JP2012030454A - Printer, printing method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer previewing a layout result distinguishing a host device with respect to a user, in layout printing based on a plurality of printing jobs by the printer.SOLUTION: For a predetermined period, printing jobs are received from a plurality of information processing devices and stored. Whether or not the predetermined time has passed is determined. When it is determined that the predetermined time has passed, a plurality of printing jobs are extracted from the stored printing jobs. The extracted printing jobs are laid out together in a position within one recording paper. Information for previewing the laid-out result is transmitted to the information processing devices transmitting the laid-out printing jobs.

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, a printing method, and a program for performing layout printing based on a plurality of print jobs.

  Conventionally, in a printing apparatus that can load large size roll paper such as A1 size and A0 size, the printing apparatus lays out a plurality of print jobs on printing paper based on a plurality of print jobs received from a plurality of host apparatuses. A layout printing technique for printing is known. With such a technique, paper can be saved and running costs can be reduced. The printing apparatus targets all print jobs received by the printing apparatus such as a print job transmitted via the printer driver of the host apparatus and a print job specific to an application of the host apparatus for layout printing.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining layout printing in a conventional printing apparatus. In FIG. 6, the printing apparatus 600 receives a print job A <b> 1 and a print job A <b> 2 from the host apparatus 601. Further, the printing apparatus 600 receives the print job B1 and the print job B2 from the host apparatus 602. Further, the printing apparatus 600 receives the print job C1 from the host apparatus 603. Here, it is assumed that the printing apparatus 600 receives each print job in the order of print job A1, print job B1, print job A2, print job B2, and print job C1. In the case of layout printing, the printing apparatus 600 stores each print job received for layout printing in the hard disk (HDD) of the printing apparatus 600, and then generates information for layout printing using a nesting function or the like. Thus, layout printing based on each print job is performed. In FIG. 6, layout printing is performed as shown in the layout result 604 in the order of reception of each print job as described above.

  In the conventional layout printing as shown in FIG. 6, all print jobs received by the printing apparatus 600 are targeted for layout printing. Therefore, as shown in the layout result 604, the printing apparatus 600 nests the print jobs only in the order in which the print jobs are received.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 describes a technique in which a printing apparatus prints a plurality of print jobs received from a host apparatus within a predetermined time as layout printing targets.

  However, not the host device but the printing device controls how the printing device performs nesting of each print job for layout printing. Therefore, the user recognizes that the print result is not intended only after seeing the layout print result.

JP 2008-49641 A

  An object of the present invention is to solve such conventional problems. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus, a printing method, and a program for previewing a layout result that distinguishes a host apparatus from a user in layout printing based on a plurality of print jobs by the printing apparatus. To do.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a printing apparatus according to the present invention is a printing apparatus that performs layout printing on a single recording sheet based on print jobs received from a plurality of information processing apparatuses. A first receiving means for receiving a print job for a predetermined period, a storage means for storing a print job received by the first receiving means, and whether or not the predetermined period has elapsed. A determination means for determining, an extraction means for extracting a plurality of print jobs from the storage means when the determination means determines that the predetermined period has elapsed, and a print job extracted by the extraction means Layout means for laying out the data in a single position on the recording sheet, and a preview display of the result laid out by the layout means Distribution and, characterized in that it comprises transmission means for transmitting to the information processing apparatus that has transmitted the print job laid by the layout unit.

