JP2015036828A - Print system, print server, printer, and printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a print system and the like which have more satisfactory convenience by reducing a stand-by time of a user which can occur in pull-print.SOLUTION: When a user performs print job issue processing on an information processor (P11), the information processor starts transmitting a print job to a server, and the server starts storing the print job (P12). Then, when the user inputs an execution instruction of the print job on a printer (P13), the printer requests the print job to the server, and the server confirms the reception of the print job (P14). If the reception is incomplete, the server creates instruction information to cause the information processor to stop the transmission of the job to its own device and to cause the print job to be directly transmitted by the printer, and transmits it to the information processor (P15). The information processor stops the transmission of the print job to the server on the basis of the instruction information and directly transmits the print job to the printer (P16).

Description

  The present invention relates to a print system, a print server, a printing apparatus, and a printing method, and more particularly to a technique for pull-printing a print job stored in a print server.

  In a general office or the like, a plurality of printing apparatuses and a plurality of computers are often connected to be communicable via a network. In such a case, centralized management of print jobs may be performed by the print server.

  The print server distributes a print job transmitted from a computer to each printing apparatus and arranges a printing order. Such a print server is configured to store a print job. Therefore, the user can once upload the print job to the print server and store it by operating the computer. After that, the user moves to the installation location of the printing device and operates the printing device to access the print server from the printing device, obtain (download) the print job stored in the print server, and print it out. Can be done. Such an output form is generally called “pull print”.

  In this way, in the pull print system, print jobs are collectively managed by the print server. For this reason, when a plurality of users are simultaneously performing pull printing, a load is applied to the print server, and it takes time to upload a print job from the computer to the print server. Similarly, when a print job with a large amount of data is uploaded, it takes time to upload the print job.

  When this type of print server has not received a print job transmitted from a computer, it cannot immediately start a transmission process even if a request for the print job is received from the printing apparatus. For this reason, if it takes time to upload a print job from the computer to the print server, the print device may not be able to download the print job immediately from the print server even if the user gives a print instruction to an arbitrary print device. In this case, the user must wait until the print job is uploaded from the computer to the print server and the print job is downloaded from the print server to the printing apparatus.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-259259 discloses an image formation that receives authentication print job data from an external terminal, accepts an authentication request from a user for executing the authentication print job, and executes the authentication print job when the authentication is successful. A technique is disclosed in which when the authentication is successful before the reception of the authentication print job is completed in the apparatus, the reception completion time of the authentication print job being received is displayed on the operation panel of the image forming apparatus. However, this technique cannot reduce the waiting time of the user.

JP 2012-132984 A

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has a printing system, a print server, a printing apparatus, and a printing method that have better convenience by reducing the waiting time of a user that can occur during pull printing. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to achieve the object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, an information processing apparatus, a print server, and a printing apparatus can communicate with each other, the information processing apparatus transmits a print job to the print server, and A print system in which a print server performs print output by transmitting a print job to the printing apparatus in response to a job request from the printing apparatus, wherein the print server stores storage means for storing the print job, and the information A job receiving means for receiving a print job transmitted from the processing apparatus and storing it in the storage means; and when receiving a job request from the printing apparatus, the job receiving means receives a print job corresponding to the job request. Determining means for determining whether or not the print job has been received, and determining that reception of the print job has not been completed by the determining means; Job control for controlling the information processing apparatus to transmit to the information processing apparatus instruction information for causing the information processing apparatus to stop transmission processing of the print job and directly transmitting the print job to the printing apparatus. And the information processing apparatus, in response to receiving the instruction information, stops transmission processing of the print job to the print server by the transmission unit, Transmission control means for changing the transmission destination of the print job to the printing apparatus and performing transmission processing of the print job.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the print system according to the first aspect, the job control unit generates the instruction information when the determination unit determines that the reception of the print job is not completed. Transmission destination changing means for switching a transmission destination of a print job transmitted by the information processing apparatus to the printing apparatus by transmitting to the information processing apparatus.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the print system according to the first aspect, when the job control unit determines that the reception of the print job is not completed by the determination unit, the job control unit By transmitting transmission source information related to the information processing apparatus as a response to the job request, the instruction information is transmitted to the printing apparatus, and the printing apparatus receives the transmission source information. And a transmission destination changing unit that switches a transmission destination of a print job transmitted by the information processing apparatus to the printing apparatus by generating the instruction information and transmitting the instruction information to the information processing apparatus. .

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the print system according to the second or third aspect, the transmission destination changing unit is configured to perform the transmission processing of the print job to the print server by the information processing apparatus. The instruction information is generated and transmitted to the information processing apparatus when a first reception completion time required for the printing apparatus to complete reception of the print job is longer than a predetermined time. is there.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the print system according to the fourth aspect, during the predetermined time, the information processing apparatus stops a print job transmission process to the print server, and the print job is transferred to the printing apparatus. This is a second reception completion time required for the printing apparatus to complete the reception of the print job when directly transmitting to the printer.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the print system according to the fifth aspect, the second reception completion time includes a switching time required for the information processing apparatus to switch the transmission destination of the print job to the printing apparatus. Is included.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the print system according to the sixth aspect, the switching time is a time predetermined by a user.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the print system according to any one of the fourth to seventh aspects, the transmission destination changing unit includes a total data size of a print job that the print server is receiving from the information processing apparatus. And the reception start time and the received data size, calculate the time required for the print server to complete the reception of the remaining data based on the elapsed time from the reception start time, and the print server The first reception completion time is obtained by calculating a time required for the printing apparatus to complete transmission of the print job after reception of the remaining data is completed.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the print system according to any one of the second to eighth aspects, the transmission destination changing unit is configured to use the information processing apparatus before transmitting the instruction information to the information processing apparatus. An inquiry is made to the user as to whether or not to change the transmission destination of the print job to the printing apparatus, and the instruction information is transmitted to the information processing apparatus when the user instructs to change the transmission destination. Is.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the print system according to any one of the first to third aspects, the transmission control means receives the instruction information and prints to the print server by the transmission means. When the job transmission process is continued, it is determined whether or not a first reception completion time required for the printing apparatus to complete reception of the print job is longer than a predetermined time, and the first reception completion When the time is longer than the predetermined time, the transmission unit stops the transmission process of the print job to the print server, and changes the transmission destination of the print job to the printing apparatus, thereby transmitting the print job. It is characterized by making it perform.

