JP4276159B2 - Printing apparatus and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention is a printing apparatus and program in which a plurality of client apparatuses are connected via a network, and particularly suitable for notifying a client apparatus that is not using the contents of a failure that has occurred in the printing apparatus. The present invention relates to an apparatus and a program.

  Conventionally, it is known to notify a client apparatus (for example, a PC) connected via a network or the like of a failure that has occurred in a printing apparatus. As such a printing apparatus management system, for example, a system disclosed in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-297348) is disclosed. A printing apparatus described in Patent Document 1 below receives a signal from a client via a network, and acquires access information that the client has accessed to the printing apparatus based on the received signal and stores it in a database. And a notifying unit for extracting a client from a database based on a predetermined condition when printing cannot be performed and notifying the extracted client of a message indicating that printing is not possible. Is.

In this way, when the printing apparatus becomes in a state where printing processing is impossible due to maintenance or an error state, the printing apparatus notifies a printing impossible message among users who have used the printing apparatus. Appropriate users (especially users who may send a print job during a non-printable state) are extracted. Then, an appropriate notification method (e-mail notification, instant message notification, facsimile or telephone notification, etc.) is selected for the extracted user, and notification is performed using the selected notification method. For example, the following criteria are used to specify a user who should be notified of a message indicating that printing is not possible.
(1) a user who has used the printing apparatus in the past;
(2) users belonging to a specific address,
(3) A user who has frequently sent print jobs in the past in a certain time zone (for example, the current time zone where printing is impossible),
(4) A user who has sent a print job within a predetermined time in the past from the time when printing becomes impossible,
(5) A user who has transmitted a print job with a specific protocol,
(6) Users belonging to a specific group (this is determined by, for example, a user name or an address),
(7) Users who have sent more than a certain amount of data (because it is cumbersome to send again),
(8) Users who use frequently,
(9) users who have used certain print setting options;
(10) Applicable users by combining a plurality of the above conditions (for example, users who used a printing device with a specific protocol within a certain time), and causes of printing inability (during maintenance, errors, certain options) The user who is the result of changing the extraction condition based on
Thus, the user can recognize that printing with the printing apparatus is impossible before sending the print job to the printing apparatus.

Further, as another conventional technique, for example, a technique disclosed in the following Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-85416) is disclosed.
The printer management apparatus described in Patent Document 2 below classifies various states that occur in a printer apparatus in a printer management apparatus having a printer apparatus directly connected to a network that is used in common by a plurality of clients on a network, and supports this classification. Storage means for storing client information, and output control means for reading the client information from the storage means according to this classification and outputting the status information to the corresponding client when the state stored in the storage means occurs in the printer. It is what you have.

For example, the printing status and failure status of the printer apparatus are classified into classes “A” to “C”, and the table includes items that enter each class and a notification destination area. The class “A” corresponds to fault information that is difficult to recover, and the fault contents such as the lifetime exceeded and thermistor disconnection are registered in the item area of the class “A”, for example, as corresponding code data. In addition, a command for instructing notification to all clients by broadcast is registered in the notification destination area of class “A”. Similarly, class “B” corresponds to failure information that can be recovered. In the item area of class “B”, code data indicating the failure contents such as no paper, paper jam, no toner, etc. is registered. A notification destination area “B” is instructed to notify a registered network administrator and a client currently using the printer. The class “C” corresponds to the printing state of the printer apparatus that is performing the printing process, and code data such as print start and print end is registered in the item area of the class “C”, and the notification destination area of the class “C” Is registered only with the notification destination for the client currently in use.
Therefore, the above-described printer management apparatus can send information only to a client that needs to provide information on a printing status or a fault status in the printer apparatus.

JP 2002-297348 A (paragraphs [0007], [0023], [0024], [0056]) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-85416 (paragraphs [0008] and [0025], FIG. 2)

  However, in the prior arts shown in Patent Documents 1 and 2, a failure occurring in the printing apparatus is finely notified to a user currently in use, but to a user who is not currently using it. Not all notifications were sufficient. For this reason, in a print management system comprising a printing device in which a large number of client devices are connected via a network, there are a large number of users who are not in use, so detailed notifications have not been given to such users. It was.

Therefore, the present invention provides a program that can be finely notified to a user who is not using the content of a failure that occurs in a printing device in a printing device in which a plurality of client devices are connected via a network as described above. The purpose is to provide.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a program according to the first aspect of the present invention provides a computer constituting a printing apparatus in which a plurality of client apparatuses are connected via a network.
A failure content notified to a client device using the printing device when a failure occurs in the printing device and a failure content notified to a client device not using the printing device when the failure occurs, respectively. Processing to set in the management table independently;
Processing to acquire and store client information of the client device;
Processing for receiving and printing print data transmitted from the client device via the network;
A process of sequentially storing printing results for each client device;
A process for detecting a failure occurring in the printing apparatus;
A process of determining a client device that notifies the failure content in the management table based on the detected failure content and the printing result data;
A process for notifying the client device that has been determined to notify the failure content;
Is executed.

