JP2012166435A - Print control device, method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a user to recognize the timing of replenishing a recording material.SOLUTION: When a sheet to be used for printing is insufficient, time until the sheet is newly replenished and print is started is calculated and the time is displayed.

Description

  The present invention relates to a print control apparatus, method, and program for performing printing using a recording material.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a printing apparatus having a storage unit that can store a recording material such as recording paper is known. In such a printing apparatus, when there is no recording material stored in the storage unit, the user replenishes the recording material and continues printing. At this time, if the replenishment of the recording material is delayed, the printing process is delayed and the operating efficiency of the printing apparatus is reduced. Therefore, in Patent Document 1, the remaining amount of the recording material can be identified, and the user can predict the replenishment timing of the recording material.

JP-A-11-35205

However, since Patent Document 1 only knows the remaining amount of the recording material, it has been difficult to recognize when the recording material is replenished without reducing the operating efficiency of the printing apparatus.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and provides a print control apparatus, method, and program that allow a user to recognize the timing of replenishing a recording material.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the print control apparatus of the present invention has a determination unit that determines whether or not a recording material to be used in a print job waiting to be printed is insufficient, and the determination unit determines that the recording material is insufficient , Specifying means for specifying a time until printing is started using the recording material, and notifying means for notifying information based on the time specified by the specifying means.

  According to the present invention, since the user can replenish the recording material based on the notified information, the printing stop time can be reduced.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus that is an example of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration relating to control of the image forming apparatus in FIG. 1. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process of embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process of embodiment. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed on an operation unit 206. FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, the relative arrangement | positioning of each component of the apparatus used by this embodiment, an apparatus shape, etc. are an illustration to the last, and are not limited only to them.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus that is an example of a print control apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment. The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 has only a printing function for printing data received from an external apparatus. It is good also as a compound apparatus which added a thing and another function.

  Further, an example in which a roll sheet is used as a recording material (recording medium or recording sheet) to be printed will be described. This roll sheet is an example of a continuous sheet, but it may be other than a roll sheet. Further, the continuous sheet may be cut automatically by the image forming apparatus, or may be cut by a user's manual instruction. The material of the recording material is not limited to paper, and various materials can be used as long as they can be printed. The image forming apparatus may be an image forming apparatus capable of printing not only on a continuous sheet but also on a cut sheet that has been cut into a predetermined size.

  Further, the printing method is not limited to the image printing by the ink jet method using the liquid ink for image printing described later. A solid ink may be used as a recording agent applied to the recording material, and various types such as an electrophotographic method using toner, a sublimation method, a thermal transfer method, and a dot impact method can be employed. Further, the recording is not limited to color recording using a plurality of color recording agents, and monochrome recording using only black (including gray) may be performed. The printing is not limited to the printing of a visible image, but may be an invisible or difficult-to-view image printing. Other than general images, for example, a wiring pattern, a physical pattern in the manufacture of parts, a DNA base It is good also as printing of various things, such as a print of arrangement | sequences. That is, the present invention can be applied to various types of recording apparatuses as long as the recording agent can be applied to the recording material. Further, when the operation of the printing process in the image forming apparatus is controlled by an instruction from the external apparatus connected to the image forming apparatus in FIG. 1, this external apparatus becomes the print control apparatus.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus using a roll sheet (a continuous continuous sheet longer than the length of a printing unit (one page) in the conveyance direction) as a recording material. The image forming apparatus includes the following components 101 to 115, which are arranged in one housing. However, these components may be divided into a plurality of cases.

  The control unit 108 incorporates a controller (including a CPU or MPU), an output device for user interface information (a generator for display information, acoustic information, etc.), and a control unit having various I / O interfaces, and the entire image forming apparatus. Manage various controls.

