JP2012064184A - Printing system and printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing system improving responsiveness in printing while suppressing an increase in memory load; and a printer.SOLUTION: In a printing system 500, a print job based on the same print object is registered in each of printers 201, 202 and 203 from a PC 100. The print job registered in each printer is in non-development state. In the printing system 500, printing is started when a user inputs a print instruction of the print job to one of the printers. Development of the print job is started in at least one of the printers 202 or 203 when, for example, printing of the print job is instructed to the printer 201 or when printing becomes impossible in the middle of the printing of the print job.

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system and a printing control apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to a printing system and a printer that register print jobs based on the same print target for a plurality of printers and start printing in response to a print instruction for the print jobs.

  Conventionally, there is a technique for registering a common print job in a plurality of printers and printing the print job with any one of the printers. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that the same secure job is registered in each of a plurality of printers, and that printing of a secure job is started after authentication is performed by any printer.

JP 2003-131842 A

  However, the conventional printing system described above has the following problems. That is, in a printer to which a print job is input, the print job is developed into a raster image and used for printing. If this print job is held in a raster image, the memory load increases. For this reason, it is not preferable to wait for a print instruction after the raster image is developed. On the other hand, if the image is held in an unexpanded state, the expansion starts when triggered by the print instruction, and the time until the start of printing becomes longer. In other words, there is a trade-off problem that memory load increases when waiting in a raster image state, and start of printing is delayed when waiting in a raster image state.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a printing system and a printer that improve printing responsiveness while suppressing an increase in memory load.

  A printing system for solving this problem is a printing system in which a print job based on the same print target is registered in a plurality of printers, and the printer starts printing in response to a print instruction for the print job. When a printer is instructed to print a print job, or when printing becomes impossible during printing of the print job, the print job among the print jobs registered in other printers The image forming apparatus includes a developing unit that starts developing a print job based on the same print target.

  The printing system of the present invention registers print jobs (for example, secure jobs) based on the same print target in a plurality of printers from an information processing apparatus such as a PC, and a user inputs a print instruction to the printer. Start printing. The print job registered in each printer is in an undeveloped state. When the print system of the present invention is instructed to print a print job to a certain printer, or when printing becomes impossible during the printing of the print job, the print job is printed by another printer. And start the print job with the same print target. Here, “development” is a process of converting data based on a print job received from a host device into a form that can be easily used by a printer. For example, for a PDL format print job output from an information processing device, It means the process of analyzing the image content and converting it into a raster image for printing.

  In other words, in the printing system of the present invention, when a certain printer receives a print instruction for a print job or when it detects that the printer is unable to print, the other printer makes the same print object as that print job. By starting the expansion of the print job based on the print job, the print job starts quickly even if another printer issues a print instruction. On the other hand, the print job does not start expanding until a print instruction or a request for expansion is received. Therefore, the memory load is small.

  Further, the expansion means of the printing system of the present invention may not start expansion for some of the printers that have registered print jobs. When expansion is started for all printers, use of resources is wasted for printers that have not received a print instruction. Therefore, it is more efficient to limit the printers that start expansion and not start expansion for other printers. Note that some printers may be selected by the user, or the printer may automatically select based on predetermined conditions.

  The part of the printers may be printers that print other print jobs. In other words, it is not preferable to perform a preliminary operation such as a developing process on an operating printer.

  In addition, the printing system of the present invention may include notifying means for notifying the user of a printer that has been developed by the developing means. With this configuration, the user can grasp the printer that can obtain the benefit of early start of printing.

  In addition, the printing system of the present invention may include an erasing unit that erases a printed portion of a print job that has been developed by the developing unit. Printed pages are less likely to need to be reprinted. For this reason, erasing data for printed pages can make more efficient use of resources.

  The erasing means may not erase the printed portion of some of the printers that have started to be developed. By providing a printer that does not erase printed parts, it is possible to meet the needs of printing from the beginning. For example, if the printer specifications are different (for example, one is color and the other is monochrome), it is necessary to print from the beginning in order to align the image quality of the entire print job.

