JP2018187896A - Printer, control method therefor, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mechanism for avoiding lowering of the whole printing productivity while suppressing an increase in waiting time caused by an increase in the number of times of switching of a printing speed.SOLUTION: A printer displays a list including at least one of a printing job in a process and a printing job in a standby state. The printer designates either an interruption printing designation in which printing is performed for the displayed prescribed printing job by interrupting into the printing job in the process or priority printing designation in which printing is performed following the printing job in the process by a user input. When a first printing job and a second printing job having a different printing speed from that of the first printing job are included in the list, the printer limits reception of the user input related to the interruption printing designation and the priority printing designation.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 11

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus capable of printing by changing the printing speed of the apparatus.

  Patent Document 1 proposes an image forming apparatus in which the printing speed of the apparatus is changed and the number of printed sheets per unit time is variable. A function for improving printing productivity by switching to a high printing speed when necessary by a technique for changing the printing speed has been studied. It is assumed that printing is performed at a speed higher than the printing speed of the purchased image forming apparatus, such as when an order for a sudden large quantity of printed matter is received, or when a large amount of material is printed by a specific department in the accounting period. For example, an acceleration license capable of printing at a speed higher than the normal printing speed is assigned to each user, and the printing speed of the user whose license is valid can be increased. Hereinafter, a job printed at a high speed is referred to as a high speed job, and a job printed at the original speed is referred to as a low speed job. This high-speed license is managed and consumed in a predetermined unit, for example, the number of days, time, or number. When the printing speed of such an image forming apparatus is switched, a waiting time usually occurs due to processing (change of fixing temperature, change of LUT, adjustment / correction processing, etc.) associated with the switching.

  On the other hand, the image forming apparatus also has an interrupt function by interrupt printing designation or priority printing designation. In Patent Document 2, a print job designated via a job list screen displayed on the operation panel of a printer is interrupted and output to a job that is currently being printed, or is output with priority over other print-waiting jobs. Techniques to make it have been proposed. When the interrupt print designation is accepted, the print output of the interrupted job being printed is temporarily interrupted, and the interrupt job is printed first. Then, after printing of the interrupted job is completed, printing of the interrupted job that was interrupted is resumed from the next.

JP 2005-85031 A JP 2013-129091 A

  However, the above prior art has the following problems. For example, in the above prior art, if a low-speed job is interrupted and printed during printing of a high-speed job, in addition to switching the speed from high-speed to low-speed, the speed is switched from low-speed to high-speed to resume the high-speed job after completion of the low-speed job. Also occurs. That is, since the interrupt printing is performed, the switching of the printing speed from the low speed to the high speed is increased, and the waiting time is increased, thereby reducing the overall productivity. Similarly, if a high-speed job is interrupted and printed during printing of a low-speed job, the number of times of switching the printing speed from high speed to low speed increases. That is, there is a problem that overall productivity is reduced by interrupting jobs having different speeds.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and provides a mechanism for avoiding a decrease in overall printing productivity while suppressing an increase in waiting time due to an increase in the number of times of switching printing speeds. For the purpose.

  The present invention is a printing apparatus, a printing unit capable of printing a first print job and a second print job having a printing speed different from that of the first print job, a print job currently being printed, and a print job on standby A list including at least one of the following is displayed, and for the displayed print job, interrupt printing is specified to interrupt the current print job for printing, or print after the print job currently being printed. Designation means for designating any one of the priority print designations to be performed by user input, and when the list includes the first print job and the second print job, the interrupt printing designation and the priority by the designation means Limiting means for limiting the acceptance of user input relating to print designation.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to avoid a decrease in the overall printing productivity while suppressing an increase in waiting time due to an increase in the number of times of switching the printing speed.

1 is a system configuration diagram according to an embodiment. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an MFP according to an embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a processing outline of an MFP control unit according to an embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing of a job control unit according to an embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the structure of print data transferred to an MFP according to an embodiment. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of a print job status tab displayed on the operation unit of the MFP according to an embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a job management table managed by an MFP control unit according to an embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of screen transition of a print job status tab displayed on the operation unit of the MFP according to an embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of screen transition of a print job status tab displayed on the operation unit of the MFP according to an embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing main processing of an MFP control unit according to an embodiment. 6 is a flowchart showing a print job status tab display process by the MFP control unit according to an embodiment and a process in response to an input to a touch panel by a user. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of a print job status tab displayed on the operation unit of the MFP according to an embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a print job status tab display process by the MFP control unit according to an embodiment and a process in response to an input to a touch panel by a user.

  An embodiment of the present invention is shown below. The individual embodiments described below will help to understand various concepts, such as superordinate concepts, intermediate concepts and subordinate concepts of the present invention. Further, the technical scope of the present invention is established by the claims, and is not limited by the following individual embodiments.

