JP5504598B2 - PRINT CONTROL DEVICE, PRINT SYSTEM, PRINT CONTROL PROGRAM, AND PRINT CONTROL METHOD - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a print control device, a print system, a print control program, and a print control method, and more particularly to a technique for printing authentication information related to printing.

In recent years, the use of a color printer in DTP (Desktop Publishing) makes it much easier to perform color proofing before printing. In an output center equipped with an LFP (Large Format Printer) or the like, the submitted data may be output by a printer such as LFP, and an authentication label may be attached to a printed matter obtained as a result (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).
JP 2003-341188 A JP 2003-345574 A

  The authentication label is a label printed with authentication information indicating in what state the color printer used for printing for color proofing is printed or in what state. On the authentication label, for example, time, temperature, humidity, color chart color measurement results printed by the same color printer, and the like are printed. Such an authentication label is affixed to a sheet on which the submitted data, which is a print object to be color proofed, is printed.

  However, the time when printing is performed, the temperature / humidity at that time, the color measurement result, etc. are undecided until printing is started. Therefore, if accurate authentication information is to be printed, a print job for the authentication information is generated after printing of the input data, which is a print object specified by the user, and the user specifies the print job based on the print job. The printed data is printed on a label paper different from the paper on which the submitted data, which is a print object, is printed. In this case, since the correspondence between one leaf on which the input data that is the print object designated by the user is printed and the label paper on which the authentication information is printed is indefinite and not guaranteed, the reliability of the authentication information is lowered. There is a problem.

  On the other hand, if the authentication information is to be printed on the same leaf as the submitted data, for example, the print job generation time is acquired as the print time, and the received data is printed together with the acquired print time. A print job is generated. However, since printing is actually performed after the print job is generated, it is later than the print time acquired in this way, and if the data size of the print object is large, it is printed as authentication information. The difference between the time and the time when the print object is actually printed becomes excessive (for example, 1 hour or more). That is, there is a problem that even if the authentication information is printed on one leaf, the reliability of the authentication information cannot be ensured.

  The present invention has been created to solve these problems, and an object thereof is to improve the reliability of authentication information relating to printing.

  (1) A print control device for achieving the above object includes a job generation means for generating a print job with authentication, which is a print job for a confirmed print object and undetermined authentication information regarding printing of the print object; Print control means for causing the printer to print the print object and the authentication information determined based on the print job with authentication in a single sheet, and printing during the period when the printer is controlled based on the print job with authentication Authentication means for acquiring authentication data indicating a situation or a state and determining the authentication information based on the authentication data.

  According to the present invention, it is acquired during a period in which the printer is controlled based on a print job for a print object that is determined by a user designation or the like, that is, based on authentication data acquired after the print job is generated. Thus, the authentication information to be printed by the print job for the confirmed print object is confirmed. In other words, according to the present invention, a print job in which a part of the print object has not been defined is tentatively generated, and authentication information is confirmed after printing of the confirmed print object is started. According to the present invention, it is possible to print authentication information having high reliability with respect to printing of a print object printed on a print object determined by a user's designation. The authentication information is characters, symbols, and the like that indicate the printing status or status, and is information that can be read by humans. On the other hand, the authentication data is data that allows the computer to uniquely identify the printing status or state.

  (2) In the print control apparatus for achieving the above object, the print object includes a color chart, and the authentication unit transmits a color measurement command, which is a command corresponding to the print job with authentication, to the printer. To measure the color chart printed by the printer in the colorimeter linked to the printer, acquire the color measurement result as the authentication data, and confirm the authentication information based on the acquired color measurement result You may let them.

  According to the present invention, the color chart and the authentication information corresponding to the color measurement result can be printed on a leaf together with an arbitrary print object. Further, according to the present invention, printing of a color chart, color measurement of the color chart, and printing of the color chart color measurement result can be automated.

  (3) In the print control apparatus for achieving the above object, the print control means measures the color by the colorimeter by transmitting the color measurement command to the printer after the color chart is printed. The color chart is moved so that the color chart moves to the position, the color measurement result is acquired, the authentication information is determined based on the color measurement result, and an authentication print command corresponding to the print job with authentication is issued. The confirmed authentication information may be printed by the printer by transmitting it to the printer.

