JP2021030521A - Image formation apparatus and control method of image formation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To select and execute a desirable print job from print jobs whose execution is reserved with a simple operation.SOLUTION: An image formation apparatus 10 can execute a reservation printing for reserving execution of a print job input from an information processing device until an execution instruction is received from a user. A notification unit 142 displays on a control screen of a display device 13 a notification icon for reporting whether or not there is a print job whose execution is reserved by the reservation printing when the user logs into the image formation apparatus. A list display unit 143 displays on the control screen a list of print jobs whose execution is reserved by the reservation printing when the notification icon is pressed down, and makes the user select the print job being the execution target from the list. An execution control unit 145 executes the print job selected from the list by the user.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a control method of an image forming apparatus capable of suspending execution of a print job input from an information processing apparatus until an execution instruction is given from a user.

An image forming apparatus such as an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral) is usually used by a plurality of users via a network. However, in such an environment in which the image forming apparatus is shared, the printed matter output from the image forming apparatus may be seen or taken away by a third party. Therefore, a printing method (hereinafter, referred to as hold print) has been proposed in which a print job input from a PC (personal computer) is temporarily retained without being immediately executed, and the execution of the print job is suspended. In the hold print, the execution of the print job is held until the print instruction from the user is received via the operation panel of the image forming apparatus.

On the other hand, in the case of hold print, when there are a plurality of print jobs whose execution is held (hereinafter referred to as hold jobs), the user must select the print job to be instructed to print, which may complicate the user operation. was there. In order to solve such a problem, a method has been proposed in which the image forming apparatus automatically executes the pending job of the user who succeeded in the authentication when the user authentication succeeds in the user authentication before accepting the login operation. (See Patent Document 1). According to the method described in Patent Document 1, by using a user authentication method that does not involve user operations such as biometric authentication, a pending job can be executed without causing trouble for the user.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-31857

However, the pending jobs may include unwanted print jobs that the user no longer wants to print. Therefore, with the method described in Patent Document 1, there is a possibility that a printed matter unintended by the user may be output.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, for example, and an object of the present invention is to select and execute a desired print job from print jobs whose execution is suspended by a simple operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus capable of the above and a method of controlling the image forming apparatus.

In order to solve the above problems, the image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus capable of executing a hold print that suspends the execution of a print job input from the information processing apparatus until an execution instruction from a user is received. , A display device that displays an operation screen for operating the image forming apparatus, and when the user logs in to the image forming apparatus, notifies whether or not there is a print job whose execution is suspended by the pending print. A notification unit that displays a notification icon on the operation screen and a list of print jobs that are suspended for execution by the hold print when the notification icon is pressed are displayed on the operation screen and executed from the list. It is characterized by including a list display unit that allows the user to select a target print job, and an execution control unit that executes a print job selected by the user from the list.

In order to solve the above problems, the control method of the image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus capable of executing a hold print that suspends the execution of the print job input from the information processing apparatus until the execution instruction from the user is received. When the user logs in to the image forming apparatus, the operation screen of the operation panel of the image forming apparatus notifies whether or not there is a print job whose execution is suspended by the pending print. A notification process for displaying a notification icon and a list of print jobs whose execution is suspended by the pending print when the notification icon is pressed are displayed on the operation screen, and the print to be executed from the list is displayed. It is characterized by including a list display step of causing the user to select a job, and an execution control step of executing a print job selected by the user from the list.

According to the present invention, a desired print job can be selected and executed from the print jobs whose execution is suspended by a simple operation.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the print system which includes the image forming apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the functional block of an image forming apparatus and a PC. It is a flowchart which shows the operation of the image forming apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation of the image forming apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the notification icon displayed on the home screen. It is a figure which shows an example of the pending job list screen. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the operation when the image forming apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention executes a hold job.

Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Print system)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a print system including an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the print system 1 includes an image forming apparatus 10 which is a multifunction device and a PC 20 (20-1, 20-2, ..., 20-n) which is an information processing apparatus. The image forming apparatus 10 and the PC 20 can communicate with each other via the network 100. The network 100 is a computer network such as the Internet or a local area network. Although one image forming apparatus 10 is illustrated in FIG. 1, the printing system 1 may include any number of image forming apparatus 10. Further, the network 100 may be a wired network or a wireless network.