<First Embodiment>
<System configuration>
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. First, a system configuration example of a print management system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an MFP (Multi Function Printer, generally a multifunction peripheral) 100, a client computer 200, a print management server 300, and a license server (external device) 500 are connected to a network 400. Here, an example is shown in which each device is connected one by one, but there is no intention to limit the number of connected devices in the present invention.

  The MFP 100 is an image forming apparatus (printing apparatus) that includes a scanner unit that reads a document and a printer unit that forms an image on paper and has various functions such as a network printer and a copy. The MFP 100 according to the present embodiment can perform printing at different printing speeds (process speed and image forming speed) within the range of the performance of the apparatus. For example, a high-speed print job (first print job) and a low-speed print job (first print job) 2 print jobs). For example, even when images are printed on the same type of paper, the printing speed of MFP 100 when executing a high-speed print job is faster than when executing a low-speed print job. A high-speed print job can be printed by activating the MFP 100 with a high-speed print function (a function for making the print speed higher than a predetermined normal speed). The client computer 200 executes various application programs in accordance with user instructions, and outputs print data on the network 400 in response to a print request from the user. The client computer 200 also performs processing for assisting monitoring and control of the MFP 100 and print jobs managed in the print management server 300. Note that there are a method for directly transferring print data generated by the client computer 200 to the MFP 100 and a method for transferring the print data to the MFP 100 via the print management server 300. Any of these may be applied in the present invention.

  The license server 500 can manage user information and various license information when using apparatuses in the print management system such as the MFP 100 and the client computer 200. For example, when the license server 500 according to the present embodiment receives a “user name” and receives an inquiry request for presence / absence of a license, the license server 500 returns information indicating whether or not the user of the “user name” has a license. . When the user has a license, the high-speed printing function is activated, and the user can print a high-speed print job. On the other hand, if the user does not have a license, the high-speed printing function is not activated, and the user cannot print a high-speed print job, but can only print a low-speed print job.

<Configuration of image forming apparatus>
Next, a configuration example of the MFP 100 that is the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. The MFP 100 includes a scanner unit 110, a printer unit 120, an operation unit 130, and a control unit 140.

  The control unit 140 controls the entire MFP 100 and is mounted on the present apparatus as a printed board including a microprocessor. Then, the control unit 140 performs a scanning process using the scanner unit 110, a process according to network communication or various operation contents from the user, and a printing process using the printer unit 120.

  The control unit 140 includes an MFP control unit 150 that includes a microprocessor and a memory that stores a processing program. The MFP control unit 150 performs overall control such as temporarily storing image data according to the application of the MFP and determining data paths between various processing units described below.

  The control unit 140 includes a hard disk drive (hereinafter referred to as HDD) 160 that is a large-capacity storage device capable of storing data of a plurality of print jobs. The HDD 160 stores a control program (command) that can be executed by the MFP control unit 150 and implements processing to be described later that is specific to the present invention. The HDD 160 can also store setting values used in the apparatus, data related to processing requested by the user, data received from the outside of the apparatus, and the like. As long as random access is possible with a large capacity, not only the HDD but any storage device may be used.

  The MFP control unit 150 uses the HDD 160 as a buffer. By doing so, a plurality of functions such as a copy process of image data input from the scanner unit 110 and a print process based on print data output from the client computer 200 or the print management server 300 on the network 400 are realized.

  MFPs include full-color devices and monochrome devices. These differences are the same in basic components except for color processing and internal data. In addition, since the full-color device includes the configuration of the monochrome device, the full-color device will be mainly described here, and the description of the monochrome device will be added as needed.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of processing units are connected to the MFP control unit 150. A scanner processing unit 1001 reads an image such as a paper document by the scanner unit 110 and performs image processing on the read image data. A network interface unit 1002 transmits and receives print data and device information using the network 400. The document management unit 1003 stores, in the HDD 160, image data obtained by analyzing image data from the scanner processing unit 1001 and print data received via the network interface unit 1002 under the control of the MFP control unit 150. Perform processing. The document management unit 1003 also performs processing for appropriately reading out image data stored in the HDD 160 under the control of the MFP control unit 150. The MFP control unit 150 determines the output destination of the image data read from the HDD 160 in accordance with an instruction from the operation unit 130 by the user. For example, when the MFP control unit 150 sets the printer processing unit 1004 as an output destination, print processing is executed.

  The document management unit 1003 compresses and stores the image data as necessary when storing the image data in the HDD 160, or conversely restores the original image data when reading out the stored image data from the HDD 160. Decompress (decode). For this reason, the control unit 140 includes a compression / decompression unit 1005. When the print data received via the network interface unit 1002 is compressed data such as JPEG, JBIG, ZIP, etc., the MFP control unit 150 decompresses (decompresses) the compressed data using the compression / decompression unit 1005.

