JP3560139B2 - Facsimile server - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a facsimile server to which an external device such as a personal computer is connected.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a personal computer or the like, a printer device is connected, and an arbitrary image can be printed on predetermined recording paper from the printer device by an operation instruction from a keyboard or the like. In recent years, a print system is formed by connecting a plurality of client personal computers and a printer server that controls the operation of the printer device via a communication network such as a LAN, so that the printer device can be shared. Has also become.
[0003]
The printer server is provided with a large-capacity storage device (memory or hard disk) for storing print data, so that the transfer of print data from the personal computer and the printing by the printer device are asynchronous. Is to be executed.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above-described conventional printer device and print system, a personal computer or the like, which is an external device of the printer device, recognizes that printing has been completed when transfer of print data to the printer device has been completed. Although there is an advantage that the process can be shifted to the above process, there is a problem that the printing status by the printer device cannot be understood.
[0005]
Further, even if the printing has not actually been completed on the printer device side, the personal computer side can no longer stop printing or cancel the print waiting state.
[0006]
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the print system. In this system, a client personal computer PC and a printer server PS for controlling the printer device P are connected via a communication network L.
[0007]
The personal computer PC transfers the print data to the printer server PS ((1)), and is released when the transfer is completed. The printer server PS temporarily stores the transferred print data in the memory M, sequentially retrieves the print data, and causes the printer device P to print. Since the personal computer PC has already been released from the printing process, it was not possible to stop the printing operation by the printer device P or cancel the print job waiting in the printer server PS. If it is absolutely necessary to cancel or cancel the printing, the hardware such as the printer P may be reset, but there is a problem that other print jobs are also canceled or canceled.
[0008]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has as its object to provide a facsimile server in which a printing state can be known on an external device side and a print job can be canceled or canceled from the external device side. And
[0009]
In order to achieve the above object, a facsimile server having a printer that prints image data received by facsimile and connected to an external option board connected to an external device, wherein the option board is A flash memory configured as an interface connected to the external device and configured to store print data received from the external device, and a printing process as a unit that manages the progress of printing in units of pages, In the printing process, if printer resources of the facsimile server can be acquired, print data is retrieved one page at a time from the flash memory and printed by the printer, and in response to a request from the external device, the printing progress status To the external device, while the external device When receiving a print cancel instruction specifying the printing data, we propose a facsimile server you have configured to stop the printing of the print data.
[0010]
Here, the printer device and an external device such as a personal computer may be directly connected by a printer cable, or may be connected via a communication network such as a LAN. Alternatively, a wireless connection may be used.
[0011]
The "print cancel", since a Discontinue the job is being printed data on the recording sheet, by a previous print job is being printed, the to cancel the print job that is in a wait state Contains both.
[0012]
A second aspect of the present invention proposes a facsimile server according to the first aspect, wherein the number of printed pages of the print data indicates the progress of the printing by the external device.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a facsimile server 1 functioning as a printer. The facsimile server 1 connects a telephone line L1 and a LAN (L), to which a router for connecting to the Internet, a mail server, a personal computer serving as a client, and the like are connected. are doing.
[0014]
A personal computer is connected to the facsimile server 1 via a LAN (L) to form a print system. That is, the print system is configured by connecting the facsimile server 1 functioning as a printer device and a personal computer serving as an external device via a network.
[0015]
The facsimile server 1 converts image data received by facsimile through the telephone line L1 or image data received through the LAN (L) into facsimile communication via the telephone line L1 or LAN (L) based on the setting contents of a signal in a protocol. The data is transferred to another apparatus by e-mail communication or the like, or is printed on a recording sheet from its own printer 14.
[0016]
In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a CPU that controls the following units, 11 denotes a RAM that stores user registration data such as image data and telephone directory data, and temporarily stores data necessary for processing a program, and 12 denotes a RAM. A ROM which stores control programs and the like in advance; 13 a scanner for reading image data from a document and converting it into image data; 14 a predetermined image for receiving an image received through the telephone line L1 or LAN (L) or an image read from the scanner 13; This is a printer that records (prints out) on recording paper.
