JP2010287092A - Image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming system allowing confirmation of a state of a print job during a standby in an image forming device and execution of printing. <P>SOLUTION: In this image forming system, an information processor includes: a first transmission means transmitting the print job to the image forming device; a first reception means receiving information related to another print job during a standby in the image forming device transmitted from the image forming device; a display means displaying contents of the information related to the received other print job; and an input means receiving input of a print instruction. The first transmission means transmits information about the print instruction to the image forming device when receiving the input of the print instruction. The image forming device includes: a second reception means receiving the print instruction and the print job transmitted from the information processor; a second transmission means transmitting the information related to the other print job during the standby for the reception to the information processor when receiving the print job; and a printing means executing the print job when receiving the print instruction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming system that performs image formation by transmitting a print job from an information processing apparatus to an image forming apparatus.

  When a user sends a print job from an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer (PC) to an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a large number of print jobs are already accumulated in the image forming apparatus, and it is difficult to print their own data. Situations often occur.

  In order to improve this troublesomeness, a method for interrupting a print job is known. However, this method requires manual interruption of the print job. Further, even if an interruption is performed, if another error such as out of paper or out of ink occurs, there is a problem that the execution of the print job is delayed.

  A method for monitoring the status of a printer by using a status monitor, integrated printer management software, or the like is also known. However, this method has a problem that it is not easy for a user who is not good at operating an information processing apparatus such as a PC because the user needs to check the state himself. In addition, many users are conscious of the printer status for the first time after sending a print job to the printer. If multiple users' print jobs are accumulated in the printer, it takes time to cancel the print job and There was also a problem that data was wasted.

  Therefore, for example, in Patent Document 1, the current job status information and a candidate job menu representing candidates for a print job command to be executed next are provided so that the user can instruct the next print job command with a simple operation. A method for transmitting notification information including the above to a user by e-mail is disclosed.

  Further, for example, Patent Document 2 discloses a method of printing printer supply status information as a list on a recording medium in response to a request from a user.

  However, in the method disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to check the received electronic mail in order to check the job status information of the printer. In the method disclosed in Patent Document 2, it is necessary to check the recording medium printed by the printer in order to check the status information of the printer.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming system capable of confirming the status of a print job that is waiting in an image forming apparatus and executing printing. To do.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an image forming system according to the present invention is an image forming system in which a first information processing apparatus and a first image forming apparatus are connected, and the first information processing apparatus A first transmission unit that transmits a job to the first image forming apparatus; and information related to another print job that is transmitted from the first image forming apparatus and is waiting in the first image forming apparatus. A first receiving means for receiving; a display means for displaying information on the other print job on standby received by the first receiving means; and an input for receiving an input of a print command for the print job. And the first transmission unit transmits information on the print command to the first image forming apparatus when receiving the input of the print command by the input unit. Image of And a second receiving unit that receives the print job and the print command transmitted from the first information processing device, and the reception unit receives the print job when the second receiving unit receives the print job. A second transmission unit that transmits information about another print job that is waiting at the time to the first information processing apparatus, and the print job when the print command is received by the second reception unit. Printing means to be executed.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to check the status of a print job waiting in the image forming apparatus and execute printing.

FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating an example of a configuration of a mechanism unit of the image forming apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a main part of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention as viewed from above. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a control system of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the processing operation in the image forming system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the pop-up screen displayed on the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the pop-up screen displayed on the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the pop-up screen displayed on the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the pop-up screen displayed on the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the pop-up screen displayed on the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the pop-up screen displayed on the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the pop-up screen displayed on the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

  Next, embodiments for carrying out the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a side view of an example of a configuration of a mechanism unit of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a view of an example of the configuration of the main part of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention as viewed from above.

  With reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, an outline of an internal configuration and a mechanism part of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described. A carriage 33 is slidably held in the main scanning direction by a guide rod 31 and a stay 32, which are guide members horizontally mounted on the left and right side plates 21A and 21B constituting the frame 21, and is also illustrated by a main scanning motor (not shown). The moving scanning is performed in the arrow direction (carriage main scanning direction) shown in FIG.

  The carriage 33 is provided with a recording head 34 composed of four droplet ejection heads that eject ink droplets of yellow (Y), cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (Bk). The outlets are arranged in a direction crossing the main scanning direction, and the ink droplet ejection direction is directed downward.

