22 is a part that automatically conveys one or a plurality of document sheets to the image reading unit 23.

  The image reading unit 23 is a part that optically reads image data from a document sheet on a document table, a light source that scans the document, a CCD (Charge Coupled Devices) that converts light reflected by the document into an electrical signal, and the like. Image sensor and an A / D converter for A / D converting electrical signals.

  The display unit 24 includes a liquid crystal display device, an organic EL display device, and the like, and displays a screen and the like for operating the image forming apparatus 20. The operation unit 25 includes buttons and switches, and performs various settings and instructions. The display unit 24 and the operation unit 25 may be separate devices, or may be an integrated device provided with a pressure-sensitive operation unit (touch panel) 25 in which transparent electrodes are arranged in a lattice shape on the display unit 24. In the case of a touch panel, the XY coordinates of a force point pressed with a finger or a touch pen are detected by a voltage value, and the detected position signal is output to the control unit 21 as an operation signal.

  The paper feed unit 26 includes a paper tray for storing various sizes of paper. Further, a part for sending the stored paper to the image forming unit 27 is included.

  The image forming unit 27 includes constituent elements necessary for image formation using an image forming process such as an electrophotographic method or an electrostatic recording method, and image data read from the image reading unit 23 or a communication I / F unit 21d. An image is formed on the designated paper on the basis of the print job received via, and sent to the post-processing unit 28.

  The post-processing unit 28 outputs the sheet conveyed from the image forming unit 27 after finishing processing desired by the user, such as punching, stapling, and bookbinding, according to an instruction from the control unit 21.

  The image forming apparatus 20 only needs to be able to perform image formation based on a print job, and the ADF 22, the image reading unit 23, the post-processing unit 28, and the like are not necessarily required. Further, the configuration of the first image forming apparatus 20a and the second image forming apparatus 20b may be different.

  1 to 4 are examples of the image forming system of the present embodiment, and can be changed as appropriate. For example, in the present embodiment, a case where predetermined font data is acquired from another image forming apparatus is shown. However, a configuration in which the predetermined font data is acquired from a server or a computer terminal connected to the communication network 30 may be adopted. In FIG. 1, the image forming system includes the computer terminal 10 and the plurality of image forming apparatuses 20. However, the image forming system may include only the plurality of image forming apparatuses 20, or the image data may be converted into print image data. A control device such as a RIP (Raster Image Processor) controller may be connected to the communication network 30, and control for obtaining predetermined font data may be performed by this control device.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the image forming apparatus 20 in the image forming system configured as described above will be described. In the following description, in the computer terminal 10, document data created by an application is converted into a print job by a printer driver, and the first image forming apparatus 20a (in the case of normal printing) or via the communication I / F unit 11d Assume that the image data is transmitted to a plurality of image forming apparatuses 20 (in the case of distributed printing) including the first image forming apparatus 20a.

  First, the operation of the image forming apparatus that has received a print job will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5 and the sequence diagram of FIG.

  The control unit 21 of the image forming apparatus 20 receives the print job via the communication I / F unit 21d (S101). Note that this print job is not limited to the one transmitted from the computer terminal 10, and may be received from other devices (such as other image forming apparatuses or servers) connected to the communication network 30. You may read from HDD21c etc. of the apparatus 20. FIG.

  Next, the control unit 21 analyzes the received print job and determines whether the print job is output using the built-in font (S102). If the built-in font is not used, the print job is processed and output (S106). If the built-in font is used, it is determined whether the font data necessary for the print job processing is held in the HDD 21c of the own apparatus. (S103). If the font data is held, the print job is processed and output using the font data (S106).

  When the font data is not held (in the case of the first image forming apparatus 20a), the control unit 21 transmits a request for sending the font data via the communication I / F unit 21d (S104, FIG. 7). After the font data is received from the other image forming apparatus 20 (second image forming apparatus 20b) (S105, FIG. 7), the print job is processed and output using the received font data (S106). ).

  The format of the font data sending request is arbitrary, and it is sufficient that the font data requesting sending and information that can specify the image forming apparatus 20 (first image forming apparatus 20a) that is the sending source of the request are included.