  Two units, an upper sheet cassette 101a and a lower sheet cassette 101b, are provided as units for storing and supplying roll sheets. The user loads a roll sheet (hereinafter referred to as a sheet) on the magazine and then loads it on the image forming apparatus main body. The sheet pulled out from the upper sheet cassette 101a is conveyed in the direction a in the figure, and the sheet pulled out from the lower sheet cassette 101b is conveyed in the direction b in the figure. Sheets from any cassette travel in the direction c in the figure and reach the transport unit 102. The conveyance unit 102 conveys the sheet in the d direction (horizontal direction) in the drawing during the printing process through the plurality of rotating rollers 104. When the sheet cassette as the supply source is switched from one to the other, the already drawn sheet is rewound into the cassette and newly supplied from the cassette in which the sheet to be newly supplied is set. Further, the sheet cassette can be expanded in units of two, and the additional sheet cassette is arranged on the right side of the sheet cassettes 101a and 101b as viewed in FIG. 1, and the sheets are also conveyed in the a direction and the b direction. When replacing the roll sheet of each sheet cassette, the user opens the door of the sheet magazine, and when the roll sheet or roll sheet is used up, the roll core is removed and a new roll sheet is mounted. While the sheet magazine door is open, the sheet supply process from the sheet cassette is prohibited.

  Further, the roll sheet set in each sheet cassette measures the diameter of the roll by a sensor, and an approximate remaining amount (length) is determined. When the roll sheet is used in the printing process, the length is measured and the remaining amount is updated. Further, the diameter of the roll sheet is also periodically measured, and the remaining amount is corrected as appropriate. Instead of measuring the diameter, various methods such as measuring the radius and measuring the distance from the core of the roll to the outermost position may be used.

  A head unit 105 is disposed above the transport unit 102 so as to face the transport unit 102. In the head unit 105, independent print heads 106 for a plurality of colors (seven colors in the present embodiment) are held along the sheet conveyance direction. In this example, there are seven print heads corresponding to seven colors of C (cyan), M (magenta), Y (yellow), LC (light cyan), LM (light magenta), G (gray), and K (black). The Of course, other colors may be used, and it is not necessary to use all of them.

The image forming apparatus forms an image on the sheet by ejecting ink from the print head 106 in synchronization with the conveyance of the sheet by the conveyance unit 102. Note that the print head 106 is disposed at a position where the ink discharge destination does not overlap the rotation roller 104. Instead of ejecting the ink directly onto the sheet, an image may be formed by applying the ink to the intermediate transfer member and then applying the ink to the sheet.
The printing unit according to the present embodiment includes the transport unit 102, the head unit 105, and the print head 106.

  The ink tank 109 stores each color ink independently. Ink is supplied from the ink tank 109 to a sub tank provided corresponding to each color by a tube, and ink is supplied from the sub tank to each print head 106 through the tube. The print head 106 has line heads of respective colors (seven colors in the present embodiment) arranged along the conveyance direction d during printing. The line head of each color may be formed with a single nozzle tip without a seam, or the divided nozzle tips may be regularly arranged in a single row or a staggered arrangement. . In this embodiment, a so-called full multi-head in which nozzles are arranged in a range that covers the width of the print area of the maximum size sheet that can be used by the apparatus is used. As an ink jet method for ejecting ink from a nozzle, a method using a heating element, a method using a piezo element, a method using an electrostatic element, a method using a MEMS element, or the like can be adopted. Ink is ejected from the nozzles of each head based on the print data, and the ejection timing is determined by the output signal of the transport encoder 103.

  After the image is formed on the sheet, the sheet is conveyed from the conveyance unit 102 to the scanner unit 107. The scanner unit 107 optically reads a print image or special pattern on a sheet to check whether there is a problem with the print image, and checks the state of the apparatus including the ink discharge state. As a method for confirming the print image, a method for confirming the ejection state of the ink by reading a pattern for confirming the state of the head or a method for confirming the success or failure of the print by comparing with the original image may be used. Good. The confirmation method can be appropriately selected from various methods.

