JP2019043141A - Printing device and control method of the same, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To prevent occurrence of an error due to absence of a sheet in advance when executing a desired printing job from a plurality of printing jobs stored in a printer.SOLUTION: A printing device stores a plurality of printing jobs, and extracts sheet size and a sheet type used in a printing job as a printing object from the stored printing jobs. The printing device determines whether or not the extracted sheet size and sheet type are set in a sheet feeding part that can be used by the printing device and discriminates whether or not a sheet exists in the sheet feeding part that is determined that the sheet size and sheet type are set. The printing device displays determination result and discrimination result in association with the printing job.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus capable of saving a print job and executing the saved print job, a control method thereof, and a program.

  Conventionally, there are printing devices that support multiple types of media (sheets), and such printing devices can create complex and high-value-added output products by using multiple types of sheets. It is. For example, high-quality printing is performed using high-grade sheets using coated paper for the front cover and back cover, using high-quality paper for the inner paper, and further using it on the page of the border of the content chapter In the case of partition paper, colored paper is used. As another example, among the pages constituting the content, a page including a color image uses a high-quality sheet capable of obtaining high-quality output by color printing, while a plain paper is used for a page of monochrome image Applications such as using can also be considered.

  In addition, printing apparatuses equipped with a job hold function have also appeared. The job hold function is a function of temporarily or permanently holding a plurality of print jobs in a printing apparatus, and selecting and printing a desired print job from the held print jobs at a later stage. It is In addition, when selecting a plurality of print jobs and collectively printing the selected print jobs, it is possible to execute the subsequent print job simultaneously with the end of the preceding print job. Save time for interaction between Therefore, it is possible to improve the operation rate of the printing apparatus and, consequently, to improve the productivity at the time of preparation of the printed matter by the printing apparatus.

JP, 2011-9980, A

  In such a printer capable of printing using various sheets, it is possible to obtain complicated printed matter combining various sheets. However, when a plurality of complex print jobs combining such plural types of sheets are further selected to issue a print instruction, the following case can be considered. That is, even if the printing machine has a plurality of sheet feed trays, it is assumed that a plurality of types of sheets used by a plurality of selected print jobs are completely loaded in the sheet feed tray at the start of printing. I can not say. If printing is started while a sheet to be used by the print job is not loaded in any of the sheet feed stages, the printing apparatus may make an error such as no sheet at the stage of feeding the sheet. The print process is interrupted by displaying. If the user loads a sheet used by the print job in any of the sheet feed trays, the printing process can be resumed. However, after the user selects a plurality of print jobs and gives a print instruction collectively, the user may leave the front of the printing apparatus to perform another process, and the printing process may be interrupted due to no sheet or the like. It is also possible that you do not notice it. When such a situation occurs, the useless stop time of the printing apparatus will be long, which may cause trouble to other users.

  In order to prevent such a situation, if the user stands by in the vicinity of the printing apparatus in preparation for the occurrence of a missing sheet, the printing apparatus will be in a printing interruption state for a long time. Is avoided. However, this is also undesirable from the productivity of the original printing apparatus and the convenience of the user.

  An object of the present invention is to prevent, in advance, the occurrence of an error due to the sheet necessary for execution of the print job being not set in the paper feed cassette when the print job stored in the printing apparatus is selected and executed. The purpose is to provide technology.

In order to achieve the above object, a printing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention has the following configuration. That is,
A printing device,
Storage means for storing a plurality of print jobs;
Extracting means for extracting a sheet size and a sheet type used by the print job stored in the storage means;
A determination unit that determines whether the sheet size and sheet type extracted by the extraction unit are set in a sheet feeding unit that can be used by the printing apparatus;
A determination unit that determines whether a sheet is present in a sheet feeding unit that is determined by the determination unit that the sheet size and sheet type are set.
A display unit configured to display the determination result by the determination unit and the determination result by the determination unit in association with the print job.

  According to the present invention, when selecting and executing a print job stored in the printing apparatus, the occurrence of a no-sheet error due to the sheet necessary for the execution of the print job being not set in the paper feed cassette is previously Can be prevented.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a digital printing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of the digital printing press according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a computer (PC) according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a top view of an operation unit of the digital printing press according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a program of the digital printing press according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram exemplifying the configuration of a program possessed by the computer according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a view showing an example of an operation screen of a job hold function displayed on the operation unit in the digital printing press according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a view showing an example of a sheet management table which manages information of sheets loaded in each sheet feeding stage in the digital printing press according to the first embodiment. FIG. 8 is a view for explaining sheet information used by each job of Job A, Job D, and Job E shown in FIG. 7; FIG. 6 is a view showing an example of an operation screen of a job hold function displayed on the operation unit in the digital printing press according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a view showing an example of an operation screen of a job hold function displayed on the operation unit in the digital printing press according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a view showing an example of a sheet management table which manages information of sheets loaded in each sheet feeding stage in the digital printing press according to the first embodiment. 3 is a flowchart illustrating processing by the digital printing press according to the first embodiment. 10 is a flowchart for describing the details of a mismatch check process (S1307) when the mismatch check button according to the first embodiment is pressed. FIG. 8 is a view showing an example of an operation screen of a job hold function displayed on an operation unit in the digital printing press according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 15 is a flowchart for describing the details of a mismatch check process (S1307) when the mismatch check button according to the second embodiment is pressed. FIG. 14 is a view showing an example of an operation screen of a job hold function displayed on the operation unit in the digital printing press according to the third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a schematic view illustrating a printing system according to a fifth embodiment. FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a controller of the printing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment. FIG. 13 is a block diagram for explaining the software configuration of a controller of the printing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment and the peripheral configuration thereof. FIG. 13 is a view showing an example of a list of hold jobs displayed on the UI of the printing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment. FIG. 6 is a view showing an example of a sheet alternative screen displayed on the UI of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating processing of displaying a job list screen by the controller of the printing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment. FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating processing of determining a media mismatch state of a plurality of selected jobs by the controller of the printing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment. FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating processing of displaying a sheet substitute screen by the controller of the printing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment. FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining processing in which the controller of the printing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment determines the presence or absence of media mismatch on a sheet basis. 12 is a flowchart illustrating processing of displaying a job list screen by the controller of the printing apparatus according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining processing in which a controller of a printing apparatus according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention determines the presence or absence of media mismatch on a sheet basis.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following embodiments do not limit the present invention according to the claims, and all combinations of the features described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the solution means of the present invention. .

  FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a digital printing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In this printing system, a digital printing machine (printing apparatus) 102 and a computer 101 are connected via a network 100.

  The digital printing press 102 is configured such that devices having different roles are connected to one another to enable complex sheet processing. Hereinafter, each part which comprises this digital printing machine 102 is demonstrated.

  The printer unit 1000 forms (prints) an image using toner on a medium (sheet) fed from the paper feeding unit based on the image data. The configuration and operation principle of the printer unit 1000 are as follows.

  A light beam such as, for example, a laser beam modulated according to image data is reflected by a rotating polygon mirror (polygon mirror or the like), and is irradiated onto a photosensitive drum as scanning light. The electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum by the laser beam is developed with toner, and the toner image is transferred to the sheet attached to the transfer drum. A full color image is formed on a sheet by sequentially executing this series of image forming processes on yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) toners. In addition to these four colors, a toner called a special color, a transparent toner or the like may be transferable. The sheet on the transfer drum on which the full color image is thus formed is conveyed to the fixing device. The fixing device includes a roller, a belt, and the like, incorporates a heat source such as a halogen heater in the roller, and melts the toner on the sheet to which the toner image is transferred by heat and pressure to fix it on the sheet.

  The printer unit 1000 of the digital printer 102 according to the first embodiment is provided with a scanner 224 and an operation unit 204 (FIG. 4) disposed on the top surface of the printer unit 1000. Since the operation unit is disposed on the top surface of the printer unit 1000, it is not shown in FIG. An operation unit 204 provides various interfaces when the user performs various settings, operations, and the like of the printer unit 1000 according to the first embodiment.

  In addition to the printer unit 1000, the digital printing machine 102 is configured to be able to mount various ancillary devices.

  The large capacity sheet feeding devices 221, 222 and 223 are sheet feeding devices which can be attached to and detached from the printer unit 1000. These sheet feeding apparatuses include a plurality of sheet feeding units 233 to 241. With such a configuration, the printer unit 1000 can perform printing processing on a large-capacity sheet.

  The large-capacity stackers 225 and 226 are devices for stocking printed sheets. In a system provided with the above-described large-capacity sheet feeding device, such a large-capacity stacker is required because the generated printed matter also has a large capacity. The number of these large-capacity stackers and large-capacity sheet feeding devices is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG.

  The large-capacity stackers 225 and 226 can open the outer lid for taking out the sheets stacked on the inner stacking tray according to the instruction operation by the user. At the same time, the outer lid can be automatically opened by an instruction from the printer unit 1000. In the case where the open process of the outer lid is performed, the process of stacking the printed sheets on the large-capacity stackers 225 and 226 is controlled to be stopped in advance.

  Furthermore, the large-capacity stackers 225 and 226 have a shift paper discharge function of shifting the stacking position with respect to any sheet when stacking the printed sheets. Thus, it is possible to sort a large number of stacked sheets in a certain bundle unit. The folding device 232 is a device for performing various folding processes such as center folding, Z folding, three folding, and four folding on a sheet. The saddle-stitch binding machine 227 can execute saddle stitching, saddle folding, punching, shift discharge processing, and the like on sheets printed by the printer unit 1000 at the time of creating staple processing and a bookbinding output. Have various units. In the digital printing machine 102 shown in the first embodiment, the saddle stitching machine does not use the folding function of the folding device 232 when preparing the saddle stitching output using the saddle stitching machine 227. The combination of the saddle folding function and the saddle stitching function provided in the product forms the output.