  Moreover, the acquisition method of font data is also arbitrary. For example, a method of sending and receiving e-mail using a mail server such as a POP (Post Office Protocol) server or SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) server may be used, or WebDAV (Distributed Authoring and Versioning protocol for the WWW). ) A method of reading font data using an HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) server such as a server may be used, or HTTPS (HTTP (a protocol that adds SSL (Secure Socket Layer) data encryption function) to HTTP. Even if a method using Hypertext Transfer Protocol Security (FTP) or a method using FTP (File Transfer Protocol) which is a protocol used when transferring a file on a TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) network is used. Good.

  Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus that has received a request for sending font data will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 6 and the sequence diagram of FIG.

  First, the control unit 21 of the image forming apparatus 20 (second image forming apparatus 20b) receives a request for sending font data via the communication I / F unit 21d (S201, FIG. 7).

  Next, the control unit 21 analyzes the received request for sending font data, specifies the font data and the image forming apparatus 20 (first image forming apparatus 20a) as the sending source, and uses the specified font data for the own apparatus. It is determined whether the data is held in the HDD 21c or the like (S202). If the font data is held, the font data is transmitted to the requesting image forming apparatus 20 (first image forming apparatus 20a) (S203, FIG. 7).

  On the other hand, if the font data is not held, the process ends (FIG. 7), or information indicating that the font data is not held is sent to the image forming apparatus 20 (the first image forming apparatus 20a) as the request sender. ).

  As described above, in this embodiment, when the image forming apparatus 20 that has received the print job does not hold the font data necessary for processing the print job, the control unit performs other image formation connected to the communication network 30. An arbitrary image forming apparatus 20 on the communication network 30 is transmitted regardless of whether or not the predetermined font data is held in order to transmit a font data sending request to the apparatus and receive the font data from another image forming apparatus. Can process print jobs. Although the above effect can be obtained even when a print job is processed by one image forming apparatus, a large number of image forming apparatuses 20 are connected to the communication network 30, and one print job is processed by a plurality of image forming apparatuses 20. A remarkable effect is obtained in the case of so-called distributed printing.

  Next, an image forming apparatus, an image forming system, and a print control method according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10 are flowcharts illustrating the operation of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing between the image forming apparatuses.

  In the first embodiment described above, when there are a plurality of image forming apparatuses 20 (second image forming apparatuses 20b) holding photo data, font data is sent from the plurality of image forming apparatuses 20. Therefore, in this embodiment, before transmitting the photo data sending request, the font data holding state of each image forming apparatus 20 is confirmed, and one image forming apparatus 20 (second image forming apparatus) holding the font data is checked. A request for sending font data is transmitted only to the apparatus 20b).

  Hereinafter, the operation of the image forming apparatus 20 of this embodiment will be described. First, the operation of the image forming apparatus that has received a print job will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 8 and the sequence diagram of FIG.

  The control unit 21 of the image forming apparatus 20 receives the print job via the communication I / F unit 21d (S301). Next, the control unit 21 analyzes the received print job and determines whether the print job is output using the built-in font (S302). If the built-in font is not used, the print job is processed and output (S309). If the built-in font is used, it is determined whether the font data necessary for the print job process is held in the HDD 21c of the own apparatus. (S303). If the font data is held, the print job is processed and output using the font data (S309).

  When the font data is not held (in the case of the first image forming apparatus 20a), the control unit 21 applies the other image forming apparatus connected to the communication network 30 via the communication I / F unit 21d. An inquiry is made about the presence or absence of font data (S304, FIG. 11). Then, the presence / absence information of the font data is received from another image forming apparatus (S305, FIG. 11), and the image forming apparatus 20 (second image forming apparatus 20b) that transmits the request for sending the font data is determined (S306). ).

  The method for acquiring the information is arbitrary, and the method for acquiring the information held in the MIB (Management Information Base) table by SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) or the method shown in the first embodiment is used. can do.

  Further, when there are a plurality of image forming apparatuses 20 (second image forming apparatuses 20b) that hold the font data, which image forming apparatus 20 is selected is arbitrary. For example, the image forming apparatus 20 that has responded that the font data is held first may be selected, or if the reply to the inquiry includes status information indicating the state of the own apparatus, the status is idle. The image forming apparatus 20 in the state may be selected.

  Next, the control unit 21 transmits a request for sending font data to the determined image forming apparatus 20 (second image forming apparatus 20b) (S307, FIG. 11), and the image forming apparatus 20 (second image forming apparatus 20). The font data is received from the image forming apparatus 20b) (S308, FIG. 11). Then, the print job is processed and output using the acquired font data (S309).

  Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus that has received an inquiry about the presence or absence of font data will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 9 and the sequence diagram of FIG.

  First, the control unit 21 of another image forming apparatus 20 receives an inquiry about the presence or absence of font data via the communication I / F unit 21d (S401, FIG. 11).

  Next, the control unit 21 analyzes the received inquiry, specifies the font data and the image forming apparatus 20 (first image forming apparatus 20a) as the transmission source, and holds the specified font data in the HDD 21c of the own apparatus. It is determined whether or not (S402). If the font data is held, the presence / absence information of the font data is transmitted to the requesting image forming apparatus 20 (first image forming apparatus 20a) (S403, FIG. 11).

  On the other hand, if the font data is not held, the process is terminated (FIG. 11), or information indicating that the font data is not held is sent to the requesting image forming apparatus 20 (first image forming apparatus 20a). ).

  Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus that has received the request for sending font data will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 10 and the sequence diagram of FIG.

  First, the control unit 21 of the image forming apparatus 20 (second image forming apparatus 20b) receives a font data transmission request via the communication I / F unit 21d (S501, FIG. 11).

  Next, the control unit 21 analyzes the received request for sending font data, specifies the font data and the image forming apparatus 20 (first image forming apparatus 20a) as the sender, and sends the specified font data to the request. The image is transmitted to the original image forming apparatus 20 (first image forming apparatus 20a) (S502, FIG. 11).

  As described above, in the present exemplary embodiment, when the image forming apparatus 20 that has received a print job does not hold font data necessary for processing the print job, the control unit transmits another image connected to the communication network 30. Inquires about the presence or absence of font data to the forming apparatus, and transmits font data transmission request to one image forming apparatus to receive the font data. Therefore, the font data is transmitted and received more efficiently than the first embodiment. be able to.

  Next, an image forming apparatus, an image forming system, and a print control method according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the image forming apparatus, and FIGS. 13 and 14 are sequence diagrams illustrating processing between the image forming apparatuses.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the font data acquisition method has been described. However, since the font data has a large capacity, the received font data depends on the remaining amount (free capacity) of the storage unit (for example, HDD 21c). If the memory is stored in the storage unit, it may occupy a storage area and cause trouble in other processes. Therefore, in this embodiment, after output using font data received from another image forming apparatus 20 (second image forming apparatus 20b), the remaining capacity of the storage area is checked, and the storage area When the remaining amount is small, the font data held in the storage area is deleted.

  At this time, since the font data to be deleted needs to exist in any one image forming apparatus 20 in the image forming system, the presence or absence of the font data is confirmed. When the font data to be deleted is held in another image forming apparatus 20 in the image forming system, the font data is deleted from the storage unit of the image forming apparatus 20 that processes the print job. If the other image forming apparatus 20 does not hold the font data to be deleted, the font data is not deleted, and the presence / absence of the font data is similarly confirmed for the font data to be deleted next.

  The operation of the image forming apparatus that has received the font data will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 12 and the sequence diagrams of FIGS. In the following, the step of receiving font data will be described, but the previous processing is the same as in the first and second embodiments described above.

  The control unit 21 of the image forming apparatus 20 (first image forming apparatus 20a) receives font data from another image forming apparatus 20 (second image forming apparatus 20b) (S601). Next, the control unit 21 processes and outputs a print job using the acquired font data (S602).

  Next, the control unit 21 compares the remaining amount of the storage area of the storage unit (e.g., HDD 31c) of the own device with a predetermined threshold (S603). If the remaining amount is greater than the threshold, the font data is stored in the storage unit ( For example, the data is stored in the HDD 31c) and the process is terminated. On the other hand, if the remaining amount is equal to or less than the threshold, the font data to be deleted is determined (S604). The font data to be deleted can be determined by referring to a pre-stored usage frequency table and selecting the font data to be deleted in order from the least frequently used font data within a certain period. There is a method of deleting from the old font data in order.

  Next, the control unit 21 acquires information about what font data is held from another image forming apparatus connected to the communication network 30 via the communication I / F unit 21d. This information can be acquired using the same method as in the second embodiment. Then, it is confirmed whether the font data determined in step S604 is held in any of the image forming apparatuses 20 in the image forming system (S605).

