JP2013020455A - Image processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that, in a process of selecting a print image stored in a contents server, it is difficult, on account of the lack of a font, to select and print a desired print image out of displayed contents.SOLUTION: A display image in which language text is embedded is stored in a contents server in advance, and desired language information together with a request for an image list is transmitted from an image processing device to a relay server, and the relay server, interpreting the language information, acquires information on display image data in a desired language from the contents server, prepares a list of display images, and returns the list to the image processing device. In the image processing device, image determination is facilitated by acquiring display image from the contents server according to the list and displaying image text corresponding to the language, a desired image is selected from the list, a print image is acquired, and printing of the desired print image is made possible.

Description

  The present invention is a preferred printing system for easily providing a language-specific function to a printing apparatus.

  In recent years, services using networks have been spreading. In the printing environment, various services have been provided through the Internet.

  The Internet can be used across borders and languages.

  Under such circumstances, multi-function printers (MFPs) are required to support multiple languages, and multi-language support is also required for MFP web services.

  [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-312279 has been proposed for language conversion.

  When a local internal terminal obtains information on the external Internet for the purpose of making the information communication terminal compatible with various fonts used in various communication services, the language of the external and internal terminals is used in the gateway server. Make a comparison. If the comparison results are different and the internal terminal does not have the font, the internal terminal downloads the font from the gateway and handles the font.

JP 2002-312279 A

  However, it is necessary to mount various fonts on the gateway server, and there is a problem that it is difficult to implement in a home network environment. In addition, a memory area with a mechanism for downloading is required even in a local internal terminal, and there is a problem that the cost of memory increment is high and this is difficult to implement easily.

  In addition, if character information cannot be displayed because there is no font, it is difficult to select the desired image in the content server by selecting only the information from the image. There was a problem that the performance decreased.

In order to achieve the above object, the printing system of the present invention includes the following.
The content server has a display image and a display image list information storage unit in which language words are embedded in advance, and the image processing apparatus uses the image list request unit to send desired language information to the relay server together with a request for the display image list. To send.
The relay server includes language determination means for determining language information, display image list acquisition means for acquiring list information of display images in a desired language from the content server, and display image that is returned in response to a request from the image processing apparatus. Has list request response means.
In the image processing apparatus, display image acquisition means for acquiring a display image from the content server based on image list information, display means for displaying the acquired image, selection means for selecting a desired print image, and printing for acquiring the print image Image acquisition means and print processing means for printing the acquired image are provided.
In addition, the content server has storage means for associating a plurality of print images in accordance with the paper size with the display image and storing them together with the display image in which language words are embedded. As in the previous period, the image processing apparatus displays from the image list from the relay server by the display means, selecting means for selecting from the image list, and image size designation print image acquiring means for requesting a print image corresponding to the selected desired image size And a print processing means for printing the acquired image.

As explained above, according to the present invention,
If a request containing language information specified by the MFP is sent to the relay server, a display image list corresponding to the language is returned, and the display image is acquired from the content server from the list and the image wording corresponding to the language is displayed. By doing so, there is an effect that the image determination becomes easy. In addition, it is easy to select a desired image, and it is possible to obtain a print image and print the desired print image, thereby improving the operability.

  In addition, it is possible to print a form according to the image size, and by selecting a language, it is possible to make a determination based on language information to select a desired image, and selection of form content suitable for the desired printing paper From printing to printing can be performed with an easy operation.

It is a block diagram of an example of the system in connection with the Example of this invention. 1 is a block diagram of a multifunction printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a form image in connection with the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the flowchart of a category list request | requirement in connection with the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the flowchart of the display category image acquisition in connection with the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a display in the display part of the category image in connection with the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the management example of the display category image in the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the flowchart of a form list request | requirement in connection with the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the flowchart of display form image acquisition in connection with the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a display in the display part of the form image in connection with the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of management of the display form image in connection with the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the flowchart until printing of a form image in connection with the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of management of the form image for printing in connection with the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the other example of management of the form image for printing in connection with the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a management structure of the data of a content server in connection with the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the application functional block diagram of a relay server in connection with the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows API conversion correspondence in the Example of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.

[Example 1]
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a system to which the present invention is applied.