  According to the present invention, in layout printing based on a plurality of print jobs by a printing apparatus, a layout result in which a host apparatus is distinguished can be preview-displayed to a user.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system including a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a management table for associating a print job with each I / F of a host interface that has received the print job. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the process of the preview display at the time of layout printing in a present Example. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration in which a printing apparatus and a plurality of host apparatuses are connected in the present embodiment. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the preview display in each host apparatus. It is a figure for demonstrating the layout printing in the conventional printing apparatus.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the following embodiments do not limit the present invention according to the claims, and all combinations of features described in the present embodiments are not necessarily essential to the solution means of the present invention. . The same constituent elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system including a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The printing apparatus 100 includes a host interface 10, a transfer control unit 20, a print job control unit 30 (first receiving unit, determination unit), an operation panel 40, and an HDD 50 (storage unit, table unit). In addition, the printing apparatus 100 includes a layout management unit 60, a layout information generation unit 63 (layout unit), and a print data analysis unit 70. Further, the printing apparatus 100 includes a print engine control unit 80 and a print engine unit 81. The host interface 10 which is an interface with the host device 110 has an interface corresponding to each communication interface type. For example, the host interface 10 includes a parallel I / F 11, a USB I / F 12, an IEEE 1394 I / F 13, and a LAN I / F 14.
The transfer control unit 20 includes a parallel control unit 21, a USB control unit 22, an IEEE 1394 control unit 23, and a LAN control unit 24. The LAN control unit 24 includes a TCP / IP control unit 25, an AppleTalk control unit 26, and a NetWare control unit 27. Here, the parallel control unit 21 controls a print job received via the parallel I / F 11. The USB control unit 22 controls a print job received via the USB I / F 12. The IEEE 1394 control unit 23 controls a print job received via the IEEE 1394 I / F 13. The LAN control unit 24 controls a print job received via the LAN I / F. The LAN control unit 24 can support TCP / IP, AppleTalk, and NetWare as protocols by the TCP / IP control unit 25, the AppleTalk control unit 26, and the NetWare control unit 27.

  The print job control unit 30 includes a job classification unit 31 for each communication, a job classification unit 32 for each network ID, and a layout information supply control unit 33 (transmission unit). The print job control unit 30 classifies the print job from the host device 200 for each interface of the host interface 10 by the job classification unit 31 for each communication. When the print job control unit 30 receives a print job from the host apparatus 110 via the LAN I / F 14 of the host interface 10, the print job control unit 30 classifies the print job for each network ID by the network ID job classification unit 32. Here, the printing apparatus 100 may divide the storage area in the HDD 50 for each I / F of the host interface 10 and store each print job in each divided area. Alternatively, the printing apparatus 100 may add information that can be identified for each I / F of the host interface 10 to the print job and store the print job in the HDD 50. Alternatively, the printing apparatus 100 may store a table in which the print job is associated with each I / F of the host interface 10 in the HDD 50. The layout information supply control unit 33 of the print job control unit 30 transmits the layout information generated by the layout information generation unit 63 to the host device 110 via the host interface 10.

  The layout management unit 60 includes a communication-specific layout target job determination unit 61 (extraction unit) and a network ID-specific layout target job determination unit 62 (extraction unit). The layout target job determination unit 61 for each communication determines a print job received via a specific communication I / F among the print jobs stored in the HDD 50. Further, the network ID-specific layout target job determination unit 62 determines a print job received from a host device having a specific network ID among print jobs stored in the HDD 50.

  The print data analysis unit 70 analyzes the print data included in the print job stored in the HDD 50, and the print engine control unit 80 sets the print engine unit 81 according to the analysis result (resolution, density, etc.). Control and print the print data on the recording paper.

  Although not shown in FIG. 1, the printing apparatus 100 includes a general-purpose CPU and memories such as a ROM and a RAM. Each unit shown in FIG. 1 is controlled by the CPU of the printing apparatus 100, and processing in a flowchart described later is executed.

  The host device 110 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes an application 111, a printer driver 112, a communication unit 113, and a preview display unit 114. The communication unit 113 is an interface for transmitting / receiving print data and layout information to / from the printing apparatus 100. The host device 110 creates data for printing in the application 111 and outputs the data to the communication unit 113 via the printer driver 112. The preview display unit 114 previews the layout information transmitted from the printing apparatus 100 as will be described later. The preview display unit 114 can also display a preview of print data generated by the printer driver 112. In the preview display unit 114, if the user confirms the layout information transmitted from the printing apparatus 100 and is unintended, the user can cancel the layout printing.