[0017]
Reference numeral 15 denotes an NCU which sends a dial signal to the telephone line L1 and controls connection to the telephone line L1, 16 denotes a modem which modulates and demodulates a signal to perform facsimile communication, and 17 denotes a state of the server 1. An operation panel 18 includes a liquid crystal display (LCD) to be operated, various operation keys for giving operation instructions, etc., and encodes and decodes image data by MH, MR, MMR or the like for facsimile communication. CODEC 19, which can handle data in TIFF format for mail communication, is a LAN interface for connecting LAN (L) according to standards such as Ethernet.
[0018]
The present invention is not limited to application to such a facsimile server 1, but may be a printer device having only a printing function, a facsimile device, or the like.
[0019]
The facsimile server 1 includes a print data storage unit 19a in the LAN interface 19 as means for storing print data received from a personal computer as an external device. The LAN interface 19 includes a unit for managing the progress of printing of print data and a unit for notifying the external device of the progress of printing in response to a request from the external device. Note that these means are not limited to being provided in the LAN interface 19, and may be configured by the CPU 10 executing a program.
[0020]
In the facsimile server 1, the print data received via the LAN (L) is stored in the print data storage unit 19a, sequentially taken out, and printed by the printer 14. In the present invention, the facsimile server 1 manages the progress of printing by the printer 14 and notifies the PC of an external device, so that the PC can grasp the printing status.
[0021]
In the present invention, even when the facsimile server 1 having the printer 14 and an external device such as a personal computer are installed at remote positions, the external device can know the printing status of the printer 14. Further, even when the printer 14 is shared by a plurality of external devices as in the facsimile server 1, the printing status can be known in each external device.
[0022]
When receiving a print stop instruction designating print data from an external device, the facsimile server 1 stops printing the print data. Canceling printing includes both canceling a job that is currently printing data on recording paper and canceling a print job that is in a waiting state because printing is in progress by a previous print job. In.
[0023]
As a result, a large-capacity memory (print data storage unit 19a) is provided on the side of the printer device (the facsimile server 1), so that transfer of print data from an external device and printing by the printer 14 are executed asynchronously, and printing has already been performed. Even when the data transfer has been completed, printing can be stopped according to an instruction from the external device. At this time, the print jobs that can be canceled are desirably limited to print data jobs transferred from the own device.
[0024]
The connection between the printer 14 and an external device such as a personal computer is not limited to a connection via a communication network such as a LAN (L), but may be directly connected by a printer cable. Alternatively, a wireless connection may be used.
[0025]
Next, the configuration of the printing system is shown in FIG. In the system shown here, the LAN interface 19 of the facsimile server 1 is configured as an external option board 20.
[0026]
The option board 20 includes a print process 21 for controlling print processing by the printer 14 of the facsimile server 1 and a compact flash memory 22 for storing print data from a personal computer PC connected via a LAN (L).
[0027]
The print process 21 sequentially retrieves the print data stored in the flash memory 22 and causes the printer 14 of the server 1 to print the print data. At the same time, the printing process of the print data is managed on a page-by-page basis. In response to the request, the printing progress is notified to the personal computer PC. When receiving a print stop instruction designating print data from the personal computer PC, printing of the print data is stopped.
[0028]
FIG. 3 shows the operation of the printing system. When the personal computer PC issues a print instruction by operating means such as a keyboard (100), it expands the print data into image data (101) and transfers the data to the facsimile server 1 (option board 20) (102). . When the transfer is completed, the print processing is released (103).
[0029]
When the option board 20 receives the print data, the print process 21 stores the received data in the flash memory 22 (110). Then, if the printer resources of the server 1 can be obtained, the print data is fetched one page at a time from the memory 22 and output to the server 1 (112). Then, when the output of all pages is completed or a print stop instruction is issued from the personal computer PC (113), the printer resources are released (114), and the data whose print has been ended or stopped is erased from the flash memory 22 ( 115).
[0030]
The processing from acquisition of printer resources (111) to deletion of print data (115) is performed for each print job. Further, here, the printing process 21 acquires the printer resources after the print data of all pages is stored in the flash memory 22, but the present invention is not limited to this. At the time of storage, printer resources may be acquired.