  The present invention also provides a print instruction means for instructing printing of a print job based on the same print target registered in a plurality of printers, a printing means for performing printing in response to an instruction from the print instruction means, a print job When the start of printing is instructed or when printing becomes impossible during the printing of the print job, expansion of the print job based on the same print target as the print job for which printing has started is started on another printer And a deployment instruction means for instructing the printer.

  In addition, when the above-described printer receives an instruction to start developing a print job from another printer, the printer may include an expansion start unit that starts expansion of a print job corresponding to the instruction.

  According to the present invention, a printing system and a printer that improve printing responsiveness while suppressing an increase in memory load are realized.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a PC and a printer included in a printing system. It is a block diagram which shows the outline of secure printing. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the job transmission process by PC. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of job reception processing by a printer. It is a figure which shows the structure of the database which memorize | stores the job information of a secure job. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of secure printing processing (first embodiment) by a printer. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of synchronous expansion processing by a printer. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the printed data deletion process by a printer. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of secure printing processing (second embodiment) by a printer.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment embodying a printing system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present embodiment, the present invention is applied to a printing system including a plurality of printers and a personal computer (PC) that registers secure jobs in the plurality of printers.

[Overall configuration of printing system]
As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system 500 of this embodiment includes a PC 100 that outputs print data to a printer, and printers 201, 202, and 203 having a secure printing function. The printers 201, 202, and 203 do not have to be the same model (model), and may be different from each other. In the printing system 500, a PC 100 and printers 201, 202, and 203 are connected via a network 300 such as Ethernet (registered trademark).

  A printer driver 110 that outputs a print job corresponding to the printers 201, 202, and 203 is incorporated in the PC 100. The printer driver 110 according to this embodiment is a universal driver that can support a plurality of models, and generates a print job that matches the specifications of the printers 201, 202, and 203. Note that the printer driver incorporated in the PC 100 is not limited to the universal printer driver, and a printer driver corresponding to each printer may be incorporated.

  The printer 201 incorporates firmware 211 for controlling the image forming unit, the operation unit, and the like. The other printers 202 and 203 also incorporate firmware 221 and 231 corresponding to their models.

  Note that any number of printers and PCs constituting the printing system 500 may be connected. In addition, other information processing apparatuses and image processing apparatuses may be connected to the printing system 500.

[PC configuration]
Next, a schematic configuration of the PC 100 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the PC 100 includes a CPU 51, a ROM 52, a RAM 53, an HDD 54, an operation unit 55 including a keyboard and a mouse, a display unit 56 including a liquid crystal display, a network interface 57, and a USB interface. 58.

  The HDD 54 of the PC 100 incorporates an operating system (OS), device drivers for controlling various devices, application programs having a print instruction function such as a word processor and spreadsheet software. The printer driver 110 described above is also incorporated in the HDD 54.

  The CPU 51 performs various processes while storing the calculation results in the RAM 53 or the HDD 54 in accordance with a control program read from the ROM 52 or an application program read from the HDD 54. The operation of the printer driver 110 described above is also processed by the CPU 51.

  The network interface 57 and the USB interface 58 are interfaces that enable communication with an external device. In this embodiment, data is transmitted to and received from the printer 201 or the like via the network interface 57.

[Printer configuration]
Next, a schematic configuration of the printer 201 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the printer 201 includes a control unit 30 including a CPU 31, a ROM 32, a RAM 33, an NVRAM (Non Volatile RAM :) 34, an ASIC 35, and a network interface 37. The control unit 30 is electrically connected to an image forming unit 10 that forms an image on a sheet and an operation panel 40 that displays an operation status and accepts an input operation by a user. Since the printers 202 and 203 have substantially the same configuration, description thereof is omitted.

  The ROM 32 stores firmware 211 that is a control program for controlling the printer 201, various settings, initial values, and the like. The RAM 33 is used as a work area from which various control programs are read or as a storage area for temporarily storing image data.

  The CPU 31 controls each component of the printer 201 via the ASIC 35 while storing the processing result in the RAM 33 or NVRAM 34 according to the control program read from the ROM 32 and signals sent from various sensors. The operation of the firmware 211 described above is also processed by the CPU 31.