  According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the print system according to any one of the first to tenth aspects, when the printing apparatus receives a print job transmitted from the information processing apparatus, If the communication prohibition setting is performed, the communication prohibition setting is canceled.

  According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, the information processing apparatus and the printing apparatus can communicate with each other, and the information processing apparatus receives and stores a print job to be transmitted, and responds to a job request from the printing apparatus. A print server that transmits a print job to the printing apparatus, a storage unit that stores the print job, a job reception unit that receives the print job transmitted from the information processing apparatus and stores the print job in the storage unit, and When the job request is received from the printing apparatus, the job receiving unit determines whether the reception of the print job corresponding to the job request is completed, and the determination unit completes the reception of the print job. When the information processing apparatus determines that the information processing apparatus does not transmit the print job, the print apparatus transmits the print job directly to the printing apparatus. A print server comprising: transmission destination changing means for switching a transmission destination of a print job transmitted by the information processing apparatus to the printing apparatus by generating display information and transmitting the information to the information processing apparatus It is.

  According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus that obtains a print job from a print server that stores the print job and performs print output, and transmits a job request for requesting the print job to the print server. In response to receiving the transmission source information of the information processing apparatus that is transmitting the print job corresponding to the job request from the print server as a response to the job request, Sent by the information processing apparatus by generating instruction information for stopping the transmission processing of the print job to the print server and transmitting the print job directly to the printing apparatus and transmitting the instruction information to the information processing apparatus. Transmission destination changing means for switching the transmission destination of the print job to the printing apparatus. It is a device.

  According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, the information processing apparatus, the print server, and the printing apparatus can communicate with each other, the information processing apparatus transmits a print job to the print server, and the printing apparatus transmits to the print server. A printing method for acquiring a print job by transmitting a job request and performing print output, wherein the print server receives the print job transmitted from the information processing apparatus and stores it in a predetermined storage unit A step of determining whether or not reception of a print job corresponding to the job request is completed when the print server receives a job request from the printing apparatus; and reception of a print job corresponding to the job request When the print job is not completed, the information processing apparatus stops the transmission process of the print job and sends the print job to the printing apparatus. A step of transmitting directly a printing method characterized by having a.

  According to the present invention, when the print server receives a print job transmitted from the information processing apparatus and stores it in a predetermined storage unit, the print server responds to the job request when receiving a job request from the printing apparatus. It is determined whether reception of the print job to be completed is completed. Then, when the reception is not completed, the information processing apparatus stops the transmission process of the print job and directly transmits the print job to the printing apparatus.

  As a result, even when the print server has not received the print job, the print server continues to receive the print job and the printing apparatus receives the print job from the print server. It may happen that the printing device can receive the print job sooner. In this case, it is possible to reduce the waiting time of the user until the print output is completed, as compared with the conventional configuration. Thereby, the convenience of the printing system can be improved.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the overall configuration of a print system. It is a figure which shows the concept of a pull print. It is a figure which shows the structural example of information processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows the structural example of a printing apparatus. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a print server. FIG. 6 is a process diagram illustrating a processing procedure performed by the print server, the information processing apparatus, and the printing apparatus. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the print server which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the printing apparatus in 2nd Embodiment. FIG. 10 is a process diagram illustrating a processing procedure performed by a print server, an information processing apparatus, and a printing apparatus according to a second embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the print server which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the printing apparatus in 3rd Embodiment. FIG. 10 is a process diagram illustrating a processing procedure performed by a print server, an information processing apparatus, and a printing apparatus according to a third embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of an inquiry screen. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the printing apparatus which concerns on 4th Embodiment. It is a process figure which shows the process sequence performed with the print server in 4th Embodiment, an information processing apparatus, and a printing apparatus. It is a figure which shows the time which communication for the print server in 5th Embodiment, information processing apparatus, and a printing apparatus requires.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, in embodiment described below, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the member which is mutually common, and the overlapping description about them is abbreviate | omitted.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the overall configuration of a print system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a print system 1 includes a print server 2, an information processing device 3 (3 a to 3 c) that generates a print job, and a printing device 4 (4 a to 4 c) via a communication network 5. In this configuration, communication is possible. The communication network 5 is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network) constructed in a general office. However, the communication network 5 is not limited to this, and may be a complex communication network including a wide area communication network such as a WAN (Wide Area Network). Moreover, the information processing apparatus 3 and the printing apparatus 4 should just be prepared at least 1 each, and are not restricted to the number shown in figure.

  The print server 2 is a print server configured to be able to perform pull printing. The print server 2 accumulates and stores print jobs transmitted from the information processing apparatus 3, and prints accumulated in response to a request from the printing apparatus 4. It has a function of transmitting a job to the printing apparatus 4. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the concept of pull printing. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the print server 2 registers the print job J by receiving and storing the print job J transmitted from the information processing apparatus 3. Thereafter, when the print server 2 receives a print job transmission request from any of the printing apparatuses 4, the print server 2 transmits the print job J designated by the print job transmission request to the printing apparatus 4. The printing apparatus 4 performs print output based on the print job J received from the print server 2.