  The sheet is conveyed in the direction e from the vicinity of the scanner unit 107 and introduced into the cutter unit 110. The cutter unit 110 cuts the sheet every predetermined printing unit length. The length of the predetermined printing unit varies depending on the image size to be printed. For example, the length in the transport direction is 135 mm for the L size photograph, and the length in the transport direction is 297 mm for the A4 size. The cutter unit 110 cuts the sheet in units of pages in the case of single-sided printing, but may not cut in units of pages depending on the contents of the print job. In the case of double-sided printing, the cutter unit 110 does not cut the first surface of the sheet (the surface on which printing is performed first. For example, the front surface) in units of pages, and continuously prints images up to a predetermined length. When printing is performed and the second surface (the surface on which printing will be performed later, for example, the back surface) is printed, cutting is performed in units of pages. Note that the cutter unit 110 is not limited to one that cuts each image when performing single-sided printing or reverse-side printing of double-sided printing. It is not cut until it is transported for a predetermined length, but is cut after it is transported to a predetermined length, and is cut by manual operation or the like with another cutter device. It is good. In the width direction of the sheet, when cutting is necessary, the sheet is cut using another cutter device.

  The sheet conveyed from the cutter unit 110 is conveyed in the direction f in the drawing and is conveyed to the back surface printing unit 111. The back side printing unit 111 is a unit for printing predetermined information on the back side of the sheet when printing an image only on one side of the sheet. Information to be printed on the back side of the sheet includes information (for example, order management number) corresponding to each print image, such as characters, symbols, and codes. When the print head 106 prints an image for a double-sided print job, the back surface printing unit 111 prints information as described above in addition to the area where the print head 106 prints an image. The back surface printing unit 111 can employ a method such as imprinting of a recording agent, thermal transfer, and ink jet.

  The sheet that has passed through the back surface printing unit 111 is then conveyed to the drying unit 112. The drying unit 112 is a unit that heats a sheet that passes through the unit in the direction g in the drawing with warm air (heated gas (air)) in order to dry the sheet to which ink has been applied. . In addition, instead of using warm air, various drying methods such as cold air, heating with a heater, natural drying only by waiting, irradiation with electromagnetic waves such as ultraviolet light can be employed. The sheets cut to the printing unit length pass through the drying unit 112 one by one, are conveyed in the h direction in the figure, and are conveyed to the sorting unit 114.

  The sorting unit 114 holds a plurality of trays (18 in this embodiment), and distinguishes the sheet discharge destination tray according to the length of the printing unit or the like. Each tray is assigned a tray number. In the sorting unit 114, a sheet that passes through the unit in the direction i in the figure is checked with a sensor provided on each tray, and a tray set for each print image is checked while checking whether the tray is empty or full. Discharge to the tray corresponding to the number. A tray to which the cut sheet is discharged may be specified by a print job issuer (host device), or an empty tray may be arbitrarily specified on the image forming apparatus side. . One tray can be discharged up to a predetermined number. In the case of a print job exceeding this predetermined number of sheets, it is discharged across a plurality of trays. The number, size, type, and the like of sheets that can be discharged from a tray vary depending on the size (type) of the tray. In FIG. 1, the trays (hereinafter referred to as large trays) arranged vertically (upper and lower) are discharged from both large size sheets (A4 size, etc., larger than the L size) and small sizes (L size). Is possible. Further, a tray (hereinafter referred to as a small tray) arranged side by side (left and right) can discharge a small size (L size) sheet, but cannot discharge a large size sheet. The large tray has more sheets that can be discharged than the small tray.

