JP3469393B2 - Image forming device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrophotographic copying machine,
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer or a fax machine, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus that handles data from a plurality of host devices connected to a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus that prints data from a host apparatus, the conventional image forming apparatus often has a one-to-one connection between the host apparatus and the image forming apparatus. Due to the increasing number of devices and networking, a plurality of host devices are connected to one image forming device. Therefore, when one image forming apparatus is shared by many host apparatuses, the cost sharing of consumables to be used becomes a problem. For this reason, after the consumable item is set in the image forming apparatus by the department in use, the host apparatus transmits data to be printed, and the host apparatus manages the number of sheets used by the image forming apparatus.

[0003]

As described above, in the conventional technique, when one image forming apparatus is shared by many host apparatuses, the cost sharing of consumables to be used becomes a problem. After the department to use sets the consumables in the image forming device, the host device sends data to be printed,
Each host device manages the number of sheets used by the image forming apparatus. However, it is inconvenient and inefficient for the department to set consumable items in the image forming apparatus each time data to be printed is transmitted from the host apparatus, and the number of sheets used on each host apparatus side It is unclear which host device should be used to make up for the shortage if the overall usage situation is difficult to understand and the number of sheets actually used on the image forming device side does not match. Becomes Further, when the items to be distributed to each department are printed together by one host device, the accounting troubles such as issuing a billing slip and processing a transfer slip have occurred each time. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of discriminating and recording from which host device connected to a network a request has been made, and further, the size of printing paper used and the number of printing papers are classified by requesting source. Another object is to provide an image forming apparatus that can separately count and record.

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is an image forming apparatus for printing data sent from a plurality of host devices via a network, When printing data from the host device, a request source distinguishing unit that determines from which host device the print request is made, and a storage unit that stores the determination result by the request source distinguishing unit are provided. ,use
Differentiating the print paper size and the number of print papers by requester
Aggregate, and all or part of the total number of printed sheets
To the specified other host device or other group
It has a function of transferring as a total result, and the storage means is
Distinguish the totaling result by the above request source distinguishing means by request source
It is characterized in that it is stored . The invention according to claim 2 is a plurality of hosts sent via a network.
An image forming apparatus for printing data from an apparatus,
When printing data from the host device, which host device
Request source distinguishing means for determining whether a print request from
Equipped with a storage means for storing the result of discrimination by the source discrimination means
Yes, the request source distinguishing means is the print paper size and print paper.
Distinguish the number of sheets by the group to which the requesting host device belongs.
The total number of printed sheets
To the specified other host device or other group
It has a function of transferring as a total result, and the storage means is
The result of aggregation by the request source distinguishing means is grouped as above
It is characterized by storing in . According to a third aspect of the invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first or second aspect,
The request source distinguishing means is sent together with the print data.
The group to which each host device belongs is identified by the identifier
It is characterized by having a function to do.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the request source distinguishing unit determines which host device connected to the network has performed printing, and the determination result is stored in the storage unit. By checking the recorded contents, it is possible to easily specify the billing destination for the expense of consumable items such as printing paper. Also, you can definitely hand over the completed printed matter to the requester. According to the first aspect of the present invention, the printing sheet size and the number of printing sheets used are totaled by the requesting source discriminating means by the requesting source, and the totaling result is stored in the storing means by discriminating the requesting source. Therefore, by confirming the recorded contents, it is possible to easily grasp the printing paper size and the number of printing paper sheets used for each host device. Therefore, by multiplying the amount of printing paper size per sheet by the number of printing sheets used, the amount of consumable goods for each requester can be totaled.
According to the invention of claim 1, the request source distinguishing hand
The column specifies one or all of the total number of printed sheets
And the aggregated results of other host devices or other groups
Since it has the function of transferring data to another host device,
Group prints other host devices or groups
Even if you request printing in batch, including the
By specifying the replacement destination in advance, each specified
Printing paper actually used by the host device or group
We can grasp the number of sheets.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the print sheet size and the number of print sheets are totalized by the request source distinguishing unit by the group such as the department or section to which the requesting host device belongs, and the totalized result is stored. since the stored means, the by confirming the recorded contents, such as Ru can easily grasp the size of printing paper to be used in the group-by-group sheet number of sheets used and that group. According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the request source distinguishing unit has a function of identifying the group to which each host device belongs by the identifier sent together with the print data, each host device belongs to itself along with the print data. If the identifiers are sent at the same time, the amount of paper used for each group can be grasped by the identifiers regardless of which host device requests the print data.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a network configuration including an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention and a plurality of host apparatuses.
Image forming apparatus 1 (1A, 1B, ...) Such as a printer
And a host device 2 (2A, such as a personal computer
2B, 2C, 2D, ...) are connected. The print data from the host device 2 is sent to the network 2
It is sent to the image forming apparatus 1 through 0 and printed on a predetermined sheet. The image forming apparatus 1 (1A, 1B, ...) Is a host device 2 (2A, 2B, 2) on the network 20.
Since C, 2D, ...) is also printed, the image forming apparatus 1 side checks which host apparatus 2 (2A, 2B, 2C, 2D ,. I am supposed to do it.