  Since the host device 110 is a general information processing device such as a PC, for example, it is not shown, but includes a general-purpose CPU and memories such as a ROM and a RAM. In FIG. 1, the host device 110 is shown as one unit. However, in the present embodiment, one or more host devices 110 may be connected to the printing apparatus 100.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a management table for associating a print job with each I / F of the host interface 10 that has received the print job. The management table shown in FIG. 2 is stored in the HDD 50, for example. An item 201 of the management table in FIG. 2 indicates the name of the print job received by the printing apparatus 100. An item 202 indicates an ID for distinguishing each I / F that has received each print job. For example, ID “0” is indicated when a print job is received via the LAN I / F 14, and ID “1” is indicated when a print job is received via the USB I / F 12. Further, ID “2” is indicated when a print job is received via the IEEE 1394 I / F 13, and ID “3” is indicated when a print job is received via the parallel I / F 11. Item 203 indicates the network ID (for example, IP address) of each host device as a sub-ID when a print job is received via the LAN I / F 14. When a print job is received via a device other than the LAN I / F 14, a sub ID is not particularly required, so “0” is indicated.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration in which the printing apparatus 100 and a plurality of host apparatuses are connected in the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of host devices 401, 402, and 403 are connected to the printing apparatus 100. Here, the host apparatus 401 is connected to the printing apparatus 100 via the LAN I / F 14 using the TCP / IP protocol. The IP address of the host device 401 is “172.25.152.35”. The host device 402 is connected to the printing apparatus 100 via the USB I / F 12. The host apparatus 403 is connected to the printing apparatus 100 via the LAN I / F 14 using the TCP / IP protocol. The IP address of the host device 403 is “172.25.153.33”. The printing apparatus 100 receives print jobs A1 and A2 from the host apparatus 401, receives print jobs B1 and B2 from the host apparatus 402, and receives a print job C1 from the host apparatus 403. In this case, the order in which the printing apparatus 100 receives each print job is print job A1, print job B1, print job A2, print job B2, and print job C1.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the procedure of preview display processing during layout printing in this embodiment. First, the host apparatuses 401 to 403 transmit a print job to the printing apparatus 100 via the communication unit 113 (S301). The printing apparatus 100 receives a print job for a certain period of time. For example, the printing apparatus 100 receives a print job from each host apparatus for a predetermined reception time such as 10 minutes. The received print job is sent to the print job control unit 30 via the host interface 10 and the transfer control unit 20 (S302). The job classification unit 31 by communication of the print job control unit 30 identifies the type of I / F that has received the corresponding print job, and records it in the management table stored in the HDD 50 (S303). If the I / F type is identified as LAN I / F 14, the network ID-specific job classification unit 32 further identifies the IP address and the like.

  For example, first, when a print job A1 is received from the host device 401, as shown in FIG. 2, the item 201 is “print job A1”, the item 202 is “0”, and the item 203 is “172.215.152.35”. Record. Subsequently, when the print job B 1 is received, “print job B 1” is recorded in the item 201, “1” is recorded in the item 202, and “0” is recorded in the item 203. In the present embodiment, recording of the management table according to reception of such a print job is performed during the above-described predetermined reception time.

  Next, the print job control unit 30 determines whether or not the print job reception time has elapsed (S304). If it is determined that the print job reception time has not elapsed, the received print job is stored in the HDD 50 (S305), and the process returns to S302 to receive the next print job. On the other hand, if it is determined that the print job reception time has elapsed, the process advances to step S306.

  Next, the communication target layout target job determination unit 61 of the layout management unit 60 refers to the management table stored in the HDD 50 and classifies and extracts print jobs stored in the HDD 50 by I / FID. If a print job with an I / FID of “0” is extracted by the layout target job determination unit 61 for each communication, the layout target job determination unit 62 for each network ID extracts a print job for each IP address ( S306).

  In this embodiment, the print jobs are received from the host devices 401 to 403 in the order shown in FIG. In this embodiment, five print jobs, print job A1 to print job C1, are received in 10 minutes. These five print jobs are the targets of layout printing. Furthermore, the layout target job determination unit 61 for each communication and the layout target job determination unit 62 for each network ID classify and extract print jobs to be subjected to layout printing for each host device.

  After a print job is extracted for each host device in S306, the layout information generation unit 63 uses the nesting function to lay out the print job corresponding to the corresponding host device, and generates layout information for layout printing. (S307). In this embodiment, the print job of the host device that first transmitted the print job to the printing device 100 among the host devices is laid out first. That is, since the host apparatus 401 first transmits the print job A1 to the printing apparatus 100, the subsequent print job A2 is laid out first than the print job B1. In this way, according to the order of print jobs transmitted from each host device to the printing device 100 first, the layout management unit 60 groups the print jobs transmitted from each host device into one group, and lays out these groups in order. To do.