  The resource management unit 1006 holds and manages various parameter tables and the like that are commonly handled, such as fonts, color profiles, and gamma tables, under the control of the MFP control unit 150. Also, in response to a request from the MFP control unit 150, a new parameter table is stored, modified, and updated.

  Next, processing when the MFP control unit 150 receives print data from the network interface unit 1002 will be described. When the MFP control unit 150 receives print data, the RIP unit 1007 performs RIP (Raster Image Processor) processing on the received image data. In addition, the MFP control unit 150 executes image processing for printing on the image to be printed by the output image processing unit 1008 as necessary. Further, intermediate data or print ready data (bitmap data for printing or data obtained by compressing it) is stored in the HDD 160 via the document management unit 1003 as necessary. . The storing process in the HDD 160 is asynchronous with the printer processing unit 1004. On the other hand, the MFP control unit 150 reads out the image data of each page stored in the HDD 160 via the document management unit 1003 and outputs the image data to the printer processing unit 1004 in accordance with the print processing timing of the printer processing unit 1004. Do.

  The operation unit 130 functions as a user interface for selecting various functions and instructing operations. In addition, in order to provide various display menus to the user and to preview the image data managed by the document management unit 1003, a high-resolution display device, various instruction buttons, and a touch panel are provided. The user also operates the operation unit 130 when copying.

<MFP control unit>
Next, with reference to FIG. 3, an outline of processing of the MFP control unit 150 according to the present embodiment will be described. The processing outline described below is realized by a microprocessor that configures the MFP control unit 150, a memory that stores firmware, and various processing units illustrated in FIG.

  The network interface control unit 1601 controls the network interface unit 1002. The communication protocol is analyzed, print data is received from the client computer 200 or the print management server 300, and the received print data is transferred to the job information analysis unit 1602.

  The job information analysis unit 1602 analyzes the job information, transmits the print job attributes to the job control unit 1600, registers the print job in a job management table described later, and stores the print data in the reception buffer. When the print data analysis unit 1603 detects that the print data is stored in the reception buffer, the print data analysis unit 1603 starts a print data analysis process. That is, the print data analysis unit 1603 reads the print data stored in the reception buffer, analyzes the print data, generates an object (intermediate code) corresponding to each command, and stores it in the intermediate buffer. In this embodiment, the command supported by the printer is PDL (Page Description Language), but not only PDL data but all data that can be printed for each page are the same. Also, the print data analysis unit 1603 stores the intermediate data, which is the analysis result, in the intermediate buffer so that it can be easily managed for each page.

  When the drawing processing unit 1604 detects that data is stored in the intermediate buffer, the drawing processing unit 1604 starts drawing processing. That is, the drawing processing unit 1604 reads intermediate data from the intermediate buffer for each page, generates image data for one page, and stores the image data in the image buffer. When the output control unit 1605 detects that one page of image data is stored in the image buffer, the output control unit 1605 performs processing to read the data and output it to the printer control unit 1607 that controls the printer processing unit 1004.

  The UI control unit 1606 controls the user interface, and performs processing of transferring display data to the operation unit 130 and notifying the MFP control unit 150 of input from the operation unit 130. In the present embodiment, the display unit provided in the operation unit 130 is, for example, a liquid crystal display. In addition, some keys are arranged on the operation unit 130, and a touch panel is provided on the front surface of the liquid crystal display. The UI control unit 1606 performs control such as display of a character string according to a user operation, screen switching, and transmission of a set value to another module.

  A job control unit 1600 is a part that manages jobs in the MFP 100, and controls generation and disappearance of jobs, job status, job processing order, and the like. In particular, the job control unit 1600 includes a job management table to be described later. The storage destination may be the HDD 160, but since the amount of information is small, the RAM provided in the MFP control unit 150 is used. Information (job ID) for specifying the job is automatically set in the job management table. The job control unit 1600 controls to output the image data of each page constituting the corresponding job to the output control unit 1605. At that time, the job control unit 1600 also adds information on the print speed of the job including the image data to be output, and outputs the information to the output control unit 1605. As a result, each job is printed out at the “printing speed” of each job in the job management table.

<Processing procedure of job control unit>
Here, with reference to FIG. 4, a processing procedure in the job control unit 1600 of the MFP control unit 150 will be described. The processing of each step in this flowchart is realized by the MFP control unit 150 of the MFP 100 loading a control program stored in the HDD 160 into a RAM (not shown) and executing it.

  First, in step S101, the MFP control unit 150 reads a job management table, and determines in step S102 whether an unprinted job exists. If it is determined that it does not exist, the process returns to S101. On the other hand, if it is determined that it exists, the process proceeds to S103.