  According to the present invention, the color chart is moved to the colorimetric position by paper feeding by the printer. Therefore, according to the present invention, the paper feeding mechanism is not required in the colorimeter itself, and the system configuration necessary for automating the printing of the color chart, the color measurement of the color chart, and the printing of the color chart color measurement result is provided. It can be simplified.

  (4) In the print control apparatus for achieving the above object, the authentication unit transmits sensor data as a command corresponding to the print job with authentication to the printer, thereby obtaining sensor data as the authentication data from the printer. And the authentication information may be determined based on the sensor data.

  According to the present invention, for example, the user designates authentication information corresponding to the sensor data indicating the printing status such as the temperature of the print head and the temperature / humidity of the atmosphere, which is acquired at the time of actual printing. Any print object can be printed on the printed leaf. The sensor command is a command for acquiring a detection result of a sensor provided in the printer from the printer.

  (5) In the print control apparatus for achieving the above object, the authentication unit acquires time measurement data as the authentication data during a period in which the printer is controlled based on the print job with authentication, and Determine the authentication information based on the data

According to the present invention, since the time data is acquired during the period when the printer is controlled by the print job after the print job is generated, the reliability of the authentication information representing the time data is increased. The time measurement data is data indicating time or a function of time, for example, data indicating current time or elapsed time.
Further, the print control apparatus of the present invention includes: a job generation unit that generates a print job with authentication for a confirmed print object and authentication information related to printing of the print object; and A printing control means for printing a print object and the authentication information on a printer, and an authentication means for confirming the authentication information based on authentication data indicating a printing situation or state after printing is started It may be a control device.
According to the present invention, it is possible to print authentication information having high reliability with respect to printing of a print object printed on a print object determined by a user's designation.

  Note that the function of each means described in the claims is realized by hardware resources whose function is specified by the configuration itself, hardware resources whose function is specified by a program, or a combination thereof. The functions of these means are not limited to those realized by hardware resources that are physically independent of each other. Furthermore, the present invention can be realized as a printing system including a printing control device and a printer, a printing control program that causes a computer to function as the printing control device, a printing control method, and a recording medium for the printing control program. Of course, the recording medium for the print control program may be a magnetic recording medium, a magneto-optical recording medium, or any recording medium developed in the future. Further, the order of the operations described in the claims is not limited to the order of description as long as there is no technical obstruction factor, and may be executed at the same time, may be executed in the reverse order of the description order, or may be continuous. It does not have to be executed in order.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the corresponding component in each figure, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.
1. Hardware Configuration FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a printing system as an embodiment of the present invention. The printing system includes a PC (Personal Computer) 10, a printer 20 connected to the PC 10, an operation unit 13, a display unit 14, a dryer 25 and a colorimeter 30 attached to the printer 20. .

  The PC 10 includes a control unit 11 and a hard disk device 12 each including a RAM (Random Access Memory), a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an I / O, and the like. The hard disk device 12 stores various computer programs such as an operating system, a printer driver 111, and a color management program 110. The control unit 11 functions as a print control device by executing these computer programs, and causes the printer 20 to print the object, color chart, and authentication information specified by the user. The PC 10 is operated via an operation unit 13 including a keyboard and a pointing device and a display unit 14 including a dot matrix display.

  The printer 20 includes a control unit 21 including a RAM, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a CPU, an I / O, and the like, a printing unit 23 that forms an image of a print object on a sheet by an inkjet method, and a sheet for conveying the sheet The paper feeding section 24 is provided. The print unit 23 includes a drive mechanism, a motor, and the like that move the print head 23a and the print head 23a in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the paper P. A temperature sensor 23b for measuring the temperature of the print head 23a is attached to the print head 23a. The paper feeding unit 24 includes a roller 24b for conveying the paper P, a motor, a cutter 24c for cutting the paper P, and the like. The dryer 25 includes a blower fan 25a, a heat generator, and the like. A temperature sensor 20a and a humidity sensor 20b for detecting temperature and humidity are attached to the housing of the printer 20.

  The colorimeter 30 includes a light source 30a, a spectroscope (not shown), a light receiver 30b, and the like, and measures the Lab value for each patch of the color chart printed on the paper P conveyed by the printer 20 by a spectrocolorimetric method. . The colorimeter 30 receives a color measurement command transmitted from the PC 10 via the control unit 21 of the printer 20.