The cutting apparatus 230 is an apparatus for conveying the bookbinding output saddle-stitched by the saddle stitching apparatus 227, cutting a portion corresponding to the fore-edge portion, and forming the fore-edge on a plane. The inserter 228 inserts the sheet held by the inserter 228 into the sheet sent from the printer unit 1000 at an appropriate timing based on the setting. This inserter 228 allows sheets that do not require printing to be inserted between the printed sheets. The inserter 228 includes a plurality of large-capacity sheet feeding portions so as to withstand large-volume printing processing, similarly to the large-volume sheet feeding devices 221, 222, 223.
The case binding machine 229 is a device for forming a case-bound output product by gluing the cover of one bundle of sheets printed by the printer unit 1000 or discharged from the inserter 228. In addition, the case binding machine 229 can execute the processing for the binding of the glue, which corresponds to the processing for pasting and binding without attaching a cover.

  The digital printing press 102 can be divided into three parts, with the printer unit 1000 as a boundary. In FIG. 1, the device disposed on the right side of the printer unit 1000 is called a sheet feeding system device, and the main role of the sheet feeding system device is to continuously print the sheets loaded therein at appropriate timing. Supply to 1000. In addition, the device also detects the remaining amount of sheets loaded inside. The sheet feeding unit 231 is also present inside the printer unit 1000, and functionally equivalent to the sheet feeding apparatus can be executed. The paper feed units included in the printer unit 1000 will also be referred to as a paper feed system device in the description.

  On the other hand, in FIG. 1, the device disposed on the left side of the printer unit 1000 is called a sheet processing apparatus. It is also called a sheet processing apparatus or a post-processing apparatus. The sheet processing apparatus performs processing such as adding or stacking various types of processing to a sheet for which print processing has been completed. The above-described sheet feeding apparatus and sheet processing apparatus are collectively referred to as a sheet processing apparatus 200 in the following description.

  The computer 101 is a general-purpose computer connected to the digital printing machine 102 via the network 100. Here, various application programs can be executed, and a print job can be transmitted to the digital printing machine 102.

  Next, the configuration (mainly software configuration) of the digital printing press 102 according to the first embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of the digital printing press 102 according to the first embodiment. Since the blocks shown in FIG. 2 are divided into units as a system, there are parts that do not necessarily correspond to the units of the device configuration shown in FIG. 1.

  The digital printing press 102 includes a non-volatile memory such as a hard disk 209 (hereinafter referred to as an HDD) capable of storing data of a plurality of jobs to be processed in its own apparatus. In the first embodiment, an example of the digital printing machine 102 using a hard disk is shown, but it is not limited to the hard disk as long as it is a similar large-capacity and nonvolatile storage device.

  The digital printer 102 also has a copy function of storing data received from the scanner 224 in the HDD 209, reading the data from the HDD 209, and printing with the printer unit 1000. Also, it has a print function and the like for storing job data received from an external apparatus via the external I / F unit 202 unit, which is an example of a communication unit, in the HDD 209 and reading out from the HDD 209 and printing by the printer unit 1000. The digital printing machine 102 is a multifunction processing apparatus (MFP) (also referred to as an image forming apparatus) having such a plurality of functions. The digital printing machine 1000 may be capable of color printing or monochrome printing.

  The scanner 224 reads an original image, processes the image data obtained by reading the original, and outputs the image data. An external I / F unit 202 transmits and receives image data to and from a facsimile, a network connection device, and an external dedicated device. The HDD 209 also stores various management information and the like permanently stored, changed, and managed by the digital printing machine 102. The digital printing apparatus 102 further includes a printer unit 1000 that executes printing processing of data of a print target job stored in the HDD 209. The digital printing press 102 also includes an operation unit 204 having a display unit, which corresponds to an example of the user interface unit. A controller unit (control unit) 205 corresponding to an example of a control unit included in the digital printing press 102 has a CPU 212, and centrally controls processing, operations, and the like of various units included in the digital printing press 102. The ROM 207 stores various control programs necessary for the first embodiment, including programs for executing various processes of flowcharts to be described later, which are executed by the CPU 212. The ROM 207 also stores a display control program for displaying various UI screens on the display unit of the operation unit 204 including a user interface screen (hereinafter, UI screen).

  The CPU 212 of the controller unit 205 reads and executes the program stored in the ROM 207 to cause the digital printing machine 102 to execute various operations according to the first embodiment. Also, a program that executes an operation of interpreting page description language (hereinafter abbreviated as PDL) data received from an external device via the external I / F 202 and expanding it into raster image data (bitmap image data) is also the ROM 207, etc. Is stored in Similarly, a program for the CPU 212 to interpret and process a print job received from an external apparatus via the external I / F 202 is also stored in the ROM 207. These are processed by software. The ROM 207 is a read only memory, and stores in advance programs such as a boot sequence and font information and various programs such as the above programs. Details of various programs stored in the ROM 207 will be described later. A RAM 208 is a readable and writable memory, and stores image data sent from the scanner 224 and the external I / F 202, various programs, setting information, and the like.

  The HDD 209 also stores the image data compressed by the compression / decompression unit 210. The HDD 209 is configured to be capable of holding a plurality of data such as print data of a job to be processed. The controller unit 205 stores data of a job to be processed, which is input through various input units such as the scanner 224 and the external I / F unit 202, in the HDD 209, reads out from the HDD 209, and outputs the data to the printer unit 1000. Print. The controller unit 205 also controls so that job data read out from the HDD 209 can be transmitted to an external apparatus via the external I / F 202. As described above, the controller unit 205 executes various output processing of data of the processing target job stored in the HDD 209. The compression / decompression unit 210 compresses or expands image data and the like stored in the RAM 208 and the HDD 209 by various compression methods such as JBIG and JPEG.

  The controller unit 205 also controls the operation of the sheet processing apparatus 200. The sheet processing apparatus 200 corresponds to the sheet feeding apparatus and the sheet processing apparatus described with reference to FIG. The sheet management unit 211 is a module for managing information related to the type of sheet that can be processed by the digital printing device 102.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the computer (PC) 101 according to the first embodiment.

  In the same figure, the CPU 301 executes programs such as an OS, a general application, and a bookbinding application stored in the program ROM of the ROM 303 or loaded from the HDD 311 into the RAM 302. The ROM 303 also has a font ROM and a data ROM. The RAM 302 functions as a main memory, a work area, and the like of the CPU 301. A keyboard controller (KBC) 305 controls input from the keyboard 309 and a pointing device (not shown). The display controller 306 controls display on the display unit 310. A disk controller (DKC) 307 controls access to a boot program, various applications, font data, an HDD 311 storing user files, and the like. A network controller (NC) 312 is connected to the network 100 to execute communication control processing with other devices connected to the network 100. A bus 304 connects the CPU 301, the RAM 302, the ROM 303, various controllers, and the like, and carries data signals and control signals.

  FIG. 4 is a top view of the operation unit 204 of the digital printing press 102 according to the first embodiment.

  The operation unit 204 includes a key input unit 402 capable of accepting a user operation by a hard key, and a touch panel unit 401 as an example of a display unit capable of accepting a user operation by a soft key (display key). A screen displayed on the display unit of the touch panel unit 401 illustrated in FIG. 4 illustrates an example of an operation screen displayed under the control of the controller unit 205. Items displayed on the display unit or items that can be operated by the display unit change according to the user's operation on the screen or the various states of the device.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a program of the digital printing press according to the first embodiment.

  These programs are stored in the ROM 207, read by the CPU 212 of the controller unit 205 of the digital printing machine 102, and executed.

  The boot loader 501 is a program that is executed immediately after the digital printer 102 is powered on. These programs include programs for executing various start-up sequences required for starting the system. The operating system 502 is a program intended to provide an execution environment of various programs for realizing the functions of the digital printing machine 102. This mainly provides functions such as resource management of the memory of the digital printing machine 102, that is, the ROM 207, RAM 208, HDD 209, etc., and basic input / output control of each part shown in FIG. The data transmission / reception program 503 performs transmission / reception processing performed when a data input / output request occurs via the external I / F 202. Specifically, a protocol stack such as TCP / IP is included, and communication of various data exchanged with an external device or the like connected via the network 100 is controlled. The communication processing performed here is processing specialized for communication processing such as a transmission / reception level of a data packet or an HTTP server, and does not include analysis processing regarding the content of received data described later. Data analysis processing is executed by the controller unit 205 based on the description content of another program.

  The JDF function program 504 is a program for executing the JDF print function executed by the controller unit 205 in accordance with an instruction from the external I / F 202 when the JDF job data is received by the digital printing machine 102 via the external I / F 202. . In the JDF printing function, the controller unit 205 sequentially instructs the operation of each device in an appropriate order based on the processing order and processing conditions described in the program. As a result, the JDF printing process is finally controlled to be performed. Each device includes the sheet processing apparatus 200, the printer unit 1000, the HDD 209, the compression / decompression unit 210, the RAM 208, and the like. Also, analysis processing of JDF job data received via the external I / F 202, determination processing as to whether or not the JDF contains an incorrect setting as a result of the analysis processing, and setting change for eliminating the incorrect setting Also included are programs that

  The copy function program 505 is for executing the copy function executed by the controller unit 205 according to an instruction from the operation unit 204 when the user of the digital printing machine 102 instructs the execution of the copy function from the operation unit 204. It is a program. The copy function performed by the controller unit 205 sequentially instructs the resources of the digital printing machine 102 by the controller unit 205 in an appropriate order based on the processing order and processing conditions described in the program. Thus, the copy process is controlled to be finally executed. The devices include a scanner 224, a printer unit 1000, a sheet processing apparatus 200, an HDD 209, a compression / decompression unit 210, a RAM 208, and the like.

  The scan function program 506 is a program for executing the scan function executed by the controller unit 205 in accordance with an instruction from the operation unit 204 when the user of the digital printing machine 102 instructs the execution of the scan function from the operation unit 204. is there. Modules such as the scanner 224, the HDD 209, the compression / decompression unit 210, and the RAM 208 are controlled by the controller unit 205 in accordance with the processing order and processing conditions described in the program. At this time, by sequentially instructing the operation of each of these devices in an appropriate order, it is controlled so that the scanning process is finally performed.