  Therefore, the user instructs the transmission of the print job J by operating the information processing device 3, then moves to the installation location of the printing device 4 and performs a direct operation on the printing device 4. Can be loaded into the printing apparatus 4 and printed out. According to such an output form, the user can obtain the printed material safely without the third party reading the printed material. That is, pull printing is used as a high-security printing method for preventing leakage of secret information and the like. In addition, storing the print job J in the print server 2 allows the user to perform print output based on the print job J from any of the plurality of printing devices 4a to 4c, which is convenient. There is also a merit that it is good.

  The information processing apparatus 3 is, for example, a general personal computer. When the information processing apparatus 3 generates a print job J based on an operation instruction by the user and performs pull printing, the print job J is transmitted (uploaded) to a predetermined storage area of the print server 2.

  The printing apparatus 4 is, for example, a general multifunction machine, and includes various functions such as a scanning function in addition to a printing function. Further, the printing apparatus 4 makes a transmission request for the print job J stored in the print server 2 to the print server 2 based on an instruction operation by the user, and accepts the print job J transmitted from the print server 2. It is configured to perform print output.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the information processing apparatus 3. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the information processing apparatus 3 includes a display unit 31 that displays various types of information and an operation unit 32 that receives an operation input from a user. The operation unit 32 includes, for example, a touch panel sensor disposed on the screen of the display unit 31 in addition to a keyboard and a mouse. The information processing apparatus 3 includes a communication interface (I / F) unit 33 for communicating with other communication devices via a network, and a nonvolatile storage such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD). A storage unit 34 composed of means and a control unit 35 having a CPU and a memory are provided. The information processing apparatus 3 is configured such that these constituent elements 31 to 35 can input and output data mutually via the data bus DB1.

  The control unit 35 generates a print job J instructed by the user via the operation unit 32 when the CPU executes a program stored in the memory. Further, when generating the print job J, the control unit 35 functions as a transmission control unit 351. The transmission control unit 351 performs transmission control of the print job J generated based on an instruction from the user, and transmits the print job J to the print server 2 via the communication interface unit 33.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the printing apparatus 4. As shown in FIG. 4, the printing apparatus 4 includes an image reading unit 41, an image forming unit 42, and an operation panel 43. In addition, the printing apparatus 4 includes a communication interface (I / F) unit 44 for communicating with other communication devices via the communication network 5, and a non-volatile device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD). A storage unit 45 including storage means and a control unit 46 having a CPU and a memory are provided. The printing apparatus 4 is configured such that these components 41 to 46 can input / output data to / from each other via the data bus DB2.

  The operation panel 43 includes a display unit 431 and an operation unit 432 so that various information can be displayed to a user who operates the operation panel 43 and various operation inputs from the user can be received. It has become.

  The control unit 46 controls the operation of each unit by the CPU executing a program stored in the memory. For example, when the print job J is received via the communication network 5, the control unit 46 controls the operation of the print output based on the print job J by controlling the image forming unit 42 based on the print job J. .

  When the user performs pull print instruction operation on the operation panel 43, the control unit 46 functions as a job request unit 461. The job request unit 461 acquires a job list that can be pulled by the user who has performed the pull print instruction operation from the print server 2 and displays the job list on the display unit 431. Then, it requests the print server 2 for a print job designated by the user from the job list. That is, the job request unit 461 is a processing unit that transmits a job request for requesting a print job to the print server 2 based on an instruction operation by the user.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the print server 2. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the print server 2 includes a communication interface (I / F) unit 21 for communicating with the information processing device 3 and the printing device 4 via the communication network 5, and a storage unit that stores various types of information. 22 and a control unit 23 that controls the operation of the print server 2 and are connected to each other via the data bus DB3 so that they can communicate with each other.

  The communication interface unit 21 is for connecting the control unit 23 to the communication network 5. As a result, the control unit 23 is communicably connected to the information processing device 3 and the printing device 4 via the communication interface unit 21. The communication interface unit 21 may be wired to the communication network 5 or may be wirelessly connected.

  The storage unit 22 is configured by, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD). The storage unit 22 includes a print job storage unit 221 as a storage area for storing print jobs. That is, the print job J output from the information processing apparatus 3 is stored in the print job storage unit 221.

  The control unit 23 includes a CPU and a memory, and controls the operation of each unit. The CPU reads and executes various programs stored in the storage unit 22 as appropriate. The memory stores temporary data associated with the execution of the program by the CPU. The control unit 23 functions as a job reception unit 231, a job transmission unit 232, a determination unit 233, and a job control unit 234 when the CPU executes a program.

  The job receiving unit 231 receives the print job J transmitted from the information processing apparatus 3 and stores it in the print job storage unit 221. When the job reception unit 231 starts receiving the print job J from the information processing apparatus 3, the job reception unit 231 registers the print job J based on the header information of the job and starts storing the print job J in the print job storage unit 221. The registration of the print job J is completed when the reception of the print job J is completed and the storing process in the print job storage unit 221 is completed.

  The job transmission unit 232 functions when a print job request is received from the printing apparatus 4 and transmits the print job J specified by the request. That is, the job transmission unit 232 specifies a print job J to be transmitted from print jobs stored in the print job storage unit 221 based on the request for the print job, and designates the print job J as the printing apparatus 4. To send to. However, the job transmission unit 232 cannot immediately start transmission processing for a print job J for which storage processing in the print job storage unit 221 has not been completed. In such a case, the job transmission unit 232 can start the transmission process of the print job J after the reception of the print job J is completed and the storage process in the print job storage unit 221 is completed.

  When receiving a job request from the printing apparatus 4, the determination unit 233 determines whether the job reception unit 231 has received a print job corresponding to the job request. For example, the determination unit 233 specifies the print job J specified in the job request based on the header information of the print job J recorded in the print job storage unit 221, and the reception of the specified print job J is completed. Determine whether or not.

