JP2017217893A - Printing system and printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing system which can solve troublesomeness of an operation of a user and can easily perform printing desired by the user.SOLUTION: A printing system includes a printing device connectable to Internet, and a portable terminal device which is connectable to the Internet and is communicable to the printer. The printer includes a display control section 31, an edition reception section 32, an object to be printed specification section 33, and a printing control section 34. The display control section 31 controls a page to be printed so that the page is displayed on a display screen based on URL data received by a reception section and data of the page to be printed. The edition reception section 32 receives edition of the object to be printed by the user from the page to be printed displayed on the display screen. The object to be printed specification section 33 specifies the object to be printed which has been received by the edition reception section 32 and edited. The printing control section 34 controls the object to be printed specified by the object to be printed specification section 33 so that the object to be printed is printed by a printing section.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system and a printing apparatus.

  In a printing apparatus typified by a multifunction peripheral, light is irradiated on a photoconductor based on image data to form an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor. Thereafter, charged toner is supplied onto the formed electrostatic latent image to form a visible image. Then, after transferring the toner to the paper, the toner is fixed to the paper. The sheet on which the toner is fixed is discharged out of the apparatus.

  The printing apparatus receives image data from a computer connected via a network or obtains it via the Internet. In addition, image data may be received together with a print request from a portable terminal device that can communicate with the printing device. A technique related to an image forming apparatus that can access the Internet and display a web page is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-85376 (Patent Document 1).

  An image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a URL recording unit that records URL (Uniform Resource Locator) information of a plurality of browsed web pages, and a plurality of web pages corresponding to the URL information recorded in the URL recording unit. It is characterized by comprising a page acquisition means to acquire, a page combination means for combining a plurality of acquired web page data, and a printing means for printing the combined pages.

JP 2006-85376 A

  In some cases, a mobile terminal device is used to access the Internet, designate a web page that requires printing, and issue a print command to a printing device that can communicate with the mobile terminal device. In such a case, since the touch panel provided in the mobile terminal device is relatively small, it may be difficult to efficiently specify the web page for which printing is desired. In particular, when printing is desired over a plurality of pages, it is necessary to make a print request to the printing apparatus by designating the corresponding web pages as pages to be printed one by one. In this case, when tapping the touch panel of the mobile terminal device to jump the URL to turn the page, the display becomes slow and the user's operation becomes complicated.

  Furthermore, when there is an area that does not want to be printed, such as a banner advertisement, in a page that requires printing, it is necessary to display the page that requires printing and specify the print target while avoiding that area. In such a case, on the screen of the touch panel provided in the portable terminal device, further complicated operations are caused.

  The technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 simply combines the acquired web page data and prints the combined page, and cannot cope with the above case.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a printing system that can eliminate the complexity of user operations and can easily perform printing desired by the user.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus that can eliminate the complexity of user operations and can easily perform printing desired by the user.

  In one aspect of the present invention, a printing system includes a printing device that can be connected to the Internet, and a portable terminal device that can be connected to the Internet and can communicate with the printing device. The mobile terminal device includes a touch panel, a mobile terminal device network interface unit for accessing the Internet, a print target page receiving unit, and a transmission unit. The touch panel displays information of the mobile terminal device and serves as an input interface. The print target page input receiving unit receives input of data of a print target page that is a page to be printed. The transmission unit transmits URL (Uniform Resource Language) data for accessing the Internet and data of a print target page to the printing apparatus. The printing apparatus includes a printing unit, a display screen, a receiving unit, a printing device network interface unit for accessing the Internet, a display control unit, an edit receiving unit, a print target specifying unit, and a print control unit. Prepare. The printing unit forms an image and prints it on paper. The display screen displays information about the printing apparatus and serves as an input interface. The receiving unit receives URL data and print target page data transmitted from the transmitting unit. The display control unit controls to display the print target page on the display screen based on the URL data and the print target page data received by the reception unit. The edit accepting unit accepts editing of the print target by the user from the print target page displayed on the display screen. The print target specifying unit specifies the edited print target received by the edit receiving unit. The printing control unit controls the printing unit to perform printing on the printing target specified by the printing target specifying unit.