[0031]
On the facsimile server 1 side, when printer resources are acquired by the option board 20, the printer semaphore is turned on (120) to prohibit the use of the printer 14 by the server 1 itself, and the printing output from the option board 20 is performed. The data is sequentially printed (printed) (121). Then, when printer resources are released by the option board 20 to end the print processing, the printer semaphore is turned off (122).
[0032]
Next, FIG. 4A shows a process of inquiring the printing status from the personal computer PC. When the personal computer PC inquires of the server 1 side about the print status at intervals of several seconds (200), the print process 21 of the option board 20 reports the print status (201). The status is displayed on the screen (202). If the period of the inquiry from the personal computer PC is shortened, the personal computer PC can recognize the printing status in real time.
[0033]
FIG. 4B shows a print stop process from the personal computer PC. When a print job is instructed from the personal computer PC to the server 1 (210), the print process 21 of the option board 20 refers to the current print status, and if the job is being printed, printing is stopped. The print data of the job is deleted from the flash memory 22 without printing from the page. On the other hand, if the job is waiting for printing, the print data of the job is deleted from the flash memory 22 (211 to 214). Then, on the personal computer PC, a print status reflecting the print stop is displayed on the screen as a stop result (215). That is, the display of the canceled print job is deleted from the screen.
[0034]
FIG. 5 shows an example of a print monitor screen displayed on the personal computer PC. This screen shows a print job name, a print state (printing, waiting for printing), the number of printed pages, and the total number of pages. If the "print stop" button b is operated by designating the job name by a mouse click operation or the like, a print stop instruction is sent to the server 1.
[0035]
Next, another configuration of the printing system is shown in FIG. This diagram corresponds to the conventional system shown in FIG. 7, in which a client personal computer PC and a printer server 4 for controlling the printer 3 are connected via a communication network L. The personal computer PC transfers the print data to the printer server 4 ((1)), and is released from the printing process when the transfer is completed. The printer server 4 temporarily stores the transferred print data in the storage device 5, sequentially retrieves the print data, and causes the printer device 3 to print.
[0036]
In the present invention, since the personal computer PC can always monitor the printing status of the printer device 3 by bidirectional communication with the printer server 4 (3), even if the transfer of the print data is completed, the printing is stopped. Becomes possible.
[0038]
【The invention's effect】
As can be understood from the above description, the facsimile server according to claims 1 and 2 of the present invention can stop printing in response to an instruction from an external device, and therefore has a large-capacity memory for storing print data. In this case, the transfer of print data from the external device and the printing of print data are performed asynchronously, and printing must be stopped from the external device even after the transfer of print data is completed. Can be.
[0039]
In particular, in the facsimile server according to the second aspect, the progress of printing is managed, the status is notified to the external device side, and the number of printed pages of the print data is determined as the progress of printing by the external device. As a result, the printing status can be easily grasped on the external device side.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a printer (facsimile server) of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a print system according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the print system of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of another operation of the printing system of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a print monitor screen on an external device (personal computer).
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example of the configuration of the print system of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a conventional print system.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 facsimile server 10 CPU
14 Printer 19 LAN interface 19a Print data storage unit 20 Option board 21 Printing process 22 Compact flash memory PC Personal computer L LAN
3 Printer device 4 Printer server 5 Storage device

Claims (2)

A printer to print the image data received by facsimile, a facsimile server configured by connecting the option board external connected to an external device,
The above option board is
Configured as an interface connected to the external device,
A flash memory as means for storing print data received from the external device ,
And a printing process as a means for managing the progress of the print page by page,
The printing process, if won printer resource of the facsimile server, the print data from the flash memory is taken out one by one page is printed from the printer, and, in response to a request from the external device, the progress of the print The facsimile server is configured to stop the printing of the print data when the external device receives a print stop instruction designating the print data from the external device. In claim 1,
A facsimile server in which the number of printed pages of the print data is indicated by the external device as the progress of the printing.

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