  The network interface 37 is an interface that enables communication with an external device. In this embodiment, data is transmitted to and received from the PC 100 or the like via the network interface 37.

[Overview of secure printing]
Next, secure printing of the printing system 500 will be described. In the printing system 500 of this embodiment, a secure job, which is a print job with a password set, is transmitted to a plurality of printers. Each printer that has received a secure job registers the secure job in the memory and enters a print standby state. After that, password authentication is performed with one of the printers, and the secure job is printed. Hereinafter, printing using such a secure job is referred to as secure printing.

  Specifically, in the printing system 500, as shown in FIG. 3, the secure job generated by the PC 100 is transmitted to the printers 201, 202, 203 and registered in the NVRAM 34 or RAM 33 of each printer (1).

  The user inputs a password via the operation panel 40 in one of the printers 201, 202, and 203 (the printer 202 in FIG. 3) that has received the secure job (2). In the printer in which the password is input, the input password and the password set in the secure job are collated, and when the two match, printing of the secure job for the password is started (3). After printing is completed, a completion notification is output from the printer that has completed printing to another printer. Then, the printer that has received the completion notification deletes the same job as the secure job that has been printed (4).

  This secure printing does not start until the user inputs an appropriate password. Therefore, there is an advantage that there is no worry that the printed material can be seen or taken away by a third party and the confidentiality is high. Furthermore, since confidentiality is high, printing of confidential documents is assumed, and there is a high demand for certainty of printing.

[Operation of secure printing]
Next, the above-described secure printing procedure will be described in detail for the operations of the PC 100 and the operations of the printers 201, 202, and 203. In the following description, the operation of the printer will be described as the operation of the printer 201, but the same operation is performed for the printers 202 and 203.

[Job transmission processing (PC)]
First, job transmission processing executed by the printer driver 110 of the PC 100 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The job transmission process is executed when the printer driver 110 receives a print instruction via an application program or the like.

  First, job information of a print job is acquired (S101). In step S101, information on whether or not the print job is a secure job is acquired. Then, based on the job information acquired in S101, it is determined whether the print job instructed to be printed is a secure job (S102).

  If the print job is a secure job (S102: YES), the print job is sent to all printers (printers 201, 202, and 203 in this embodiment) that are registered as secure jobs (S103). The secure job includes PDL format print data generated according to the specifications of each printer and a password. Further, job information including a job identifier (job ID) which is identification information of a print job is added to the secure job. The PC 100 stores a group of printers to be registered for secure jobs as one group, and in S103, batch transmission is performed to printers belonging to the group. After S103, the job transmission process is terminated.

  If the print job is not a secure job (S102: NO), the print job is transmitted to the printer selected as the transmission destination (S111). After S111, the job transmission process is terminated.

[Job reception processing (printer)]
Next, job reception processing executed by the firmware 211 of the printer 201 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The job reception process is executed when a print job sent from the PC 100 is received.

  First, it is determined whether the received print job is a secure job (S201). If it is not a secure job (S201: NO), printing of the received print job is started (S211). After S211, the job reception process ends.

  If it is a secure job (S201: YES), the secure job is registered in the RAM 33 (S202). That is, the print data and password are stored in the RAM 33. Next, the job information of the secure job is registered in the NVRAM 34 (S203). The printer 201 has a database 205 for storing job information as shown in FIG. The database 205 stores the job ID and the registration date as a single record as job information of the print job.

  After registering the secure job and job information, the job reception process is terminated. In other words, printing is started immediately after receiving a print job other than a secure job, and printing is not started immediately after receiving a secure job, but a secure job is registered in the RAM 33 and a print instruction is waited for. It becomes a state.