  In another aspect of the present invention, the printing apparatus is a printing apparatus that can be connected to the Internet. The printing apparatus includes a printing unit, a display screen, a receiving unit, a printing device network interface unit for accessing the Internet, a display control unit, a print target receiving unit, a print target specifying unit, and a print control unit. Is provided. The printing unit forms an image and prints it on paper. The display screen displays information about the printing apparatus and serves as an input interface. The receiving unit receives URL data transmitted from an external device to access the Internet and data of a print target page that is a page to be printed. The display control unit controls to display the print target page on the display screen based on the URL data and the print target page data received by the reception unit. The edit accepting unit accepts editing of the print target by the user from the print target page displayed on the display screen. The print target specifying unit specifies the print target received by the edit receiving unit. The printing control unit controls the printing unit to perform printing on the printing target specified by the printing target specifying unit.

  According to such a printing system, the URL data and the print target page data transmitted from the mobile terminal device are received by the printing device, and the print target page is displayed on the display screen provided in the printing device. Then, the printing target page is edited on the display screen provided in the printing apparatus to specify the printing target, and printing is performed. Therefore, there is no need to designate one page at a time and make a print request on the portable terminal device. In addition, when a print target page is edited and a print target is specified by specifying an area that is not to be printed, the page can be edited using a display screen provided in the printing apparatus. Therefore, according to such a printing system, the complexity of the user's operation can be eliminated, and printing desired by the user can be easily performed.

  Moreover, according to such a printing apparatus, the complexity of the user's operation can be eliminated, and printing desired by the user can be easily performed.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an appearance of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the printing system shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of an operation part. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus control unit. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process at the time of requesting printing with respect to a printing apparatus using a portable terminal device. It is the schematic which shows the portable terminal device with which the web page was displayed on the touch panel. It is a figure which shows an example of a touch panel in the case of designating all the pages from 1 page to 7 pages as a printing object page. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow when printing is performed based on data received using a printing apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of a display of the display screen of an operation part. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the structure of a web page. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the structure of the web page at the time of designating a printing exclusion area | region. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the structure of the web page when a printing exclusion area | region is made into white.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an appearance of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the printing system shown in FIG.

  1 and 2, the printing system 24 includes a printing device 11 that can be connected to the Internet 23, and a portable terminal device 41 that can be connected to the Internet 23 and can communicate with the printing device 11. The portable terminal device 41 can communicate with the printing device 11 by wireless communication. The mobile terminal device 41 can request printing to the communicable printing device 11 and perform printing using the printing device 11.

  First, the configuration of the mobile terminal device 41 will be described. The mobile terminal device 41 includes a mobile terminal device control unit 42, a mobile terminal device network interface unit 43 for accessing the Internet, a mobile terminal device storage unit 44, a touch panel 45, and a mobile terminal device communication unit 46. . The mobile terminal device control unit 42 controls the entire mobile terminal device 41. The portable terminal device storage unit 44 stores image data and various data. The touch panel 45 displays information of the mobile terminal device 41 and serves as an input interface. The mobile terminal device communication unit 46 is an interface for connecting to an external device, specifically, the printing device 11. The mobile terminal device communication unit 46 as a transmission unit transmits the URL data for accessing the Internet and the data of the print target page to the printing device 11.

  In addition, the mobile terminal device control unit 42 includes a print target page input receiving unit 47. The print target page input receiving unit 47 receives input of data of a print target page which is a page to be printed designated by the user.

  Next, the configuration of the printing apparatus 11 will be described. The printing apparatus 11 is connected to a printing apparatus control unit 12, an operation unit 13, an image reading unit 14, an image forming unit 15 as a printing unit, a paper feed cassette 16, a hard disk 17, and the Internet 23. A printing apparatus network interface unit 18 and a printing apparatus communication unit 19 are provided.