  In this example, communication is performed for an MFP (multifunction printer) 101 to display display information from the content server 103 and acquire a desired print image via the relay server 102 via the network 110. It is a system that can.

  The MFP 101 acquires a display image and displays it on a selection screen. Further, after selecting a print image, the MFP 101 acquires a print image from the content server 103 and executes printing.

<MFP>
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an MFP (multifunction printer) 101 applied in the present invention. In the figure, 201 is a control unit including a central processing unit CPU that controls the entire MFP. A memory unit 202 includes a ROM that stores a program used by the control unit, a RAM that temporarily stores the program, and the like. A communication unit 203 is connected to the network 110 or the like and performs communication. Reference numeral 204 denotes an operation unit that performs operations such as setting and execution commands of the MFP 101. A display unit 205 displays an operation screen or a print image. A printer unit 206 performs a printing process of a desired print image. Further, although not shown, it is configured by a scanner unit for scanning an image.

<Content server>
The content contents of the content server 103 are roughly classified into three types: form data, category data, form data content, and Extensible Markup Language (hereinafter referred to as XML) data indicating category data content.

  An image file for form printing that can be provided by printing print data in a format such as a stationery or an envelope with an MFP and a form display image used for selection are stored in association with each other. This corresponds to Forms 1, 2, and 3 in FIG.

  In consideration of the convenience of the selection operation, the image file for form printing is managed by a plurality of categories. This corresponds to the categories A, B, and C in FIG.

  A category display image used for category selection is stored. Since the form display image and the category display image correspond to each language, which is a feature of the present invention, a display image for each language is prepared, and the configuration of the display image is a print image or a reduced portion of the category image and the image Is composed of character information of a name representing the character, and the character information corresponds to the language.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of a display image. In the figure, 301 is a display image, 302 indicates a portion indicating a print image in the display image, 303 indicates character information of a name indicating the image in accordance with the language, and in this example, it corresponds to Japanese. Indicates "spring".

  Further, form image list information indicating the form contents for each language and category list information indicating the contents of the categories are stored in XML format. This corresponds to the form list and category list of FIG.

  In the category list XML, for example, information on each category is described for each tag “<entry>” unit, and the target model, provision start date and time, provision end date and time, display image URL, data size, and the like are described.

  In the content list XML, for example, information of each content is described for each tag “<entry>”. Further, the target model, provision start date / time, provision end date / time, display image URL and data size, A4, B5, and LTR three print image URLs and data sizes are described.

<Relay server>
The relay server 102 is a server having an API conversion function as a main function in order to perform processing for returning a list acquired from the content server 103 to the MFP 102 in response to a request received from the MFP 101.

  Since the hardware configuration of the server is composed of a general Web server, the description is omitted. The relationship between the relay server 102 and the MFP 101 is a server function, but the relationship with the content server 103 is a client function.

  FIG. 16 shows the functional configuration of the application of the relay server 102. The main function is an API conversion function, which acquires category list and form list information from the content server 103 based on a “MFP-API” request defined with the MFP 101.

  FIG. 17 is a comparison table showing “MFP-API” which is an API of the MFP 101 and the relay server 102 and information acquired by the relay server 102 in response to this request. When the MFP 101 requests the condition check request API-R1 from the relay server 102, the relay server 102 determines whether it supports a later-described check function content providing function and returns it to the MFP. Also, when the MFP 101 requests the category list request API-R5 from the relay server 102, the relay server 102 acquires the category list from the content server 103 and returns the result filtered by the filter function described later to the MFP.

  In addition, the following functions are held.

・ Parser function:
An XML list, which is information uniquely defined from the server as described above, is interpreted by a parser.

・ Filter function:
A function of deleting data acquired from the content server 103 other than information sent to the MFP 101. Delete expired contents, file types other than those specified, and image information with a file size greater than the upper limit.

・ Check function:
In response to a condition check request from the MFP 101, the MFP 101 checks whether connection to the content server 103 is possible based on the model name, destination information, IP address, and sent information.

・ Cache function:
Requesting the category list and form list from the content server 103 for each request from the MFP 101 increases the load on the content server 103. Therefore, by caching the acquired category list and form list, the load on the content server 103 is reduced and the response speed to the category list request API-R5 and the form list request API-R6 is increased.