  As an inkjet head constituting the recording head 34, a piezoelectric actuator such as a piezoelectric element, a thermal actuator that uses a phase change caused by film boiling of a liquid using an electrothermal transducer such as a heating resistor, and a metal phase change caused by a temperature change. It is possible to use a shape memory alloy actuator to be used, an electrostatic actuator using an electrostatic force, or the like provided as pressure generating means for generating a pressure for discharging a droplet.

  In the present invention, in addition to driving all the ink ejection ports simultaneously, it can be driven by being divided in time. If all the ink discharge ports are driven at the same time, there will be disadvantages such as a decrease in recording quality due to the influence of crosstalk between all the ink discharge ports, and a large amount of power due to a temporary large current required. In some cases, these disadvantages can be avoided by time-division driving.

  A driver IC is mounted on the recording head 34 and is connected to a control unit (not shown) via a harness (flexible print cable) 22.

  In addition, the carriage 33 is equipped with a sub tank 35 for each color for supplying ink of each color to the recording head 34. As described above, each color sub-tank 35 is supplementarily supplied with ink of each color from the ink cartridge 10 of each color mounted in the cartridge loading unit 4 via the ink supply tube 36 of each color. The cartridge loading 4 is provided with a supply pump unit for feeding ink in the ink cartridge 10, and the ink supply tube 36 is engaged with the rear plate 21 </ b> C constituting the frame 21 in the middle of turning. It is held by the member 25.

  On the other hand, as a paper feeding unit for feeding the papers 42 stacked on the paper stacking unit (pressure plate) 41 of the paper feeding tray 2, a half-moon roller (feeding) that separates and feeds the papers 42 one by one from the paper stacking unit 41. The sheet roller 43 and the sheet feeding roller 43 are opposed to each other, and a separation pad 44 made of a material having a large friction coefficient is provided. The separation pad 44 is urged toward the sheet feeding roller 43 side.

  In order to feed the paper 42 fed from the paper feeding unit to the lower side of the recording head 34, a guide member 45 for guiding the paper 42, a counter roller 46, a transport guide member 47, and a tip pressure roller. And a holding belt 48 which is a conveying means for electrostatically attracting the fed paper 42 and conveying it at a position facing the recording head 34.

  The transport belt 51 is an endless belt, and is configured to wrap around the transport roller 52 and the tension roller 53 and circulate in the belt transport direction (sub-scanning direction). The transport belt 51 is, for example, a surface layer that is a sheet adsorbing surface formed of a pure resin material having a thickness of about 40 μm that is not subjected to resistance control, for example, ETFE pure material, and resistance control by carbon using the same material as the surface layer. And a back layer (medium resistance layer, earth layer).

  A charging roller 56 is provided as charging means for charging the surface of the conveyor belt 51. The charging roller 56 is disposed so as to come into contact with the surface layer of the conveyor belt 51 and to be rotated by the rotation of the conveyor belt 51, and applies a predetermined pressing force to both ends of the shaft as a pressing force. The transport roller 52 also functions as an earth roller, and is in contact with the middle resistance layer (back layer) of the transport belt 51 and is grounded.

  In addition, a guide member 57 is disposed on the back side of the conveyance belt 51 so as to correspond to a printing area by the recording head 34. The guide member 57 has an upper surface that protrudes toward the recording head 34 from the tangent line of the two rollers (the conveyance roller 52 and the tension roller 53) that support the conveyance belt 51, thereby maintaining high-precision flatness of the conveyance belt 51. Like to do.

  The conveyance belt 51 rotates in the belt conveyance direction (sub-scanning direction) in FIG. 2 when the conveyance roller 52 is rotationally driven by a sub-scanning motor (not shown).

  Further, as a paper discharge unit for discharging the paper 42 recorded by the recording head 34, a separation claw 61 for separating the paper 42 from the conveying belt 51, a paper discharge roller 62, and a paper discharge roller 63 are provided. The paper discharge tray 3 is provided below the paper discharge roller 62. Here, the height from between the paper discharge roller 62 and the paper discharge roller 63 to the paper discharge tray 3 is increased to some extent in order to increase the amount that can be stored in the paper discharge tray 3.