  The PDL function program 507 executes the PDL print function executed by the controller unit 205 when the PDL data (print job data) is received by the digital printer 102 via the external I / F 202. In the PDL print function performed by the controller unit 205, the controller unit 205 sequentially instructs the operation of each device in an appropriate order based on the processing order and processing conditions described in the program. As a result, it is controlled to execute PDL print processing finally. Each of these devices includes the sheet processing apparatus 200, the printer unit 1000, the HDD 209, the compression / decompression unit 210, the RAM 208, and the like.

  The BOX function program 508 executes the BOX function executed by the controller unit 205 in accordance with an instruction from the operation unit 204 when the user of the digital printing machine 102 instructs the execution of the BOX function from the operation unit 204. In the BOX function, BOX processing is performed by sequentially instructing the operation of each device in an appropriate order by the controller unit 205 based on the processing order and processing conditions described in the program. These devices include the scanner 224, the printer unit 1000, the sheet processing apparatus 200, the HDD 209, the compression / decompression unit 210, the RAM 208, and the like. In addition, the job data stored in the HDD 209 can be changed by the setting of the job at the time of storage by the box function, and the job can be executed.

  The UI function program 509 is a control program of the operation unit 204. The UI function program 509 identifies the content input by the user of the print digital printing machine 102 from the operation unit 204, and performs appropriate screen transition and processing request instruction to the controller unit 205.

  The sheet management program 510 is a program for executing management functions associated with sheets available to the digital printing machine 102. Sheet-related information managed by this program is stored in the HDD 209.

  The job hold function program 511 is a program executed by the controller unit 205 when the user of the digital printing machine 102 instructs the execution of the job hold function from the operation unit 204. The job hold function is a function of storing data to be printed in the HDD 209 of the digital printing machine 102 until a print instruction is issued from the user, and then performing printing in accordance with data for which the user has received a print instruction. In the job hold function, the print processing by job hold is executed by sequentially instructing the operation of each device in an appropriate order by the controller unit 205 based on the processing order and processing conditions described in the program. These devices include a printer unit 1000, a sheet processing apparatus 200, an HDD 209, a compression / decompression unit 210, a RAM 208, and the like. It is possible to execute the stored job data by changing the setting at the time of storage.

  When print job data is stored from the computer 101 as an external device to the job hold function of the digital printing machine 102, the following procedure is performed. That is, instead of printing the job data, the PDL function program 507 or the JDF function program 504 or the like instructs storage for the job hold function. Whether printing is instructed or storage processing in the job hold function is performed by the PDL function program 507 or the JDF function program 504 depends on the designation of a printing application operating on the computer 101 to which the job is input. This designation is reflected in the setting attribute of the job data to be processed by the PDL function program 507 or the JDF function program 504 or the like, and the PDL function program 507 or the JDF function program 504 switches the processing based on the setting attribute. Do.

  Note that it is not necessary to provide all of the functional programs shown in FIG. 5, and a part of the functional programs or functional programs other than those described above may be provided.

  The storage document storage area 512 is a storage area of storage job data managed by the job hold function program 511. The job data to be saved received from the external apparatus is stored in the saved document storage area 512 together with the print setting.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram exemplifying the configuration of a program that the computer 101 according to the first embodiment has.

  The operations of the boot loader 601 and the operating system 602 are the same as the boot loader 501 and the operating system 502 in FIG. The device driver 603 is a program for controlling various hardware connected to the computer 101. The device driver 603 also includes a program for controlling the KBC 305, the display controller 306, the DKC 307, and the like. The print application program 604 is a general term for programs intended to operate on the computer 101 and provide various functions and services to the user of the printing system. The print application program 604 has a function of creating or editing print job data. The print application program 604 also has a function of converting various print specifications set from a setting screen (not shown) of the application 604 into corresponding print settings.

  Furthermore, the print application program 604 can also convert the settings included in the print settings back into internal information necessary to control the display items of the setting screen of the corresponding print application program 604. Furthermore, the print application program 604 also has a function of selecting a print setting file stored in the HDD 311 and creating print job data. The print application program 604 has the ability to convert it into a PDL command format or a JDF format as print settings, and combine it with print target data to create print job data.

  The network control program 605 is a program that is executed when the print job data created by the print application program 604 is transmitted to the digital printer 102 connected via the network 100. The program 605 can be configured to also have a function of transmitting print data and acquiring progress information of a print job executed by the digital printing machine 102 after transmission. The other programs 607 include a program group that does not correspond to any of the above, but the detailed description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 7 is a view showing an example of an operation screen of a job hold function displayed on the operation unit 204 in the digital printing device 102 according to the first embodiment. The screen includes a plurality of display areas, a plurality of operation buttons, and the like. Hereinafter, important points in describing the first embodiment will be described. The job hold function is a function of storing data to be printed in the HDD 209 of the digital printing machine 102 until a print instruction is issued from the user, and then performing printing in accordance with data for which the user has received a print instruction. Note that the digital printer 102 can store a plurality of data in the HDD 209 by the job hold function.

  The job hold list 702 is an area for displaying a list of print job data stored in the stored document storage area 512 of the digital printer 102. In the example of FIG. 7, six pieces of print job data are displayed. The digital printing apparatus 102 can store more print job data than the number that can be simultaneously displayed on the job hold list 702 in the HDD 209. For example, when seven or more print job data are stored, the user can sequentially display all the stored print job data in the job hold list 702 by pressing the scroll buttons 705 and 706. . In the print job data displayed in the job hold list 702, a job name 710, a user name 711 and a date / time field 712 indicating the date and time when the print job was stored in the digital printing machine 102 are displayed. .

  It is assumed that the user operating the job hold screen selects a job to be printed based on the information.

  Now, it is assumed that the user operating the job hold screen in the job hold function of the digital printing machine 102 is “Operator A”. Among the plurality of jobs shown in the job hold list 702 in the figure, there are three jobs whose user name is “Operator A”. That is, jobs “JobA”, “JobD”, and “JobE”.

  Here, there may also be a use case where a user operating the digital printing press 102 selects and prints a print job of a user who does not match the user name of the user. However, in the major use cases, the user often selects and prints his / her own print job as a print job to be printed. From the above reasons, in the following description, the case where the user selects and prints his / her own print job will be described as an example. However, the case where the user selects a print job that is not the user's own print job and executes printing is also applicable to the present invention.

  Here, when the user presses a portion of the print job displayed in the job hold list 702 with a finger or the like, the print job is selected, that is, selected as a print job to be printed. . The print job selection process will be described in detail with reference to the later figures.

  The print job list 703 is for displaying a list of print jobs for which print processing has been started in the digital printing apparatus 102. In the example of FIG. 7, there is no print job for which print processing has been started. That is, it indicates that the printer unit 1000 of the digital printing press 102 is in the idle state.

  The print start button 708 is a button for instructing start of print processing of the print job selected in the job hold list 702. A cancel button 709 is a button for stopping the execution of the print job in a state where the print processing has been started by the print start button 708.

  The mismatch inspection button 704 is a button for instructing collation processing between the sheet information used by the print job selected in the hold job list 702 and the sheet loaded in the digital printing machine 102. The collation processing referred to here is to check whether the sheet used by the print job stored in the HDD 209 is not loaded in any of the paper feed units provided in the digital printing machine 102. That is, for example, it is assumed that the print job 1 is set to use only “sheet A”. Then, it is assumed that “sheet A” is set in one of the sheet feeding units included in the digital printing machine 102 and the “sheet A” is loaded (case 1). When the mismatch check button 704 is pressed in this state, it is determined that the “sheet A” that the print job 1 is to use is in a usable state as a result of the check.

  As another example, when the print job 1 is set to use only “sheet A”, “sheet A” is set in one of the sheet feeding units provided in the digital printing machine 102. Assume that the remaining amount of “sheet A” in the sheet feeding unit is zero (case 2). If the mismatch inspection button 704 is pressed in this state, the "sheet A" to be used by the selected print job is prepared to be available as a result of collation, but the remaining amount of "sheet A" It can be seen that there is no As a evasion method in this case, the user may supply "sheet A" to the sheet feeding unit.

  Also, assume another case. It is assumed that the selected print job 1 is set to use only “sheet A”. Then, it is assumed that “sheet A” is not set in any of the sheet feeding units included in the digital printing machine 102 (case 3). When the mismatch check button 704 is pressed in this state, it is found that the “sheet A” that the selected print job is to use is not available as a result of the check. As a evasion method in this case, it means that the user must set "sheet A" in any of the sheet feeding units as setting information, and supply "sheet A" to the sheet feeding unit.

  In the cases 2 and 3 described above, when the user selects the print job and presses the print start button 708, an attempt is made to feed a sheet that has not been prepared. The printing process stops. That is, the productivity of the digital printing machine 102 is reduced.

  On the other hand, in the first embodiment, before the print start button 708 is pressed, whether the sheet used in the selected print job can be used by the digital printing machine 102 by the function provided by the mismatch check button 704. User can confirm. This is because the printing process can be started after setting or supplying a sheet based on the inspection result by the mismatch inspection button 704. As a result, the user can prepare the sheet before starting the print job. Therefore, after starting the execution of the print job, a paper-out error occurs and the printing process by the digital printing machine is interrupted, and the productivity is improved. The risk of reducing the risk of

  The detail / change button 707 is a button for transitioning to a screen for confirming the details of the print job selected in the job hold list 702 or changing the print specification.

  FIG. 8 is a view showing an example of a sheet management table for managing information of sheets loaded in each sheet feeding unit in the digital printing press 102 according to the first embodiment. The sheet management table is stored in the HDD 209 and referred to by the CPU 212.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 8, with respect to each of the ten sheet feeding units included in the digital printing machine 102, information on the size 812, the sheet type 813, and the remaining amount 814 is managed using the sheet feeding unit ID 811 as a key. .