  In step S103, the MFP control unit 150 reads image data for one page from the job ID of the unprinted job, and executes print processing. In step S104, the MFP control unit 150 determines whether printing of all pages has been completed. If not completed, the process returns to S103, and if completed, the process proceeds to S105. In step S <b> 105, the MFP control unit 150 deletes the print job from the job management table and deletes the print data from the HDD 160.

<Print data>
Next, the structure of print data transferred from the client computer 200 and the print management server 300 to the MFP 100 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The print data 500 includes attribute information 501 and PDL data 502 as described above.

  In the example of FIG. 5, the attribute information 501 includes an attribute ID 503 that identifies the attribute information, an attribute name 504, and a setting value 505 for each attribute information. The attribute name 504 stores attribute names such as “user name”, “job name”, and “number of copies” as identification information, and the setting value 505 includes “suzuki”, “document 47”, and “100”. Is stored. The attribute information is described in a format such as XML.

<Operation unit>
Next, the operation unit 130 included in the MFP 100 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 shows screens 600 and 610 displayed on the operation unit 130.

  A touch panel is used for the operation unit 130 in the present embodiment. Further, tabs in the screen are divided according to functions, and in this embodiment, there are tabs of “copy” and “print job status”. In the screen 600, the “print job status” tab is selected.

  A screen 600 is a main screen (print job list screen) for print job status. On the screen 600, job information of each print job registered in the job management table in the job control unit 1600 is displayed in a list format in the order of printing. On the screen 600, time (time when the print job is input), job name, user name, and job status are displayed as job information of the print job registered in the job management table. The job status means the processing status of the print job. “Printing” (currently printing) indicating that printing on paper is in progress, “Waiting for printing” (waiting) for waiting for printing processing , “Unfolding” (standby) indicating that RIP processing is in progress. Furthermore, “high speed” is displayed for a high-speed job printed at high speed.

  A job can be selected by selecting a line displaying each job on the screen. The user can operate the corresponding job by selecting a desired print job and selecting a button at the bottom of the screen. For example, it includes “interrupt / priority print”, “detailed information”, and “cancel” buttons. When the “interrupt / priority print” button is selected, an interrupt / priority print selection dialog is displayed. When the “detailed information” button is selected, detailed information of the corresponding job is displayed. When the “Cancel” button is selected, the print processing of the corresponding job is canceled and the corresponding job is deleted from the print job list screen.

  Upon detecting that the “interrupt / priority print” button has been selected, the MFP controller 150 displays an interrupt / priority print selection dialog 611 as shown in a screen 610. The interrupt / priority print selection dialog 611 includes “interrupt print”, “priority print”, and “close” buttons. When the “interrupt print” button is selected, interrupt printing of the corresponding job is executed. When the “priority print” button is selected, priority printing of the corresponding job is executed. When the “Close” button is selected, the interrupt / priority print selection dialog is closed.

  Here, interrupt printing means that even if there is another job currently being printed, the job is interrupted, the target interrupt print job is executed instead, and the interrupt print job is interrupted when the interrupt print job is completed. Printing to resume the job. On the other hand, priority printing refers to printing in which when there is another job currently being printed, the printer waits until the printing of the job is completed, and executes the priority target print job when the job is completed.

<Job management table>
Next, a job management table for managing jobs in the MFP 100 will be described with reference to FIG. The job management table 700 is held in a RAM (not shown).

  The job management table 700 includes a job ID 701, a pointer 702 to the attribute information management table 710, a pointer 703 to the image data 720, and a printing speed 704. The job ID 701 is assigned by the MFP control unit 150 in order to manage the job.

  When the MFP control unit 150 detects that the “interrupt print” or “priority print” button shown on the screen 610 is selected, the job control unit 1600 reconstructs the job management table 700. The attribute information management table 710 stores each attribute of the print job, and includes an attribute ID 711, an attribute name 712, and a setting value 713. Further, the image data 720 is managed on a page basis for each job.

<Screen transition>
Next, a screen transition when the “interrupt print” button is operated and a screen transition when the “priority print” button is operated will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. FIG. 8 shows an example of screen transition of the print job status tab displayed when the user selects the “interrupt print” button.