  In addition, a state such as sheet discharge or discharge completion can be identified by the user using a display (for example, an LED or the like is used). For example, a plurality of LEDs that emit light of different colors can be provided for each tray, and the user can be notified of the various states of each tray depending on the color of the LEDs that are lit or whether they are lit or blinking. Also, priorities can be assigned to each of the plurality of trays, and the image forming apparatus, when executing a print job, uses empty trays (sheets do not exist) as sheet discharge destinations in order of priority. Assign. By default, the large tray has a higher priority on the upper tray and the smaller tray has a higher priority on the left. The priority of the small tray is higher than that of the large tray. This priority may be set in advance so that the user can easily take out the sheet. Moreover, it is good also as what can be suitably changed by operation by a user.

  The sheet winding unit 113 winds a sheet on which the front surface is printed without being cut for each page. In duplex printing, a sheet on which an image has been formed on the front side is not cut by the cutter unit 110 in units of pages, but is cut after printing of the continuous front side is completed. The sheet on which the front surface is printed passes through the unit in the j direction in the figure, and is wound by the sheet winding unit 113. Then, after the image formation on the front surface for a series of pages has been completed, the wound sheet has a surface opposite to the previous front surface that can be printed, that is, facing the print head 106. The surface to be reversed is reversed and conveyed again in the k direction in the drawing of the unit. By carrying it in this way, the image on the back surface opposite to the front surface is printed. In the case of normal single-sided printing, the sheet on which the image is printed is conveyed to the sorting unit 114 without being wound by the sheet winding unit 113.

  As described above, when performing duplex printing, the sheet winding unit 113 is used to wind the sheet, and the sheet is reversed and printed on the back side. Therefore, the sorting unit is used for single-sided printing and double-sided printing. The surface of the sheet when discharged to 114 is different. That is, in the case of single-sided printing, since the sheet is not reversed using the sheet winding unit 113, the sheet on which the image of the first page is printed is discharged with the image of the first page facing down. When a single print job is a job having a plurality of pages, the first sheet is discharged to the tray, and then sequentially discharged to subsequent pages so that the sheets overlap. Such discharge is called face-down discharge. On the other hand, in the case of duplex printing, since the sheet is reversed using the sheet winding unit 113, the sheet on which the image of the first page is printed is discharged with the image of the first page facing up. When a single print job is a job that outputs multiple sheets, the sheet including the last page is discharged to the tray, and then sequentially discharged to the younger page sheets. The sheet on which the page image is printed is ejected. Such discharge is called face-up discharge. Note that the printing order of the first side is the same for single-sided printing and double-sided printing so that the surface of the sheet during discharge is the same for both single-sided printing and double-sided printing (unified face-up or face-down). You may make it change (it is set as descending order or ascending order).

  The operation unit 115 is a unit for the user to perform various operations and notify the user of various information. For example, it is possible to check the printing status for each order such as on which tray the sheet on which the image designated by the user is printed is stacked, or whether the image is being printed or has been printed. In addition, the user can operate / confirm in order to confirm the various states of the apparatus such as the remaining amount of ink and the remaining amount of the sheet, and to instruct the execution of apparatus maintenance such as head cleaning.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration relating to control in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. The image forming apparatus 200 is the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. However, the following configuration is an example, and various changes can be made.
The CPU 201, ROM 202, RAM 203, image processing unit 207, engine control unit 208, and scanner control unit 209 are mainly included in the control unit 108. The control unit 108 is connected to the HDD 204, the operation unit 206, the external I / F 205, and the like via the system bus 210.
The CPU 201 is a central processing unit in the form of a microprocessor (microcomputer), and is included in the control unit 108 of FIG. The CPU 201 controls the overall operation of the image forming apparatus 200 by executing a program or starting up hardware. The ROM 202 stores programs to be executed by the CPU 201 and fixed data necessary for various operations of the image forming apparatus 200. The RAM 203 is used as a work area for the CPU 201, used as a temporary storage area for various received data, and stores various setting data. The HDD 204 can store or read a program to be executed by the CPU 201, print data, and setting information necessary for various operations of the image forming apparatus 200 on a built-in hard disk. In place of the HDD 204, another mass storage device may be used.