  A duplex unit 71 is detachably mounted on the back surface of the apparatus body 1. The duplex unit 71 takes in the paper 42 returned by the reverse rotation of the conveyance belt 51, reverses it, and feeds it again between the counter roller 46 and the conveyance belt 51. The upper surface of the duplex unit 71 is a manual feed tray 72.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a maintenance / recovery mechanism 81 including a recovery means for maintaining and recovering the state of the nozzles of the recording head 34 is disposed in the non-printing area on one side of the carriage 33 in the scanning direction. Yes. The maintenance / recovery mechanism 81 includes a cap member (hereinafter referred to as “cap”) 82a to 82d (hereinafter referred to as “cap 82” when not distinguished) and a nozzle surface for capping each nozzle surface of the recording head 34. A wiper blade 83 that is a blade member for discharging, and an empty discharge receiver 84 that receives liquid droplets when performing empty discharge for discharging liquid droplets that do not contribute to recording in order to discharge the thickened recording liquid. . Here, the cap 82a is a suction and moisture retention cap, and the other caps 82b to 82d are moisture retention caps.

  Then, the waste liquid of the recording liquid generated by the maintenance / recovery operation by the maintenance / recovery mechanism 81, the ink discharged to the cap 82, the ink attached to the wiper blade 83 and removed by the wiper cleaner, and the idle ejection receiver 84 are idled. The discharged ink is discharged and stored in a waste liquid tank (not shown).

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, in the non-printing area on the other side in the scanning direction of the carriage 33, idle discharge is performed to discharge liquid droplets that do not contribute to recording in order to discharge the recording liquid thickened during recording or the like. An empty discharge receiver 88 for receiving the droplets at the time is disposed, and the empty discharge receiver 88 is provided with an opening 89 along the nozzle row direction of the recording head 34.

  Further, a communication circuit unit (interface) such as a USB for transmitting / receiving data to / from the host is provided on the inner rear side of the apparatus main body 1 and constitutes a control unit that controls the entire image forming apparatus. A control circuit board is provided.

  In the image forming apparatus configured as described above, the sheets 42 are separated and fed one by one from the sheet feeding tray 2, and the sheets 42 fed substantially vertically upward are guided by the guide 45, and the conveying belt 51 and the counter roller 46, and the leading end is guided by the conveying guide 47 and pressed against the conveying belt 51 by the leading end pressing roller 49, and the conveying direction is changed by approximately 90 °.

  At this time, a positive voltage output and a negative output are alternately repeated from the AC bias supply unit to the charging roller 56 by a control circuit (not shown), that is, a charging voltage pattern in which an alternating voltage is applied and the conveying belt 51 alternates. That is, plus and minus are alternately charged in a band shape with a predetermined width in the sub-scanning direction which is the circumferential direction. When the paper 42 is fed onto the conveyance belt 51 charged alternately with plus and minus, the paper 42 is attracted to the conveyance belt 51, and the paper 42 is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction by the circular movement of the conveyance belt 51.

  Therefore, by driving the recording head 34 according to the image signal while moving the carriage 33, ink droplets are ejected onto the stopped paper 42 to record one line, and after the paper 42 is conveyed by a predetermined amount, Record the next line. Upon receiving a recording end signal or a signal that the trailing edge of the paper 42 has reached the recording area, the recording operation is finished and the paper 42 is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 3.

  During printing (recording) standby, the carriage 33 is moved to the maintenance / recovery mechanism 81 side, and the recording head 34 is capped by the cap 82 to keep the nozzles in a wet state, thereby preventing ejection failure due to ink drying. . In addition, the recording liquid is sucked from the nozzle by a suction pump (not shown) with the recording head 34 capped by the cap 82 (referred to as “nozzle suction” or “head suction”), and the recovered recording liquid and bubbles are discharged. Perform the action. In addition, an idle ejection operation for ejecting ink not related to recording is performed before the start of recording or during recording. As a result, the stable ejection performance of the recording head 34 is maintained.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the control system of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. The control system controls the entire apparatus, a CPU that also serves as a means for controlling the sheet transport operation and the recording head moving operation, a ROM that stores programs executed by the CPU, and other fixed data, RAM for temporarily storing image data, rewritable non-volatile memory for holding data even when the power of the apparatus is shut off, image processing for performing various signal processing, rearrangement, etc. on image data, and others And an ASIC that processes input / output signals for controlling the entire apparatus.