  In the screen 800, job information of each print job registered in the job management table 700 in the job control unit 1600 is displayed in the print order, and the job with the job name “document 33” is selected. When the MFP control unit 150 detects that the “interrupt / priority print” button is selected on the screen 800, the MFP control unit 150 displays an interrupt / priority print selection dialog 811 on the screen 810 and waits for input from the user. Further, when the MFP control unit 150 detects that the “interrupt print” button is selected on the screen 810, the MFP control unit 150 starts interrupt print processing for the corresponding job. Here, the MFP control unit 150 further displays a pop-up dialog 821 on a screen 820 and waits for completion of the print order rearrangement processing of each print job. When the rearrangement process is completed, the MFP controller 150 displays a print job list screen of a screen 830. In the screen 810, since the interrupt printing is designated for the job with the job name “document 33”, the screen 830 indicates that the job corresponding to the head of the job management table 700 is arranged. That is, the document 33 for which interrupt printing is designated is displayed at the top, and the print status is changed from “Waiting for printing” to “During interrupt printing”. On the other hand, the document 47 being printed is interrupted and displayed under the document 33, and the print status is changed from “printing” to “waiting for printing”.

  FIG. 9 shows an example of screen transition of the print job status tab displayed when the user selects the “priority print” button. In the screen 900, the job information of each print job registered in the job management table 700 in the job control unit 1600 is displayed in the print order, and the job with the job name “document 33” is selected. When the MFP controller 150 detects that the “interrupt / priority print” button is selected on the screen 900, it displays the interrupt / priority print selection dialog 911 on the screen 910 and waits for input from the user. Further, on the screen 910, when the MFP control unit 150 detects that the “priority print” button is selected, the MFP control unit 150 starts priority print processing for the corresponding job. Here, the MFP control unit 150 further displays a pop-up dialog 921 on the screen 920, and waits for completion of the print order rearrangement processing of each print job. When the rearrangement process is completed, the MFP control unit 150 displays a print job list screen of a screen 930. In the screen 920, priority printing is designated for the job with the job name “document 33”. Therefore, in the screen 930, “document 33” that is the second priority printing target job from the top of the job management table 700 is arranged. Show the state.

<Processing Procedure of MFP Control Unit 150>
Next, a processing procedure of the MFP control unit 150 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The processing of each step in these flowcharts is realized by the MFP control unit 150 of the MFP 100 loading a control program stored in the HDD 160 into a RAM (not shown) and executing it. FIG. 10 shows main processing of the MFP control unit 150 according to the present embodiment.

  When the MFP 100 is turned on, in S201, the MFP control unit 150 determines whether print data has been received. When reception of print data is detected, the process proceeds to S202, and the MFP control unit 150 executes the print data input process. The processing of S201 and S202 is also processing of the network interface control unit 1601 executed by the MFP control unit 150.

  In step S <b> 203, the MFP control unit 150 causes the job information analysis unit 1602 to analyze the input print data. As a result of the analysis, the MFP control unit 150 stores the PDL data in the reception buffer of the HDD 160 and executes processing for registering the print job in the job management table 700 in the job control unit 1600. At that time, the MFP control unit 150 extracts the contents of the attribute information included in the input print data, and stores the user name, job name, and the like in the attribute information management table 710 in the job control unit 1600.

  In step S <b> 204, the MFP control unit 150 determines whether the received print job is a job for high-speed printing. In this embodiment, if the user of the “user name” of the print data has a high-speed printing license, it is determined that the job is a job for high-speed printing. The MFP control unit 150 transmits the user name extracted in S <b> 203 to the license server 500, thereby acquiring information on whether or not the user has a high-speed printing license from the license server 500. If the information indicating that the high-speed printing license is obtained from the license server 500 is acquired, the MFP control unit 150 determines that the print job is a job for high-speed printing. In step S205, the MFP control unit 150 stores “high speed” in the printing speed of the attribute information management table 710 in the job control unit 1600, and advances the process to step S207.

  On the other hand, if the information indicating that the user does not have a high-speed printing license is acquired from the license server 500 in S204, the MFP control unit 150 determines that the received print job is not a job for high-speed printing. In step S206, the MFP control unit 150 stores “low speed” in the printing speed of the attribute information management table 710 in the job control unit 1600, and advances the process to step S207.

  In step S <b> 207, the MFP control unit 150 analyzes the PDL data stored in the reception buffer of the HDD 160. In step S <b> 208, the MFP control unit 150 determines whether the command is a page close command (including checking whether the command is a command indicating the end of one page). If it is determined that the command is a page close command, the process proceeds to S209, and the MFP control unit 150 executes a process of recognizing the intermediate code generated so far as data for one page in S210, which will be described later. The process proceeds to S211. The intermediate code is managed for each page as described above. On the other hand, if it is determined in S208 that the command is other than a page close command, the process proceeds to S210, and the MFP controller 150 generates an intermediate code in a format suitable for internal processing in accordance with each command, and performs the process. The process proceeds to S211.

  In step S211, the MFP control unit 150 determines whether data to be analyzed exists in the reception buffer. If it is determined that there is data to be analyzed, the process returns to S207, and the MFP controller 150 repeats the PDL data analysis process. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no data to be analyzed in the reception buffer, the process proceeds to S212.