  The operation unit 206 includes a hard key and a touch panel for the user to perform various operations, and a display unit for presenting (notifying) various information to the user, and corresponds to the operation unit 115 in FIG. . Information can also be presented to the user by outputting sound (buzzer, sound, etc.) based on the sound information from the sound generator.

  The image processing unit 207 performs development (conversion) and image processing of print data (for example, data expressed in a page description language) handled by the image forming apparatus 200 into image data (bitmap image). A color space (for example, YCbCr) of image data included in the input print data is converted into a standard RGB color space (for example, sRGB). In addition, various image processing such as resolution conversion to the number of effective pixels (image processing apparatus 200 can perform print processing), image analysis, image correction, and the like is performed on the image data as necessary. Image data obtained by these image processes is stored in the RAM 203 or the HDD 204.

  The engine control unit 208 controls processing for printing an image based on print data on a sheet in accordance with a control command received from the CPU 201 or the like. An ink ejection instruction to the print head 106 of each color, an ejection timing setting for adjusting a dot position (ink landing position) on the recording medium, adjustment based on acquisition of a head driving state, and the like are performed. The print head drive is controlled according to the print data, and ink is ejected from the print head to form an image on the sheet. In addition, the conveyance roller is controlled such that the drawing roller is driven to pull out the sheet from the cassette, the conveyance roller is driven to convey the drawn sheet, and the rotation state of the conveyance roller is acquired. Transport and stop along the route.

  The scanner control unit 209 controls the image sensor in accordance with the control command received from the CPU 201 or the like, reads an image on the sheet, and analog luminance data of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) colors. Is obtained and converted to digital data. As the image sensor, a CCD image sensor, a CMOS image sensor, or the like can be employed. The image sensor may be a linear image sensor or an area image sensor. Further, the scanner control unit 209 obtains an image sensor driving instruction and acquires the status of the image sensor based on the driving, analyzes the luminance data acquired from the image sensor, and discharges ink from the print head 106 or cuts the sheet. The position is detected. The sheet on which the image is correctly printed by the scanner control unit 209 is discharged to the tray of the designated sorting unit after the ink on the sheet is dried.

The host apparatus 211 corresponds to the above-described external apparatus, is connected to the outside of the image forming apparatus 200, and is an apparatus serving as a supply source of image data for causing the image forming apparatus 200 to perform printing. Issue an order.
The host device 211 may be realized by a general-purpose personal computer (PC), or may be another type of data supply device. As another type of data supply device, there is an image capture device that captures an image and generates image data. The image capture device is a reader (scanner) that reads an image on a document and generates image data, a film scanner that reads a negative film or a positive film, and generates image data. Other examples of the image capture device include a digital camera that captures a still image and generates digital image data, and a digital video that captures a moving image and generates moving image data. Alternatively, a photo storage may be installed on the network, an image file stored in the photo storage via the network may be acquired, and an image of image data generated from the image file may be printed. Further, a socket for inserting a removable portable memory may be provided in the image forming apparatus 200, and an image file stored in the portable memory may be read to generate and print image data. Further, instead of a general-purpose PC, various data supply devices such as a dedicated terminal for the image forming apparatus may be used. These data supply apparatuses may be components of the image forming apparatus or may be other apparatuses connected to the outside of the image forming apparatus. When the host device 211 is a PC, an OS, application software for generating image data, and a printer driver for the image forming apparatus 200 are installed in the storage device of the PC. The printer driver controls the image forming apparatus 200 or generates print data by converting the image data supplied from the application software into a format that can be handled by the image forming apparatus 200. Alternatively, conversion from print data to image data may be performed on the host apparatus 211 side before being supplied to the image forming apparatus 200. Note that it is not essential to implement all of the above processing by software, and a part or all of the processing may be realized by hardware such as ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Image data, other commands, status signals, and the like supplied from the host device 211 can be transmitted / received to / from the image forming apparatus 200 via the external I / F 205. The external I / F 205 may be a local I / F or a network I / F. The external I / F 205 may be a wired connection or a wireless connection.