  The control system also generates an I / F for transmitting and receiving data and signals to and from the host side, and a drive waveform for driving the print head, and also selectively drives the pressure generation means of the print head. A head control unit that outputs data and various data accompanying it to the head driver, a main scanning motor driving unit for driving the main scanning motor, a sub scanning motor driving unit for driving the sub scanning motor, and a charging roller An AC bias supply unit that supplies an AC bias, a detection pulse from a linear encoder and a wheel encoder, and an I / O for inputting detection signals from various other sensors are provided. In addition, an operation panel for inputting and displaying information necessary for the apparatus is connected to the control system.

  Here, the control system transmits print data generated by a printer driver of a host such as an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer, an image reading apparatus such as an image scanner, an imaging apparatus such as a digital camera, etc. via a cable or a network. Receive at F.

  Then, the CPU of the control system reads and analyzes the print data in the reception buffer included in the I / F, performs necessary image processing, data rearrangement processing, and the like in the ASIC, and transfers them to the head control unit. Image data and drive waveforms are output from the head controller to the head driver at a required timing. The dot pattern data for image output may be generated by storing font data in a ROM, for example, or the image data is developed into bitmap data by a host-side printer driver and transferred to this apparatus. You may do it. Here, the printer driver is used.

  The drive waveform generation unit of the head control unit includes a D / A converter and an amplifier that perform D / A conversion on drive pulse pattern data stored in the ROM and read by the CPU, and includes one drive pulse or a plurality of drives. A drive waveform composed of pulses is output to the head driver.

  The head driver selectively selects a drive pulse that constitutes a drive waveform supplied from the drive waveform generation unit of the head control unit based on image data (dot pattern data) corresponding to one line of the recording head input serially. The recording head is driven by applying to the pressure generating means of the recording head. The head driver includes, for example, a shift register that inputs serial data that is a clock signal and image data, a latch circuit that latches a register value of the shift register using a latch signal, and a level that changes the output value of the latch circuit. It includes a conversion circuit (level shifter) and an analog switch array (switch means) whose on / off is controlled by this level shifter, etc., and by controlling the on / off of the analog switch array, the required drive pulse included in the drive waveform is It is selectively applied to the pressure generating means of the recording head.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the image forming apparatus includes a control unit (CPU) 401, a storage unit (ROM, RAM) 402, a display unit (panel display) 403, an input unit (operation unit) 404, an external device I / F 405, A printing unit (plotter unit) 406 and a communication unit (network or USB) 407 are configured. An example of the image forming apparatus is an ink jet printer.

  The control unit (CPU) 401 is a device that executes a program stored in the ROM, and performs arithmetic processing on the data expanded (loaded) in the RAM in accordance with an instruction of the program and outputs the calculation result to an output device or a storage device. To do.

  A storage unit (ROM, RAM) 402 is a storage device that stores programs and data executed by a control unit such as a ROM, and a program that is executed when a program stored in the ROM is executed by a control unit such as a RAM. This is a storage device in which data is expanded (loaded) and temporarily holds operation data during the operation.

  A display unit (panel display) 403 and an input unit (operation unit) 404 are composed of key switches using hard keys and an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), and the user uses the functions of the image forming apparatus. The device functions as a UI (user interface) for performing various settings.

  The external device I / F 405 is an interface for exchanging data between an external input device (for example, SD card, smart media, USB memory, etc.) connected via a data transmission path and the image forming apparatus.

  The communication unit 407 and the external device I / F 405 are an external input device (USB: Universal Serial Bus, LAN: Local Area Network, WAN: Wide Area Network, etc.) and an image forming apparatus connected via a data transmission path. It is an interface for exchanging data between them via a data transmission path.

  When the printing unit (plotter unit) 406 adopts an inkjet method as a printing method and receives print data (raster image) generated from a printer driver installed in an information processing apparatus as a user terminal, for example, yellow (Y ), Cyan (C), magenta (M), and black (Bk) four recording heads composed of liquid ejection heads that eject ink droplets are arranged in the main scanning direction, and the recording medium is fed in the sub-scanning direction. It is an apparatus that performs printing using a method such as ejection.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the image forming system according to the embodiment of the present invention. In an office or the like, as shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of PCs that are information processing apparatuses and a plurality of printers or multifunction peripherals that are image forming apparatuses are connected by a network cable (LAN). The print data created or processed by the PC is transmitted to a printer or a multifunction device via a LAN cable and printed. In FIG. 5, a plurality of PCs and a plurality of printers are connected via a server, but a configuration without a server may be used.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a processing operation in the image forming system according to the embodiment of the present invention. First, a user sends a print job from a PC or the like to a printer (S101). The printer returns information about the current state to the PC (S102). At this time, as the information to be returned, for example, the number of print jobs waiting for printing in the printer and the size and content of each print job can be considered. At this time, for example, if the user is informed of the number of print jobs waiting to be printed, this information allows the user to wait until the order comes, to cancel printing, The user can select whether to pause until the number of jobs decreases, or to transfer the print job to another printer.