  The printing apparatus control unit 12 controls the entire printing apparatus 11. The operation unit 13 includes a display screen 21 that displays information transmitted from the printing apparatus 11 side and user input contents. The display screen 21 displays information of the printing apparatus 11 and serves as an input interface. The operation unit 13 allows the user to input image forming conditions such as the number of copies to be printed and gradation, and power on / off. The configuration of the operation unit 13 will be described later. The image reading unit 14 includes an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) 22 as a document transport device that transports a document set at the set position to the read position. The image reading unit 14 reads an image of a document set on the ADF 22 or a mounting table (not shown). A plurality of sheet cassettes 16 are provided, and a plurality of sheets can be accommodated therein. The image forming unit 15 forms an image on the sheet conveyed from the sheet feeding cassette 16 based on the image data read by the image reading unit 14 and the image data acquired by accessing the Internet 23. The hard disk 17 stores transmitted image data, input image forming conditions, and the like. The printing device communication unit 19 is an interface for connecting to an external device, specifically, a mobile terminal device 41 or a tablet PC (not shown). The printing apparatus 11 receives image data and a print request command transmitted from an external apparatus during communication through the printing apparatus communication unit 19. The printing device communication unit 19 as a reception unit receives URL data and data of a print target page transmitted from the mobile terminal device communication unit 46 as a transmission unit.

  The printing apparatus 11 operates as a copying machine by forming an image in the image forming unit 15 using image data of a document read by the image reading unit 14. In addition, the printing apparatus 11 uses the image data transmitted from a computer (not shown) connected to the network, the portable terminal device 41, and the like to form an image in the image forming unit 15 and print it, thereby printing the printer Operates as

  Next, the configuration of the operation unit 13 included in the above-described printing apparatus 11 will be described in more detail. FIG. 3 is an external view showing a schematic configuration of the operation unit 13. With reference to FIG. 3, the operation unit 13 is provided so as to extend to the upper side on the side of the printing apparatus 11 via the arm 26. The operation unit 13 instructs the user to input a number from 0 to 9 for inputting the number of copies to be printed and a symbol “*” or “#”, and start printing or facsimile transmission. And a function selection key 28 that can select a function expanded by pressing a start key. In addition, the display screen 21 has a liquid crystal touch panel function, and the user can input image forming conditions and the like from the display screen 21 by pressing with a finger of the user, and can select a function. The area of the display screen 21 is much larger than the area of the touch panel 45 included in the mobile terminal device 41 described above.

  Next, the configuration of the printing apparatus control unit 12 will be described. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the printing apparatus control unit 12. With reference to FIG. 4, the printing apparatus control unit 12 includes a display control unit 31, an edit reception unit 32, a print target specifying unit 33, and a print control unit 34. The display control unit 31 controls to display the print target page on the display screen 21 based on the URL data and the print target page data received by the reception unit. The edit receiving unit 32 receives a print target edit by the user from the print target page displayed on the display screen 21. The print target specifying unit 33 specifies the edited print target received by the edit receiving unit 32. The print control unit 34 controls the image forming unit 15 to perform printing on the print target specified by the print target specifying unit 33.

  Next, a case will be described in which printing is performed by the printing apparatus 11 using the data transmitted from the mobile terminal apparatus 41 by the printing system 24 according to the embodiment of the present invention. First, a case where a request for printing is made from the mobile terminal device 41 to the printing device 11 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing when requesting printing to the printing apparatus 11 using the mobile terminal device 41.

  With reference to FIGS. 1-5, first, according to a user's request, the portable terminal device network interface part 43 connects to the internet 23 from the portable terminal device 41, and accesses a web page (in FIG. 5, Step S11, hereinafter, “step” is omitted). And the portable terminal device control part 42 displays a web page on the touch panel 45 (S12).

  FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the mobile terminal device 41 in which a web page is displayed on the touch panel 45. Referring to FIG. 6, accessed web page 51 is displayed on touch panel 45. The web page 51 includes images over a plurality of pages. In the lower area of the web page 51, page number data 52 that can be accessed by jumping to another web page is displayed. By tapping the position of the page number data 52 with a finger, the user can jump to the web page of the corresponding page and display the corresponding web page on the touch panel 45.

  Then, the print target page input receiving unit 47 receives input of data of a print target page that is a page to be printed designated by the user (S13). In this case, it is assumed that the user has requested printing of all pages from page 1 to page 7.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the touch panel 45 when all pages from page 1 to page 7 are designated as pages to be printed. Referring to FIG. 7, when pages to be printed, that is, pages to be printed range from 1 page to 7 pages, pinch operation is performed with finger 53 on web page 51 of touch panel 45, and the page number An area 54 is designated so as to cover all the data 52. By this designation, data of the print target page is input. Note that the area 54 to be printed is indicated by hatching in FIG.

  The print target page input receiving unit 47 receives an input for the area 54 specified and input in this way. Thereafter, if a print target page is added (YES in S14), the print target page is added (S15). Then, the mobile terminal device communication unit 46 transmits the URL data corresponding to the web page and the data of the print target page to the printing device 11, specifically, the printing device communication unit 19 (S16). In other words, the mobile terminal device communication unit 46 only transmits the URL data and the page number data 52 to be printed at this stage.

  Next, a printing process in the printing apparatus 11 based on the received data will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow when printing is performed based on data received using the printing apparatus 11.

  Referring to FIG. 8, the printing apparatus communication unit 19 receives URL data and printing target page data from the mobile terminal device 41 (S <b> 21). Then, the printing apparatus control unit 12 connects to the Internet 23 using the received URL data, and accesses the web page of the corresponding URL (S22). Then, the display control unit 31 controls to display the web page of the corresponding URL on the display screen 21 (S23).

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of display on the display screen 21 of the operation unit 13. Referring to FIG. 9, the display control unit 31 displays a web page 56 a when accessed using URL data on the display screen 21. Since the display screen 21 has a larger area than the touch panel 45 of the mobile terminal device 41, the user can see a wider range of web pages at a glance. In addition, it is easy to understand the arrangement in the web page. The web page 56a is an image of the first page, and the banner advertisement 1 is displayed in the central area 57a.

  Thereafter, the edit accepting unit 32 accepts editing of the print target by the user. Specifically, if designation of a page to be excluded from the print target is accepted by a user input from the display screen 21 (YES in S24), the specified page is excluded from the print target (S25). If the designation of the banner advertisement area not to be printed is accepted (YES in S26), the designated banner advertisement area is excluded from the print target.

  Here, if there is an area corresponding to the print exclusion area on another page to be printed, the edit receiving unit 32 also designates that area as the print exclusion area. This will be described.

  FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of a web page. Referring to FIG. 10, the web page displayed on display screen 21 is composed of seven pages. FIG. 10 illustrates a first web page 56a, a third web page 56b, and a seventh web page 56c, which is the last page, displayed on the display screen 21. A so-called banner advertisement 1 is displayed in the central area 57a of the first web page 56a. The banner advertisement is often displayed in the same area across a plurality of pages. Also in this case, the banner advertisement 3 is displayed in the same central area 57b in the third web page 56b. Note that the banner advertisement is not displayed on the final seventh web page 56c.

  The user touches the center area 57a where the banner advertisement 1 of the first page on the display screen 21 is located with a finger to designate the print exclusion area. The edit receiving unit 32 excludes the designated area from the print target as a print exclusion area. Then, if there is an area corresponding to the print exclusion area on another print target page, the edit reception unit 32 also designates that area as the print exclusion area.

  FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of a web page when a print exclusion area is designated. Referring to FIG. 11, when center region 57a of first web page 56a is designated by the touch of user's finger 58, edit accepting unit 32 determines whether or not there is the same banner advertisement on another page. If it is determined (S27) and there is the same banner advertisement (YES in S27), it is recognized that the area is also designated as a print exclusion area (S28). That is, the designated print exclusion area is reflected on other pages. If it is determined that there is no banner advertisement in the same central area (S27), the central area corresponding to the page is not set as a print exclusion area (S29). In this case, the central area 57b of the third web page 56b is also designated. Of course, the same applies to the second page and the fourth to sixth web pages. For the seventh page, which is the last page, no banner advertisement is displayed in the central area. Accordingly, the print exclusion area is not designated on the web page 56c. Whether there is a banner advertisement area is determined based on information acquired from the web.

  Next, the edit accepting unit 32 determines whether or not the print exclusion area is touched again with the finger 58 (S30). FIG. 12 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of a web page when the print exclusion area is white. Referring to FIG. 12, if the finger 58 is touched again (YES in S30), the designated central region is set to white (S31). That is, the edit receiving unit 32 edits the designated print exclusion area to be printed in white by touching the corresponding area again as a predetermined operation.

  On the other hand, if the finger is not touched again (NO in S30), the designated central region is not white, for example, the same color as the background color (S32). In this way, the print target specifying unit 33 specifies the print target (S33). Then, the print control unit 34 performs printing (S34). In other words, the print control unit 34 controls the printing target specified by the printing target specifying unit 33 to perform printing by the image forming unit 15 as a printing unit.

  According to such a printing system 24, the URL data and the print target page data transmitted from the mobile terminal device 41 are received by the printing device 11, and the print target page is displayed on the display screen 21 provided in the printing device 11. . Then, the print target page is edited on the display screen 21 provided in the printing apparatus 11 to specify the print target, and printing is performed. Therefore, there is no need to designate one page at a time on the mobile terminal device 41 and make a print request. In addition, when a print target page is edited and a print target is specified by specifying an area that is not desired to be printed, the page can be edited using the display screen 21 provided in the printing apparatus 11. Therefore, according to such a printing system 24, the complexity of the user's operation can be eliminated, and the printing desired by the user can be easily performed.

  In this case, the edit receiving unit 32 touches the print exclusion area again and performs printing so that the color is white. Therefore, the edit accepting unit 32 saves toner by the print exclusion area where the banner advertisement is arranged. Can do. In addition, it is not restricted to the area | region of a banner advertisement, If it is the area | region of the image to which another link was stuck, it can designate similarly as a printing exclusion area | region.

  Further, in this case, when the print exclusion area is designated on the first page of the web page 56a, the edit accepting unit 32 designates the area as a print exclusion area if there is a target area on another page. Therefore, the user's operation can be simplified and the convenience of the user can be improved.

  In this case, on the mobile terminal device 41 side, the touch panel 45 displays the page number of the web page, and the print target page receiving unit 47 pinches the page number displayed on the touch panel 45, that is, the page number data 52. The configuration allows input by operation. Therefore, it is possible to input a print target page more easily.

  In the above embodiment, the print exclusion area is made white by touching the corresponding area again. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to inquire how to print the print exclusion area again. Good.

  Further, in the above embodiment, an inquiry may be made on the display screen 21 when a print exclusion area of another page is designated.

  In the above embodiment, the print target page receiving unit 47 is configured to be input by a pinch operation. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be configured to be input by another operation. Furthermore, the pages to be printed may be input one by one. In this case as well, the operation becomes easier and the convenience of the user can be improved than when the web page is opened one page at a time and all are specified to request printing.

  The printing apparatus 11 according to the present invention may be configured as follows. That is, the printing apparatus 11 is a printing apparatus that can be connected to the Internet. The printing apparatus includes a printing unit, a display screen, a receiving unit, a printing device network interface unit for accessing the Internet, a display control unit, a print target receiving unit, a print target specifying unit, and a print control unit. Is provided. The printing unit forms an image and prints it on paper. The display screen displays information about the printing apparatus and serves as an input interface. The receiving unit receives URL data transmitted from an external device to access the Internet and data of a print target page that is a page to be printed. The display control unit controls to display the print target page on the display screen based on the URL data and the print target page data received by the reception unit. The edit accepting unit accepts editing of the print target by the user from the print target page displayed on the display screen. The print target specifying unit specifies the print target received by the edit receiving unit. The printing control unit controls the printing unit to perform printing on the printing target specified by the printing target specifying unit.