  For example, 801 indicates that the size of the sheet loaded in the sheet feeding unit (ID = 1) is A4, the sheet type is plain paper 1, and the remaining amount is 3. The numerical value indicated by the remaining amount 814 has the following meaning. 3: Full (100%), 2: Small remaining (25%), 1: Very small remaining (less than 5%), 0: No remaining (0%). The accuracy of the remaining amount detection of the sheet can be made finer by increasing the accuracy of the remaining amount sensor. However, in the digital printing press 102 according to the first embodiment, the remaining amount detection of the above specification is performed.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining sheet information used by each job of Job A, Job D, and Job E shown in FIG.

  The information shown here is held by simultaneously storing print settings when the job hold function program 511 in FIG. 5 stores print job data in the storage document storage area 512. The sheet information used by the print job is included in the print setting.

  In FIG. 9A, there are a total of two types of sheets: a sheet with a size of A4 and a sheet type of "plain paper 1", and a sheet with a size of A4 and a sheet type of "double-sided coated paper 1". Indicates to use. In FIG. 9B, there are a total of two types of sheets: JobD, a sheet of which the size is LTR and the sheet type is “plain paper 1”, and a sheet of which the size is 11 × 17 and the sheet type is “plain paper 1”. Indicates to use. Similarly, in FIG. 9C, Job E is a sheet of which the size is A4 and the sheet type is “plain paper 1”, a sheet of which the size is A4 and whose sheet type is colored paper (red), and a sheet of which the size is A3. It is shown that the seed uses three types of sheets of "double side coated paper 2".

  FIG. 10 is a view showing an example of an operation screen of a job hold function displayed on the operation unit 204 in the digital printing press 102 according to the first embodiment. Here, an example of display immediately after the operator A operates the operation screen of the job hold function displayed on the operation unit 204 and selects a print job is shown. Parts common to FIG. 7 are indicated by the same symbols. Here, the operator A selects JobA, JobD, and JobE in order, and three jobs are selected. The job in the selected state is indicated by a selection mark (1001, 1002, 1003) on the left of the field of the job name, and a numerical value indicating the selected order is given. Reference numeral 1004 denotes the last selected Job E, which is highlighted. This indicates that the job hold list 702 is currently in the selected state. That is, when the detail / change button 707 is pressed in this state, confirmation of the detailed information of Job E and change of setting become possible.

  FIG. 11 is a view showing an example of an operation screen of a job hold function displayed on the operation unit 204 in the digital printing device 102 according to the first embodiment. Here, an example of a screen displayed immediately after the mismatch inspection button 704 is pressed in the job hold list 702 in the state shown in FIG. 10 is shown. Parts in common with FIG. 10 are indicated by the same symbols, and the explanation thereof is omitted.

  In FIG. 10, for each of the three jobs (JobA, JobD, and JobE) selected by the user, the alignment between the sheet scheduled to be used by each print job and the sheet set in the paper feed unit of the digital printing device 102 is checked. doing.

  In Job A, the sheet whose print job is to be used is set in the sheet feeding unit as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, and the remaining amount of the sheet is not zero. Therefore, in this case, when the user presses the print start button 708, the user can know that the possibility of the absence of a sheet is extremely low before instructing to start printing.

  Also, with regard to Job D, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the sheet to be used by the print job is set in the sheet feeding unit, but there is a sheet whose remaining amount of sheet is zero. Specifically, the remaining amount of sheets of the size “11 × 17” and the sheet type “plain sheet 1” set in the “paper feeding unit 9” is zero. Therefore, when the print start button 708 is pressed in this state, a sheet absence error occurs at the stage of feeding a sheet of size “11 × 17”, and the printing process is stopped. This is indicated by a warning mark 1101. The user who recognizes that the mark 1101 is displayed may supply an appropriate treatment, that is, the sheet feeding unit 9 may be replenished with a sheet of size “11 × 17” and sheet type “plain paper 1”.

  Further, in the case of Job E, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, there are sheets which are not set in any of the sheet feeding units, as the print job is to be used. Specifically, a sheet of size A3 and sheet type “double-sided coated paper 2” is not set in any of the sheet feeding units. This is indicated by a warning mark 1102. Therefore, if the user presses the print start button 708 in this state, the user is instructed that the print job is stopped due to a paper absence error occurring at the stage of feeding the sheet, before instructing the print start. I can know. The user who confirms that the mark 1102 is displayed identifies an appropriate action, that is, another sheet feeding unit (preferably a sheet feeding unit which has not been determined to be used in a job), and supplies the sheet. Change the sheet setting of the paper section to size A3, and the sheet type to "double-sided coated paper 2". Further, the user supplies the corresponding sheet to the paper feed unit. If there is a sheet originally contained, the user may replace the sheet with a corresponding sheet. A warning mark 1101 indicates that the sheet used by the print job is set in the sheet feeding unit, but the remaining amount is zero, and a warning mark 1102 indicates which sheet the sheet used by the print job is Also indicates that it is not set. By changing the shapes of the warning mark 1101 and the warning mark 1102, the user can determine whether the sheet of the job is not set in any sheet feeding unit, the sheet of the job is set, but the remaining amount is 0. Can distinguish and recognize.

  As described above, when the mismatch inspection button 704 is pressed, the above-described marks 1101 and 1102 are displayed in association with the print job that may cause the absence of a sheet, thereby preventing the user from stopping the print job. It is possible to

  When the user presses the detail / change button 707 in the state of FIG. 11, the sheet size and sheet type (for example, FIG. 9C) used by the selected Job E are displayed. Here, the sheet information (here, A3, double-sided coated paper) not set in any sheet feeding unit is not set in any sheet feeding unit by the user, for example, by displaying it in reverse. A sheet can be presented.

  Further, in the state of FIG. 11, when the user selects Job D and presses the detail / change button 707, the sheet size and sheet type used by Job D (for example, FIG. 9B) are displayed. Here, the CPU 212 blinks the sheet information whose remaining amount is zero. Further, the CPU 212 blinks the display of the sheet feeding unit in which the sheet is set. As a result, the user can grasp the sheet information with which the remaining amount is zero for the sheet size and sheet type used by Job D, and the sheet feeding unit. As described above, even when the sheet size and the sheet type are displayed, the display method of the sheet information when the sheet is not set in any sheet feeding unit and the display of the sheet information of which the remaining amount of sheets is zero Change the way of As a result, the user can distinguish whether the sheet of the displayed size and type is not set in any sheet feeding unit and whether the remaining amount of the sheet is zero.

  FIG. 12 is a view showing an example of a sheet management table for managing information of sheets loaded in each sheet feeding unit in the digital printing machine 102 according to the first embodiment, based on the screen and operation of FIG. The sheet management table is shown after the user performs the avoidance process. The sheet management table of FIG. 12 is also stored in the HDD 209 and referred to by the CPU 212.

  The difference from the table shown in FIG. 8 is that the sheet type of the paper feed unit (ID = 4) is changed to “double-sided coated paper 2” and the sheets are replenished (the remaining amount is 3). Another difference is that the sheet in the sheet feeding unit (ID = 9) is replenished and the value of the remaining amount changes from 0 to 3.

  As described above, when the user presses the mismatch inspection button 704 in FIG. 11 again while performing sheet registration and replenishment processing so as to be in the state shown in FIG. 12, the screen returns to the screen shown in FIG. That is, it is understood that the warning marks 1101 and 1102 indicating the cause of the absence of the sheet are erased.

  In this state, when the user presses the print start button 708, the user can know before printing is started that the possibility of having no paper is extremely low after the digital printing press 102 starts printing processing. Therefore, the labor productivity of the user can be improved, and also the operation rate of the digital printing machine 102 can be increased. As a result, it is possible to improve the convenience of the digital printer 102 for the POD market.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating processing by the digital printing press 102 according to the first embodiment. This process is achieved by the CPU 212 of the controller unit 205 executing a program read from the ROM 207 or the HDD 209 and expanded in the RAM 208. This process is started in the state where the screen shown in FIG. 7 is displayed on the display unit of the operation unit 204.

  First, in step S1301, the CPU 212 waits for the user's operation on the screen shown in FIG. 7 displayed on the operation unit 204. Here, the process remains in S1301 until some operation is performed by the user. If the user performs some operation on the operation unit 204, the process advances to step S1302, and the CPU 212 determines whether the operation is an operation for selecting a print job displayed in the job hold list 702. If it is determined that the operation is to select the print job displayed in the job hold list 702, the process advances to step S1303, and the CPU 212 determines whether the selected print job is already in the selected state. If it is determined that the print job has already been selected, the process advances to step S1304, the CPU 212 cancels the selected state of the print job, and returns to step S1301. If it is determined in step S1303 that the selected print job is not already selected, the process advances to step S1305, and the CPU 212 sets the selected print job. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 10, the CPU 212 displays the selected print job with a mark (1001, 1002, 1003) indicating that it is in a selected state, and returns to S1301.

  If it is determined in step S1302 that the operation in step S1301 is not an operation for selecting a print job displayed in the job hold list 702, the process advances to step S1306. In step S1306, the CPU 212 determines whether the mismatch check button 704 has been pressed. If it is determined that the mismatch check button 704 has been pressed, the process advances to step S1307, the CPU 212 executes a mismatch check process, and advances to step S1301. The process of S1307 will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  If it is determined in step S1306 that the mismatch inspection button 704 has not been pressed, the process advances to step S1308, and the CPU 212 determines whether the operation in step S1301 is pressing processing of the print start 708 button. If the print start 708 button is pressed, the process advances to step S1309, the CPU 212 executes print processing of the selected print job, and returns to step S1301 when print processing of all the selected print jobs is completed. On the other hand, when the print start 708 button is not pressed in S1308, the CPU 212 advances the process to S1310 because the operation in S1301 does not correspond to any of the above-described processes. In S1310, the CPU 212 executes a process corresponding to the operation, and returns to S1301 when the process ends. The details of the process of S1310 are not important in describing the effects of the present embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart for describing the details of the mismatch check process (S1307) when the mismatch check button 704 according to the first embodiment is pressed. This process is achieved by the CPU 212 of the controller unit 205 executing a program read from the ROM 207 or the HDD 209 and expanded in the RAM 208.