(Image forming device)
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a functional block of the image forming apparatus 10. The image forming apparatus 10 includes a communication circuit 11, a storage device 12, an operation panel 13, a control unit 14 such as a CPU, and a printing unit 15.

The communication circuit 11 has a circuit for communicating with another device via the network 100. The image forming apparatus 10 can communicate with the PC 20 via the communication circuit 11. The communication circuit 11 may have a circuit for performing facsimile communication.

The storage device 12 has, for example, a semiconductor storage device such as a flash memory, or a magnetic storage device such as a hard disk.

The operation panel 13 has a display such as a liquid crystal display and functions as a display device. Therefore, in the following, the operation panel 13 may be referred to as a display device. Further, the operation panel 13 has a touch panel and also functions as an input device. In the present embodiment, the operation panel 13 displays an operation screen for operating the image forming apparatus 10 under the control of the control unit 14, and accepts user operations input via the operation screen.

The control unit 14 functions as a job reception unit 141, a notification unit 142, a list display unit 143, a hold control unit 144, and an execution control unit 145 by reading and executing a computer program stored in the storage device 12, for example. ..

The job receiving unit 141 receives a print job from the PC 20 via the communication circuit 11. When the received print job is designated as a hold print, the job receiving unit 141 passes the print job to the hold control unit 144. If the received print job is not designated as a hold print, the job receiving unit 141 passes the print job to the execution control unit 145. In this embodiment, when a print job is input from the PC 20 via the print setting screen (not shown) of the printer driver, the user sets on or off of the hold print designation on the print setting screen. And.

When the user logs in to the image forming apparatus 10, the notification unit 142 sets an icon (hereinafter, referred to as a notification icon) for notifying whether or not there is a pending job of the logged-in user (hereinafter, referred to as a logged-in user). Display on the operation screen.

The list display unit 143 displays a list of pending jobs of the logged-in user (hereinafter referred to as a pending job list) on the operation screen when the notification icon on the operation screen is pressed. The pending job list will be described later.

The hold control unit 144 performs hold control for the print job received from the job reception unit 141. In the present embodiment, when the hold control unit 144 receives the print job for which the hold print designation is received from the job receiving unit 141, the hold control unit 144 retains the print job in the storage device 12. A storage device installed outside the image forming apparatus 10 may be used as the storage device for storing the print job.

In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the header information of the print job for which the hold print is specified includes the identification information (user name and user ID) of the user who has specified the hold print. In order to realize such an aspect, for example, an input field for a user name and a user ID may be provided on the print setting screen of the printer driver so that the user can set the identification information thereof.

When the hold control unit 144 receives the print job from the job receiving unit 141, the hold control unit 144 identifies the user from the user identification information (user name or user ID) included in the header information of the print job, and associates the print job with each user. Store in storage device 12. Further, the hold control unit 144 prevents the job receiving unit 141 from accepting the print job designated as hold print when there are a certain number or more of print jobs (that is, hold jobs) stored in the storage device 12. .. In that case, the hold control unit 144 may notify the PC 20 via the communication circuit 11 that the print job for which the hold print is specified cannot be accepted. Then, the PC 20 may display the content of the above notification on the display unit (not shown) of the PC 20, or accepts a transmission instruction for transmitting the print job for which the hold print designation is specified to the image forming apparatus 10. You may not have it. The hold control unit 144 may count the number of hold jobs for each user and notify the PC 20 of the user who has reached a certain number of hold jobs. Further, the fixed number may be set in advance according to the storage capacity of the storage device 12, or may be fluidly set by the hold control unit 144 according to the free capacity of the storage device 12. Further, the administrator of the image forming apparatus 10 may be able to set the fixed number from the operation screen of the operation panel 13.

The execution control unit 145 causes the print unit 15 to execute the print job received from the job reception unit 141. Further, the execution control unit 145 controls the print unit 15 to execute the hold job or delete the hold job based on the user's instruction input to the operation screen of the operation panel 13. The operation of the execution control unit 145 will be described later with reference to FIG.

The printing unit 15 has, for example, an electrophotographic image forming mechanism, and prints are executed using the image forming mechanism.

(Hold print by image forming device)
3A and 3B are flowcharts showing the operation of the image forming apparatus 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3A shows the operation of the control unit 14 when the image forming apparatus 10 receives the print job from the PC 20.