FIG. 2 shows a state in which the host device 2 on the network 20 is divided into several groups such as departments and sections. That is, the host device 2 belonging to the group A
A1, 2A2, 2A3, host devices 2B1, 2B2, 2B3 belonging to group B, and host devices 2C1, 2C2 belonging to group C are all connected to the network 20. The print data can be received and the print processing can be performed.
Further, on the image forming apparatus 1 side, it is possible to check which group the host apparatus 2 belongs to for the print request, and it is possible to manage consumables of printing paper for each group.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a main part of the image forming apparatus 1 of the present invention connected to the network 20. The print data from the host device 2 (2A, ..., 2X) is sent to the image forming apparatus 1 via the network 20. On the side of the image forming apparatus 1, the print data sent by the sending / receiving unit 4 connected to the network 20 is received and temporarily stored in the image storage unit 5. The print data stored in the image storage unit 5 is processed by the image processing unit 8 according to the data relating to the print format input from the operation unit 6 in advance or sent from the host device 2, and the image forming unit 8 is processed. The image is formed at 9. At that time, the request source distinguishing unit 3 confirms which host device 2 was exchanging data with the transmitting / receiving unit 4, or which host device 2 is requested to print based on data analysis in the sent print data. To be judged. The content determined by the request source distinguishing unit 3 is stored in the RAM 11 serving as a storage unit (corresponding to claim 1). The control unit 12 has a micro CPU, and passes and controls signals between the units at a timing. If an abnormality is found, the display unit 7 is instructed of the error content. A program for the micro CPU of the control unit 12 is stored in the ROM 10 to execute the series of operations described above.

Further, in this embodiment, the request source distinguishing unit 3 can determine which host device 2 used how many print sheets of what size. Further, information on the used printing paper size and the number of sheets is totaled and stored in the RAM 11 ( claims).
1 ). Therefore, charge management for each host device 2 can be performed based on the amount of money for the printing paper size and the information stored in the RAM 11. further,
In this embodiment, when each host device 2 is divided into groups as shown in FIG. 2, information about the print paper size and the number of paper sheets used by each host device 2 is grouped by the request source distinguishing unit 3. The data can be separately classified and added up (corresponding to claim 2 ). In this way, the host device 2
By grouping groups by department or section,
Charge management of consumables can be performed on a department or section basis.

The host device 2 belonging to the group A
It is assumed that the print request from (2A1, 2A2, 2A3) is input with data as shown in FIG. 4, for example. The data input method is input using the operation unit 6, or
There is a method of inputting data sent from the host device 2 or the like, but either method may be used. In FIG. 4, a total of 10 copies of printed matter are processed at the request of group A.
4) to group B, 2 to group C, and 1 to group D, but the request source distinguishing unit 3 interprets the meaning of the data in FIG.