  When the job control unit 234 receives a request for a job list from which the user operating the printing device 4 can perform pull printing from the printing device 4, the job control unit 234 creates a job list based on the identification information of the user and prints the job list. Transmit to device 4. In addition, when the job control unit 234 receives a job request from the printing apparatus 4 after transmitting the job list, and the reception of the print job J specified by the job request has already been completed, the job transmission described above. The unit 232 is caused to function so that the print job J is transmitted. Further, when the job control unit 234 receives the job request and the determination unit 233 determines that the reception of the print job J is not completed, the transmission processing of the print job J performed in the information processing apparatus 3 is performed. Control to stop Then, the job control unit 234 performs control so that instruction information for directly transmitting the print job J to the printing apparatus 4 is transmitted to the information processing apparatus 3.

  In this embodiment, when the determination unit 233 determines that the reception of the print job has not been completed, the job control unit 234 functions as the transmission destination change unit 235. The transmission destination changing unit 235 generates instruction information for directly transmitting the print job J that has not been received by the print server 2 to the printing apparatus 4 and transmits the instruction information to the information processing apparatus 3. When receiving such instruction information, the information processing apparatus 3 stops the transmission process of the print job J to the print server 2 and switches the transmission destination of the print job J to the printing apparatus 4 based on the instruction information. When the transmission destination changing unit 235 functions in the print server 2, the print server 2 determines the transmission destination of the print job J transmitted by the information processing apparatus 3 at the timing when the job request is received from the printing apparatus 4. The printing apparatus 4 can be changed.

  FIG. 6 is a process diagram illustrating a processing procedure performed in the print server 2, the information processing apparatus 3, and the printing apparatus 4. As illustrated in FIG. 6, when the user issues a print job generation instruction in the information processing apparatus 3 (process P11), the transmission control unit 351 of the information processing apparatus 3 functions to transmit the print job to the print server 2. Processing (upload) starts. Accordingly, the print server 2 starts receiving the print job and starts storing the print job in the print job storage unit 221 (process P12). When the amount of print job data is large or when the load on the communication network 5 is large, it takes a long time to complete the upload of the print job.

  After that, when the user moves to the installation location of the printing apparatus 4 and inputs an instruction to execute the print job in the printing apparatus 4 (process P13), the job request unit 461 of the printing apparatus 4 sends the print server 2 to the print server 2. A request for the print job is transmitted.

  The determination unit 233 of the print server 2 performs reception confirmation as to whether or not reception of the print job requested from the printing apparatus 4 has been completed (process P14). As a result, when the reception of the print job is not completed, the transmission destination changing unit 235 of the print server 2 causes the information processing apparatus 3 to stop the transmission process of the print job to the own apparatus and print the print job. Instruction information to be transmitted directly to the apparatus 4 is created and transmitted to the information processing apparatus 3 (process P15). The instruction information generated at this time includes a command to stop the print job transmission process and the address of the printing apparatus 4 that is the transmission source of the print job request.

  When receiving the instruction information from the print server 2, the transmission control unit 351 of the information processing apparatus 3 stops the transmission process of the print job to the print server 2 and prints the transmission destination of the print job from the print server 2. Switch to device 4. As a result, the information processing apparatus 3 directly transmits the print job to the printing apparatus 4 from the beginning (process P16). When the printing apparatus 4 completes reception of the print job from the information processing apparatus 3, the printing apparatus 4 performs print output based on the print job (process P17).

  When the above processing is performed, the print server 2 does not receive a print job that is being received. For this reason, the job receiving unit 231 may delete the data sequentially stored in the print job storage unit 221 when the print job is not received.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the print server 2 receives a print job transmitted from the information processing apparatus 3 and stores it in the storage unit 22 (print job storage unit 221). When a job request is received from 4, a determination is made as to whether or not reception of a print job corresponding to the job request has been completed. When the reception is not completed, the information processing apparatus 3 stops the transmission process of the print job to the print server 2 and directly transmits it to the printing apparatus 4. For this reason, after the print server 2 completes reception of the remaining data included in the print job, transmission processing to the printing apparatus 4 is started earlier than transmission of the print job to the printing apparatus 4 is started. be able to. Since the printing apparatus 4 completes receiving the print job earlier than receiving the print job transmitted directly from the information processing apparatus 3 rather than receiving the print job via the print server 2, the waiting time of the user Can be shortened. Thereby, the convenience of the printing system 1 can be improved.

  By the way, the print system 1 described above may prohibit the printing apparatus 4 from directly communicating with the information processing apparatus 3 so that the print server 2 can perform unified management of print jobs. In this case, the prohibition of communication with the information processing apparatus 3 is set in advance for the printing apparatus 4, and the printing apparatus 4 cannot receive a print job directly transmitted from the information processing apparatus 3. Therefore, in such a case, when the print server 2 transmits the instruction information to the information processing device 3, the print server 2 cancels the communication prohibition setting that prohibits the printing device 4 from directly communicating with the information processing device 3. To instruct. As a result, the printing apparatus 4 can cancel the communication prohibition setting and receive a print job directly transmitted from the information processing apparatus 3. It should be noted that such cancellation of the communication prohibition setting is preferably temporary.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, the print server 2 generates the instruction information and transmits it to the information processing apparatus 3, thereby switching the transmission destination of the print job transmitted by the information processing apparatus 3 to the printing apparatus 4.

  On the other hand, in the second embodiment, the printing apparatus 4 generates the instruction information and transmits the instruction information to the information processing apparatus 3, so that the transmission destination of the print job transmitted by the information processing apparatus 3 is the printing apparatus. 4 is switched.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the print server 2 according to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, the print server 2 according to this embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the job control unit 234 functions as a transmission source information transmission unit 236 instead of the transmission destination change unit 235.