First, when the job receiving unit 141 receives a print job from the PC 20, it determines whether or not the print job has been designated as a hold print (step S301). When the hold print designation is specified (step S301: Yes), the job receiving unit 141 passes the received print job to the hold control unit 144 (step S302), and ends the process. When the hold control unit 144 receives the print job from the job receiving unit 141, the hold control unit 144 acquires the user identification information from the header information of the print job, and stores the received print job in the storage device 12 in association with the user identification information. This puts the print job execution on hold. If the hold print is not specified (step S301: No), the job receiving unit 141 passes the received print job to the execution control unit 145 (step S303), and ends the process. The execution control unit 145 executes the print job received from the job reception unit 141. More specifically, the execution control unit 145 causes the print unit 15 to execute the print based on the print job received from the job reception unit 141.

FIG. 3B shows the operation of the control unit 14 when the user logs in to the image forming apparatus 10.

The notification unit 142 determines whether or not the user has performed a login operation (step S311). Here, the login operation is an operation for logging in to the image forming apparatus 10 performed by the user on the operation screen of the operation panel 13, for example, an operation for inputting the user's account information (user name and password). Is. The method for the user to log in to the image forming apparatus 10 is not limited to the above method, and for example, a method using face authentication, a method of holding an ID card over a card reader (not shown) of the image forming apparatus 10, etc. It may be a method that does not require a login operation. When such a method is used, the notification unit 142 may determine in step S311 whether or not the user has been successfully authenticated.

If the login operation has not been performed (step S311: No), the notification unit 142 repeats the process of step S311 until the login operation is performed. When the login operation is performed (step S311: Yes), the notification unit 142 displays the notification icon on the operation screen (home screen in this embodiment) (step S312). FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a notification icon displayed on the home screen. As shown in FIG. 4, the notification unit 142 displays the notification icon 45 on the home screen 40 on which the “copy” icon 41, the “send” icon 42, the “fax” icon 43, the “scan” icon 44, and the like are arranged. To do. Further, the notification unit 142 acquires the number of reserved jobs (“5” in the example shown in FIG. 4) of the logged-in user (logged-in user) from the hold control unit 144, and displays the acquired number on the notification icon 45. ..

Here, the "copy" icon 41 is an icon for using the copy function of the image forming apparatus 10. The image forming apparatus 10 is provided with a scanner (not shown) as a mechanism for realizing the document reading function, and the copying function is realized by the printing unit 15 and the scanner. The "send" icon 42 is an icon for using a transmission function for transmitting a document read by a scanner by e-mail or transmitting to a PC connected to the network 100. The "fax" icon 43 is an icon for using the fax function for faxing a document read by a scanner. The "scan" icon 44 is an icon for using the document scanning function.

Next, the notification unit 142 determines whether or not the notification icon 45 has been pressed (step S313). When the notification icon 45 is pressed (step S313: Yes), the list display unit 143 displays the pending job list on the operation screen (step S314). At this time, the notification icon 45 is deleted by the notification unit 142. Then, the process ends. The pending job list will be described later.

If the notification icon 45 is not pressed (step S313: No), the notification unit 142 determines whether or not another user operation has been performed (step S315). Here, the other user operation is an operation for causing the image forming apparatus 10 to execute a job other than the print job, and here corresponds to pressing the icons 41 to 44. When another user operation is being performed (step S315: Yes), the notification unit 142 deletes the notification icon 45 from the home screen 40 (step S316). Then, the process ends. If no other user operation has been performed (step S315: No), the process returns to step S313.

Next, the pending job list will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG. 5 shows an example of the pending job list screen displayed on the operation screen in step S314. As shown in FIG. 5, the hold job list screen 50 displays a hold job list corresponding to the hold job of the logged-in user (user A in this case) stored in the storage device 12. On the hold job list screen 50, for each hold job, the name 51 of the hold job, the check box 52 for specifying whether to execute the hold job, and the check for specifying whether to delete the hold job are displayed. The box 53 and the enter button 54 are displayed.

The login user operates the check box 52 to select a pending job to be executed. In addition, the logged-in user operates the check box 53 to select a pending job to be deleted. When the login user presses the enter button 54 in that state, printing is executed for the pending job selected as the execution target, and the pending job selected as the deletion target is deleted. In this way, the logged-in user gives an execution instruction or a deletion instruction to the pending job.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the image forming apparatus 10 when the image forming apparatus 10 executes the pending job based on the setting contents of the pending job list.