  When the determined font data is held in any of the image forming apparatuses 20 in the image forming system, the received font data is stored in the storage unit after the font data is deleted from the storage unit (for example, HDD 31c). Then, the process ends (S606, FIG. 13).

  On the other hand, if the determined font data is not held in any of the image forming apparatuses 20, the process returns to step S604 to determine again the font data to be deleted, and the newly determined font data is any of the image forming systems. (S605). If the font data is held in any one of the image forming apparatuses 20 in the image forming system, the font data is stored in a storage unit (for example, HDD 31c). ), The received font data is stored in the storage unit and the process is terminated (S606, FIG. 14).

  In the above flow, the capacity check of the storage area is performed after the print job is output, but may be performed at regular intervals.

  As described above, in this embodiment, after the font data is received, the remaining amount of the storage area is determined, and when the remaining amount is small, the other font data is deleted. The processing of the image forming apparatus 20 is not hindered, and the processing of the image forming system can be executed efficiently.

  Next, an image forming apparatus, an image forming system, and a printing control method according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the image forming apparatus.

  In the third embodiment described above, the remaining amount of the storage area of the image forming apparatus 20 is used for determination of deletion of font data. However, since font data often requires a license for use, When deleting, it is necessary to consider the number of licenses. Therefore, in this embodiment, the acquisition and deletion of font data is controlled using the number of licenses that can be used in the entire image forming system as a criterion.

  The operation of the image forming apparatus that has received the print job will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the following, the steps up to the print job output step will be described, but the subsequent processing is the same as in the third embodiment.

  The control unit 21 of the image forming apparatus 20 receives a print job via the communication I / F unit 21d (S701), and determines whether the received print job is a print job output using a built-in font. (S702). If the built-in font is not used, the print job is processed and output (S710). If the built-in font is used, it is determined whether the font data necessary for the print job processing is held in the HDD 21c of the own apparatus. (S703). If the font data is held, the print job is processed and output using the font data (S710).

  When the font data is not held (in the case of the first image forming apparatus 20a), the control unit 21 applies the other image forming apparatus connected to the communication network 30 via the communication I / F unit 21d. An inquiry about the presence / absence of font data is made (S704), and the presence / absence information of font data is received from another image forming apparatus (S705).

  Next, the control unit 21 confirms the number of image forming apparatuses 20 that hold font data in the entire image forming system based on the received presence / absence information of font data (S706), and the image forming apparatus 20 that holds font data. If the number is less than the number of licenses of the font data, the image forming apparatus 20 (second image forming apparatus 20b) that transmits the font data transmission request is determined (S707), and the font data transmission request is transmitted. (S708), the font data is received (S709), the print job is processed and output using the received font data (S710).

  On the other hand, if the number of image forming apparatuses 20 that hold font data has reached the number of licenses of the font data, the image forming apparatus 20 (second image forming apparatus 20b) that transmits the font data sending request is determined. Then, a transmission request for font data is transmitted (S712), and the font data is received (S713). Thereafter, a deletion request for font data is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 20 (second image forming apparatus 20b) (S714).

  Note that the method for determining the image forming apparatus 20 to which the font data deletion request is sent is arbitrary. For example, an image with a small number of times the font data has been used within a certain period with reference to a pre-stored usage frequency table. For example, a method for setting the forming apparatus 20 as a deletion target or a method for setting the image forming apparatus 20 having the oldest date and time when the font data is used as a deletion target can be used.

  When the font data deletion status is received from the image forming apparatus 20 that has transmitted the font data deletion request (S715), the print job is processed and output using the font data received in S713 (S710). .

  The font data deletion request may be sent to the image forming apparatus 20 that has transmitted the font data, or is returned with the usage frequency information of the font data in the own apparatus added to the inquiry about the presence or absence of the font data. In this case, a font data deletion request may be transmitted to the image forming apparatus 20 that is less frequently used in the entire image forming system.

  In the above description, the font data is deleted from the other image forming apparatus (second image forming apparatus 20b). However, after the print job is processed by the image forming apparatus 20 (first image forming apparatus 20a). The font data in the image forming apparatus 20 (first image forming apparatus 20a) may be deleted.