  First, in step S <b> 1401, the CPU 212 acquires the sheet type and sheet remaining amount information set in each sheet feeding unit included in the digital printing device 102. The process of S1401 is performed by the CPU 212 instructing the sheet management unit 211 to refer to a sheet management table as shown in FIG. 8, for example. The process advances to step S1402 to check whether the mismatch check process has been completed for all print jobs. If the process has been completed for all print jobs, the process ends; otherwise It progresses to S1403. In S1403, the CPU 212 determines the next print job to be subjected to the mismatch check process. Then, in step S1404, the CPU 212 acquires sheet information used by the print job as shown in FIG. 9 with respect to the print job determined in step S1403. Next, in step S1405, the CPU 212 performs initialization processing of two types of flags (Flag 1 and Flag 2) for holding the result of the mismatch check. When Flag1 is true, it indicates a mismatch state, that is, the print job designates a sheet not set in any sheet feeding unit. Further, when Flag 2 is true, it indicates that the print job is specified in the sheet feeding unit but a sheet whose remaining amount is zero is designated. These two flags are set in the RAM 208.

  Next, in step S1406, in the print job determined in step S1403, the CPU 212 determines whether check processing has been completed for all the sheets extracted by the print job that are to be used in step S1404. If the determination result in S1406 is false, that is, if checking of all sheets has not been completed, the process advances to S1407, and the CPU 212 selects the next sheet to be checked out of all sheets to be used by the print job. decide. Then, in step S1408, the CPU 212 checks whether all the sheet feeding units have been checked. If not, the process advances to step S1409 to determine the next sheet feeding unit. On the other hand, if all the sheet feeding units have been checked, the process advances to step S1406 to compare the next sheet.

  If the result of the determination in S1408 is false, there is a paper feed unit for which comparison processing has not been performed yet, the process advances to S1409, the CPU 212 determines the next paper feed unit to be compared, and proceeds to S1410 . In step S1410, the CPU 212 determines whether the sheet determined in step S1407 matches the sheet size and sheet type set in the sheet feeding unit determined in step S1409. If they do not match, the process returns to step S1408 to execute the check processing of the next sheet feeding unit.

  If it is determined in step S1410 that the determined sheet matches the sheet size and sheet type set in the determined paper feed unit, the process advances to step S1411, and the CPU 212 sets the value of Flag 1 to “false Set to ". Then, in step S1412, the CPU 212 inspects the remaining amount of sheets in the sheet feeding unit determined in step S1409. If it is determined here that there is a remaining amount of sheets, the process advances to step S 1413, where the CPU 212 sets the value of Flag 2 to “false” and returns to step S 1408. On the other hand, if the result of the determination in S1412 is false, the process returns to S1408.

  Also, if the result of the determination in S1406 is true, that is, for all sheets used by the determined print job, when checking of the mismatch with the sheets of all sheet feeding units of this digital printing machine 102 and the presence or absence of sheets is completed. It progresses to S1414. In S1414, the CPU 212 determines whether the value of the flag Flag1 is "true". If the value of the flag Flag1 is "true", then any sheet used by the print job determined in S1403 is not set in any paper feed unit provided in the digital printing machine 102. Means Therefore, in this case, the process advances to step S1415, and as shown in FIG. 11, for example, a warning mark 1102 indicating a mismatch state is displayed in the column of the print job of the job hold list 702, and the process advances to step S1402. On the other hand, if the result of the determination in S1414 is false, the process proceeds to S1416, in which it is determined whether the value of the flag Flag2 is "true". That is, although any sheet used by the print job selected in S1403 is set in any paper feed unit included in the digital printing machine 102, it is determined whether the remaining amount of the sheet is zero. Determine. If the determination result is true, the process advances to step S1417, and the CPU 212 displays a warning mark 1101 indicating a sheet absence state in the column of the print job of the job hold list 702 as shown in FIG. . If the determination result in S1416 is false, the process proceeds to S1402.

  The above is the detailed description of the mismatch check process of S1307 in FIG.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the sheet used by the print job is set in the sheet feeding unit before the print processing of the print job stored in the digital printer 102 is performed by the job hold function. It can be determined whether it has been done. Further, whether or not the sheet is present in the sheet feeding unit can be determined before starting the printing process. At this time, whether or not the sheet used by the selected print job is set in the sheet feeding unit, and the sheet is set in the sheet feeding unit, and the sheet actually exists You can also determine if it is. Second Embodiment
In the above-mentioned Embodiment 1, as shown in FIG. 11, the example in the case of the specification in which one of the warning marks 1101 and 1102 is displayed is shown. However, although the sheet is set in the sheet feeding unit, the state in which the remaining amount is zero and the state in which the sheet used by the print job is not set in any sheet feeding unit can occur simultaneously. For example, assuming that a print job uses a plurality of sheets, it is assumed that the selected print job designates sheets A and B.

  Here, the sheet A is set in the sheet feeding unit, but the remaining amount is zero. Further, it is assumed that the sheet B is not set in any sheet feeding unit. In this case, the sheet A corresponds to the condition for displaying the warning mark 1101 shown in FIG. 11, and the sheet B corresponds to the condition for displaying the warning mark 1102. However, in the example of FIG. It can not be confirmed until there is no remaining sheet in the copy.

  FIG. 15 is a view showing an example of an operation screen of a job hold function displayed on the operation unit 204 in the digital printing press 102 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Note that portions common to those in FIG. 7 described above are indicated by the same symbols. Although FIG. 15 shows the screen after the mismatch inspection button 704 has been pressed, the other behaviors and screen components are the same as in the first embodiment described above, so a detailed description thereof will be given. I omit it. The hardware configuration of the digital printing machine 102 according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment described above, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  As illustrated, both warning marks 1503 and 1504 are displayed in the part of JobD. As a result, with respect to a plurality of sheets, the user sets the sheet in the sheet feeding unit but the remaining amount is zero, and the sheet is not set in any sheet feeding unit, and the sheet is However, it can be confirmed that no paper feed unit is present.

  In FIG. 15, for example, when the detail / change button 707 is pressed in a state where Job D is selected, the sheet size and sheet type (for example, FIG. 9B) used by Job D are displayed. Here, the sheet whose remaining amount is zero is displayed in a distinguishable manner, and the display of the sheet feeding unit in which the sheet is set is blinked. Also, the sheet type not set in any sheet feeding unit is displayed in reverse. As a result, it is possible to present the user with a sheet size and sheet type used by Job D and a sheet type having no remaining amount, and a sheet type not set in the sheet feeding unit and any sheet feeding unit.

  FIG. 16 is a flowchart for describing the details of the mismatch check process (S1307) when the mismatch check button 704 according to the second embodiment is pressed. Note that portions common to FIG. 14 according to the first embodiment are indicated by the same symbols. This process is realized by the CPU 212 of the controller unit 205 executing a program read from the ROM 207 or the HDD 209 and expanded in the RAM 208.

  The difference from FIG. 14 is that, in FIG. 14, transition is made to S1402 after the display of the mismatch icon in S1415. On the other hand, in FIG. 16, after the mismatch icon (1503 in FIG. 15) is displayed by transitioning to S1416 after S1415, the sheet absence icon (1504 in FIG. 15) is displayed when there is no sheet. You can transition to the process to

Thereby, as shown in FIG. 15, for one print job, a warning mark 1503 indicating that there is no setting of the sheet in any sheet feeding unit, and a sheet corresponding to any sheet feeding unit A warning mark 1504 indicating absence can be simultaneously displayed.
Third Embodiment
In FIG. 7 according to the first embodiment described above, it is only the print job selected in the job hold list 702 at the time of pressing the button 704 to be checked by pressing the mismatch test button 704. And

  Here, as shown in FIG. 11, it is assumed that after the warning marks 1101 and 1102 are displayed by pressing the mismatch check button 704, the print job is not selected. An embodiment can be considered in which the display state of the warning mark 1101 or the warning mark 1102 is maintained even after such an operation is performed.

  The user performs various operations using the operation screen of the job hold function as shown in FIG. 7, but it is highly expected that various trial and error operations will naturally be performed in the process. That is, it is an operation such as setting the print job in the selected state to the non-selected state and setting the print job in the selected state again at a later timing. In consideration of the convenience at the time of the user's operation, even if the print job is in the non-selected state, the print job selected by the user and subjected to the mismatch inspection is once again selected at a later timing. Correspond to print job candidates. In consideration of such a situation, it is not always a good idea to reset the display of the warning mark 1101 or 1102 when the print job in the selected state is deselected, but rather, the display state of those marks. It seems to be preferable to maintain

Therefore, in the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 17, even when the selected print job (Job D) is changed to the non-selected state, the warning marks 1503 and 1504 displaying the result of the mismatch inspection are displayed. Keep the display state.
Fourth Embodiment
After pressing the mismatch check button 704, a warning mark 1101 or a warning mark 1102 is displayed for each of the jobs displayed in the hold job list 702 in FIG. After these marks are displayed, the mismatch check button 704 is pressed again, and the display state is maintained until updated.

  By storing the display state in a non-volatile manner together with print job data and print settings stored in the storage document storage area 512, it is possible to obtain further effects. That is, the results of the mismatch test can be stored in a permanent manner. Thus, for example, even when the power of the digital printing machine 102 is turned off and then turned on again, it is possible to hold the result of the mismatch test performed before the power is turned off at the next power on. is there. As a result, when the power is turned on, the result of the mismatch test performed before the power is turned off can be displayed on the hold job list 702 again without pressing the mismatch test button 704.

  This makes it easy, for example, to continue work even when the user turns off the power of the digital printing machine in order to interrupt work while stopping work. Can be confirmed.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications (including organic combinations of the respective embodiments) are possible based on the spirit of the present invention, which are excluded from the scope of the present invention is not. For example, in the present embodiment, the CPU of the control unit 205 of the digital printing machine 102 has been the main body of the above-mentioned various controls. Alternatively, all may be configured to be executable.
Fifth Embodiment
In this embodiment, an example of checking the presence or absence of the type of sheet necessary for the job and the presence or absence of the remaining amount of sheets only for the selected job, and a sheet substitution process after execution of the check will be described.