<Description of processing>
Here, in the present embodiment, processing from when the content server print application is activated until a desired form image is selected and printed will be described as an example using language A (Japanese).

The language is selected by displaying a selection screen on the display unit 205 by operating the operation unit 204 of the MFP 101 and selecting a desired language. (Not shown) Here, the Japanese language has already been selected.
Although an example in which language selection is possible is shown here, it may have a function of automatically selecting language selection based on MFP destination information. The description is omitted here.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a condition check process and a process until the category list is acquired when the MFP 101 forms print application is activated.

  The activation of the form printing application in the MFP 101 is executed by processing of the control unit 201 by selecting a desired application based on the operation of the operation unit 204 and the content displayed on the display unit 205 (not illustrated).

  When the application is executed by the control unit 201, a condition check request is transmitted to the relay server via the communication unit 203 in 410. Upon receiving the “API-R1” condition check request 410 from the MFP 101, the relay server 102 performs the determination process 411. Here, the check function is used to compare the model name, destination information, IP address, and other information sent from the MFP 101 with the content server restriction information stored in the relay server 102 in advance. In 412, it is determined whether the MFP can be connected to the content server, and a condition check response is sent to the MFP 101.

  Next, in order to request a category list, in 401 of FIG. 4, the category list request is transmitted to the relay server via the communication unit 203. Next, in 402, the language information currently used is transmitted to the relay server 102 together with the category list request in the control unit 201.

  In this embodiment, the command from the MFP 101 is API-R5 using information including the category list request (predetermined category list request ID number) and language A (predetermined language (Japanese) ID number). The message is sent to the relay server 102 using the HTTP POST method.

  In 403, the relay server 102 performs language determination from the received language information to determine the language. In 404, a language-related category list request is transmitted to the content server 103 in order to request a category list of the determined language. That is, the received API-R5 is analyzed, and it is determined from the language (Japanese) ID number as language information that the language is “Japanese” and the request content is a category list request.

  Accordingly, a request for information on the Japanese category to the content server 103 is issued using the HTTP GET method.

  The content server 103 responds to the received request. A category list including URL information of a file corresponding to the language requested by the language-corresponding category list request 404 in the category list among the files stored as contents is returned to the relay server 102 by 406.

  URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator.

  In 407, the relay server 102 performs category filtering processing based on the received category information. In 408, the relay server returns the filtered category list to the MFP 101.

  As a result, the MFP can obtain a category list in Japanese.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart until the category image is displayed on the display unit 205 of the MFP 101.

  The control unit 201 of the MFP 101 temporarily stores the acquired category list in the memory unit 202. In 501, the control unit 201 extracts all category URLs from the category list information stored in the memory unit 202. In 502, a display image request is transmitted to the content server 103 using all category URLs extracted via the communication unit 203.

  In 504, the content server 103 responds to the MFP 101 with a display image for the requested URL.

  In 505, the display image data is stored in the memory unit 202 in the order temporarily determined by the control unit 201 of the MFP 101 via the communication unit 203, and a category image to be displayed first is determined by a predetermined procedure. It is taken out from the unit 202 and displayed on the display unit 205.

  FIG. 6 shows a display example of the display unit 205 at that time.

  Reference numeral 601 denotes an example of a category image that is initially displayed by a predetermined procedure. In this embodiment, Japanese is shown as the language, so that the “new arrival item” icon diagram and the “new arrival item” character image in Japanese are combined and displayed in the category image. Reference numeral 602 denotes a right arrow, and represents a function for selecting and displaying category images stored in the memory 202 in the next order when selected by operating the operation unit 204.

  Reference numeral 603 denotes the reverse of the above, meaning a left arrow, and represents a function in which category images located in the previous order stored in the memory 202 are selected and displayed when selected by operating the operation unit 204.

  FIG. 7 shows a specific example of a state in which management is performed for each category language stored in the content server 103.

  In the language A column, images with embedded language A character information are arranged, and when moved to the horizontal column, images embedded with character information expressed in language B, language C, or other languages are arranged in order. ing.