In addition, in the program of the invention according to claim 1, the failure content notified to the client device using the printing device and the failure content notified to the client device not using the printing device are set in the management table. In the processing, the client device that is not using the printing device includes a client device that has passed for a certain period since the last use of the printing device, a client device that has never used the printing device, It is characterized in that the processing is executed separately from the other client devices.

In the program according to claim 1 of the present application, the failure content notified to the client device using the printing device when a failure occurs and the failure content notified to the client device not using the printing device when the failure occurs. A client device that prepares a management table that is set independently and notifies the content of notification of a failure based on the contents of the management table, client information, and past printing results when occurrence of a failure that occurs during printing of print data is detected To decide. The determination is divided into a client device that uses the printing device when a failure occurs and a client device that does not use the printing device when a failure occurs, and the determined information is notified to a predetermined client device. The Therefore, when a failure occurs, a notification to a client device that does not use the printing device can be set in advance, and a detailed failure notification can be made to each client device.

Moreover, in the program of the invention according to claim 1 of the present application, a certain period of time has elapsed since a client device not using the printing device at the time of occurrence of a failure classified on the management table has used the printing device for the last time. and the client device being a that no client device using the printing device at all, because they are set is further divided into the client device other than these, fine for a variety of conditions of a number of client devices The failure details can be notified.

  Hereinafter, the best embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiment described below exemplifies a printing apparatus and a program for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and is not intended to specify the present invention. Other embodiments within the scope are equally applicable.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the print management system 10 including the printing apparatus 30 suitable for the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the block diagram of FIG. The print management system 10 suitable for the embodiment connects a plurality of client devices 20a, 20b... 20n for the client, the printing device 30, and the client devices 20a, 20b. The network 50 is comprised. Here, the client devices 20a, 20b,... 20n are, for example, personal computers, and the printing device 30 is, for example, a printer. In FIG. 1, only one printing device 30 is shown for easy understanding, but a plurality of printing devices 30 may naturally exist in the network 50.

As shown in the block diagram of FIG. 2, the printing device 30 detects a failure that has occurred in the printing unit 31 that prints image data on output paper, a client information storage unit 32 that stores client information, and the printing device 30. A failure occurrence detection unit 33, a print record storage unit 34 that stores print record data for each client device, a storage unit 35 that includes an HDD or the like that stores print data and related data, and a failure to be notified to the client device A management unit 36 that manages the content in the management table, a notification data forming unit 37 that forms data for notifying the client device of the failure content, a main control unit 38 including a CPU, a ROM, and the like that perform various controls, An operation unit 39 for performing operations such as printing operation and management table setting, the printing unit 31, a client information storage unit 32, And a bus 40 which connects the harm generation detection unit 33 and the like. A transmission / reception circuit 41 for transmitting / receiving print data and various types of information data is connected between the bus 40 and the network 50.

  The management unit 36 divides a client device that uses the printing device 30 and a client device that does not use the printing device 30, and manages the failure contents to be notified independently for each of the divided devices. A table is provided. Further, for client devices that do not use the printing device 30, a certain period of time has elapsed since the last use of the printing device 30 and a client device that has never used the printing device 30 in the past. Have not used the printing device 30 in the past, but have printed data, e-mail, etc. stored in the storage unit 35 other than a printing method for sending and printing print data. The management table is further divided into client devices and client devices that have been used in the past and do not meet these conditions, and a failure table to be notified independently is provided for each of the divisions.

  The management table is set so that, for example, when a trouble occurs in the printing apparatus 30, a client apparatus that uses the printing apparatus 30 is notified of all of the printing status and printing trouble. In addition, for a client device that does not use the printing device 30 when the failure occurs, the printing device 30 does not operate completely for a client device that has never used the printing device 30 in the past. Is set so that the failure content is notified only when a specific failure occurs, and a client device that has passed a certain period of time (for example, one week) since the last use of the printing device 30 or normal print data is transmitted. In this case, the data stored in the storage unit 35 of the printing apparatus 30 is printed, or the stored data is transmitted by e-mail. For a certain client device, a setting is made so that the failure content is notified only when a relatively severe failure occurs, and the client device does not meet the above conditions It is, paper jam, set to notify the failure content other than mild failure out of paper or the like.

  In addition, depending on the client device, regardless of whether the printing device 30 is used or not, a notification can be received by specifying the failure content as an option so that a notification is always made when a specific failure occurs. good. These settings are made by operating the operation unit 39.