  The print job is transmitted to the printer using a printer driver installed on the PC. Here, considering the possibility of the user canceling the printing later, the print job transmitted in step S101 is the outline data of the printed matter that the user is about to print (the number of pages of the print job, the print mode, etc.). ) In recent years, data traffic on the network has become overcrowded, leading to a decrease in data transfer speed. Therefore, efforts and consciousness to reduce the amount of data to be transmitted and received are required. In this way, if only the outline data is transmitted, it is possible to contribute to the reduction of data traffic.

  As shown in FIG. 4, when the printer receives a job in the recording unit (RAM), the printer firmware stored in the recording unit (ROM) transmits the current status of the printer itself to the user's PC. To do. At this time, when a response from the printer is received on the PC screen in a state where the pop-up screen stored in the driver is started, data is displayed on the pop-up screen (S103).

  For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the pop-up screen displays the job waiting status of the printer, and has buttons for canceling printing, changing the printer, etc. so that the user can easily select the next operation. . The user confirms the printer information popped up on the screen of the PC, and executes the following operation based on the number of jobs waiting for printing and the total number of pages. For example, if the job can be transmitted as it is, the “print queue” button is pressed (S106). When the degree of urgency is low and it is only necessary to perform again later, “pause” is pressed (S104, Yes). Also, it is possible to cancel printing by pressing the “print cancel” button from the printer status (S103, Yes). Further, as shown in FIG. 8, a pop-up screen may display the remaining amount of paper and remaining ink in the tray. This makes it easier for the user to make a determination.

  When the pause button is pressed (S104, Yes), the processing is paused, and when the number of print jobs waiting in the printer waiting for printing reaches a predetermined number (S107), It is preferable that the printer status can be notified from the printer to the PC (S102). The predetermined number of setting contents may be held in a recording unit (ROM). At this time, it may be possible to set in advance on the printer side how much the number of remaining print jobs and pages waiting for printing in the printer will be notified to the user. Alternatively, each user can be set on the driver of the PC, and the timing of contact from the printer may be changed for each user.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 9, a printer change button may be displayed. At this time, if the user selects to change the printer (S105, Yes), another printer on the same network as the first printer is searched, and the status of the print job on standby in each printer is displayed. The CPU issues a command command to each printer, receives the reaction, and notifies the user of information on a print job that is waiting in each printer. The command command issuance to each printer may be issued from the CPU of the PC, and the PC may receive the reaction. At this time, a list of other printers searched is displayed as shown in FIG. When the user determines one printer from this list, print job data is transferred to that printer (S108), the printer status is received from the changed printer, and the pop-up screen is updated again as shown in FIG. (S102). When the printer is changed, the printer to which a command is issued from the printer driver of the PC is newly connected to the printer after the change, and the screen is switched to a pop-up screen informing the state of the printer after the change. Then, the print job waiting in the printer after the change is confirmed, and the user selects execution of the print job again. When the print queue is pressed, the print job may be transferred for the first time from the user's PC. In addition, when the target printer runs out of paper or ink, it sends out information about paper out and ink to all PCs connected to the network, and displays a pop-up screen in the same way on the sent PC. If all the users waiting for printing are prompted to replace the ink cartridge or replenish the paper, it becomes easy to deal with ink exhaustion.

  By performing the processing operations as described above, when a print job is sent to the printer, the printer status can be easily acquired from the printer in real time, and the user can flexibly respond. For example, by knowing the number of print jobs waiting for printing in the printer, the remaining ink amount, and the remaining paper amount, it is possible to flexibly select whether to print immediately or search for another printer. become. In addition, since this information is automatically transmitted from the printer and displayed, even a user who is not good at operating the PC can obtain the information. In addition, the above-described processing operation makes it possible to select that the printer does not wait for a print job that is not printed immediately, so that it is possible to prevent forgetting to take a printed material or seeing it after printing. Therefore, security can be improved.