  When the determination unit 233 determines that the reception of the print job is not completed, the transmission source information transmission unit 236 determines that the reception of the specified print job is not completed as a response to the job request. 4 is notified. At this time, the transmission source information transmission unit 236 generates transmission source information including the address of the information processing apparatus 3 that has transmitted the print job, and transmits the transmission source information to the printing apparatus 4.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the printing apparatus 4 according to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 8, the printing apparatus 4 is different from the first embodiment in that it includes a transmission destination changing unit 462 in addition to the units shown in FIG. The transmission destination changing unit 462 causes the information processing apparatus 3 to stop the print job transmission process in response to receiving the transmission source information from the print server 2. In addition, the transmission destination changing unit 462 creates instruction information for directly transmitting the print job to the printing apparatus 4 and transmits the instruction information to the information processing apparatus 3 based on the received transmission source information. The instruction information generated at this time includes an instruction to stop the print job transmission process and the address of the printing apparatus 4. Thereby, the transmission destination of the print job transmitted by the information processing apparatus 3 can be switched to the printing apparatus 4.

  FIG. 9 is a process diagram illustrating a processing procedure performed by the print server 2, the information processing device 3, and the printing device 4 according to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 9, when the job request unit 461 of the printing apparatus 4 requests a print job from the print server 2 through processes P21 to P23 similar to the processes P11 to P13 of the first embodiment, the print server 2 2 determination unit 233 performs reception confirmation as to whether or not reception of the print job requested from the printing apparatus 4 has been completed (process P24). As a result, when the reception of the print job is not completed, the transmission source information transmission unit 236 of the print server 2 notifies the printing apparatus 4 to that effect (job reception incomplete notification) and Source information regarding the information processing apparatus 3 is transmitted as a response to the job request.

  When receiving the transmission source information from the print server 2, the transmission destination changing unit 235 of the printing apparatus 4 instructs the information processing apparatus 3 to stop the transmission processing of the print job to the print server 2 and directly transmits it to the own apparatus. And transmits the instruction information to the information processing device 3 based on the received transmission source information (process P25).

  When receiving the instruction information from the print server 2, the transmission control unit 351 of the information processing apparatus 3 stops the transmission process of the print job to the print server 2 and prints the transmission destination of the print job from the print server 2. The apparatus is switched to the apparatus 4 and the print job is directly transmitted to the printing apparatus 4 (process P26). As a result, the printing apparatus 4 directly receives the print job from the information processing apparatus 3. When the reception of the print job is completed, the printing apparatus 4 performs print output based on the print job (process P27).

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when the print server 2 has not received a print job corresponding to the job request from the printing apparatus 4, the printing apparatus 2 displays that fact and transmission source information regarding the information processing apparatus 3. 4, the printing apparatus 4 creates instruction information and transmits the instruction information to the information processing apparatus 3. Then, based on the instruction information, the information processing apparatus 3 stops the print job transmission process and directly transmits the print job to the printing apparatus 4.

  Thus, as in the first embodiment, after the print server 2 completes reception of the remaining data included in the print job, the print job is printed earlier than the transmission of the print job to the printing apparatus 4 is started. Transmission processing to the device 4 can be started. Since the printing apparatus 4 completes receiving the print job earlier than receiving the print job transmitted directly from the information processing apparatus 3 rather than receiving the print job via the print server 2, the waiting time of the user Can be shortened. In particular, in the present embodiment, since the print server 2 does not transmit instruction information to the information processing apparatus 3, the load on the print server 2 can be reduced accordingly.

  Also in the present embodiment, if the prohibition of communication with the information processing device 3 is set in advance in the printing device 4, the printing device 4 transmits the instruction prohibition setting when transmitting the instruction information to the information processing device 3. Cancel. As a result, the printing apparatus 4 can receive a print job directly transmitted from the information processing apparatus 3.

  Further, in the above embodiment, when the printing apparatus 4 transmits the instruction information to the information processing apparatus 3, the case of directly transmitting to the information processing apparatus 3 via the communication network 5 is illustrated. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and transmission may be performed via the print server 2.

(Third embodiment)
In the first embodiment, the print server 2 generates the instruction information based on its own determination and transmits the instruction information to the information processing apparatus 3, thereby specifying the transmission destination of the print job transmitted by the information processing apparatus 3. Switch to 4.

  In contrast, in the third embodiment, the print server 2 generates instruction information in accordance with an instruction from the printing apparatus 4 and transmits the instruction information to the information processing apparatus 3, thereby transmitting a print job transmitted by the information processing apparatus 3. The destination is switched to the printing apparatus 4.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the print server 2 according to the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 10, the print server 2 according to the present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the job control unit 234 functions as a notification unit 237 in addition to the transmission destination changing unit 235. When the determination unit 233 determines that the reception of the print job is not completed, the notification unit 237 notifies the printing apparatus 4 to that effect.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the printing apparatus 4 according to the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 11, the printing apparatus 4 is different from the first embodiment in that it includes an instruction information creation instruction unit 463 and a screen display control unit 464 in addition to the units shown in FIG. 4. The screen display control unit 464 displays a screen asking the user whether or not to switch the transmission destination of the print job in response to receiving a notification that the reception of the print job is not completed from the printing apparatus 4. 431 is displayed. When the screen display control unit 464 displays a screen asking whether or not to switch the transmission destination of the print job, the instruction information creation instruction unit 463 generates an instruction information and information processing based on an instruction operation by the user. An instruction to be transmitted to the apparatus 3 is generated and transmitted to the print server 2.

  When the destination change unit 235 of the print server 2 is instructed to create instruction information from the printing apparatus 4, the transmission destination changing section 235 generates instruction information for directly sending the print job to the printing apparatus 4 and transmits the instruction information to the information processing apparatus 3. To do. The instruction information generated at this time is the same as that described in the first and second embodiments. Accordingly, the print job transmission process by the information processing apparatus 3 can be stopped, and the transmission destination of the print job can be switched to the printing apparatus 4.