  Hereinafter, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. The following embodiments do not limit the present invention according to the claims, and all combinations of the features described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the solution means of the present invention. .

  FIG. 18 is a schematic view illustrating a printing system according to the fifth embodiment.

  In FIG. 18, reference numerals 1801 to 1803 denote host computers. The printing apparatus 1800 is connected to host computers 1801 to 1803 via a network 1804. Print jobs sent from the host computers 1801 to 1803 are received by the printing apparatus 1800 via the network 1804.

  FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the controller 1900 of the printing apparatus 1800 according to the fifth embodiment.

  In FIG. 19, reference numeral 1900 denotes a controller, 1901 a CPU, 1902 a RAM, 1903 a program ROM, and 1904 a data ROM. The CPU 1901 controls the operation of the printing apparatus 1800 based on the program stored in the program ROM 1903. The RAM 1902 is used as a main memory when the CPU 1901 operates and a region (work area) for temporarily storing information. The data ROM 1904 stores fixed information such as font which is called when the CPU 1901 executes a program. A network interface (I / F) 1905 is connected to the network 1804 to receive a job from a host computer. A printer interface (I / F) 1906 connects the printer engine 1908 and the controller 1900. The external storage device 1907 is a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk or a flash memory. The CPU 1901, the RAM 1902, the ROMs 1903 and 1904, the interfaces 1905 and 1906, the external storage device 1907, and the UI (user interface) 1909 are connected via the system bus 1910. The UI 1909 includes an operation panel including a touch panel, a hard key, a display unit, and the like for receiving an operation by the user.

  FIG. 20 is a block diagram for explaining the software configuration of the controller 1900 of the printing apparatus 1800 according to the fifth embodiment and the peripheral configuration thereof.

  The UI control unit 2001 connects the UI 1909 and the job control unit 2004. The network control unit 2002 controls the network interface 1905. A document management unit 2003 saves the job. A job control unit 2004 controls the execution of a job by the controller 1900. The image processing unit 2005 develops the input job to generate image data for printing. A printer control unit 2006 controls a printer engine 1908 via a printer interface 1906. The setting storage unit 2007 stores various setting information set from the UI 1909, and the setting of the sheet is also stored here. Reference numerals 2010 to 2014 denote paper feed trays attached to the printer engine 1908, in which five paper feed trays are mounted.

  With the above configuration, the hold job input from the outside is temporarily stored in the external storage device 1907 (FIG. 19) and managed by the document management unit 202003. The control processing and management processing of the portions indicated by the above-mentioned 2001 to 2007 are realized by the CPU 1901 executing a program of the program ROM 1903.

  FIG. 21 is a view showing an example of a list display of hold jobs displayed on the UI 1909 of the printing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment.

  2101 is a list of hold jobs held in the external storage device 1907, and a predetermined number of held jobs are displayed. In the job list 2101, there are two states where a job is selected. That is, there is a state of current selection selected as an operation target for one job, and a state of multiple selection selected as a correspondence of operations for a plurality of jobs. The currently selected job is always included in multiple selected jobs.

  Reference numeral 2102 denotes a current selection job, which is represented by the fact that the background of the display of the job is colored. Three jobs indicated by 2102 to 2103 indicate a plurality of selected hold jobs, and the selected order is represented by an attached number. In FIG. 21, job 1 (job 1) to job 3 (job 3) are selected in order. An update button 2104 and an icon 2105 indicate that the job has a media mismatch. When the update button 2104 is pressed, the mismatch icon 2105 is updated to the latest state. The update button 2104 is grayed out and can not be pressed if there are no selected jobs. A sheet substitute button 2106 is a transition button to a sheet substitute screen for performing sheet substitution (switching of a sheet feed source) for the current selection job. The print button 2107 is a button for instructing to print a plurality of selected hold jobs in the order of selection. The sheet substitute button 2106 is grayed out and can not be pressed if there is no current selection job. When there are a number of hold jobs that do not fit in the job list 2101, by pressing the scroll button 2108, other hold jobs not currently displayed can be displayed.

  In FIG. 21, a media mismatch has occurred in job 1. That is, when the job 1 requests the sheet size and the sheet type to be set in each sheet feed tray to be used, the size and the sheet type of the sheet actually set to each sheet feed tray are It shows identifiably that it is different from the request. In this case, when the sheet alternative button 2106 is pressed in a state where job 1 is selected as shown in FIG. 21, the screen changes to the screen of FIG.

  FIG. 22 is a view showing an example of a sheet alternative screen displayed on the UI 1909 of the printing apparatus 1800 according to the fifth embodiment. This screen is displayed by pressing the paper substitute button 2106 in a state where the current selection job (for example, job 1) is selected as shown in the screen of FIG.

  Reference numeral 2201 denotes a sheet list used by the current selection job (job 1). [] Shown at the left end of this list indicates a sheet feeding stage, and for example, 2202 requests that this job 1 has sheet size A4 and media type (Plain (plain paper)) from sheet feeding stage 1 Is displayed. Furthermore, no substitute sheet for the sheet of sheet 1 is set, and no media mismatch has occurred. That is, it indicates that sheets of the size and type requested by job 1 are set in the sheet feeding tray 1.

  Reference numeral 2203 denotes the currently selected paper feed tray, and by giving a background color thereof, it indicates that the paper feed tray is being selected. In 2203, the job 1 requests the sheet size A3 and the medium type (heavy) to the sheet feeding tray 3, but the sheets set in the sheet feeding tray 3 do not satisfy the conditions. . That is, the paper feed stage 3 is in a state of no paper. Therefore, by changing the paper feed destination to the paper feed stage 4, it is set so that the paper of the size and type requested by job 1 can be fed. An icon 2204 indicates that a media mismatch has occurred in the sheet feed tray 3. That is, this job 1 requests the sheet size A3 and the media type (heavy) for the sheet feeding tray 3, but no sheets meeting the conditions are set in the sheet feeding tray 3 Media mismatch has occurred. Then, instead of the sheet feeding tray 3, a sheet feeding tray 4 accommodating sheets of the sheet size and type required by the job 1 is designated.

  The “change sheet selection” button 2205 is a button for transitioning to a screen for selecting an alternative sheet. A “go to paper destination before change” button 2206 is a button for canceling the alternative setting in paper units. The OK button 2207 is a button for confirming the selected alternative sheet. A cancel button 2208 is a button for canceling the substitute sheet temporarily set on this screen.

  FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating processing of displaying a job list screen by the controller 1900 of the printing apparatus 1800 according to the fifth embodiment. A program for executing this process is stored in a program ROM 1903, and this process is achieved by the CPU 1901 executing the program.

  This process is started by issuing an event instructing to display a job list screen. First, in S601, as shown in FIG. 21, for example, a list of hold jobs managed and stored by the document management unit 2003 is displayed in a predetermined order. Here, the hold job is a job for which printing has been executed or a job which has not been printed and which is stored in the external storage device 1907. When the job list screen is initially displayed or switched and displayed from another function, in step S602, the CPU 1901 sets “current selection job” and “multiple selection job” to “none”. Then, in step S603, the CPU 1901 waits for user's input operation using the UI 1909.

  If there is any input in step S603, the process advances to step S604, and the CPU 1901 determines what the input is. Here, if the input is, for example, the finger of the user touching a job in the job list 2101, that is, if the job selection instruction, the process proceeds to S605, and the CPU 1901 selects the job currently selected (current selected job To determine if). If not so, the process advances to step S606 to set the selected job as the current selection job, and display the job with a background color as shown by 2102 in FIG. 21, for example. The process advances to step S607, and the CPU 1901 determines whether the job is already a target of multiple selection, and if it is not a target for multiple selection, the process advances to step S608 to assign it as one of multiple selected jobs and assign a selection order number. Job list 2101 is displayed again. Then, the process advances to step S603 to wait for the next input from the UI 1909. If it is determined in step S607 that the job has already been selected, the process advances to step S603 without doing anything regarding the selection order number.

  If it is determined in step S605 that the job is already the current selection job, the process advances to step S609, the CPU 1901 determines that the selected job is an instruction to remove the current selection job, and the background color of the job is canceled and displayed. Then, the process advances to step S610, and the CPU 1901 also removes the job from the targets because the job is also included in multiple targets, reassigns the selection order number to each job, and displays the job list 2101 again. Then, the process advances to step S603 to wait for the next input from the UI 1909.

  If it is determined in step S604 that the update button 2104 is pressed while there is a selected job, the process advances to step S611, and the CPU 1901 updates the media mismatch state for a plurality of selected jobs, and obtains the result And displayed in the job list 2101. Then, the process advances to step S603 to wait for the next input from the UI 1909. The process of S611 will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  If another button is operated in step S604, the process advances to step S612. In step S612, it is determined whether the sheet alternative button 2106 has been pressed. If the sheet alternative button 2106 has not been pressed, the process advances to step S615 to perform processing corresponding to the pressed button, and the process advances to step S603. If it is determined in step S612 that another button, for example, the print button 2107 is pressed, the respective processes of printing a plurality of selected jobs in the order of selection are performed. Do.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S612 that the sheet alternative button 2106 is pressed, the process advances to step S613, and the CPU 201 displays sheet information for displaying a sheet alternative screen as shown in FIG. 22 for the currently selected job. Execute display processing. Then, the process advances to step S 614 to update the medium mismatch state of the job and redisplay the job list 2101. The above processing is continuously executed until the job list screen is switched to another screen. The process of S613 will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  According to this process, a list of hold jobs can be displayed on the UI 1909, and the user can select and print a desired job from the list display of the jobs. At this time, it is also easy to check whether the size and type of paper used for printing the selected job match the size and type of paper set in the paper feed tray. If the size and type of paper used for printing the selected job do not match the size and type of paper set in the paper feed tray, accommodate the size and type of paper used in the job. The job can be executed by designating another paper feed tray.

