JP2011221889A - Printing system, printer, installer, installation method and installation program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a new printing system and the like capable of reducing labor and time required for a printer setting operator and the like when installing a printer driver.SOLUTION: The printing system 1 comprises a user terminal 10 and a printer 20 that performs printing process. The printer 20 includes a accepting means 21 for accepting setting information about the printing process by an input from a user, a storage means 22 for storing the setting information, and a transmitting/receiving means 23 for sending the setting information stored in the storage means 22 to the user terminal 10. The user terminal 10 includes an installing means 11 for installing a printer driver that controls the printer 20 and a transmitting/receiving means 12 for sending a request notice on the setting information to the printer 20 and receiving the setting information. The installing means 11 changes a set value in the printer driver based on the setting information.

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system, a printing apparatus, an installer, an installation method, and an installation program.

  The user terminal (PC) needs to install a printer driver in order to control a printing apparatus that executes a printing process in accordance with a printing instruction of application software (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2009-181573 A

  However, conventionally, after installing a printer driver using an information recording medium such as a CD-ROM, settings (for example, settings for duplex printing and 2UP printing, etc.) that match the usage status of the printing apparatus are set on the user terminal. It is necessary for the setter himself to make the setting, and the setting contents are transmitted verbally or by e-mail from the administrator of the printing apparatus, so that it takes time and effort for the setter and the administrator of the printing apparatus. There was a problem of end. In particular, when it is necessary to install a printer driver in a plurality of user terminals, the problem becomes remarkable.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a new printing system and the like that can reduce labor and time required for a printer setting person and a manager when installing a printer driver.

  A printing system according to the present invention includes a user terminal that generates a print job and a printing apparatus that receives the print job and executes a printing process. The printing apparatus receives the setting information of the printing process as a user. Receiving means for receiving by input; holding means for holding the received setting information; and receiving the setting information request notification from the user terminal, and transmitting the setting information held in the holding means to the user terminal First transmission / reception means, wherein the user terminal sends an installation means for installing a printer driver for controlling the printing apparatus, and transmits a notification of the setting information request to the printing apparatus, and the holding means. Second transmission / reception means for receiving the setting information held in the installation means, wherein the installation means receives the received Based on the constant information, change the settings of the printer driver.

  In the printing system, the installation unit may install a common unit that is common to a plurality of types of printing apparatuses among printer drivers.

  Furthermore, in the printing system, the installation unit can read and install the common part from an information storage medium in which the common part is stored.

  Furthermore, in the printing apparatus, the holding unit further holds a model-dependent unit that depends on a model of the own apparatus among printer drivers that control the printing apparatus, and the first transmission / reception unit receives the model from the user terminal. Receiving the request notification of the dependent unit, further transmitting the model dependent unit held in the holding unit to the user terminal, wherein the second transmitting / receiving unit is configured to depend on the model with respect to the printing apparatus A request notification of the copy unit may be transmitted to further receive the model dependent unit held in the holding unit, and the installation unit may install the common unit and the model dependent unit.

  Furthermore, in the printing system, the setting value of the printer driver can be changed based only on the setting information received from the printing apparatus.

  Furthermore, in the printing system, the holding unit holds setting information of the printing process for each user terminal that uses the printing device, and the second transmission / reception unit stores the setting information on the printing device. It is also possible to send a request notification and receive the setting information of the own user terminal held in the holding means.

  A printing apparatus according to the present invention is a printing apparatus that receives a print job and executes a printing process. The printing process setting information for changing a setting value of a printer driver installed in a user terminal is input by a user input. A receiving unit for receiving, a holding unit for holding the received setting information, and a transmission / reception for receiving the setting information request notification from the user terminal and transmitting the setting information held in the holding unit to the user terminal And means.

  The installer according to the present invention sends an installation means for installing a printer driver for controlling the printing apparatus, and a notification for requesting setting information of print processing held in the printing apparatus to the printing apparatus, from the printing apparatus. Transmitting and receiving means for receiving the setting information, and the installation means changes the setting value of the printer driver based on the received setting information.

  A printer driver installation method according to the present invention is a printer driver installation method in a user terminal that uses a printing apparatus, wherein the user terminal installs a printer driver that controls the printing apparatus, and the user terminal Transmitting a request notification of setting information of print processing held in the printing apparatus to the printing apparatus and receiving the setting information from the printing apparatus; and the user terminal receiving the setting received Changing a setting value of the printer driver based on the information.