  Thus, in this embodiment, when obtaining font data, the number of image forming apparatuses 20 that hold the font data is compared with the number of licenses. If the number of licenses has been reached, another image formation is performed. Since the font data is used after the device 20 confirms that the font data has been deleted, the font data is not used exceeding the number of licenses, and appropriate processing can be executed in the image forming system.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the case where the font data is acquired has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and any information necessary for correctly printing the information defined in the print job. It can be similarly applied to the above data (except for data that is printed correctly even if the layout is broken, such as template data).

  The present invention is applicable to an image forming system including an image forming apparatus and a plurality of image forming apparatuses.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image forming system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the computer terminal which concerns on 1st Example of this invention. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the image forming apparatus (image forming apparatus that has received a print job) according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention (an image forming apparatus that has received a font data transmission request). FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing between the image forming apparatuses according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an image forming apparatus (an image forming apparatus that has received a print job) according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart figure which shows operation | movement of the image forming apparatus (image forming apparatus which received the presence or absence of a font) based on 2nd Example of this invention. It is a flowchart figure which shows operation | movement of the image forming apparatus (image forming apparatus which received the font data transmission request) based on 2nd Example of this invention. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing between image forming apparatuses according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an image forming apparatus (an image forming apparatus that has received a print job) according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing between image forming apparatuses according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating another example of processing between image forming apparatuses according to the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an image forming apparatus (an image forming apparatus that has received a print job) according to a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

10 Computer Terminal 11 Control Unit 11a CPU
11b Memory 11c HDD
11d Communication I / F unit 12 Display unit 13 Operation unit 20 Image forming apparatus 21 Control unit 21a CPU
21b Memory 21c HDD
21d Communication I / F part 22 ADF
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 23 Image reading part 24 Display part 25 Operation part 26 Paper feed part 27 Image formation part 28 Post-processing part 30 Communication network

Claims (20)