  FIG. 24 is a flowchart for describing processing of determining a media mismatch state of a plurality of selected jobs by the controller 1900 of the printing apparatus 1800 according to the fifth embodiment. A program for executing this process is stored in a program ROM 1903, and this process is achieved by the CPU 1901 executing the program. This process corresponds to the details of the process of S611 in FIG.

  First, in step S701, the CPU 1901 determines whether there is a job for which the media mismatch state is not determined among the information of the plurality of selected jobs, and if processing for all the selected jobs is completed, the process proceeds to step S709. Go to In step S709, the CPU 1901 obtains the determination result of the media mismatch state of the selected job, and ends this processing.

  If it is determined in step S701 that there is a job for which the media mismatch state determination process has not yet been performed, the process advances to step S702 to determine whether the job is a target job for media mismatch determination. If it is determined here that the job is not a target, the process advances to step S701 to process the next job. If it is determined in S702 that the job is the target of the media mismatch determination, the processing proceeds to S703, and the CPU 1901 determines whether the information on the sheet to be used in the job has been acquired. If it is determined that the job has not been acquired, the process advances to step S704, and information on the sheet used by the job is acquired and stored in the three attributes of sheet feed tray, size, and media type (sheet type), and the process advances to step S705. If different sheets of one job use sheets of the same sheet feed tray, sheet size, and media type, they are grouped as the same. If it is determined in step S703 that the information on the sheet to be used in the job has already been acquired, the process advances to step S705.

  In step S705, the CPU 1901 determines whether the determination process has ended for all sheet feed trays used in the job. If the determination processing has been completed for all sheet feeding stages, the process advances to step S708, and the CPU 1901 selects the next job of the selected jobs, and the process advances to step S701.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S705 that the determination processing has not been completed for all the sheet feed trays used in the job, the process advances to step S706 and the CPU 1901 determines the acquired sheet feed tray information for Determine if there is a media mismatch and save the result. Then, the process advances to step S707, and the process advances to step S705, with the next sheet feeding stage being determined. In this way, when the processing of all the plurality of selected jobs is completed in S701, the determination result of each stored job is acquired, and this processing ends.

  As a result, in the selected job, whether the sheet size and sheet type of the sheet feed stage requested by the job, and the sheet size and sheet type actually set in the sheet feed stage coincide with each other You can determine if. When a plurality of jobs are selected, the sheet size of the sheet feed stage requested by the job, the sheet type, and the sheet size actually set in the sheet feed stage in each of the plurality of jobs , It can be determined whether or not the paper type matches.

  FIG. 25 is a flowchart for describing processing of displaying a sheet substitute screen by the controller 1900 of the printing apparatus 1800 according to the fifth embodiment. A program for executing this process is stored in a program ROM 1903, and this process is achieved by the CPU 1901 executing the program. This process corresponds to the details of the sheet alternative screen display process of S613 in FIG.

  First, in step S801, when the CPU 1901 determines that there is no current selection job or a job not subject to sheet replacement, the sheet replacement screen display process is not performed, and the processing ends. If not, the process advances to step S802, and the CPU 1901 determines whether the sheet information used for the job has been acquired. If the sheet information has already been acquired, the process advances to step S804. If the sheet information has not been acquired, the process advances to step S803, and as in step S704 of FIG. Get and save with 3 attributes of. Then, the process proceeds to step S804.

  In step S804, the CPU 1901 determines whether the medium mismatch determination process for all sheets used in the job is completed. If the determination process for all sheets is completed, the process advances to step S807; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S805. Go to In step S805, the CPU 1901 determines the media mismatch of each sheet. Then, in step S806, if a substitute sheet is already set, the information on the substitute sheet and the media mismatch state on the sheet are displayed, and the processing proceeds to step S804. The process of S805 will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S807, the CPU 1901 displays a list of sheet information to be used in the job as shown in FIG. 22 in a state where no sheet is selected. Then, the process advances to step S808 to wait for an input from the UI 1909. If there is an input from the UI 1909, the process advances to step S809, and the CPU 1901 determines the input. If the CPU 1901 determines in S809 that it is an instruction to select a sheet, the process advances to S810, and the CPU 1901 determines whether the sheet is not selected. If it is determined that the selected sheet is not selected, the process advances to step S811 to display the selected sheet with a background color, and the process advances to step S808. If it is determined that the selected sheet has already been selected, the process advances from step S810 to step S812, the CPU 1901 removes the selected sheet from the selected sheet, cancels the background color and displays it, and advances to step S808. The processes of S809 to S812 are processes of switching selection / non-selection of sheet information.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S809 that the input is "Change Paper Selection" button 2205 for changing paper selection, the process advances to S814 via S813. In step S814, the CPU 1901 temporarily sets the sheet selected on the change sheet selection screen as a substitute sheet, and the process advances to step S816. When the "to the sheet before change" button 506 is pressed in step S809, the process advances to step S815 via step S813. In step S815, the CPU 1901 deletes the alternative sheet if it is set for the selected sheet, and the process advances to step S816. In step S816, the CPU 1901 determines a media mismatch for the selected sheet. In step S817, the display of the icon 2204 indicating the mismatched state of the selected sheet is updated, and the process returns to step S808. The process of S816 will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  If it is determined in step S808 that the OK button 2207 or the cancel button 2208 is pressed, the process advances to step S818. In the case of the OK button 2207, the process advances to step S819, and the CPU 1901 determines and stores the substitute sheet information set on this screen as an actual one instead of a temporary one, and ends the processing. On the other hand, in the case of the cancel button 2208, the process advances to step S820, the substitute sheet set on this screen, the deletion instruction, and the like are discarded, the original substitute sheet information is validated, and the processing ends.

  FIG. 26 is a flowchart for explaining processing in which the controller 1900 of the printing apparatus 1800 according to the fifth embodiment determines the presence or absence of media mismatch on a sheet basis. A program for executing this process is stored in a program ROM 1903, and this process is achieved by the CPU 1901 executing the program. This process corresponds to the details of the process of S706 in FIG. 24 and S805 and S816 in FIG.

  First, in step S <b> 901, the CPU 1901 obtains, from the printer engine 1908, information on sheets set in each sheet feed stage of the printer engine 1908. This sheet information is stored not only in the printer engine 1908 but also in the controller 1900. In this case, such information is obtained from the setting storage unit 2007. Next, in step S902, the CPU 1901 determines whether a substitute sheet is set for the sheet obtained from the job. If an alternative sheet is set here, the process advances to step S903, and the CPU 1901 sets the alternative sheet as a determination target, and the process advances to step S905. On the other hand, if no substitute sheet is set, the process advances to step S904, and the CPU 1901 sets the sheet itself as a determination target to step S905.

  In step S905, the CPU 1901 determines whether the target sheet feed tray, size, and media type information all match the sheet information of the printer acquired in step S901. If they match, the process advances to step S906, the CPU 1901 determines that there is no media mismatch, and the process advances to step S908. If they do not match, the process advances to step S907, the CPU 1901 determines that there is a media mismatch, and the process advances to step S908. In step S908, the CPU 1901 writes the determination result in the sheet information, and ends the processing.

  According to the processing described above, when the operator displays a list of hold jobs, selects a plurality of jobs to be printed, and presses the update button 2104 before instructing to start printing, the medium is selected for each of the selected jobs. A mismatch is determined and the result is displayed.

  Even if a large number of hold jobs exist, the number of jobs actually printed is usually not so many, and is only a few to a few at most. For this reason, the determination of the media mismatch may be processing of about several seconds even with a non-high performance CPU.

  The media mismatch determination is performed only when the operator consciously presses the update button 2104. For example, when the job list is scrolled to search for a job, the media mismatch determination is not performed. For this reason, the operator does not feel stress such as slow display.

  Furthermore, when a job in which a media mismatch has occurred is selected to display a screen of a sheet substitute, for example, as shown in FIG. In addition, there is also an advantage that it is possible to immediately determine whether or not the media mismatch is eliminated by substituting another sheet for avoiding the media mismatch.

  As described above, according to the fifth embodiment, when printing of a hold job is instructed, the sheet of the sheet feed stage designated by the job matches the sheet actually stored in the sheet feed stage. You can check if you want to print before instructing to start printing. Furthermore, since media mismatch determination is performed only for the selected job and no media mismatch determination is performed for the other jobs, it is possible to reduce the time and load required to perform the media mismatch determination.

  Further, when there is a sheet mismatch, it is possible to specify the sheet of the alternative sheet feed tray with a simple operation, so that it is possible to eliminate the bother of the operator's operation.

Sixth Embodiment
In the above-described fifth embodiment, a plurality of jobs are selected from the plurality of hold jobs, and the update button 2104 is pressed to determine the presence / absence of media mismatch of the selected jobs. On the other hand, the processing time can be shortened if there is only one job, even if the presence or absence of media mismatch when executing the job is determined at the moment of selecting the job. Hereinafter, a sixth embodiment will be described which determines the presence or absence of a media mismatch in a job at the timing when the job is selected. The hardware configuration and system configuration of the apparatus according to the sixth embodiment are the same as those of the fifth embodiment described above, and thus the description thereof will be omitted.

  FIG. 27 is a flowchart illustrating processing of displaying a job list screen by the controller 1900 of the printing apparatus 1800 according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention. A program for executing this process is stored in a program ROM 1903, and this process is achieved by the CPU 1901 executing the program.

  The processes of S1001 to S1008 and S1010 to S1016 are the same as S601 to S615 in the flowchart of FIG. 23 of the above-described embodiment 51, and thus the description thereof will be omitted.

  The difference from the fifth embodiment is that the CPU 1901 determines in S1007 whether the job is already a target of multiple selection, and if it is not a target for multiple selection, the processing proceeds to S1008 and is added to one of the multiple selection jobs. Assign a selection order number and proceed to S1009. On the other hand, if a plurality of items have already been selected in S1007, the process proceeds to S1009. In step S1009, the CPU 1901 determines the presence or absence of a media mismatch with respect to the job. If the mismatch is detected, the icon is added and the job list 2101 is redisplayed in step S1003 to wait for the next input.