  FIG. 12 is a process diagram illustrating a processing procedure performed by the print server 2, the information processing apparatus 3, and the printing apparatus 4 according to the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 12, when the job request unit 461 of the printing apparatus 4 requests the print server 2 for the print job through the processes P31 to P33 similar to the processes P11 to P13 of the first embodiment, the print server 2 The determination unit 233 confirms whether or not reception of the print job requested from the printing apparatus 4 has been completed (process P34). As a result, when reception of the print job is not completed, the notification unit 237 of the print server 2 notifies the printing apparatus 4 to that effect (notification of job reception incomplete).

  The screen display control unit 464 of the printing apparatus 4 displays that the print server 2 is receiving on the display unit 431 of the operation panel 43 as the notification is received from the printing apparatus 4. At this time, a screen G as shown in FIG. 13 is displayed on the display unit 431 of the operation panel 43, for example. In this inquiry screen G, for example, a message M “It will take time to continue downloading from the server. Do you want to download the print job directly from the PC?”, “YES” button B1 and “NO” button B2 Is displayed. When the user operates the “YES” button B1 to instruct to directly receive the print job from the information processing apparatus 3, the instruction information creation instruction unit 463 instructs the information processing apparatus 3 to generate an instruction information. An instruction to transmit is transmitted to the print server 2 (process P35).

  When the destination change unit 235 of the print server 2 is instructed to create the instruction information from the printing apparatus 4, the instruction information including the address of the printing apparatus 4 is generated and transmitted to the information processing apparatus 3 (process P36).

  When the transmission control unit 351 of the information processing apparatus 3 receives the instruction information from the print server 2, the transmission control unit 351 stops the transmission process of the print job to the print server 2 and sets the transmission destination of the print job from the print server 2 to the printing apparatus. 4 to directly transmit the print job to the printing apparatus 4 from the beginning (process P37). As a result, the printing apparatus 4 directly receives the print job from the information processing apparatus 3. When the reception of the print job is completed, the printing apparatus 4 performs print output based on the print job (process P38).

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when the print server 2 has not received a print job corresponding to the job request from the printing apparatus 4, the print server 4 is notified of this fact. Therefore, the user operating the printing apparatus 4 can select whether or not to directly download the print job from the information processing apparatus 3 to the printing apparatus 4. When the user designates direct download, the printing apparatus 4 transmits an instruction to generate instruction information and an instruction to transmit to the information processing apparatus 3 to the print server 2. Then, based on the instruction information received from the print server 2, the information processing apparatus 3 stops the print job transmission process and directly transmits the print job to the printing apparatus 4.

  As a result, as in the first and second embodiments, after the print server 2 completes reception of the remaining data included in the print job, the transmission of the print job to the printing apparatus 4 is started. Transmission processing to the printing apparatus 4 can be started at an early stage. Since the printing apparatus 4 completes receiving the print job earlier than receiving the print job transmitted directly from the information processing apparatus 3 rather than receiving the print job via the print server 2, the waiting time of the user Can be shortened.

  In particular, in this embodiment, since the user can instruct direct transmission from the information processing apparatus 3 to the printing apparatus 4, the convenience of the printing system 1 can be further improved.

(Fourth embodiment)
The fourth embodiment exemplifies a case where a technique for inquiring a user about direct transmission from the information processing apparatus 3 to the printing apparatus 4 is applied to the second embodiment.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the printing apparatus 4 according to the fourth embodiment. As shown in FIG. 14, the printing apparatus 4 in the fourth embodiment is different from the second embodiment in that a screen display control unit 464 is provided in addition to the units shown in FIG. 8. As the screen display control unit 464 receives a notification from the print server 2 that the reception of the print job has not been completed, as shown in FIG. In order to make an inquiry to the user as to whether or not to change to 4, an inquiry screen G similar to that shown in FIG.

  When the “YES” button B1 is operated by the user, the transmission destination changing unit 462 generates instruction information and transmits the instruction information to the information processing apparatus 3 as in the second embodiment. On the other hand, when the “NO” button B2 is operated, the print server 2 continuously receives a print job from the information processing apparatus 3.

  FIG. 15 is a process diagram illustrating a processing procedure performed by the print server 2, the information processing apparatus 3, and the printing apparatus 4 according to the fourth embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 15, through processes P41 to P44 similar to the processes P21 to P24 of the second embodiment, the determination unit 233 of the print server 2 completes reception of the print job requested from the printing apparatus 4. If not, the screen display control unit 464 displays an inquiry screen G as shown in FIG. 13 on the display unit 431 (process P45).

  When the “YES” button B1 is operated, the transmission destination changing unit 462 causes the information processing apparatus 3 to stop the transmission process of the print job to the print server 2 and to execute the print job, as in the second embodiment. Instruction information to be directly transmitted to the own device is generated and transmitted to the information processing apparatus 3 (process P46). On the other hand, when the “NO” button B <b> 2 is operated, the transmission destination changing unit 462 causes the print server 2 to continuously receive a print job from the information processing apparatus 3.

  When the transmission control unit 351 of the information processing apparatus 3 receives the instruction information from the print server 2, the transmission control unit 351 stops the transmission process of the print job to the print server 2 and sets the transmission destination of the print job from the print server 2 to the printing apparatus. 4 to directly transmit the print job to the printing apparatus 4 from the beginning (process P47). As a result, the printing apparatus 4 directly receives the print job from the information processing apparatus 3. When the reception of the print job is completed, the printing apparatus 4 performs print output based on the print job (process P48).

  As described above, also in this embodiment, before the printing apparatus 4 transmits the instruction information to the information processing apparatus 3, the user determines whether to change the transmission destination of the print job by the information processing apparatus 3 to the printing apparatus 4. Contact Therefore, it is possible to reflect the user's judgment as to whether or not to change the transmission route of the print job to the printing apparatus 4.

(Fifth embodiment)
In the first and second embodiments, when the print server 2 receives a job request from the printing apparatus 4, if the reception of the print job corresponding to the job request is not completed, the information processing apparatus 3 is informed. The transmission process of the print job is stopped and the print job is directly transmitted to the printing apparatus 4.