  The secure job is registered in a state that needs to be converted into a data format that can be used by the image forming unit 10 of the printer 201 at the time of printing. That is, the printer 201 performs printing using raster format image data. On the other hand, data in PDL format is output from the PC 100. Therefore, to print a secure job, it is necessary to analyze the PDL format print data sent from the PC 100 and convert it into raster image data that can be used by the image forming unit 10 of the printer 201. Hereinafter, the process for acquiring the print data is referred to as “development”. The state that needs to be developed corresponds to, for example, a state in which the print data remains in the PDL format or an intermediate state until conversion into raster image data. Even if the raster image data is converted into raster image data and registered in a compressed state, the compressed data must be restored to the raster image data before compression at the time of printing. Included in necessary state.

[Secure Print Processing (Printer)]
[First embodiment]
Next, secure print processing (an example of a deployment unit (deployment instruction unit), a notification unit, and a print instruction unit) executed by the firmware 211 of the printer 201 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When printing a secure job, the printer 201 displays a list of registered secure jobs on the operation panel and accepts selection of a secure job to be printed. Further, it receives a print instruction for the selected secure job. The secure print process is executed when a secure job print instruction is received by a user operation.

  In the secure printing process of the first embodiment, first, a message prompting the input of a password is displayed on the operation panel 40 of the printer 201, and the input of the password is accepted (S261). Thereafter, the input password and the password of the secure job are collated, and it is determined whether or not they match (S262). If the passwords do not match (S262: NO), an error notification is sent to the operation panel (S271). After the error notification, the process returns to S261 to prompt the user to re-enter the password.

  If the passwords match (S262: YES), it is determined whether or not the secure job to be printed has been developed (S263). If development has not been completed, that is, development is necessary (S263: NO), the secure job to be printed is read from the RAM 33 and development into print data is started (S281).

  After S281, or when development has been completed (S263: YES), a printer that outputs a development request is selected from other printers belonging to the group to be registered for secure jobs (S264). The printer may be selected by the user using the operation panel 40 or may be selected automatically by the printer 201. As the automatic selection, for example, the distance to each printer is acquired and the closest printer is selected. In addition, printer model information is acquired, and printers with the same specifications are selected. One or a plurality of printers may be selected.

  Thereafter, a development request is output to the printer selected in S264 (S265). A job ID of a secure job that needs to be expanded is added to the expansion request. The printer 201 stores a list of printers belonging to the group to be registered for the secure job, and in S265, refers to the list and specifies the output destination of the development request.

  Here, the synchronous expansion process (an example of the expansion means (expansion start means)) executed by the printer that has received the expansion request in S265 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The synchronous deployment process is executed when a deployment request is received.

  First, it is determined whether or not it is in a print execution state (S301). In the print execution state (S301: YES), if development is started, the use of the memory is restricted for the print job currently being printed. Therefore, the synchronous expansion processing is terminated without performing expansion.

  If it is not in the print execution state (S301: NO), the development of the print job corresponding to the job ID added to the development request is started (S302). Then, a deployment start notification is transmitted to the printer from which the deployment request is output (S303). Note that even if development has already been performed at S302, a deployment start notification is output at S303. After S303, the synchronous expansion process is terminated.

  Returning to the description of FIG. 7, after outputting a development request in S <b> 265, printing is started for a page for which development has been completed by the own machine (S <b> 266). In other words, the image forming unit 10 prints an image on a sheet based on the print data converted into raster image data. Thereafter, it is determined whether printing is completed (S267).

  When printing is completed (S267: YES), the secure job for which printing has been completed is deleted from the RAM 33 (S268). At this time, the job information registered in the NVRAM 34 for the secure job is also deleted. Further, a print completion notification for the secure job is output to another printer to be registered for the secure job (S269). A job ID of a secure job that has been printed is added to the print completion notification. After S269, the secure printing process is terminated.

  The printer that has received the print completion notification in S269 searches the RAM 33 for a secure job that has been printed. When the secure job is retrieved, that is, when the secure job is registered, the secure job is deleted. Further, the job information registered in the NVRAM 34 is deleted for the secure job.

  If printing has not been completed (S267: NO), it is determined whether or not printing is detected (S291). Note that, for example, toner empty or a device failure corresponds to the case where the inability to print is detected. If it is not detected that printing is impossible (S291: NO), the process returns to S267 and waits for completion of printing.