  For example, the first image in language A (Japanese) is an image in which the character “New Arrival Item” expressed in language A is embedded. If the category is columns of languages B and C, the characters expressed in languages B and C respectively. It corresponds to an image in which “XXXXXXXX” and “XXXXXXX2” are embedded. The same applies to other languages. Similarly, an embedded image corresponds to the category “stationery”. These images are prepared in advance and managed by the content server 103.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing processing until a form list is acquired by selecting a desired category screen (not shown) by operating the operation unit 204 from the category image displayed on the display unit 205.

  In 801 of FIG. 8, the control unit 201 transmits a list request to the relay server via the communication unit 203 in response to a request for a form list. In this embodiment, the command from the MFP 101 is HTTP information using API-R6, including information including the list request (predetermined form list request ID number) and language A (predetermined language (Japanese) ID number). To the relay server 102 using the POST method.

  In 802, language determination is performed using the language information already acquired by the relay server 102. In 803, language request is sent to the content server 103 in order to request a form list corresponding to the language. In this embodiment, a Japanese-compatible form information request is transmitted using the HTTP GET method.

  In 805, in order to respond to the request received by the content server 103, a form list corresponding to the requested Japanese language is returned to the relay server 102 among the form lists stored as content.

  In 806, the relay server 102 performs form filtering processing based on the received form information. In 807, the relay server returns the filtered form list to the MFP 101.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart until a form image is displayed on the display unit 205 of the MFP 101.

  The control unit 201 of the MFP 101 temporarily stores the acquired form list in the memory unit 202. In 901, the control unit 201 extracts all form URLs for each category from the form list information stored in the memory unit 202. In 902, a display image request is transmitted to the content server 103 using all the form URLs extracted via the communication unit 203.

  In 904, the content server 103 responds to the MFP 101 with all the display images for the requested URL.

  In 905, the display image data is stored in the memory unit 202 in the order temporarily determined by the control unit 201 of the MFP 101 via the communication unit 203, and a form image to be displayed first is determined by a predetermined procedure. It is taken out from the unit 202 and displayed on the display unit 205.

  FIG. 10 shows a display example of the display unit 205 at that time.

  Reference numeral 1001 denotes an example of a form image that is initially displayed by a predetermined procedure. In the form image, a “horizontal ruled line” form diagram and a Japanese language “spring” character image are combined and arranged. Reference numeral 1002 denotes a right arrow, and represents a function of selecting and displaying form images located in the next order stored in the memory 202 when selected by operating the operation unit 204.

  Reference numeral 1003 denotes the reverse of the above, and means a left arrow. When an operation unit 204 is operated and selected, form images positioned in the previous order stored in the memory 202 are selected and displayed.

  FIG. 11 shows an example of a state in which form images stored in the content server 103 are managed by language.

  In the language A column, images embedded with language A character information are arranged, and when moved to the horizontal column, images embedded with character information expressed in language B, language C, or other languages are arranged in order. . For example, the first image of language A (Japanese) is an image in which the character “Spring” expressed in language A is embedded, and when the form is a column of languages B and C, the characters expressed in languages B and C respectively. This corresponds to an image in which “XX” and “XX2” are embedded. The same applies to other languages.

  Similarly, even if the form is “Summer”, embedded images are supported.

  These images are prepared in advance and managed by the content server 103.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart for printing a Japanese form image by selecting a desired form image (not shown) by operating the operation unit 204 from the form image displayed on the display unit 205 of the MFP 101.

  In 1201 of FIG. 12, the control unit 201 presses a print button (not shown) from the operation unit 202 after selecting a form image. In 1202, the control unit 201 transmits a print image request to the content server 103 via the communication unit 203. In 1204, print image data corresponding to the print image request received by the content server 103 is returned to the MFP 101.

  In 1205, the control unit 201 of the MFP 101 sends the print image data acquired via the communication unit 203 to the printer unit 206, and printing is started by the printer unit 206.

  FIG. 13 shows a specific management example of print data stored in the content server 103.

  Management is performed in a form in which an image column for printing is added to the language-based management example of the form image shown in FIG.

  For example, the first image of language A is an image in which the character “spring” expressed in language A is embedded, and the corresponding print image corresponds to a horizontal ruled line image arranged in the vertical column for printing.

  That is, one print image and a plurality of display images for each language are associated with each other and stored in the content server 103 in advance.