  An installation program according to the present invention is a printer driver installation program in a user terminal that uses a printing apparatus, wherein the user terminal installs a printer driver that controls the printing apparatus, and the user terminal A function for transmitting a request notification of setting information of print processing held in the printing apparatus to the apparatus and receiving the setting information from the printing apparatus; and the user terminal based on the received setting information And a function for changing the setting value of the printer driver.

It is the schematic which shows the hardware constitutions of the printing system of this embodiment. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic functional configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment. 4 is a flowchart illustrating processing contents of a printer driver installation method of the present embodiment.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments for carrying out the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a printing system 1 according to the present embodiment. The printing system 1 includes a user terminal 10 and a printing apparatus (printer) 20, and the user terminal 10 and the printing apparatus 20 are connected to each other via a communication network so that they can communicate with each other.

  The user terminal 10 is a device that generates a print job and transmits the print job to the printing device 20, and functions as a host device for the printing device 20. The user terminal 10 also functions as an installer that reads a program stored in the printer driver CDROM 30 and executes installation of the printer driver. As shown in FIG. 1, the user terminal 10 has hardware similar to that of a normal user terminal, such as a CPU 101, a memory (storage unit) 102 coupled to the CPU 101 by a bus, and an interface 103, for example. Can be provided.

  As shown in FIG. 2, for example, the user terminal 10 includes an installation unit 11 and a transmission / reception unit 12 as functional configurations. Each of these means can be realized, for example, by the CPU 101 mainly executing a program stored in the memory 102 or the CD ROM 30 and controlling each hardware.

  Here, the program stored in the CDROM 30 will be described. The CDROM 30 is a printer driver (program) corresponding to the OS of the user terminal 10 and stores a common part (common part) 31 common to a plurality of types of printing apparatuses. For example, the common unit 31 functions as a driver when viewed from the OS, a function of receiving print data (image data) from an application, a function of spooling the received print data, a function of outputting to the interface of the user terminal 10, and a connection destination Including a function for designating a printing apparatus.

  The installation unit 11 reads the common unit 31 stored in the CDROM 30 and installs the printer driver. Specifically, the installation unit 11 reads the common unit 31 from the CD ROM 30 and installs the common unit 31. Further, as will be described later, the installation unit 11 installs a model-dependent unit 221 that depends on a printing device of a specific model received from the printing device 20 via the transmission / reception unit 12, and further receives it via the transmission / reception unit 12. Based on the setting information 222, the setting value of the printer driver is changed.

  The transmission / reception means (second transmission / reception means) 12 transmits a model-dependent part and setting information request notification to the printing apparatus 20 and receives the model-dependent part 221 and setting information 222 held in the holding means 22. To do. The model dependent unit 221 and the setting information 222 will be described later.

  The printing apparatus 20 is an apparatus that receives a print job from the user terminal 10 and executes print processing. As shown in FIG. 1, the printing apparatus 20 includes a printer engine 201, a printer controller 202, and the like as hardware. However, the printer controller 202 may be separated from the printing apparatus 20.

  The printer engine 201 receives print data and executes print processing. The printer engine 201 can have the same functional configuration as that of a printer engine in a printing apparatus such as a normal ink jet printer or laser printer, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

  The printer controller 202 executes various processes in the entire printing apparatus 20, and includes a CPU 203, a memory (storage device) 204, an interface 205, and the like. The CPU 203 reads the computer program stored in the memory 204 and executes various processes.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the printer controller 202 includes a reception unit 21, a holding unit 22, and a transmission / reception unit 23 as a functional configuration. The holding unit 22 can be realized by using, for example, the memory 204, and the receiving unit 21 and the transmitting / receiving unit, for example, mainly execute a computer program stored in the memory 204 by the CPU 203 to control each hardware. This can be realized.

  The accepting unit 21 accepts print processing setting information by user input. The accepting unit 21 is an input unit for inputting an instruction from a user (administrator), for example, and accepts user input through an operation panel including a liquid crystal display, operation buttons, and the like. The setting information received by the receiving unit 21 is held by the holding unit 22. Here, the setting information is, for example, various types of information that can be set when printing the print data. For example, the setting information relates to a print type such as whether to perform double-sided printing, whether to perform 2UP printing, or whether to perform color printing. This is information related to output such as information and the size of output paper. The accepting unit 21 is not limited to user input through the operation panel, and can accept a setting instruction from an administrator's terminal, for example.