The execution control unit 145 determines whether or not the decision button 54 on the pending job list screen 50 has been pressed (step S601). If the decision button 54 is not pressed (step S601: No), the execution control unit 145 repeats the process of step S601 until the decision button 54 is pressed. When the enter button 54 is pressed (step S601: Yes), the execution control unit 145 determines whether or not there is a pending job for which the check box 52 is set to be selected, that is, the pending job selected as the execution target is selected. It is determined whether or not there is (step S602).

If there are pending jobs for which the check box 52 is set to on (step S602: Yes), the execution control unit 145 executes those pending jobs (step S603). Specifically, the execution control unit 145 causes the print unit 15 to execute the print for the pending job for which the check box 52 is set to be selected. If there is no pending job for which the check box 52 is set to on (step S602: Yes), the execution control unit 145 shifts the process to step S604.

Next, the execution control unit 145 determines whether or not there is a pending job for which the check box 53 is set to be selected, that is, whether or not there is a pending job selected as a deletion target (step S604).

If there are pending jobs for which the check box 53 is set to on (step S604: Yes), the execution control unit 145 deletes those pending jobs from the storage device 12 (step S605). If there is no pending job for which the check box 53 is set to on (step S604: No), the execution control unit 145 shifts the process to step S606.

Next, the execution control unit 145 ends the display of the held job list screen 50 by the list display unit 143 (step S606). As a result, the operation screen returns to the home screen 40. Finally, the execution control unit 145 cancels the login state of the logged-in user (here, user A) (step S607), and ends the process.

The flow shown in FIG. 6 is an example, and the execution order of each step is not limited to the order shown in FIG. For example, the processing order of steps S606 and S607 may be changed, or the processing of steps S606 and S607 may be performed and then the processing of steps S602 to S605 may be performed. Further, for example, the determination in steps S602 and S604 may be performed first, and then the processing in steps S603 and S605 may be performed. In that case, the pending job for which only the check box 53 is set to be selected may be deleted from the storage device 12 without waiting for the completion of the processing of S603.

Further, regarding the hold job for which printing was executed in step S603, it is determined that it is not necessary to continue holding, and even if the check box 53 is set to off, the hold job is deleted from the storage device 12 in step S605. You may do so. According to such an aspect, the number of pending jobs that are left in the pending state can be further reduced.

As described above, in the image forming apparatus 10 of the above embodiment, when the user logs in to the image forming apparatus 10, the notification unit 142 sends a notification icon 45 on the operation panel 13 to notify whether or not there is a pending job. It is displayed on the operation screen (for example, the home screen 40). Then, when the notification icon 45 is pressed, the list display unit 143 displays the hold job list on the operation screen and causes the user to select the print job to be executed from the hold job list. Further, the execution control unit 145 executes the print job selected by the user from the pending job list.

According to the present embodiment, the user can select and execute a desired pending job from a plurality of pending jobs. Therefore, unlike the method described in Patent Document 1, unnecessary pending jobs that the user no longer wants to print are not printed. Further, since the hold job list can be displayed on the operation screen simply by pressing the notification icon 45, it is possible to select and execute a desired hold job by a simple operation without going through complicated operation steps. It becomes.

Further, in the present embodiment, the notification icon 45 is displayed on the operation screen immediately after login. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably notify the user of the existence of the pending job. The reason is that there is a high possibility that the user's line of sight is directed to the operation screen immediately after login. According to the display mode of such a notification icon 45, it is possible to prevent the hold job from being left in the hold state without being printed, and it is possible to effectively utilize the storage resources of the print system 1 and the image forming apparatus 10. It will be possible.

Further, the notification unit 142 performs another user operation (for example, an operation for causing the image forming apparatus 10 to execute a job other than the print job) on the operation screen without the user pressing the notification icon 45. If so, the notification icon 45 is deleted from the operation screen. As a result, the existence of the pending job will not be notified until the next login. Therefore, even if the logged-in user continues the login state by performing another user operation without pressing the notification icon 45, it is possible to prevent the reserved job of the logged-in user from being operated by another user. be able to. Further, it is possible to secure the operability when the user uses the other functions (copy function and document reading function) by pressing the icons 41 to 44 other than the notification icon 45.

Further, when the user finishes selecting the hold job to be executed from the hold job list, the list display unit 143 ends the display of the hold job list and cancels the user's login state. Therefore, after the user finishes the operation for the held job (after pressing the enter button 54), it is necessary to log in again in order to perform another operation (for example, a copy operation). In this way, by logging in to the user again, the notification icon 45 can be redisplayed on the operation screen, and the existence of the pending job can be positively notified.