  The layout result 400 of FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the concept of layout information in S307. Unlike the layout result 604 in FIG. 6, the print jobs are laid out by classification (A to C) for each host device. In this embodiment, as shown in the layout result 400, if the print jobs are laid out for each host device, the print job layout corresponding to each host device is set to the normal nesting function. Good dependence. For example, the print job A1 and the print job A2 of the layout result 400 may be laid out in the opposite direction.

  After S307, information for preview display based on the generated layout information is transmitted to each corresponding host device for each classification of the host device (S308). For example, information for preview display based on the layout information of the portion A in the layout result 400 is transmitted to the host device 401. In addition, information for preview display based on the layout information of the portion B in the layout result 400 is transmitted to the host device 402. In addition, information for preview display based on the layout information of the portion C in the layout result 400 is transmitted to the host device 403.

Each of the host devices 401 to 403 receives information for preview display (S309). Each of the host apparatuses 401 to 403 displays the received information for preview display on the preview display unit 114 (S310).
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a preview display in each host device. FIG. 5A illustrates a preview display based on information received from the printing apparatus 100 by the host apparatus 401. As shown in FIG. 5A, the preview display result 501 corresponds to the layout result of the portion A in the layout result 400 of FIG. FIG. 5B is a diagram displayed as a preview based on information received from the printing apparatus 100 by the host apparatus 402. As shown in FIG. 5B, the preview display result 502 corresponds to the layout result of portion B in the layout result 400 of FIG. FIG. 5C is a diagram displayed as a preview based on information received from the printing apparatus 100 by the host apparatus 403. As shown in FIG. 5C, the preview display result 503 corresponds to the layout result of the portion C in the layout result 400 of FIG.

  In FIG. 3, after S310, the processing of this embodiment is completed. However, a receiving unit (second receiving unit) different from the print job control unit 30 of the printing apparatus 100 receives information indicating whether the preview display is as intended from each host device, and generates the information in S307. The print job control unit 30 may determine whether to print according to the layout information. However, the second receiving unit may be the print job control unit 30. For example, if the user of the host device gives the preview display the intended result, the host device transmits an instruction to print to the printing apparatus 100 according to the preview-displayed layout. After receiving the printing instruction, the printing apparatus 100 performs printing according to the layout of the layout result 400 by the print data analysis unit 70, the print engine control unit 80, and the print engine unit 81. On the other hand, when the preview display result is an unintended preview display, the user transmits an instruction (cancel instruction) not to print according to the layout displayed in the preview to the printing apparatus 100. At that time, the user transmits the print job to the printing apparatus 100 again. When the printing apparatus 100 receives the cancel instruction, the printing apparatus 100 discards the print job for the corresponding host apparatus from the layout information previously generated in S307, repeats the processing from S302 onward, and repeats the process of the user of the host apparatus. A new print job is received from. In this embodiment, according to the order of print jobs transmitted from each host device to the printing device 100 first, the layout management unit 60 groups the print jobs transmitted from each host device into one group. Were laid out in order. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the printing apparatus 100 may be configured to set in advance a host apparatus to be preferentially laid out when the layout management unit 60 performs layout. In this way, the layout management unit 60 can lay out a group of print jobs in order from the printing apparatus 100 with the highest priority. Further, in addition to the layout method described above, the layout management unit 60 may perform layout according to the order of print jobs as in a conventional printing apparatus. In this case, when the host device performs the preview display, the print job of the host device that has been preview-displayed may be displayed without displaying the print job of another host device.

  The printing apparatus 100 may perform layout printing after receiving an instruction indicating whether preview display is OK or cancel from all the host apparatuses that have transmitted information for preview display in S308. At this time, if a cancel instruction is received from any of the host apparatuses, the portion corresponding to the host apparatus that has received the cancel instruction in the layout result 400 may be omitted, or printing may be performed from the host apparatus. It is also possible to wait until a new print job is received.