  The notification data forming unit 37 is a client that is determined in the management table of the management unit 36 based on the storage data in the client information storage unit 32, the failure content detected by the failure occurrence detection unit 33, and the actual data stored in the print performance storage unit 34. Notification data for notifying the content of a failure that has occurred in the printing apparatus 30 to the apparatus is created. The notification data is notified from the transmission / reception circuit 41 to the predetermined client devices 20a, 20b... 20n via the network 50. A series of these operations is controlled by the main control unit 38.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. First, in step S1, a management table including the contents of a failure and the status of a client device to be notified is created in the management unit 36 in advance. In addition, the print results storage unit 34 stores the print results so far for each client device. Next, as shown in step S2, the printing apparatus 30 receives the print data transmitted from the client apparatuses 20a, 20b... 20n. Then, as shown in step S3, the printing apparatus 30 obtains client information such as an ID code and address data of the client apparatus from the print data and stores it in the client information storage unit 32. The received print data is started to be printed by the printing unit 31, and accordingly, as shown in step S4, the failure occurrence detection unit 33 detects whether or not a failure has occurred in the printing apparatus 30. When a fault occurrence is detected by the print fault occurrence detection unit 33, as shown in step S5, notification is made in the management table of the management unit 36 from the detected fault content, client information, past print record data for each client device, and the like. What to do and the client are determined. The client device selected here is performed according to the above settings. Next, in step S6, the determined notification content is transmitted to the client devices 20a, 20b... 20n corresponding to the client to be notified. In the client devices 20a, 20b... 20n, the contents of the failure are displayed on the display screen. On the other hand, if no failure is detected in step S4, printing is continued as shown in step S7.

  Unlike the case where a failure occurs during printing, if a failure has already occurred when printing is started, the failure detection unit 33 detects this, and the management unit 36, the notification data formation unit 37, and the transmission / reception circuit 41. As described above, the failure content is notified to a predetermined client device before starting printing.

According to the embodiment of the present invention described above, a failure occurring in the printing apparatus 30 is detected by the failure occurrence detection unit 33. The management table of the management unit 36 is divided into a client device that uses the printing device 30 when a failure is detected and a client device that does not use the printing device 30 when a failure is detected. The presence / absence of notification of detected fault information is set independently for each category. The client device to be notified is determined based on the record data in the print record storage unit 34 and the client information in the client information storage unit 32, and the notification data forming unit 37 forms the notification data. This notification data is transmitted to the client apparatus determined to be notified via the network 50 by the transmission / reception circuit 41.

  Further, a client device that is not using the printing device 30 when a failure set in the management table occurs is further connected to a client device that has passed a certain period of time since the last use of the printing device 30 and printing. A client device that has never used the device 30, a client device that has executed printing in the printing unit 31 without transmitting the print data as a job to the printing device 30, and a client device that does not meet these conditions Therefore, the failure contents can be finely notified to various states of a plurality of client devices.

  In the embodiment described above, the client information recording unit 32, the printing result recording unit 34, the management unit 36, and the like are separate blocks in the above-described embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The form may be variously changed, such as being integrated into a circuit.

  Furthermore, the processing executed in the computer of the printing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention can be provided as a program to an existing printing apparatus, and if the program is executed by the existing printing apparatus, Equivalent functions can be realized. As a method for providing such a program, the program can be provided via a computer-readable recording medium that records the program or via a network.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a print management system having a printing apparatus for executing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a printing apparatus that executes an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation in the embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Print management system 20a-20n Client apparatus 30 Printing apparatus 31 Printing part 32 Client information storage part 33 Fault occurrence detection part 34 Print performance storage part 35 Storage part 36 Management part 37 Notification data formation part 38 Main control part 39 Operation part 41 Transmission / reception Circuit 50 network

Claims (1)

In a computer constituting a printing apparatus in which a plurality of client devices are connected via a network,
Failure content to be notified to the client device using the printing device when a failure has occurred in the printing device and failure content to be notified to the client device not using the printing device when the failure has occurred And setting each in the management table independently,
Processing to acquire and store client information of the client device;
Processing for receiving and printing print data transmitted from the client device via the network;
A process of sequentially storing printing results for each client device;
A process for detecting a failure occurring in the printing apparatus;
A process of determining a client device that notifies the failure content in the management table based on the detected failure content and the printing result data;
A process for notifying the client device that has been determined to notify the failure content;
As well as
In the process of setting, in the management table, the failure content notified to the client device using the printing device and the failure content notified to the client device not using the printing device, the printing device is used. The client device that is not used is classified into a client device that has passed a certain period since the last use of the printing device, a client device that has never used the printing device, and a client device other than these. And executing the process.

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