The above-described components in the image forming apparatus 200 are connected via the system bus 210 and can communicate with each other.
In the above example, one CPU 201 controls all the components in the image forming apparatus 200 shown in FIG. 2, but other configurations are possible. That is, some of the functional blocks may be provided with separate CPUs and individually controlled by the respective CPUs. Each functional block may adopt various forms, such as appropriately dividing as an individual processing unit or control unit, or integrating some of the functional blocks according to a method other than the configuration shown in FIG. Also, a direct memory access controller (DMAC) can be used to read data from the memory.

  When printing using a roll sheet is performed by the image forming apparatus 200 in the above configuration, the following procedure is performed.

  First, when the image forming apparatus 200 receives a new print job, it is temporarily stored in the HDD 204. Then, print settings (size and material of usable sheets, print mode (single-sided printing, double-sided printing, bookbinding printing, etc.) set in the print job stored in the HDD 204 are checked. As a result, the printing order (page order) in the print job is determined, that is, when face-down discharge is performed, if single-sided printing is performed, it is determined that printing is performed in ascending order of pages. When printing (double-sided printing, bookbinding printing), the pages arranged on the opposite side of the first page are arranged in descending order from the page with the largest number of pages to the first side of the sheet, and then on the second side. In normal double-sided printing, even pages are printed continuously in descending order on the first side, and then odd pages are printed on the second side. In addition, the image forming apparatus 200 determines the printing order so that printing is performed continuously in order, and the image forming apparatus 200 performs printing on both sides of the sheet when the same sheet can be used in the preceding and succeeding print jobs. The first side of the job is continuously printed, and then the second side is continuously printed, thereby reducing the number of sheet inversions. After confirming the settings, the printing order is determined in accordance with the result, and the print order of the target print job and the print settings of the preceding and succeeding print jobs are used so that the same sheet can be continuously printed as much as possible. The sheet to be determined is also determined.

  Note that “printing a plurality of pages (images) continuously” simply means that pages arranged on the same surface of the sheet are continuously printed, and does not ask whether there is a gap between the pages. In other words, this includes a page with a margin between pages. Further, depending on the page configuration of the print job, there may be a page in which an image to be printed does not exist.

  Each time a new print job is received, the print job is sequentially registered in a queue provided in the HDD 204. Then, according to the confirmation result of the print setting described above, the sheet information (size and material) of the sheet used in the print job included in the queue, the cassette to be used based on the sheet information, the status of the print job (progress or error is possible) ) Is managed in the HDD 204. Also, the time (date and time) and required time for starting each print job are calculated based on the print contents of each job, and these pieces of information are also managed.

  When the printing order is determined as described above, the print data of the print job is supplied to the image processing unit 207 so that printing is completed in order from the first print job in the queue. At this time, when printing on both sides of the sheet, the pages arranged on the first side of the plurality of print jobs are continuously printed as described above. Accordingly, the print data of the last print job among a plurality of print jobs to be continuously printed is supplied to the image processing unit 207 first (in the case of face-down discharge). That is, printing is started in descending order from the last page of a group of pages arranged on the first surface of the sheet on the surface opposite to the first page of the last print job of a print job that is continuously printed, Finally, the top page of the top print job arranged on the surface is printed. Then, printing is performed from the first page of the first print job on the second surface of the sheet, and the process sequentially proceeds to printing on the second surface of the next print job. As a result, face-down discharge is performed from the first print job, and printing is completed.

  The image data to be printed generated according to the print data received by the image processing unit 207 is sequentially stored in the HDD 204. The image data stored in the HDD 204 is sequentially supplied to the engine control unit 208 according to the determined printing order. At this time, it is possible to specify the image data to be printed on which side of the sheet (when printing on both sides), the page number, and the print job based on attributes such as the print settings set in the print job Such information is also notified to the engine control unit 208 together with the image data. The image stored in the HDD 204 may be rotated by 90 degrees depending on the printing method and the like.