  On the other hand, when it is detected that printing is impossible (S291: YES), a printed page notification is output to the printer that has output the development request in S265 (S292). A job ID of a secure job being printed and a page number for which printing has been completed are added to the printed page notification.

  Here, the printed data erasing process (an example of the erasing unit) executed by the printer that has received the printed page notification in S292 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The printed data erasure process is executed when a printed page notification is received. Note that the print job corresponding to the job ID added to the printed page notification is started to be developed by the development request in S265. That is, at least a part of the print job to be processed has been developed.

  First, the color setting of the print job corresponding to the job ID added to the printed page notification is acquired, and it is determined whether or not it can be supported by the specifications of the own machine (S321). For example, when color printing is specified in the print job and the own machine is a color printing machine, color printing can be performed. Therefore, it can be supported by the specifications of the machine. On the other hand, color printing cannot be performed when color printing is specified in the print job and the machine itself is a monochrome printing machine. For this reason, it cannot be handled by the specifications of the aircraft.

  If it is possible to cope with the specification of the own machine (S321: YES), the printed page is deleted from the developed print data (S322). This avoids unnecessary printing. Furthermore, the size of the standby data in the expanded state is reduced, and the memory of the own device can be used more effectively. After S322, the printed data erasing process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is not possible to cope with the specification of the own machine (S321: NO), the printed data erasure process is terminated without erasing the printed page. That is, if the color specifications do not match, the image quality does not match between the printer that has sent the printed page notification and the printer that has sent the printed page notification. Therefore, in order to obtain a printed matter having the same image quality on all pages, printing from the first page is possible without erasing the printed pages.

  Returning to the description of FIG. 7, after outputting a printed page notification in S292, the control waits for reception of a deployment start notification from at least one (S293). The deployment start notification is output from the printer to which the deployment request is output in response to the deployment request (see S303 in FIG. 8).

  After receiving the deployment start notification, the control panel 40 is notified that there is a printer that has started deployment (S294). Specifically, the printers that have received the notice of start of development are listed on the display unit, and a message is displayed indicating that the development of the print job has started. Thereby, the user can grasp which printer can perform early printing. After S294, the secure printing process is terminated.

  Note that a printer that has started development upon receiving a development request waits for a print instruction with the print job developed. Then, in response to the print instruction, printing of the developed print job is started. The print instruction may be a print instruction by a user input or a print instruction from a printer that has output a deployment request.

[Secure Print Processing (Printer)]
[Second form]
Next, another form of secure printing processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In FIG. 10, the same reference numerals are given to the same processes as the secure print process of the first embodiment. In the second mode, when an inability to print is detected, an expansion request is output to another printer. This is different from the first mode in which an expansion request is output after a print instruction and before the start of printing.

  In the secure printing process of the second form, first, an input of a password is accepted (S261). Thereafter, the input password and the password of the secure job are collated, and it is determined whether or not they match (S262).

  If the passwords match (S262: YES), expansion into print data is started as necessary (S281). Thereafter, printing is started for the print data that has been developed by the own machine (S266). Then, it is determined whether printing has been completed (S267).

  When printing is completed (S267: YES), the secure job for which printing has been completed is deleted from the RAM 33 (S268). Further, a print completion notification for the secure job is output to another printer to be registered for the secure job (S269). After S269, the secure printing process is terminated.

  If printing has not been completed (S267: NO), it is determined whether or not printing is detected (S291). When it is detected that printing is impossible (S291: YES), a printer that outputs a deployment request is selected from other printers belonging to the group to be registered for the secure job (S391), and deployment to the selected printer is performed. A request is output (S392). Further, a printed page notification is output to the other printers to be registered for secure jobs (S292).

  After outputting the printed page notification in S292, the system waits for reception of the development start notification (S293), and notifies the operation panel 40 that there is a printer that has started development (S294). After S294, the secure printing process is terminated.

  In the second embodiment, when it is detected that printing is impossible, the development of another printer is requested. In other words, a development request is not output while printing is possible, and if printing becomes impossible and the necessity of printing with another printer becomes high, a development of a print job is requested. For this reason, there is little waste of developing the print job, and the influence on the processing of other printers is small. On the other hand, in the first embodiment, when printing is instructed, development of another printer is requested. That is, the data development start timing is earlier than in the second mode. For this reason, when it is detected that printing is impossible, it can be expected that other printers will start printing earlier.