Further, the notification unit 142 displays the number of pending jobs on the notification icon 45. This allows the user to know how many pending jobs there are to run or delete.

Further, the hold control unit 144 prevents the input of the print job for which the hold print is specified from being accepted when there are a certain number or more of the hold jobs. As a result, the user can be urged to execute or delete the pending job, and it is possible to further suppress that the pending job is left in the pending state without being printed.

Further, the hold control unit 144 manages the hold job for each user, and prevents the user who has reached a certain number of hold jobs from inputting the print job for which the hold print is specified. As a result, in an environment in which the image forming apparatus 10 is shared by a plurality of users, it is possible to urge each user to execute or delete the reserved job according to the number of reserved jobs of each user.

Further, the list display unit 143 displays the hold job list and causes the user to select a hold job to be deleted from the hold job list, and the execution control unit 145 holds the hold selected by the user from the list to be deleted. Delete the job.

Here, the correspondence between the steps in FIG. 4 and the steps in the power supply control method of the image forming apparatus 10 described in the claims will be described. Steps S311 and S312 in FIG. 3 are specific examples of the notification process. Further, steps S313 and S314 are specific examples of the list display process. Further, steps S601 to S603 in FIG. 6 are specific examples of the execution control process.

In the present invention, the image forming apparatus 10 is not limited to the multifunction device, but may be a copier, a printer, or the like. Further, the image forming method of the image forming apparatus 10 is not limited to the electrophotographic method, and may be an inkjet method. Further, the job whose execution is suspended is not limited to the print job, and the present invention may be applied to other jobs whose execution can be suspended.

The present invention can be appropriately modified within the scope of the claims and within a range not contrary to the gist or idea of the invention that can be read from the entire specification, and the image forming apparatus and the control method of the image forming apparatus accompanied by such changes. Is also included in the technical idea of the present invention.

10 Image forming device 13 Operation panel (display device)
20 PC (information processing device)
45 Notification icon 142 Notification unit 143 List display unit 144 Hold control unit 145 Execution control unit

Claims (9)

An image forming device capable of executing a hold print that suspends the execution of a print job input from an information processing device until an execution instruction from a user is received.
A display device that displays an operation screen for operating the image forming device, and
When the user logs in to the image forming apparatus, a notification unit that displays a notification icon on the operation screen to notify whether or not there is a print job whose execution is suspended by the pending print, and a notification unit.
When the notification icon is pressed, a list of print jobs whose execution is suspended due to the pending print is displayed on the operation screen, and a list display that allows the user to select a print job to be executed from the list. Department and
An image forming apparatus including an execution control unit that executes a print job selected by the user from the list. The claim is characterized in that when the user performs another user operation on the operation screen without pressing the notification icon, the notification icon is deleted from the operation screen. Item 1. The image forming apparatus according to item 1. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the other user operation is an operation for causing the image forming apparatus to execute a job other than a print job. The claim is characterized in that when the user finishes selecting a print job to be executed from the list, the list display unit ends the display of the list and cancels the login state of the user. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The image according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the notification unit displays the number of print jobs whose execution is suspended by the pending print on the notification icon. Forming device. When there are a certain number or more of print jobs whose execution is suspended due to the pending print, a hold control unit for not accepting the input of the print job for which the pending print is specified is further provided. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The hold control unit
The print jobs whose execution is suspended by the pending print are managed for each user.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the user who has reached a certain number of print jobs whose execution is suspended by the pending print does not accept the input of the print job for which the pending print is specified. .. The list display unit displays the list and causes the user to select a print job to be deleted from the list.
The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the execution control unit deletes the print job to be deleted selected by the user from the list. .. It is a control method of an image forming apparatus capable of executing a hold print that suspends the execution of a print job input from an information processing apparatus until an execution instruction from a user is received.
When the user logs in to the image forming apparatus, a notification step of displaying a notification icon notifying whether or not there is a print job whose execution is suspended by the pending print is displayed on the operation screen of the operation panel of the image forming apparatus. When,
When the notification icon is pressed, a list of print jobs whose execution is suspended due to the pending print is displayed on the operation screen, and a list display that allows the user to select a print job to be executed from the list. Process and
A control method comprising an execution control step of executing a print job selected by the user from the list.

Images