  Receiving this image data, the engine control unit 208 supplies the sheet from the sheet cassette corresponding to the size (finished size) of the image to be printed and transports it to the printing position by the head unit 105. Then, ink is ejected from the print head 106 according to the image data to form an image on the sheet. The scanner unit 107 determines whether the printed image has been successfully printed. If it is determined that the image has been printed correctly, the drying unit 112 performs a drying process. If it is determined that printing has not been performed correctly, the sheet is cut by the cutter unit 110 and discharged from the trays of the sorting unit 114 to a tray that discharges defectives (for example, the tray at the bottom). Then, the image data is re-supplied to the engine control unit 208 to perform reprinting for the portion that has not been correctly printed, and the above processing is repeated. When printing on both sides of the sheet, reprinting is performed unless both the front and back images are printed correctly.

  Further, when the print job that is being printed by the engine control unit 208 is single-sided printing, the sheet on which the image is printed is cut by the cutter unit 110 in units of pages. The cut sheet is discharged to a designated tray of the sorting unit 114. On the other hand, when the print job is to print on both sides of the sheet and printing on the first side is continued for a plurality of pages, the cutter unit 110 does not perform cutting on a page basis even if printing on the first side is performed. Cut after tail page is printed. The sheet with the image printed on the first side is supplied to the sheet take-up unit 113. When printing on the second side, the sheet take-up unit 113 is rotated in the reverse direction, and the sheet is moved from the cut surface toward the head unit 105. To supply. When printing on the second surface is performed, cutting is performed by the cutter unit 110 in units of pages (there may not be performed in units of pages depending on print settings). Then, the printed and cut sheets are discharged to a designated tray of the sorting unit 114. Further, when the information is set to be printed by the back surface printing unit 111, the back surface printing unit 111 performs printing after the sheet is cut.

  As described above, a series of print processing is sequentially performed, and information on the print job managed in the queue is updated as the print processing progresses.

  Next, processing when a sheet runs short during printing processing will be described. The shortage of sheets is determined by detecting that the sheet sensor of the engine control unit 208 is out of sheets or is about to run out, and the CPU 201 acquires the detection result. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in this case. This flowchart shows the flow of processing performed when the CPU 201 loads a control program stored in the ROM 202 or the HDD 204 into the RAM 203 and executes it.

  First, when it is determined that the sheet is insufficient, it is determined whether printing is being performed on the first surface of the sheet in duplex printing (301). If a negative determination is made here, it means that one-sided printing is in progress, and printing is continued until printing can be performed on the already fed sheet (302), and a display indicating that the sheet has run out is displayed on the operation unit 206. (303). At this time, the sheet size to be replenished is also displayed. Here, the printing process is temporarily stopped. In response to the above display, when the user replenishes the sheet by the scheduled sheet feeding time, the interrupted printing process is resumed without causing the image forming apparatus 200 to stop, and the remaining printing is performed. On the other hand, if it is determined that printing on the first side of duplex printing is in progress, printing on the first side is interrupted, the sheet is cut, the sheets are reversed, and the printing order is changed from printing on the first side to The printing is changed to printing on the second side and printing on the second side is started (304). Then, while printing the second side for the cut sheet, the scheduled time for feeding the sheet used in the next printing is calculated (306). The next printing is the remaining printing of the double-sided printing performed here. Further, the scheduled time for paper feeding indicates the time for the user to complete the sheet supply. The estimated time is calculated from information such as the length of the sheet wound around the sheet winding unit 113, the performance of the printer engine including the engine control unit 208, the status of the accepted job, and the like. Then, information indicating that there is no sheet as shown in FIG. 5 and the estimated paper supply time calculated here are displayed on the operation unit 206 (307). At this time, the size of the sheet to be replenished is also displayed. On the other hand, when the user replenishes the sheet, the interrupted printing process is resumed, and the remaining printing is performed (308).