As described above, in the present embodiment, each user of the host apparatuses 401 to 403 in FIG. 4 actually performs layout printing as to how layout printing is performed by the layout printing function of the printing apparatus 100. It can be confirmed by preview display before. Further, the conventional printing apparatus shown in FIG. 6 only considers a print job received within a predetermined time as a layout print target, and in particular, considers a host device to which each print job is transmitted. It wasn't. For example, the print job A1 and the print job A2 received from the host device 601 are machine drawings of the A project. The print job B1 and the print job B2 received from the host device 602 are electrical drawings of the B project. The print job C1 received from the host apparatus 603 is a C project process chart. In such a case, the print jobs received from the host apparatuses 601 to 603 are laid out by nesting all the drawings and data of different types together without distinguishing each host apparatus. When the user of each host device sees the result 604 of the layout print from the printing device 600, the print job drawings from other host devices are mixed, resulting in an unintended output result. Must be sent to the printing device 600. However, in the present invention, according to the order of print jobs transmitted from each host device to the printing device 100 first, the layout management unit 60 groups the print jobs transmitted from each host device into one group. Lay out in order. As a result, it is possible to provide a printing apparatus suited to the user's application.

50 HDD
100 Printing device 110, 401, 402, 403 Host device 400 Layout result 501, 502, 503 Preview display result

Claims (6)

A printing apparatus that performs layout printing on a single recording sheet based on print jobs received from a plurality of information processing apparatuses,
First receiving means for receiving a print job from the plurality of information processing apparatuses for a predetermined period;
Storage means for storing a print job received by the first receiving means;
Determining means for determining whether or not the predetermined period has elapsed;
An extraction unit that extracts a plurality of print jobs from the storage unit when the determination unit determines that the predetermined period has elapsed;
Layout means for laying out the print jobs extracted by the extracting means at a grouped position in the one recording sheet;
A printing apparatus comprising: a transmission unit configured to transmit information for displaying a preview of a result laid out by the layout unit to an information processing apparatus that has transmitted the print job laid out by the layout unit. Table generating means for generating a table associating the print job received by the first receiving means with the identification information of the information processing apparatus to which the print job is transmitted;
The extraction unit extracts a plurality of print jobs having the same identification information included in the table from the storage unit when the determination unit determines that the predetermined period has elapsed. The printing apparatus according to claim 1.   The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the identification information is an IP address. Second receiving means for receiving information indicating whether to perform printing in accordance with the information for preview display from the information processing apparatus of the transmission destination by the transmission means;
When the information received by the second receiving means indicates that printing is performed according to the information for displaying the preview, printing is performed based on the result laid out by the layout means, and the second 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the information received by the receiving means indicates that printing is not performed in accordance with the information for preview display, printing is not performed based on the result of layout by the layout means. 4. The printing apparatus according to any one of items 1 to 3. A printing method that includes a storage unit that stores print jobs received from a plurality of information processing apparatuses, and that is executed in a printing apparatus that performs layout printing on a single recording sheet based on the print jobs,
A first receiving step in which a first receiving unit of the printing apparatus receives a print job from the plurality of information processing apparatuses for a predetermined period;
A determination step in which the determination unit of the printing apparatus determines whether or not the predetermined period has elapsed;
An extraction step of extracting a plurality of print jobs from the storage means when the extraction unit of the printing apparatus determines that the predetermined period has elapsed in the determination step;
A layout step in which the layout means of the printing apparatus lays out the print job extracted in the extraction step in a grouped position in the one recording sheet;
And a transmission step of transmitting information for previewing the result of the layout process in the layout process to the information processing apparatus that has transmitted the print job laid out in the layout process. Characteristic printing method. Computer
In a printing apparatus that performs layout printing on a single recording sheet based on print jobs received from a plurality of information processing apparatuses,
First receiving means for receiving a print job from the plurality of information processing apparatuses for a predetermined period;
Storage means for storing a print job received by the first receiving means;
Determining means for determining whether or not the predetermined period has elapsed;
An extracting unit that extracts a plurality of print jobs from the storage unit when the determining unit determines that the predetermined period has elapsed;
Layout means for laying out the print jobs extracted by the extracting means at a grouped position in the one recording sheet;
A program for causing information to display a preview of a result laid out by the layout unit to function as a transmission unit that transmits to an information processing apparatus that has transmitted a print job laid out by the layout unit.

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