  It should be understood that the embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative in all respects and are not restrictive in any aspect. The scope of the present invention is defined by the scope of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the scope of the claims.

  The printing system and the printing apparatus according to the present invention are particularly effectively used when the complexity of the user's operation is eliminated and easy user operability is required.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Printing apparatus, 12 Printing apparatus control part, 13 Operation part, 14 Image reading part, 15 Image formation part, 16 Paper feed cassette, 17 Hard disk, 18 Printing apparatus Network interface part, 19 Printing apparatus communication part, 21 Display screen, 22 ADF, 23 Internet, 24 printing system, 26 arm, 27 numeric keypad, 28 function selection key, 31 display control unit, 32 edit reception unit, 33 print target specifying unit, 34 print control unit, 41 mobile terminal device, 42 mobile terminal device Control unit, 43 mobile terminal device network interface unit, 44 mobile terminal device storage unit, 45 touch panel, 46 mobile terminal device communication unit, 47 print target page receiving unit, 51, 56a, 56b, 56c web page, 52 page number data, 53,58 fingers 54,57a, 57b area.

Claims (8)

A printing system including a printing device connectable to the Internet, and a portable terminal device connectable to the Internet and capable of communicating with the printing device,
The portable terminal device
While displaying information of the mobile terminal device, a touch panel serving as an input interface;
A mobile terminal device network interface unit for accessing the Internet;
A print target page input receiving unit that receives data input of a print target page that is a page to be printed;
A URL for accessing the Internet (Uniform Resource Language) data and a transmission unit for transmitting the data of the print target page to the printing apparatus,
The printing apparatus includes:
A printing section that forms an image and prints it on paper;
Displaying the information of the printing device, and a display screen as an input interface;
A receiving unit that receives the URL data and the print target page data transmitted from the transmitting unit;
A printer network interface for accessing the Internet;
A display control unit that controls to display the print target page on the display screen based on the URL data and the data of the print target page received by the reception unit;
An edit receiving unit that receives a print target edit by a user from the print target page displayed on the display screen;
A print target specifying unit for specifying the edited print target received by the edit receiving unit;
A printing system comprising: a printing control unit that controls the printing target specified by the printing target specifying unit to perform printing by the printing unit. The display control unit controls to display a page number of the web page on the display screen,
The print target specifying unit specifies a page corresponding to the page number as a print target if the specification of the page number of the web page displayed on the display screen is received by the print target receiving unit. The printing system according to 1. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the editing accepting unit excludes a designated area from a printing target as a printing exclusion area. 4. The printing system according to claim 3, wherein if the area corresponding to the print exclusion area is on another page to be printed, the edit reception unit designates that area as the print exclusion area. The display screen is a touch panel type,
The printing system according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the editing accepting unit accepts designation of the print exclusion area by a touch operation on a predetermined area displayed on the display screen. The printing system according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the edit receiving unit controls to print the designated print exclusion area in white by a predetermined operation. The touch panel displays a page number of a web page,
The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the print target page receiving unit can be input by a pinch operation with respect to the page number displayed on the touch panel. A printing device connectable to the Internet,
A printing section that forms an image and prints it on paper;
Displaying the information of the printing device, and a display screen as an input interface;
A receiving unit for receiving URL data transmitted from an external device to access the Internet and data of a print target page that is a page to be printed;
A printer network interface for accessing the Internet;
A display control unit that controls to display the print target page on the display screen based on the URL data and the data of the print target page received by the reception unit;
An edit receiving unit that receives a print target edit by a user from the print target page displayed on the display screen;
A print target specifying unit for specifying the print target received by the edit receiving unit;
A printing apparatus comprising: a print control unit that controls the printing target specified by the printing target specifying unit to perform printing by the printing unit.

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