  Next, regarding a print job that has been received by the image forming apparatus 200 and has not yet started printing, processing when a sheet used in the print job has not been set in the image forming apparatus 200 will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in this case. This flowchart shows the flow of processing performed when the CPU 201 loads a control program stored in the ROM 202 or the HDD 204 into the RAM 203 and executes it.

  First, it is determined whether there is a standby job (a print job set in the queue and not yet printed) in the HDD 204 (401). Then, referring to the contents of the standby job, it is determined whether a sheet corresponding to the output sheet size specified in the job is set in the image forming apparatus 200 (402). If no sheet is set, information for prompting the supply of the corresponding sheet and the size of the sheet to be supplied are displayed on the operation unit 206 (403), and the next scheduled sheet feeding time is calculated (404). Here, the next replenishment is the one in which the sheet to be used for printing is not mounted among the waiting jobs and the printing order is the earliest. The time calculation method may be performed in the same manner as described above. Then, information indicating that a sheet to be used is not set and the calculated scheduled paper feeding time are displayed on the operation unit 206 as shown in FIG. On the other hand, if the sheet is replenished by the user by the time, printing can be started without causing a stop time of the image forming apparatus 200 when the printing order of the standby job comes around.

  In the above example, the scheduled paper feed time can be displayed by various methods such as the remaining time until paper feed and the actual time. When the remaining time until paper feeding is used, the remaining time is sequentially updated as time passes. Further, it is preferable that the calculated paper feed scheduled time is corrected for error as the job progresses.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when a sheet required when the image forming apparatus 200 performs the printing process is eliminated or is not set, the sheet is newly set and printing using the sheet is performed. It is possible to make the user recognize the time until the start. The user can set the sheet accordingly. As a result, the stop time of the image forming apparatus 200 due to the absence of a sheet is not generated, or the stop time is reduced, or the occurrence of a planned change in printing processing can be eliminated.

  Further, the host apparatus 211 may perform the above-described processing by acquiring the sheet mounting status and job reception status from the image forming apparatus 200. Further, the same processing may be performed by an external controller excluding a portion to be printed from the image forming apparatus 200. In these embodiments, an external device such as the host device 211 or an external controller functions as a print control device.

  The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed. Further, the program may be executed by a single computer or may be executed in conjunction with a plurality of computers. Further, it is not necessary to implement all of the above-described processing by software, and part or all of the processing may be realized by hardware.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications (including application to other embodiments, combinations with other embodiments, etc.) are possible based on the spirit of the present invention.

Claims (6)

A determination means for determining whether there is a shortage of recording material to be used in a print job waiting to be printed;
If it is determined by the determination means that it is insufficient, a specifying means for specifying a time until printing using the recording material is started;
And a notifying means for notifying information based on the time specified by the specifying means.   2. The notification unit does not notify the information when the determination unit determines that the recording material used for the printing is insufficient during the printing of the single-sided print job. Print control device.   A switching unit that switches to printing on the second side when the determination unit determines that the recording material used in the printing is insufficient during printing of the first side in a duplex printing job; The specifying means specifies the time until the start of subsequent printing using the recording material determined to be insufficient based on the time at which printing on the second surface is completed. The printing control apparatus according to 1.   The specifying means specifies a time until printing is started using a recording material determined to be insufficient based on a time until a standby print job that has not started printing is started. The printing control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. Determine if there is not enough recording material to be used in the print job waiting for printing,
If it is determined by the determination that the recording material is insufficient, the time until printing using the recording material is specified,
A printing control method comprising notifying information based on the specified time.   A program for realizing each means of the print control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 or the print control method according to claim 5 by a computer.

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