  In step S212, the MFP control unit 150 checks whether there is an intermediate code for one page or more. If it is determined that there is an intermediate code for one page or more, the process advances to step S213, and the MFP controller 150 reads the intermediate code for one page from the intermediate buffer and executes processing for generating image data from the intermediate code. . If not, the process returns to S201.

  In step S214, the MFP control unit 150 stores image data for one page in the image buffer. In step S <b> 215, if the page stored in the image buffer is the first page of the print job, the MFP control unit 150 registers the job ID in the job management table 700.

  At this time, when print processing of another job is not performed, that is, when it is registered at the top of the job management table 700, image data for one page is read from the image buffer and converted into a video signal. Then, the process of transferring to the printer unit 120 is started. The printer unit 120 performs printing on an actual sheet based on the video signal, and performs a process of discharging the printed sheet to the outside. The transfer to the printer unit 120 and the storage process to the image buffer are not synchronized. Usually, since conversion to image data is faster than the printing speed of the printer unit 120, image data of unprinted pages gradually increases in the image buffer. After the process of S215, the MFP controller 150 returns the process to S212.

  FIG. 11 shows a print job status tab display process by the MFP control unit 150 and a process according to an input to the touch panel by the user. The MFP control unit 150 executes the process of FIG. 11 as a separate task from the main process of FIG.

  First, in step S <b> 301, the MFP control unit 150 determines whether the job management table 700 has been updated. If it is determined that the job management table 700 has not been updated, the process proceeds to S303.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the job management table 700 has been updated, the process proceeds to S302, and the MFP control unit 150 redraws the print job list screen based on the contents of the job management table 700 in the job control unit 1600. . In step S303, the MFP control unit 150 determines whether a print job is selected on the redrawn print job list screen. If it is determined that no print job has been selected, the process ends.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S303 that a print job has been selected, the process proceeds to S304, and the MFP controller 150 determines whether a high-speed job and a low-speed job are mixed in the job list. Here, among the jobs registered in the job management table 700 in the job control unit 1600, the MFP control unit 150 regards a job having a printing speed of “high speed” as a “high speed job” and selects a “low speed” job. Consider it a "slow job". When one or more high-speed jobs and one or more low-speed jobs exist in the job management table 700, the MFP control unit 150 includes a mixture of high-speed jobs and low-speed jobs in the job list. Judge. In other cases, it is determined that the high speed job and the low speed job are not mixed. FIG. 12 shows a print job list screen 1200. On the print job list screen 1200, as indicated by 1201, "high speed" may be displayed for high-speed jobs so that high-speed jobs and low-speed jobs can be distinguished. That is, in the job list screen 1200, the job with the job name “document 47” is a high-speed job. By this display, the user can distinguish and recognize a high-speed job (first print job) and a low-speed job (second print job). It should be noted that the present invention is not intended to be limited to the character string “high speed”, and may be any display that can identify whether the user is high speed or low speed. For example, control may be performed so that at least one of a high-speed job and a low-speed job is displayed with a symbol or an icon representing high speed or low speed.

  If it is determined in S304 that a high-speed job and a low-speed job are mixed in the job list, the process proceeds to S305, and the MFP control unit 150 displays the “interrupt / priority print” button in gray and cannot be selected. To limit the acceptance of user input. An example in which the “interrupt / priority print” button is grayed out at 1202 in FIG. 12 is shown. As shown in FIG. 12, the MFP control unit 150 displays a button in gray out so that the user cannot select the button (if it is selected, it is ignored). That is, when grayed out, the user cannot specify interrupt printing or priority printing for the selected job. Then, the MFP controller 150 ends the process and returns the process to S301.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S304 that the high speed job and the low speed job are not mixed in the job list, the process proceeds to S306, and the MFP controller 150 normally displays an “interrupt / priority print” button. When normally displayed, the user can select the button. That is, it is possible to instruct interrupted print designation or priority print designation for the selected job. In step S <b> 307, the MFP control unit 150 determines whether the “interrupt / priority print” button is selected. If it is determined that the “interrupt / priority print” button has not been selected, the process ends. On the other hand, if it is determined that the “interrupt / priority print” button has been selected, the process proceeds to step S308, and the MFP controller 150 causes the screens 810 and 910 to display interrupt / priority print selection dialogs 811 and 911. Is displayed.

  In step S <b> 309, the MFP control unit 150 determines whether the job management table 700 has been updated. If it is determined that the job management table 700 has been updated, the process advances to step S310, and the MFP control unit 150 determines whether the selected print job has been deleted from the job management table 700. If it is determined that the selected print job has not been deleted from the job management table 700, the process proceeds to S312. In step S312, the MFP control unit 150 redraws the print job list screen based on the contents of the job management table 700 in the job control unit 1600 shown in FIG. 3, and ends the processing.