Further, information on the print paper size and the number of paper sheets used in each group is stored in the RAM 1 as shown in FIG. 5, for example.
1 is stored. Therefore, when printing the print data at the request of the group A, the request source distinguishing unit 3 determines how many print sheets of which size are required for one copy, and transfers the print data to each group and uses it in its own group. Information (5 copies of group A in the case of FIG. 4 above)
The breakdown of consumables by group can be found from. Although not shown, by adding the result to the information of FIG. 5, it can be applied to the case of transferring the request to another group (corresponding to claim 4). In addition, in this embodiment, if a predetermined identifier is sent together with the print data from each host device 2, the request source distinguishing unit 3 performs grouping according to the sent identifier and consumables management. Is supposed to do. That is, print data having the same identifier is managed as a consumable item used in the same group. In this way, it is not necessary to group the host devices 2 in advance as shown in FIG. The image storage unit 5 and the RAM 11 may be combined into one RAM. Further, the request source distinguishing unit 3 is a micro C of the control unit 12.
It may be composed of a PU, a ROM 10, and a RAM 11. If the print request information as shown in FIG. 5 should not be changed by turning on / off the power of the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the print request information storage unit is RA.
It goes without saying that a nonvolatile RAM (NVRAM) is used instead of M11.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 shows a first main operation of the image forming apparatus ( claims).
( Corresponding to 1 )). In FIG. 6, the print data sent from the host apparatus 2 via the network 20 is received by the transmission / reception unit 4 of the image forming apparatus 1 (S1). The received data is temporarily stored in the image storage unit 5. Until data reception is completed (S
No in 2), the receiving operation by the transmitting / receiving unit 4 in step S1 is repeated. When the reception is completed (Yes in S2),
The print data is processed by the image processing unit 8 and is printed by the image forming unit 9 (S3). Further, the request source distinguishing unit 3 identifies which host apparatus 2 received the print data as the print request (S4). If the print request information up to this point is already stored in the RAM 11, the RAM 11 Update the information in. If the print request information is not stored in the RAM 11, the newly identified print request information is stored in the RAM 11 (S5). Although not shown, in step S4, the request source distinguishing unit 3 collects information about the print paper size and the number of paper sheets used in the printing process in addition to the identification information of the requesting host device 2. Further, the accumulated information is stored and updated in the RAM 11 (S
5). As a result, it becomes possible to manage the charging of consumable items for each host device.

FIG. 7 shows a second main operation (corresponding to claim 2 ) of the image forming apparatus. Step S
The operations from 11 to S13 are the same as steps S1 to S in FIG.
Since the operation up to 3 is exactly the same, the description is omitted. Figure 7
In step S14, the request source distinguishing unit 3 identifies which group of the host apparatuses 2 the print request was received for the print request (S14). Therefore, the print request information stored and updated in the RAM 11 is
Instead of the information of each host device 2, the information aggregated for each group is written (S15). In this way, charge management of consumable items for each group can be performed.

FIG. 8 shows a third main operation ( claims) of the present invention.
(Corresponding to 1 and 2 ). The operations from steps S21 to S24 are the same as steps S11 to S14 in FIG.
Since the operation is the same as that up to this point, the description thereof is omitted. In step S25 of FIG. 8, the presence or absence of a transfer request to another group as shown in FIG. 4 or another host device 2 is asked (S25). If there is no transfer request (S2
5), the print request is only for the request source group (or the host device 2), so the print request information of the request source group (or the host device 2) is stored and updated in the RAM 11 (S26), and this routine is ended. . Further, if there is a transfer request (Yes in S25), information on the transferred print paper size and the number of sheets is aggregated for each transfer destination group (or host device 2), and the transfer destination group (or host device 2) is collected. The print request information of is stored and updated (S27). Then the requesting group (or
The print request information of the host device 2) is stored and updated in the RAM 11 (S28), and this routine ends.

FIG. 9 shows a fourth main operation ( claims) of the present invention.
(Corresponding to 3 ). The print data sent from the host device 2 via the network 20 is received by the transmission / reception unit 4 of the image forming apparatus 1 (S3).
1). The received data is temporarily stored in the image storage unit 5. Until the reception data ends (No in S32), the reception operation by the transmission / reception unit 4 in step S31 is repeated.
When the data reception is completed (Yes in S32), the request source distinguishing unit 3 asks whether or not the received data of the host device 2 includes an identifier (S33). If it is determined that there is no identifier in step S33 (No in S33),
This flow is ended, and although not shown, a resend request or the like is issued to the host device 2. When the identifier is determined in step S33 (Yes in S33), the print data is processed by the image processing unit 8 and the print processing is performed by the image forming unit 9 (S3).
4). Next, the request source distinguishing unit 3 determines which group of host devices 2 is requesting printing by the received identifier.
Identify (S35).