  However, if the print server 2 continues to receive a print job from the information processing apparatus 3, the printing apparatus 4 may receive the print job earlier than switching the print job transmission destination to the printing apparatus 4. possible.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, in order to more appropriately switch the transmission destination of the print job, when the print server 2 continues to receive the print job from the information processing apparatus 3, the printing apparatus 4 receives the print job. When the time required for completion (first reception completion time T1) and the transmission destination of the print job are switched and transmitted directly from the information processing apparatus 3 to the printing apparatus 4, the printing apparatus 4 completes reception of the print job. A description will be given of an example in which the switching condition is determined based on the time required for the transmission (second reception completion time T2). Here, although an embodiment in which the additional switching condition is set in the first embodiment will be described, the switching condition may be set in the second and third embodiments.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating the time required for communication among the print server 2, the information processing device 3, and the printing device 4 in the fifth embodiment. The transmission destination changing unit 235 of the print server 2 acquires the entire data size of the print job that the print server 2 is receiving from the information processing apparatus 3 based on the header information of the print job. Further, the transmission destination changing unit 235 acquires the reception start time and the data size of the received data. Then, the transmission destination changing unit 235 calculates the remaining data transmission time t1 required for the print server 2 to complete the reception of the remaining data based on the elapsed time from the reception start time. Further, the transmission destination changing unit 235 calculates a print job transmission time t2 required for the printing apparatus 4 to complete the transmission of the print job after the print server 2 has received the remaining data. Then, the transmission destination changing unit 235 obtains the sum (t1 + t2) of these calculated times as the first reception completion time T1.

  Further, the transmission destination changing unit 235 calculates a print job transmission time t <b> 3 required for transmitting a print job from the information processing apparatus 3 to the printing apparatus 4. Further, in the present embodiment, the transmission destination changing unit 235 acquires a switching time t4 required for the information processing apparatus 3 to switch the transmission destination of the print job to the printing apparatus 4. The switching time t4 may be a fixed value or a calculated value determined by a prior design. In the present embodiment, for example, the switching time t4 is a time determined in advance by a management user or individual users. Then, the transmission destination changing unit 235 obtains the sum (t3 + t4) of these calculated times as the second reception completion time T2.

  As described above, when the transmission destination changing unit 235 calculates the first and second reception completion times T1 and T2, the transmission destination changing unit 235 compares the times T1 and T2, and the first reception completion time T1 is the second reception completion time T1. When the switching condition is longer than the reception completion time T2, the instruction information is generated and transmitted to the information processing device 3.

  As a result of such processing, when the print server 2 continues to receive a print job from the information processing apparatus 3, the printing apparatus 4 makes the print job faster than when the information processing apparatus 3 transmits the print job directly to the printing apparatus 4. If the print job can be received, the print server 2 continues to receive the print job from the information processing device 3, and if not, the print job transmission destination by the information processing device 3 is switched to the print device 4. Job transmission destinations can be switched more appropriately.

  When the additional switching condition is set in the second embodiment, the transmission destination changing unit 462 of the printing apparatus 4 calculates the first reception completion time T1 from the information processing apparatus 3 by the print server 2. The total data size, the reception start time, and the received data size of the print job being received may be acquired from the print server 2 to calculate the remaining data transmission time t1. Further, when calculating the second reception completion time T2, the transmission destination changing unit 462 may acquire information on the switching time t4 from the information processing device 3 via the print server 2.

  In the present embodiment, the print server 2 (transmission destination changing unit 235) calculates the first and second reception completion times T1 and T2, and whether or not to switch the transmission destination based on these times T1 and T2. The case of judging is exemplified. However, the information processing apparatus 3 can be configured to make such a determination. In that case, the print server 2 calculates the first reception completion time T1 and the second reception completion time T2 if the print job is being received when the print job request is received from the printing apparatus 4. Instead, the instruction information is output to the information processing device 3. When the transmission control unit 351 of the information processing apparatus 3 receives the instruction information and the print interface 4 continues the transmission process of the print job to the print server 2 by the communication interface unit 33, the printing apparatus 4 receives the instruction for the print job. It is determined whether or not the first reception completion time T1 required to complete the reception is longer than the second reception completion time T2, and the first reception completion time T1 is longer than the second reception completion time T2. In this case, the transmission process of the print job to the print server 2 by the communication interface unit 33 is stopped, and the transmission destination of the print job is changed to the printing apparatus 4 to perform the transmission process of the print job. As a result, the load on the print server 2 can be reduced because the first and second reception completion times T1 and T2 are not calculated and compared in magnitude.

(Modification)
As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment regarding this invention was described, this invention is not restricted to the thing of the content mentioned above, A various modification is applicable. Hereinafter, some modified examples will be described.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the printing apparatus is a multifunction peripheral is illustrated, but the printing apparatus is not necessarily limited to the multifunction peripheral, and may be a single function apparatus having only a printing function.

  In the fifth embodiment, whether or not the information processing apparatus 3 needs to switch the transmission destination of the print job is determined based on the size comparison between the first and second reception completion times T1 and T2. The determination may be made based on the remaining data transmission time t1. In other words, when the remaining data transmission time t1 is longer than the predetermined time, the information processing apparatus 3 switches the transmission destination of the print job by the information processing apparatus 3 based on the size comparison between the remaining data transmission time t1 and the predetermined time. It may be determined whether or not the transmission destination of the print job according to 3 is necessary.