  As another example, the main display image may be an image in which characters are embedded in the corresponding print image, or the form image displays the print image because the print image itself has its characteristics. You may use it. In that case, the category classification needs to be classified by language, but the form image need not be prepared for each language.

  As another example, the functions of the relay server and the content server may be configured as functions in one server.

  The desired form image is printed in the Japanese language by the above procedure.

  The same procedure is executed for form printing other than Japanese.

As described above, in this embodiment, when a desired form image registered in the content server is printed from the MFP, a specific language cannot be displayed on the display unit because a font is not installed. However, by specifying the language with the MFP, the image with the embedded character image corresponding to the language is acquired and displayed. Has the effect of facilitating.

[Example 2]
As another embodiment, in addition to the first embodiment, a plurality of print image files prepared according to the paper size to be used are stored in the content server 103 in association with display images.

  FIG. 14 shows an example of managing the printing data for each sheet stored in the content server 103.

  Management is performed in a form in which an image field for printing by sheet is added to the management example by language of the form image shown in FIG.

  For example, the first image in language A is an image in which the character “spring” expressed in language A is embedded, and the paper size print image for printing A corresponding print image is a horizontal ruled line arranged in the vertical column. Applicable to images. The paper size print image for printing B on the right side corresponds to the horizontal ruled line image arranged in the vertical column.

  That is, a print image for each paper size and a plurality of display images for each language are associated with each other and stored in the content server 103 in advance.

  A form image is selected in the same procedure as in the first embodiment. When a desired image is selected, a paper size selection screen is displayed when the printing operation is advanced, and processing for acquiring printing image data of a desired size is started by selecting a paper and executing printing. (Not shown) Processing similar to that shown in FIG. 12 is performed, and the control unit 201 transmits a print image request to the content server 103 via the communication unit 203. A print image received by the content server 103 is searched. The retrieved print image data is returned to the MFP 101.

  The control unit 201 of the MFP 101 sends the print image data acquired via the communication unit 203 to the printer unit 206, and printing is started by the printer unit 206.

  As described above, it is possible to print a form according to the image size, and by selecting a language, it is possible to make a determination based on language information for selecting a desired image, and form content suitable for a desired printing paper. There is an effect that the process from selection to printing can be easily performed.

[Other Examples]
In all the embodiments, XML files of form lists and category lists are stored in the content server for each language. As another embodiment, the URL of the display image for each language is formed in the XML of the file list and category list. Therefore, the relay server obtains the list by requesting the list, determines the language-specific information in the list by the filtering process of the relay server, and regenerates the list corresponding to the language.

101 MFP (multi-function printer)
102 relay server 103 content server 110 network

Claims (3)

A system in which a content server and an image processing apparatus are connected via a network and communicate with each other.
The content server
Display image data including data obtained by imaging at least one character indicating image characteristics for each of a plurality of languages;
Storage means for storing the display image list data including the position information of all display image data for each language;
Based on the language information included in the information request from the image processing apparatus, the management means for managing the display image data and the display image list data, the data managed by the management means is selected and responded by language. A response means;
Consisting of
The image processing apparatus issues an information request issuing means for issuing a display image list request including predetermined language information;
Display image acquisition means for acquiring a display image from the content server using predetermined position information from the display image list received in the response;
It comprises a selection display means for displaying the acquired image and selecting other images in the display image list, and an image selection means for selecting a predetermined image from the displayed images. An image processing system. The content server
Content management means for associating and storing print image data and display image data as content;
In the display image data,
The data includes classification, characteristics, or symbolic at least one character of the printing image for each of a plurality of languages.
An image processing apparatus that prints image data for printing managed by the content management unit to print a display image selected by the image selection unit from a content server;
The image processing system according to claim 1, further comprising: a printing unit that prints the acquired print image. A content server and an image processing device;
A system in which a relay server that performs a relay process between the content server and the image processing apparatus is connected to communicate with each other,
The relay server
Communication means for transmitting and receiving data to and from the image processing device and the content server;
Selection means for selecting information managed by the information management means for each language based on language information included in the information request from the image processing device;
Information acquisition means for acquiring from the content server information corresponding to the language selected by the selection means;
The content of the acquired information is analyzed and determined, and further includes a determination unit that regenerates the information as necessary, and an information request response unit that responds the determined information to the image processing apparatus. The image processing system according to claim 2.