In an image forming apparatus that processes print jobs using font data,
If the font data necessary for processing the print job is analyzed by analyzing the print job, the font data is stored in the storage unit of the device, and the font data is not stored Transmitting a request for sending the font data to another device connected to the communication network, receiving the font data from any one of the other devices, and using the received font data to perform the print job An image forming apparatus having a function of processing the image.   The image forming apparatus inquires about the presence / absence of the font data from the other apparatus, and identifies and identifies the apparatus holding the font data based on the presence / absence information of the font data from the other apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the font data transmission request is transmitted to one apparatus selected from the apparatuses.   The image forming apparatus retains the font data based on the presence / absence information of the font data and the status information added to the presence / absence information, and identifies an apparatus whose status is in an idle state. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a request for sending the font data is transmitted to one apparatus selected from among the apparatuses.   The image forming apparatus compares the free space of the storage unit with a predetermined threshold value, and stores the received font data in the storage unit when the free space is larger than the threshold value. Item 4. The image forming apparatus according to any one of Items 1 to 3.   When the available capacity is equal to or less than the threshold, the image forming apparatus determines a priority order of font data deletion based on pre-stored usage history information, and the priority order is high, The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the received font data is stored in the storage unit after the retained font data is deleted from the storage unit.   The image forming apparatus compares the number of licenses of the font data with the number of apparatuses holding the font data, and holds the font data when the number reaches the number of licenses. 6. The received font data is stored in the storage unit after transmitting a request to delete the font data to any device and receiving a notification that the font data has been deleted. The image forming apparatus described. In an image forming system including a plurality of image forming apparatuses,
An image forming apparatus that processes a print job analyzes the print job, specifies font data necessary for processing the print job, determines whether the font data is held in a storage unit of the apparatus, When the font data is not held, the font data sending request is transmitted to another image forming apparatus connected to the communication network, and the font data is received from any one of the other image forming apparatuses. And having the function of processing the print job using the received font data,
When the other image forming apparatus receives the request for sending the font data, it determines whether the font data is stored in its own storage unit. If the font data is stored, the other image forming apparatus stores the font data. An image forming system comprising a function of returning. The image forming apparatus that processes the print job inquires of the other image forming apparatus about the presence or absence of the font data, and holds the font data based on the presence or absence of the font data from the other image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus is identified, and the font data sending request is transmitted to one image forming apparatus selected from the identified image forming apparatuses.
When the other image forming apparatus receives the inquiry about the presence / absence of the font data, the other image forming apparatus determines whether the font data is stored in the storage unit of the own apparatus and returns the presence / absence information of the font data, and The image forming system according to claim 7, wherein the font data is returned when a font data sending request is received. The other image forming apparatus replies with the status information added to the font data presence / absence information in response to the inquiry about the presence / absence of the font data,
The image forming apparatus that processes the print job specifies the image forming apparatus that holds the font data and the status is in an idle state, and is selected from the specified image forming apparatuses. 9. The image forming system according to claim 8, wherein a request for sending the font data is transmitted.   The image forming apparatus that processes the print job compares the free space of the storage unit with a predetermined threshold value, and stores the received font data in the storage unit when the free space is larger than the threshold value. The image forming system according to claim 7, wherein the image forming system is an image forming system.   The image forming apparatus that processes the print job, when the available capacity is equal to or less than the threshold value, determines the priority of font data deletion based on pre-stored usage history information, the priority is high, and 11. The image formation according to claim 10, wherein after the font data held in any one of the other image forming apparatuses is deleted from the storage unit, the received font data is stored in the storage unit. system. The image forming apparatus that processes the print job compares the number of licenses of the font data with the number of image forming apparatuses that hold the font data, and if the number has reached the number of licenses, After sending a request to delete the font data to any image forming apparatus holding font data, and receiving a notification that the font data has been deleted, the font data is stored in the storage unit,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the image forming apparatus that has received the request to delete the font data returns a notification of deleting the font data after deleting the font data from the storage unit. system.   The image forming system according to claim 7, wherein the print job is a job for executing print processing distributed to a plurality of image forming apparatuses. A printing control method in an image forming system including a plurality of image forming apparatuses,
An image forming apparatus that processes a print job analyzes the print job, specifies font data necessary for processing the print job, determines whether the font data is held in a storage unit of the apparatus, If the font data is not held, send the font data sending request to another image forming apparatus connected to the communication network,
When the other image forming apparatus receives the request for sending the font data, it determines whether the font data is stored in its own storage unit. If the font data is stored, the other image forming apparatus stores the font data. Reply,
An image forming apparatus that processes the print job receives the font data from any one of the other image forming apparatuses, and processes the print job using the received font data. Method. The image forming apparatus that processes the print job inquires about the presence or absence of the font data from the other image forming apparatus,
When the other image forming apparatus receives the inquiry about the presence / absence of the font data, the other image forming apparatus determines whether the font data is held in the storage unit of the own apparatus and returns the presence / absence information of the font data,
The image forming apparatus that processes the print job specifies an image forming apparatus that holds the font data based on the presence / absence information of the font data, and selects one image forming apparatus selected from the specified image forming apparatuses Send a request to send the font data to the device,
The print control method according to claim 14, wherein the image forming apparatus that has received the font data sending request returns the font data. The other image forming apparatus replies with the status information added to the font data presence / absence information in response to the inquiry about the presence / absence of the font data,
An image forming apparatus that processes the print job specifies an image forming apparatus that holds the font data and has an idle status, and selects one image forming apparatus selected from the specified image forming apparatuses. The print control method according to claim 15, further comprising transmitting a request for sending the font data.   The image forming apparatus that processes the print job compares the free space of the storage unit with a predetermined threshold value, and stores the received font data in the storage unit when the free space is larger than the threshold value. The printing control method according to claim 14, wherein the printing control method is a printing method.   The image forming apparatus that processes the print job, when the available capacity is equal to or less than the threshold value, determines the priority of font data deletion based on pre-stored usage history information, the priority is high, and 18. The print control according to claim 17, wherein after the font data held in any one of the other image forming apparatuses is deleted from the storage unit, the received font data is stored in the storage unit. Method. The image forming apparatus that processes the print job compares the number of licenses of the font data with the number of image forming apparatuses that hold the font data, and if the number has reached the number of licenses, Send a request to delete the font data to any image forming apparatus holding the font data;
The image forming apparatus that has received the font data deletion request returns a notification that the font data has been deleted after deleting the font data from the storage unit,
19. The print control method according to claim 17, wherein the image forming apparatus that processes the print job stores the font data in the storage unit after receiving the notification that the font data has been deleted.   The print control method according to claim 14, wherein the print job is a job for executing print processing distributed to a plurality of image forming apparatuses.

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