  In addition, as shown in the example above, if only the printer outline data (print mode, number of prints, presence / absence of post-processing steps, etc.) is sent to the printer instead of all the print data, the user should Even when printing is stopped, it is possible to prevent a large amount of print data from being transferred unnecessarily. In addition, by using the pop-up screen, a user who is not good at operating the PC can perform various processes just by operating the buttons.

  In addition, when the user runs out of ink or the like, all the users are notified of the lack of ink or the like, so that early replenishment is possible and the printing waiting time can be reduced. This leads to improved usability and reduced power consumption.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 11, the status of the selected printer may be displayed together with the list of other printers. Also, as shown in FIG. 11, a network search button is displayed, and when the search is not successful, for example, by pressing this network button, another printer on the network can be searched again. Also good. In the re-search, as shown in FIG. 12, the search may be performed by inputting the IP address. By performing this re-search, it becomes possible to know the latest status of the printer at the time of the re-search.

  The pop-up screen displayed on the PC screen used in the present invention is controlled by a printer driver installed on the PC that is the user terminal. The printer information displayed on the pop-up screen is information managed in real time in the memory (RAM, ROM) area of the target printer, and is distributed to the PC that is the user terminal. After the print job is paused, the setting to notify the user when the number of pages of the print job waiting for printing in the target printer is set on the printer driver installed on the PC that is each user terminal. May be set in the printer terminal, or may be stored in the ROM of the printer terminal as the printer terminal setting. In the former case, the setting can be made for each user, but in the latter case, since the setting is made on the printer terminal, the setting of each user is slightly complicated.

  A print job pressed on the screen of a PC that is a user terminal is processed by the CPU of the printer.

  If the user wants to change the printer, it is necessary to indicate the model numbers and states of a plurality of printers connected on the network. A conceivable method of this is a method of performing batch management on the server.

  For example, if you manage the status of multiple printers connected to the network at once, you can instantly check print job wait information, ink, paper information, etc. for multiple printers, and select your favorite printer. A print job can be sent.

  Further, if the managed real-time printer information is written in the RAM of each printer in real time, the printer terminal itself can grasp the status of other printers. At this time, software for grasping the status of other printers is required.

  The print job is not issued immediately from the PC that is the user terminal, but first, the amount of the job that the user is about to print is sent to the printer as simple special data by the driver. By doing so, useless network load is reduced. Finally, the print job is transmitted to the printer only after the user presses the print queue button on the pop-up screen.

  For example, the processing operation in the above-described embodiment can be executed by hardware, software, or a combined configuration of both.

  When processing by software is executed, the program is loaded from a ROM (Read Only Memory) storing a program recording a processing sequence to a memory (RAM) in a computer incorporated in dedicated hardware. The program can be read and executed, or the program can be installed and executed on a general-purpose computer capable of executing various processes.

  The present invention has been described above by the preferred embodiments of the present invention. While the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments thereof, various modifications and changes can be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims. is there.

  In the image forming system according to the present invention, the first transmission unit of the first information processing apparatus transmits information about the print job to the first image forming apparatus, and the first image forming apparatus The second receiving unit receives information related to the print job transmitted from the first information processing apparatus, and the second transmitting unit of the first image forming apparatus includes information related to the print job. May be transmitted to the first information processing apparatus when the information is received by the second receiving means.

  In the image forming system according to the present invention, the information on the other print job that is on standby includes the number of other print jobs that are on standby on the image forming apparatus, and the first information The input unit of the processing apparatus receives an input of a pause command for the print job, and the first transmission unit of the first information processing apparatus receives an input of the pause command by the input unit Transmits the information on the pause instruction to the first image forming apparatus, and the second receiving unit of the first image forming apparatus receives the pause instruction transmitted from the first image forming apparatus. The second transmission unit of the first image forming apparatus receives the information on the pause command when the first reception unit receives the information on the pause command. Predetermined number of jobs To when it becomes to the same value, the information about other printing job is waiting in the time may be transmitted to said first information processing apparatus.