Further, it is asked whether or not there is a transfer request to another group or another host device 2 (S36). If there is no transfer request (No in S36), the print request is the request source group (or host device 2). Only, the request source group (or the host device 2) is discriminated according to the identifier recognized in step S35, the print request information in the RAM 11 is stored and updated (S37), and this routine is ended. If there is a transfer request (Yes in S36)
s), for each transfer destination group (or host device 2) corresponding to the respectively recognized identifier, aggregate the information of the transferred print paper size and the number of paper sheets, and request the transfer destination group (or host device 2) for printing. Information is stored and updated (S38). Further, the print request information of the request source group (or the host device 2) is stored and updated in the RAM 11 (S39), and this flow ends. As described above, the request source distinguishing unit 3 has a function of identifying the group to which each of the host devices 2A, 2B, ... Is based on the identifier sent together with the print data. Therefore, for each group A, B ,. By assigning an identifier, it becomes possible to accurately grasp the number of printing sheets used for each group and to easily and accurately perform billing management, regardless of which host device has requested printing.

[0018]

In summary, the present invention can exert the following excellent effects. According to the first aspect of the invention, the request source distinguishing unit determines which host device connected to the network has performed the printing, and the determination result is stored in the storage unit. By checking, it is possible to easily specify a billing destination for expenses of consumable items such as printing paper. Also, you can definitely hand over the completed printed matter to the requester. Also,
According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the printing paper size and the number of printing paper sheets used are summed up by the requesting source distinguishing means by the requesting origin, and the counting result is stored in the storing means by distinguishing by the requesting origin. By checking the recorded contents, it is possible to easily grasp the printing paper size and the number of printing paper sheets used for each host device. Therefore, by multiplying the amount of printing paper size per sheet by the number of printing sheets used, the amount of consumable goods for each requester can be totaled. According to the invention of claim 1, the requester ward
Another means is to collect one or all of the total number of printed sheets.
Aggregated results of other specified host devices or other groups
Since it has the function of transferring as a result, a certain host device
Or group prints to another host device or group
When requesting printing in a batch including the minutes
Is also specified by specifying the transfer destination in advance.
Marks actually used by each host device or group
The number of printing sheets can be grasped. Therefore, troublesome
Easy management of billing for consumable items by department, including simple transfer
And can be done accurately.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the printing sheet size and the number of printing sheets are totalized by the requesting source distinguishing unit for each group such as a department or section to which the requesting host device belongs, and the totalized result is stored. since the stored means, the by confirming the recorded contents, such as Ru can easily grasp the size of printing paper to be used in the group-by-group sheet number of sheets used and that group. According to the third aspect of the invention, the request source distinguishing unit has a function of identifying the group to which each host device belongs by the identifier sent together with the print data. Therefore, if an identifier is assigned to each group. Therefore, regardless of which host device the print request was made from, it is possible to accurately grasp the number of print sheets used for each group, and to easily and accurately perform the charge management.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a network configuration of an image forming apparatus and a host apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a network configuration of a host device grouped with an image forming device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a main part of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of transfer reception information of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of print request information stored in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a first main operation of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a second main operation of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a third main operation of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a fourth main operation of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 image forming apparatus, 2 host apparatus, 3 request source distinguishing section (request source distinguishing means), 4 transmitting / receiving section, 5 image storing section, 6
Operation unit, 7 display unit, 8 image processing unit, 9 image forming unit, 10 ROM, 11 RAM (storage means), 12
Control unit

Continuation of front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 29/38 G06F 3/12 H04N 1/32-1/36

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus for printing data from a plurality of host devices sent via a network, wherein when printing data from the host device, the host device from which the print request is issued. includes a request source distinction means for discriminating a storage means for storing the discrimination result by said requesting distinction means, said requesting distinction means, printing and the printing paper size used
The total number of sheets is totaled according to the requester, and the total stamp
One or all of the number of sheets printed can be designated by another host
Machine to transfer as device or other group aggregate result
It has a capacity, the storage means, the counting result by the requesting distinction means
An image forming apparatus characterized in that it is stored separately for each request source . 2. A plurality of devices sent via a network
An image forming device that prints data from the host device
To print data from the host device,
Request source distinguishing means for determining whether the printing request is from the storage device
And a memory for storing the discrimination result by the request source discrimination means.
A step is provided, and the request source distinguishing unit is a printing paper size and the number of printing papers.
Are sorted according to the group to which the requesting host device belongs.
The total number of printed sheets counted is one or all,
Aggregated results of other specified host devices or other groups
It has a function of transferring as a result, and the storage means stores the counting result by the request source distinguishing means.
An image forming apparatus characterized by storing in the group unit . 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the request source distinguishing unit sends the print data together with the print data.
The group to which each host device belongs according to the received identifier
An image forming apparatus having a function of identifying the image forming apparatus.