  As described above in detail, in the printing system 500 according to the embodiment, when a printer receives a print instruction for a certain print job or when the printer detects that the printer cannot print, Start developing print jobs based on the same print target. As a result, the print job starts early even if another printer issues a print instruction. Therefore, for example, even if a certain printer becomes unable to print, the printing of the print job can be resumed early by another printer. On the other hand, the print job does not start expanding until a print instruction or a request for expansion is received. Therefore, the memory load is small.

  Note that this embodiment is merely an example, and does not limit the present invention. Therefore, the present invention can naturally be improved and modified in various ways without departing from the gist thereof. For example, the printer is not limited as long as it has a printing function, and can be applied even to a multifunction machine or a copying machine. Further, the information processing apparatus is not limited to the PC. For example, it may be a portable information terminal or a workstation.

  In the embodiment, the present invention is applied to a printing system that registers secure jobs in a plurality of printers. However, the registered print jobs are not limited to secure jobs. That is, it is only necessary to register print jobs based on the same print target in a plurality of printers, and each printer starts printing in response to a print instruction for the print job. For example, authentication is required at the start of printing. This is applicable even for print jobs that do not have any.

  In the embodiment, the same print job is registered in the printers 201, 202, and 203. However, the same print job is not necessarily required. That is, the print jobs need only be based on the same print target, and the registered print jobs themselves may differ depending on the printer specifications (color correspondence, etc.).

  In the embodiment, a group to be a printer group to which a secure job is registered is set in advance, and each printer has group information. It may be possible to select a group as a job registration destination.

  In the embodiment, the secure job is registered in the RAM 33 and the job information is registered in the NVRAM 34. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, both the secure job and job information may be registered in the RAM 33. Further, both the secure job and the job information may be registered in the NVRAM 34. Further, the secure job may be registered in the NVRAM 34 and the job information may be registered in the RAM 33.

  In the embodiment, a printer that outputs a deployment request is selected and the printer that starts deployment is limited. However, the present invention is not limited to this. That is, a deployment request may be output to all printers that are registered as secure jobs. As deployment begins on all printers, the possibility of early printing on any printer increases. On the other hand, by limiting the printers that start the expansion, the memory load can be suppressed as compared with the case where the expansion is performed for all the printers.

  Further, in the embodiment, the printed pages are collectively notified after detecting the inability to print, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the printed page may be notified every time printing of one page is completed.

100 Personal computer (PC)
110 Printer Driver 201, 202, 203 Printer 211, 211, 231 Firmware 500 Printing System

Claims (8)

In a printing system in which print jobs based on the same print target are registered in multiple printers and the printer starts printing in response to a print instruction for the print job,
When a printer is instructed to print a print job, or when printing becomes impossible during printing of the print job, the print job among the print jobs registered in other printers A printing system comprising developing means for starting development of a print job based on the same print target. The printing system according to claim 1,
The expansion unit does not start expansion for some printers among printers that have registered print jobs. In the printing system according to claim 1 or 2,
The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the partial printer is a printer that performs printing of another print job. In the printing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A printing system comprising notification means for notifying a user of a printer that has been developed by the developing means. In the printing system according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A printing system comprising: an erasing unit for erasing a printed part of a print job started to be developed by the developing unit. The printing system according to claim 5,
The erasing unit does not erase a printed part of a part of the printers that have started development. A print instruction means for instructing printing of print jobs based on the same print target registered in a plurality of printers;
Printing means for performing printing in response to an instruction from the printing instruction means;
When a print job is instructed to start printing, or when printing becomes impossible during printing, the print job is based on the same print target as the print job that started printing A deployment instruction means for instructing the start of deployment of
A printer comprising: The printer according to claim 7, wherein
A printer comprising development start means for starting development of a print job corresponding to the instruction when an instruction to start development of the print job is received from another printer.

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