  According to the processing described above, the operator displays a list of hold jobs, and when selecting a job to be printed, determines the presence or absence of media mismatch for each job every time the job is selected. Such processing is performed for one job, so even a low-performance CPU needs only several tens of milliseconds of processing. Therefore, it is considered that the operator does not feel stress because the display of the screen is delayed or the like.

  Further, as in the fifth embodiment, when the job list is scrolled in order to search for a job, the presence or absence of the media mismatch is not determined, so that stress such as slow display may be avoided.

  In addition, if it is a UI that can select 100 jobs from the top collectively instead of selecting one by one from the job list, or if it is a UI that allows range specification, it takes time in units of several seconds to determine the presence or absence of media mismatch. It may be. However, it is considered that the operator does not feel particularly uncomfortable because the operation is the same as pressing the update button after selecting a job. It should be noted that even if the job is selected, it is possible to switch to the method of the fifth embodiment for the operator that the determination of the presence or absence of the media mismatch is not necessary.

Seventh Embodiment
In the fifth embodiment described above, the presence or absence of the media mismatch is determined on the premise that all pieces of information such as the sheet size, the sheet feed tray, and the media type are present on the sheets used by the job. However, there are not many cases in which all the information is set on the sheet of the job actually input. For example, there is a case where the printing apparatus finds sheets suitable for the job from the sheet feed tray and feeds the sheets as “AUTO” (automatic) without specifying the sheet feed tray in the job designation. Also, there may be cases where the job designation is only for the paper feed stage, and the paper size and media type are not designated, such as the cover, back cover, and insertion sheet. In such a case, only the sheet feed tray is matched, and the sheet size and the media type do not match, so all jobs in which the insertion sheet is present are determined to be media mismatch.

  As another problem, although the sheet size and the media type are set as the information of the sheet set in the sheet feeding tray, the sheet feeding tray may be pulled out and the sheet may not be fed in an actual printing apparatus. . In addition, there is also a case where the paper feed tray is closed but the paper is not stored therein (paper out).

  Hereinafter, the seventh embodiment will be described which determines the presence or absence of the media mismatch in these cases. The hardware configuration and system configuration of the apparatus according to the seventh embodiment are the same as those of the fifth embodiment described above, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 28 is a flowchart for explaining processing in which the controller 1900 of the printing apparatus 1800 according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention determines the presence or absence of media mismatch on a sheet basis. A program for executing this process is stored in a program ROM 1903, and this process is achieved by the CPU 1901 executing the program. This process corresponds to the details of the process of S706 in FIG. 24 and S805 and S816 in FIG. Here, since the processes of S1101 to S1104 are the same as S901 to S904 of FIG. 26, the description thereof will be omitted.

  In step S1105, the CPU 1901 determines whether the designation of the sheet feed stage of the target job is “AUTO”. If so, the process advances to step S1106. In step S1106, the CPU 1901 determines whether any one of the paper feed trays of the printing apparatus 1800 has a paper feed tray that accommodates a sheet whose designated sheet size and media type match. If there is a matching sheet feeding tray, the process advances to step S1107, and the CPU 1901 determines whether the sheet feeding tray is out of paper. If it is determined in step S1107 that the paper has not run out, the process advances to step S1108, and the CPU 1901 determines whether the paper feed tray is pulled out. If it is determined not to be in the extracted state (open), the processing proceeds to S1109, the CPU 1901 determines that there is no mismatch, and the processing proceeds to S1111.

  On the other hand, if there is no sheet size and media type match in any of the sheet feed stages in S1106, or if the sheet feed stage is out of paper in S1107, or if the sheet feed stage is open in S1108, S1110 is performed. move on. In step S1110, the CPU 1901 determines that there is a mismatch, and advances to step S1111. The CPU 1901 writes the determination result in the sheet information of the job, and ends this processing.

  If, in step S1105, the CPU 1901 does not designate the sheet feed tray of the sheet designated by the target job as "AUTO" but specifically designates the sheet feed tray, the process advances to step S1112, and the CPU 1901 further Check the paper size and media type designation for the job. If the both are not designated, the process advances to step S1113, and the CPU 1901 obtains information on the sheet size and media type set for the designated sheet feed tray from the sheet setting information of the printing apparatus. Then, the processing proceeds to step S1114 by adopting the sheet size of the job and the sheet size and media type set for the sheet feeding stage as the media type. If the job designates a sheet size, media type, or both in S1112, the process advances to S1114.

  In step S1114, the CPU 1901 determines whether the sheet size and the media type match for the sheet of the designated sheet feed stage. If there is a sheet feeding stage that matches here, the process advances to step S1107; otherwise, the process advances to step S1110. In step S1110, the CPU 1901 determines that there is a mismatch, and advances to step S1111. The CPU 1901 writes the determination result in the sheet information of the job, and ends this processing.

  According to the processing described above, when the designation of the sheet feed tray used for the held job is “AUTO”, the sheet size and the media type match among the sheet feed trays of the printing apparatus. Search for the paper feed tray containing paper. Here, if there is a sheet feeding stage, it does not become a media mismatch, but if there is no matching sheet in any sheet feeding stage, it is judged that there is a media mismatch.

  Also, if there is a sheet on the job that you just use to feed without overlapping, such as the cover, back cover, and insert sheet, and overlay it on the deliverables, before judging whether it is a media mismatch or not Set the specified paper size and media type for the specified paper feed tray.

  As a result, if there is a sheet in the sheet feed tray, a media mismatch will not occur, and if there is no sheet, a media mismatch without a sheet will occur.

  Further, in the case where the sheet has run out of the sheet feed stage, or when the sheet feed stage is open and the sheet can not be fed as it is, it is determined that the medium is mismatched.

(Other embodiments)
While various examples and embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, the spirit and scope of the present invention should not be limited to the specific descriptions in the present specification, as it is understood by those skilled in the art.

  The present invention is also realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiment is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU or the like) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to execute.

  102: digital printing machine, 200: sheet processing apparatus, 204: operation unit, 209: HDD, 224: scanner, 1000: printer unit

In order to achieve the above object, a printing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention has the following configuration. That is,
A printing apparatus capable of conveying a sheet from at least one of a plurality of sheet storage units and printing an image on the conveyed sheet,
Holding means for holding one or more print data;
A determination unit that determines whether a sheet is present in at least one or more sheet storage units used to print the one or more pieces of print data stored in the storage unit;
A notification unit that notifies that there is no sheet to be used for printing the print data based on the determination by the determination unit;
First receiving means for receiving from a user a selection instruction to select at least one print data from the print data held in the holding means;
A second accepting unit that accepts, from the user, a print execution instruction based on print data selected by the selection instruction;
And execution means for executing printing based on the print data selected by the selection instruction in accordance with the acceptance of the execution instruction.
The notification means may notify that there is no sheet to be used for printing the print data before receiving the execution instruction from the second reception means .

Claims (12)

A printing device,
Storage means for storing a plurality of print jobs;
Extracting means for extracting a sheet size and a sheet type used by the print job stored in the storage means;
A determination unit that determines whether the sheet size and sheet type extracted by the extraction unit are set in a sheet feeding unit that can be used by the printing apparatus;
A determination unit that determines whether a sheet is present in a sheet feeding unit that is determined by the determination unit that the sheet size and sheet type are set.
A display unit that displays the determination result by the determination unit and the determination result by the determination unit in association with the print job;
A printing apparatus characterized by having: A printing device,
Storage means for storing a plurality of print jobs;
Extracting means for extracting a sheet size and a sheet type used by the print job stored in the storage means;
A determination unit that determines whether the sheet size and sheet type extracted by the extraction unit are set in a sheet feeding unit that can be used by the printing apparatus;
A determination unit that determines whether or not the sheet of the sheet size and sheet type extracted by the extraction unit is present in a sheet feeding unit that can be used by the printing apparatus;
A display unit that displays the determination result by the determination unit and the determination result by the determination unit in association with the print job;
A printing apparatus characterized by having:   3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: selection means for displaying a list of a plurality of print jobs stored in the storage means and causing the user to select a print job as a print job to be printed from the list. Printing device as described.   When the determination unit determines that the sheet size and sheet type extracted by the extraction unit are not set in the sheet feeding unit usable by the printing apparatus, or the determination unit determines the sheet of the sheet size and sheet type 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein when it is determined that the sheet feeding unit does not exist in the sheet feeding unit, the display unit displays marks in mutually different forms in association with the print job.   The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising instruction means for instructing the process by the determination means and the process by the determination means.   Storage means for storing the sheet size and sheet type set in each of the sheet feeding units usable by the printing apparatus, and the remaining amount of each sheet of the sheet feeding unit usable by the printing apparatus; The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising:   If the determination unit determines that a sheet used in the print job is not set in the sheet feeding unit, or if the determination unit determines that a sheet does not exist in the sheet feed unit, the setting is not performed. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising presentation means for presenting the sheet size of the sheet determined to be to the user.   When it is determined that the sheet size and sheet type extracted by the extraction unit are not set in the sheet feeding unit that can be used by the printing apparatus, a sheet of another sheet type is selected for the print job. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising instruction means for instructing use.   The determination unit determines whether the sheet size and sheet type extracted by the extraction unit are set in a sheet feeding unit usable by the printing apparatus for the print job selected by the selection unit. The printing apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that The printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the determination unit determines the print job selected by the selection unit. A control method for controlling a printing apparatus, comprising:
A storage step of storing the plurality of print jobs by the storage means;
An extracting step of extracting a sheet size and a sheet type used by the print job stored in the storing step;
A determining step of determining whether the sheet size and sheet type extracted in the extracting step are set in a sheet feeding unit usable by the printing apparatus;
A discrimination step of discriminating whether or not a sheet is present in the sheet feeding unit in which the sheet size and the sheet type are set in the determination step;
A display step of displaying the determination result in the determination step and the determination result in the determination step in association with the print job;
And controlling the printing apparatus.   A program for causing a computer to execute the control method according to claim 11.

Images