  The holding unit 22 holds the setting information received by the receiving unit 21 and further holds a model-dependent part (model-dependent part) that depends on the model of the printing apparatus in the printer driver that controls the printing apparatus 20. To do. Here, the model dependent unit is a printer driver (program) corresponding to the OS of the user terminal 10, and has different functions for each model of the printing apparatus, for example, print data instructed to be printed by the application of the user terminal 10. Includes functions related to the function of converting to output data corresponding to the printer model.

  The transmission / reception means (first transmission / reception means) 23 receives the setting information request notification from the user terminal 10 and transmits the setting information held in the holding means 22 to the user terminal 10. Further, the transmitting / receiving unit 23 receives the request notification of the model dependent unit from the user terminal 10 and further transmits the model dependent unit 221 held in the holding unit 22 to the user terminal.

  Hereinafter, a printer driver installation method executed in the printing system 1 will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. As a pre-stage process for reading and installing a program stored in the CDROM 30, it is assumed that the holding unit 22 of the printing apparatus 20 holds a model-dependent unit 221 and setting information 222 in advance. In addition, each process (including a partial process to which no code is assigned) can be executed in any order or in parallel within a range that does not contradict the processing contents.

  First, the installation unit 11 reads the common unit 31 from the CD ROM 30 and installs the common unit (step S100). For example, the common unit 31 functions as a driver when viewed from the OS, a function of receiving print data (image data) from an application, a function of spooling the received print data, a function of outputting to the interface of the user terminal 10, and a connection destination A function for specifying a printing device is installed.

  Next, the installation unit 11 is communicably connected to the printing device 20 used by the user terminal 10 (step S101). For example, the user selects the corresponding printing device 20 on the user terminal 10 so that the user terminal 10 and the printing device 20 are communicably connected.

  Next, the transmission / reception unit 12 transmits a request notification of the model dependent unit to the connected printing apparatus 20 and receives the model dependent unit 221 held in the holding unit 22 (step S102).

  Next, the installation unit 11 installs the received model dependent unit 221 (step S103). For example, a function that converts print data instructed to print by an application of the user terminal 10 into output data corresponding to the model of the printing apparatus is installed as the model-dependent unit 221.

  Next, the transmission / reception unit 12 transmits a setting information request notification to the connected printing apparatus 20, and receives the setting information held in the holding unit 22 (step S104). The setting information 222 is various types of information that can be set when printing the print data. For example, the information regarding the print type, such as whether to perform double-sided printing, whether to perform 2UP printing, whether to perform color printing, and output paper This is information about the output such as the size of the file. Note that the setting information request notification is not limited to when the printer driver is installed in the user terminal 10, and may be transmitted when printing print data, for example.

  Next, the installation unit 11 changes the setting value of the printer driver based on the received setting information 222 (step S105).

  As described above, according to the printing system 1 and the printer driver installation method of the present embodiment, when the printer driver is installed, the setting information 222 held in the printing apparatus 20 is received and the setting value of the printer driver is automatically set. Can be updated. As a result, it is possible to reduce the time and effort for setting the printing apparatus 20 that has been performed by the setting person and the administrator of the printing apparatus 20 on the user terminal at the time of installation.

  Further, by storing the common unit 31 in the CDROM 30 as a printer driver (program) and holding the model-dependent unit 221 in the printing apparatus 20, the user terminal 10 can use a single CDROM for a plurality of types of printing apparatuses 20. The printer driver can be installed at the same time, and as a result, labor and time required for the setting and management of the printing apparatus can be reduced.

<Modification>
The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention should not be limited to the above embodiments, and does not depart from the spirit and scope expressed in the claims. Various modifications, additions, and omissions are possible by those skilled in the art.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the case where the user terminal 10 uses the CDROM to read and install the program for installing the printer driver stored in the CDROM has been described as an example. However, the present invention uses the CDROM. The present invention is not limited to this, and various information storage media such as a USB memory and a DVD ROM can be used. The program for installing the printer driver is not limited to reading using an information storage medium. For example, the printer driver may be downloaded and acquired from a server on the network.