  On the other hand, if the MFP control unit 150 determines in S310 that the selected print job has been deleted from the job management table 700, the process proceeds to S311 to close the interrupt / priority print selection dialog. Then, the MFP controller 150 advances the process to S312, redraws the print job list screen, and ends the process.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S309 that the job management table 700 has not been updated, the process advances to step S313, and the MFP control unit 150 determines whether the “close” button has been selected. When determining that the “Close” button has been selected, the MFP controller 150 advances the process to S314, closes the interrupt / priority print selection dialog, and ends the process. On the other hand, if it is determined that the “Close” button has not been selected, the process proceeds to S315, and the MFP controller 150 determines whether or not the “Interrupt print” button has been selected.

  If it is determined that the “interrupt print” button has been selected, the process advances to step S316, and the MFP controller 150 starts an interrupt print process for the selected print job. In step S <b> 317, the MFP control unit 150 displays a pop-up dialog 821 as shown on the screen 820. In step S318, the MFP control unit 150 repeats the check process until it is determined that the print order rearrangement process has been completed and the job management table 700 has been updated. If it is determined that there is an update, the process advances to step S319, and the MFP control unit 150 determines again whether or not the high-speed job and the low-speed job are mixed based on the contents of the job management table 700 in the job control unit 1600. Redraw the print job list screen. In step S320, the MFP control unit 150 closes the pop-up dialog 821 as shown in the screen 820 and ends the process.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S315 that the “interrupt print” button is not selected, the process proceeds to S321, and the MFP controller 150 determines whether or not the “priority print” button is selected. If it is determined that the “priority print” button has not been selected, the process returns to S309. On the other hand, if it is determined that the “priority print” button has been selected, the process advances to step S322, and the MFP controller 150 starts the priority print process for the selected print job. Subsequently, in S323, the MFP controller 150 displays a pop-up dialog 921 as shown in the screen 920, and advances the process to S318. Since the processing after S318 is the same as that of the above-described interrupt printing, the description thereof is omitted.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when a high-speed job (first print job) and a low-speed job (second print job) are mixed in the job list, an “interrupt / priority print” button is displayed. Is grayed out and displayed in a non-selectable state. As a result, the user cannot select the button, and cannot specify interrupt printing or priority printing for the selected job by user input. That is, since the print order of the job is not changed by the interrupt print designation or the priority print designation, the number of print speed switching does not increase. For this reason, the occurrence of additional waiting time associated with the switching of the printing speed is suppressed, and it is possible to avoid a decrease in overall productivity. Further, there is a new effect that it is possible to prevent the output completion time of a high-speed job having a special right called a high-speed license from being delayed due to a change in the order due to interruption of a low-speed job.

<Second Embodiment>
Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment, an example is shown in which when a high-speed job and a low-speed job are mixed in the job list, control is always performed so that interrupt print designation and priority print designation cannot be performed. However, it may be possible that the user wants to prioritize interrupt functions such as interrupt printing and priority printing rather than lowering the overall productivity or affecting other jobs. . Therefore, in the present embodiment, an item “interrupt when jobs having different printing speeds are mixed” is provided as a print setting of the image forming apparatus so that the user can select and set either “permitted” or “prohibited”. To. Then, the image forming apparatus controls the interrupt function according to the set value.

  Since only FIG. 11 is different from the first embodiment, only the flowchart of FIG. 13 instead of FIG. 11 will be described below. FIG. 13 shows a print job status tab display process by the MFP control unit 150 and a process corresponding to an input to the touch panel by the user. The MFP control unit 150 executes the process of FIG. 13 as a task different from the main process of FIG. The processing of each step described below is realized by the MFP control unit 150 of the MFP 100 loading a control program stored in the HDD 160 into a RAM (not shown) and executing it.

  Steps S401 to S403 are the same as steps S301 to S303 in FIG. If it is determined in step S403 that a print job has been selected, the process advances to step S404, and the MFP controller 150 determines whether interrupt printing or priority printing is possible when a high-speed job and a low-speed job are mixed. Judging. That is, if “prohibited” is set in the value of the print setting item “interrupt when jobs having different printing speeds are mixed”, the process proceeds to S405, and the same processing as S304 in FIG. In other words, whether the “interrupt / priority print” button is grayed out or normally displayed is controlled depending on whether a high speed job and a low speed job are mixed in the job list.

  On the other hand, if “permitted” is set in the value of the print setting item “interrupt when jobs having different printing speeds are mixed” in S404, the process proceeds to S407 and the same processing as S306 in FIG. . That is, the “interrupt / priority print” button is always displayed normally regardless of whether or not jobs having different printing speeds are mixed.