  In the image forming system according to the present invention, the image forming system is also connected to a plurality of second image forming apparatuses, and the input unit of the first information processing apparatus is configured to connect the plurality of second images. The display unit of the first information processing apparatus also receives an input of a list display command related to the forming apparatus. When the display unit receives the list display command from the input unit, the list of the plurality of second image forming apparatuses is displayed. And the input means of the first information processing apparatus also receives a selection input from the list displayed by the display means, and the first transmission means of the first information processing apparatus receives the input When the selection input from the list is received by the means, the print job is transmitted to the second image forming apparatus selected by the selection, and the second image forming apparatus transmits the first information. place A third receiving unit configured to receive the print job transmitted from the apparatus; and when receiving the print job by the third receiving unit, information relating to another print job waiting at the time of the reception The second image forming apparatus, wherein the third transmitting means for transmitting to the first information processing apparatus and the first receiving means for the first information processing apparatus are transmitted from the second image forming apparatus. Also, information regarding other print jobs that are on standby may be received.

  In the image forming system according to the present invention, the image forming system is also connected to a plurality of second information processing apparatuses, and the second transmission unit of the first image forming apparatus has run out of ink. Information about the ink out is transmitted to the first information processing device and the plurality of second information processing devices, and when the paper out occurs, the information about the paper out is sent to the first information processing device. You may make it transmit to these 2nd information processing apparatus.

401 Control unit (CPU)
402 Storage unit (ROM, RAM)
403 Display (panel display)
404 Input unit (operation unit)
405 External device I / F
406 Printing section (plotter section)
407 Communication Department

JP 2002-366316 A JP 2008-52543 A

Claims (5)

An image forming system in which a first information processing apparatus and a first image forming apparatus are connected,
A first transmission unit configured to transmit a print job to the first image forming apparatus;
First receiving means for receiving information relating to another print job that is waiting in the first image forming apparatus, transmitted from the first image forming apparatus;
Display means for displaying the content of the information relating to the other print job that is on standby received by the first receiving means;
Input means for receiving an input of a print command for the print job,
The first transmission unit transmits information of the print command to the first image forming apparatus when receiving the input of the print command by the input unit;
A first receiving unit configured to receive the print job and the print command transmitted from the first information processing apparatus;
A second transmission unit configured to transmit, to the first information processing apparatus, information related to another print job that is waiting when the print job is received by the second reception unit;
An image forming system comprising: a printing unit that executes the print job when the print command is received by the second receiving unit. The first transmission unit of the first information processing apparatus transmits information about the print job to the first image forming apparatus;
The second receiving unit of the first image forming apparatus receives information on the print job transmitted from the first information processing apparatus;
The second transmission unit of the first image forming apparatus, when information about the print job is received by the second reception unit, stores information about another print job that is waiting at the time of reception. The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the image forming system transmits the information to the first information processing apparatus. The information related to the other print jobs that are waiting includes the number of other print jobs that are waiting in the image forming apparatus,
The input means of the first information processing apparatus receives an input of a pause command for the print job,
When the first transmission unit of the first information processing apparatus receives an input of the pause command from the input unit, the first transmission unit transmits information of the pause command to the first image forming apparatus,
A second receiving unit of the first image forming apparatus also receives the information of the pause command transmitted from the first image forming apparatus;
The second transmission unit of the first image forming apparatus has a predetermined number of other print jobs waiting when the first reception unit receives the information on the pause command. 3. The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein information about another print job that is waiting at the time is transmitted to the first information processing apparatus when the value becomes equal to the value. . The image forming system is also connected to a plurality of second image forming apparatuses,
The input means of the first information processing apparatus also receives a list display command related to the plurality of second image forming apparatuses,
The display unit of the first information processing apparatus displays a list of the plurality of second image forming apparatuses when receiving the list display command from the input unit,
The input means of the first information processing apparatus also receives an input of selection from the list displayed by the display means;
The first transmission unit of the first information processing apparatus receives the selection input from the list by the input unit, and sends the print job to the second image forming apparatus selected by the selection. Send
A second receiving unit configured to receive the print job transmitted from the first information processing apparatus;
A third transmission unit configured to transmit, to the first information processing apparatus, information related to another print job that is waiting when the print job is received by the third reception unit;
The first receiving unit of the first information processing apparatus also receives information related to another print job that is waiting in the second image forming apparatus, transmitted from the second image forming apparatus. The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the image forming system is an image forming system. The image forming system is also connected to a plurality of second information processing apparatuses,
The second transmission unit of the first image forming apparatus transmits information about the ink out to the first information processing apparatus and the plurality of second information processing apparatuses when the ink out occurs. 5. The information according to claim 1, wherein when out of paper occurs, information about paper out is transmitted to the first information processing apparatus and the plurality of second information processing apparatuses. Image forming system.

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