  In the above-described embodiment, the CDROM 30 has been described by taking as an example the case where a common unit common to a plurality of types of printing apparatuses among printer drivers is stored and the model-dependent unit is held in the printing apparatus. For example, the CDROM 30 may store the common part and the model-dependent part together.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the setting value of the printer driver can be changed based only on the setting information received from the printing apparatus. As a result, it is effective when it is desired to suppress unnecessary setting changes by the user on the user terminal 10.

  Further, in the present invention, the setting information set in the printing apparatus 20 is held for each user terminal that uses the printing apparatus, and is held in the holding unit 22 when the printer driver is installed in the user terminal 10. You may make it receive the setting information of the own user terminal out of setting information. For example, this is effective when it is desired to change various settings according to the user's authority.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the user terminal 10 and the printing apparatus 20 are provided with each unit according to the application, but each of these units may be configured as a group, One part may be further divided into a plurality of parts.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the user terminal 10 and the printing apparatus 20 are provided with each unit having the respective processing functions has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and each unit may be the user terminal 10 or It may be configured on a network that is communicably connected to the printing apparatus 20 or in preparation for another apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printing system, 10 User terminal, 11 Installation means, 12 Transmission / reception means, 20 Printing apparatus, 21 Reception means, 22 Holding means, 23 Transmission / reception means, 30 CDROM

Claims (10)

In a printing system comprising a user terminal that generates a print job, and a printing apparatus that receives the print job and executes print processing,
The printing apparatus includes:
Accepting means for accepting setting information of the printing process by user input;
Holding means for holding the received setting information;
Receiving first setting information request notification from the user terminal, and transmitting the setting information held in the holding means to the user terminal,
The user terminal is
Installation means for installing a printer driver for controlling the printing apparatus;
A second transmission / reception unit that transmits the setting information request notification to the printing apparatus and receives the setting information held in the holding unit;
The printing system, wherein the installation unit changes a setting value of the printer driver based on the received setting information.   The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the installation unit installs a common unit that is common to a plurality of types of printing apparatuses among printer drivers.   The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the installation unit reads and installs the common unit from an information storage medium in which the common unit is stored. In the printing apparatus,
The holding unit further holds a model-dependent unit that depends on the model of the own device among printer drivers that control the printing apparatus,
The first transmission / reception means receives the request notification of the model-dependent part from the user terminal, and further transmits the model-dependent part held in the holding means to the user terminal,
In the user terminal,
The second transmission / reception unit transmits a request notification of the model-dependent unit to the printing apparatus, and further receives the model-dependent unit held in the holding unit;
The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the installation unit installs the common unit and the model-dependent unit.   The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the setting value of the printer driver can be changed based only on the setting information received from the printing apparatus. The holding unit holds setting information of the printing process for each user terminal that uses the printing apparatus,
The said 2nd transmission / reception means transmits the request notification of the said setting information with respect to the said printing apparatus, and receives the setting information of the own user terminal hold | maintained at the said holding | maintenance means. The printing system according to item. A printing device that receives a print job and executes print processing,
Receiving means for receiving, by user input, setting information of the printing process for changing a setting value of a printer driver installed in a user terminal;
Holding means for holding the received setting information;
A printing apparatus, comprising: a transmission / reception unit that receives the setting information request notification from the user terminal and transmits the setting information held in the holding unit to the user terminal. Installation means for installing a printer driver for controlling the printing device;
A transmission / reception unit that transmits a request notification of setting information of printing processing held in the printing apparatus to the printing apparatus and receives the setting information from the printing apparatus;
The installer is an installer that changes a setting value of the printer driver based on the received setting information. A method of installing a printer driver in a user terminal that uses a printing apparatus,
The user terminal installing a printer driver for controlling the printing device;
The user terminal transmitting a notification of a request for setting information of print processing held in the printing apparatus to the printing apparatus and receiving the setting information from the printing apparatus;
The user terminal changing a setting value of the printer driver based on the received setting information;
An installation method comprising: A printer driver installation program in a user terminal that uses a printing apparatus,
A function in which the user terminal installs a printer driver for controlling the printing apparatus;
A function in which the user terminal transmits a notification of a request for setting information of print processing held in the printing apparatus to the printing apparatus and receives the setting information from the printing apparatus;
A function for the user terminal to change a setting value of the printer driver based on the received setting information;
An installation program comprising:

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