  As described above, when the value of the print setting item “interrupt when jobs having different printing speeds are mixed” is “prohibited”, depending on whether or not jobs having different printing speeds are mixed in the job list, “ Control the display of the "Interrupt / Priority print" button. That is, control is performed by switching between gray display and selection so that selection is not possible or normal display. On the other hand, when the value of the print setting item “interrupt when jobs having different printing speeds are mixed” is “permitted”, the “interrupt / priority print” button is always displayed normally. As a result, when the user appropriately sets the print setting, it is possible to flexibly cope with any user request. In this embodiment, an example in which print setting items set by the user are provided has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, print setting items set by the administrator of the image forming apparatus may be provided, or print setting items set by a service person or the like may be used.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the printing apparatus is applied to an MFP, that is, a multifunction peripheral has been described. However, it may be a single printing apparatus having the operation unit and the large-capacity storage device described in the above embodiment. In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the printing speed is two stages of high speed and low speed has been described, but the printing speed is not limited to two stages. For example, the present invention may be applied to an image forming apparatus capable of three stages of high speed, medium speed, and low speed, and capable of four or more printing speeds.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention supplies a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or apparatus read and execute the program This process can be realized. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

  100: MFP, 110: scanner unit, 120: printer unit, 130: operation unit, 140: control unit, 150: MFP control unit, 160: HDD

Claims (11)

A printing device,
Printing means capable of printing a first print job and a second print job having a different printing speed from the first print job;
An interrupt print designation that displays a list including at least one of a print job that is currently being printed and a print job that is waiting, and interrupts the print job that is currently being printed for the displayed print job. Or a designation means for designating by user input one of priority print designations for performing printing next to a print job currently being printed;
Limiting means for restricting acceptance of user input regarding the interrupt print designation and the priority print designation by the designation means when the list includes the first print job and the second print job. A printing device. When the list includes the first print job and the second print job, there is further provided setting means for setting by user input whether the interrupt print designation and the priority print designation are permitted or prohibited. ,
The limiting means is
When the list includes the first print job and the second print job, and the setting unit has been set to prohibit the interrupt print designation and the priority print designation. Restricting acceptance of user input related to the interrupt printing designation and the priority printing designation by the designation means;
When the list includes the first print job and the second print job, and the setting unit has been set to permit the interrupt print designation and the priority print designation. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein reception of user input related to the interrupt printing designation and the priority printing designation by the designation unit is not restricted. The limiting means is
On the screen for displaying the list, the buttons for performing the interrupt print designation and the priority print designation are displayed in a non-selectable state, whereby the user relating to the interrupt print designation and the priority print designation by the designation unit is displayed. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein reception of input is restricted. Receiving means for receiving a print job;
4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an analysis unit that analyzes whether the print job received by the reception unit is the first print job or the second print job. 5. The printing apparatus as described in. The analysis means includes
When the user of the print job has a license for printing at a predetermined speed, the print job received by the receiving unit is determined as the first print job, and the user of the print job has the license. The printing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein if not, the printing job received by the receiving unit is determined as the second printing job. The analysis means includes
The printing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein an inquiry is made to an external apparatus using the user identification information, and information indicating whether the user has a license is acquired from the external apparatus.   The printing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a printing speed of the second print job is slower than a printing speed of the first print job.   When the job included in the list is updated, the restricting unit determines again whether the first print job and the second print job are included in the list, and the list includes the first print job. 8. The user input regarding the interrupt printing designation and the priority printing designation by the designation unit is restricted when the second print job is included. The printing apparatus as described. 9. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the designation unit further displays the first print job and the second print job so that the first print job and the second print job can be distinguished in the display of the list. . A control method of a printing apparatus comprising a printing unit capable of printing a first print job and a second print job having a different printing speed from the first print job,
The designating means displays a list including at least one of a print job currently being printed and a print job on standby, and for the displayed print job, interrupts the print job currently being printed and performs printing. A designating step for designating by user input either a print command specified for priority printing or a priority print specification for performing printing next to a print job currently being printed;
A restricting step for restricting acceptance of user input related to the interrupt print designation and the priority print designation in the designation step when the list includes the first print job and the second print job; A control method for a printing apparatus, comprising: A program for causing a computer to execute each step in a control method of a printing apparatus including a printing unit capable of printing a first print job and a second print job having a printing speed different from that of the first print job. The method is
The designating means displays a list including at least one of a print job currently being printed and a print job on standby, and for the displayed print job, interrupts the print job currently being printed and performs printing. A designating step for designating by user input either a print command specified for priority printing or a priority print specification for performing printing next to a print job currently being printed;
A restricting step for restricting acceptance of user input related to the interrupt print designation and the priority print designation in the designation step when the list includes the first print job and the second print job; A program characterized by executing

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