  Further, any one of the printing apparatuses 4 in the printing system 1 may have the function as the print server 2 described above.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Print system 2 Print server 221 Print job memory | storage part (memory | storage means)
231 Job receiving unit (job receiving means)
233 determination unit (determination means)
234 Job control unit (job control means)
235 Transmission destination changing unit (transmission destination changing means)
3 Information processing device 33 Communication interface section (transmission means)
351 Transmission control unit (transmission control means)
4 Printing device 461 Job request section (job request means)
462 Transmission destination changing unit (transmission destination changing means)

Claims (14)

An information processing device, a print server, and a printing device can communicate with each other, the information processing device transmits a print job to the print server, and the print server sends a print job in response to a job request from the printing device. A printing system for performing print output by transmitting to the printing apparatus,
The print server
Storage means for storing print jobs;
Job receiving means for receiving a print job transmitted from the information processing apparatus and storing it in the storage means;
A determination unit that determines whether or not reception of a print job corresponding to the job request is completed in the job reception unit when a job request is received from the printing apparatus;
When the determination means determines that the reception of the print job is not completed, the instruction information for causing the information processing apparatus to stop the print job transmission process and directly transmitting the print job to the printing apparatus is provided. Job control means for controlling to be transmitted to the information processing apparatus;
With
The information processing apparatus includes:
A transmission means for transmitting a print job;
Along with receiving the instruction information, the transmission unit stops the transmission process of the print job to the print server, and changes the transmission destination of the print job to the printing apparatus to perform the transmission process of the print job. Transmission control means to perform,
A printing system comprising:   The job control unit is transmitted by the information processing apparatus by generating the instruction information and transmitting the instruction information to the information processing apparatus when the determination unit determines that the reception of the print job is not completed. The printing system according to claim 1, further comprising a transmission destination changing unit that switches a transmission destination of a print job to the printing apparatus. When the determination unit determines that reception of the print job is not completed, the job control unit transmits transmission source information regarding the information processing apparatus to the printing apparatus as a response to the job request. , Causing the printing apparatus to transmit the instruction information,
The printing apparatus includes:
A transmission destination change for switching a transmission destination of a print job transmitted by the information processing apparatus to the printing apparatus by generating the instruction information and transmitting the instruction information to the information processing apparatus in response to receiving the transmission source information The printing system according to claim 1, further comprising: means.   The transmission destination changing unit includes a first reception completion time required for the printing apparatus to complete reception of the print job when the information processing apparatus continues the transmission process of the print job to the print server. 4. The print system according to claim 2, wherein the instruction information is generated and transmitted to the information processing apparatus when longer than a predetermined time.   The printing apparatus completes reception of the print job when the information processing apparatus stops the transmission process of the print job to the print server and directly transmits the print job to the printing apparatus. The print system according to claim 4, wherein a second reception completion time required until the time is reached.   6. The printing system according to claim 5, wherein the second reception completion time includes a switching time required for the information processing apparatus to switch a transmission destination of a print job to the printing apparatus.   The print system according to claim 6, wherein the switching time is a time predetermined by a user.   The transmission destination changing unit obtains the total data size, reception start time, and received data size of a print job that the print server is receiving from the information processing apparatus, and an elapsed time from the reception start time. And the time required for the print server to complete the transmission of the print job after the print server has completed the reception of the remaining data. The printing system according to claim 4, wherein the first reception completion time is obtained by calculating the first reception completion time.   The transmission destination changing means inquires of the user whether or not to change the transmission destination of the print job by the information processing apparatus to the printing apparatus before transmitting the instruction information to the information processing apparatus, and transmits from the user 9. The printing system according to claim 2, wherein when the previous change is instructed, the instruction information is transmitted to the information processing apparatus.   When the transmission control unit continues the transmission process of the print job to the print server by the transmission unit in accordance with the reception of the instruction information, the transmission apparatus completes the reception of the print job. It is determined whether the required first reception completion time is longer than a predetermined time, and when the first reception completion time is longer than the predetermined time, the transmission unit transmits a print job to the print server. 4. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the printing system is configured to stop the processing and change the transmission destination of the print job to the printing apparatus to perform the transmission processing of the print job. 5.   The said printing apparatus cancels the said communication prohibition setting, when the communication prohibition setting with the said information processing apparatus is performed when the print job transmitted from the said information processing apparatus is received. The printing system according to any one of 1 to 10. The information processing apparatus and the printing apparatus can communicate with each other. The information processing apparatus receives and stores a print job to be transmitted, and transmits the print job to the printing apparatus in response to a job request from the printing apparatus. A print server,
Storage means for storing print jobs;
Job receiving means for receiving a print job transmitted from the information processing apparatus and storing it in the storage means;
A determination unit that determines whether or not reception of a print job corresponding to the job request is completed in the job reception unit when a job request is received from the printing apparatus;
When the determination unit determines that the reception of the print job has not been completed, generates instruction information for causing the information processing apparatus to stop the print job transmission process and to directly transmit the print job to the printing apparatus. Transmission destination changing means for switching the transmission destination of the print job transmitted by the information processing apparatus to the printing apparatus by transmitting to the information processing apparatus,
A print server comprising: A printing apparatus that obtains a print job from a print server that accumulates print jobs and performs print output,
Job request means for transmitting a job request for requesting a print job to the print server;
As a response to the job request from the print server, printing on the print server is performed on the information processing apparatus by receiving transmission source information of the information processing apparatus that is transmitting the print job corresponding to the job request. The destination of the print job transmitted by the information processing apparatus by generating instruction information for stopping the job transmission process and transmitting the print job directly to the printing apparatus and transmitting the instruction information to the information processing apparatus A destination changing means for switching to the printing device,
A printing apparatus comprising: An information processing apparatus, a print server, and a printing apparatus can communicate with each other, the information processing apparatus transmits a print job to the print server, and the printing apparatus transmits a job request to the print server. Is a printing method that performs print output by acquiring
The print server receiving a print job transmitted from the information processing apparatus and storing it in a predetermined storage means;
Determining whether or not reception of a print job corresponding to the job request is completed when the print server receives a job request from the printing apparatus;
When reception of a print job corresponding to a job request has not been completed, causing the information processing apparatus to stop transmission processing of the print job and directly transmitting the print job to the printing apparatus;
A printing method characterized by comprising:

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