2. Software Configuration The printer driver 111 and the color management program 110 stored in the hard disk device 12 cause the control unit 11 of the PC 10 to function as a print control device. That is, the printer driver 111 and the color management program 110 constitute an embodiment of the print control program of the present invention.

  The color management program 110 is an application program that provides functions such as color chart printing, color chart colorimetry, color correction, and print authentication, and includes an authentication unit 110a for print authentication. The authentication unit 110 a is a library for determining authentication information by communicating with the printer 20. That is, the authentication unit 110a is a program module that causes the control unit 11 to function as an authentication unit. The print job with authentication is a print job for printing an arbitrary object designated by the user, a color chart, and authentication information in one sheet.

  The authentication information is information for authenticating the printing status or state of an arbitrary object specified by the user. The time when the printing is executed, the temperature / humidity when the printing is executed, and the printing is executed. The print object includes authentication information composed of characters, symbols, and the like representing the temperature of the print head at the time of printing, the color measurement result of the color chart printed with the object, and the like. Such authentication information (time, temperature, head temperature, color measurement result, etc.) is not determined as a print object when a print job with authentication is generated. The authentication information is determined as a print object during a period in which the printer 20 is controlled based on the print job. For example, the character or symbol representing the color measurement result is determined before the authentication information is printed after the printing of an arbitrary object designated by the user and the color chart is completed. For this reason, the print job with authentication includes a command for acquiring authentication data necessary for determining authentication information, in addition to a print command that is a command for printing an object. The authentication data is data that allows the computer to uniquely identify the printing state or status.

  FIG. 2 shows a dialog box that the job generation unit 111a of the printer driver 111 displays on the screen of the display unit 14 in order to accept an operation for generating a print job for an arbitrary print object. The dialog box 60 is a window that is displayed when printing is requested for an arbitrary object directly designated by the user via a GUI (Graphical User Interface) provided by the color management program 110. When the OK button 63 is clicked, a print job for printing the object of the application program for the number of copies set in the text box 61 is generated by the printer driver 111, and the generated print job is stored in the spool queue 111b. The At this time, if the check box 62 is selected, a print job with authentication is generated by the job generation unit 111b.

  The job generation unit 111a of the printer driver 111 generates a print job including a print command group including a plurality of commands for printing an object. In addition to the print command group, the print job with authentication includes a command for calling the authentication unit 110a of the color management program 110 and receiving authentication information as a return value from the authentication unit 110a. The authentication unit 110a called by the print control unit 111c controls the colorimeter 30 as a command for confirming the authentication information, a colorimetry command for acquiring the colorimetric result from the colorimeter 30, and the printer 20 A sensor command for acquiring sensor data indicating the temperature and humidity is transmitted from the temperature sensor 20a and the humidity sensor 20b to the printer 20, and authentication information is determined as a print object based on the acquired color measurement result and sensor data. As described above, during the execution of the print job with authentication, the authentication unit 110a that is the library of the color management program 110 is in the execution state. For this reason, when the end of the color management program 110 is instructed before the execution of the print job with authentication is completed, it is preferable to display a dialog box for confirming the execution stop of the print job with authentication.

  The spool queue 111b constitutes a buffer for temporarily storing print jobs.

  The print control unit 111c sequentially extracts and executes print jobs stored in the spool queue 111b. In other words, the print control unit 111c controls the printer 20 by transmitting commands constituting the print job to the printer 20, and causes the printer 20 to print objects set in the print job.

3. Printing Control Method FIG. 3 is a sequence chart showing a printing control method using the PC 10 as a printing control device. The process shown in FIG. 3 is activated when the OK button 63 is clicked in a state where the check box 62 is turned on in the dialog box shown in FIG.

  First, the authentication unit 110a determines the layout of an arbitrary object designated by the user, the layout of the color chart, and the layout of the authentication information according to the printing conditions, and generates a print job with authentication, which is a print job for these (Step). S100). The print job with authentication is text data including a command and parameters for controlling the printer and a command for determining authentication information. The authenticated print job is stored in the spool queue 111b. At this stage, an arbitrary object designated by the user and the color chart are confirmed as print objects, and authentication information is not confirmed as a print object. That is, at this stage, it is determined that the authentication information is printed, but the content of the authentication information, which is a character or symbol indicating the temperature, temperature, humidity, colorimetry result, etc. of the print head 23a, is not determined.

When the print job with authentication becomes executable, the print control unit 111c executes the print job with authentication as follows.
First, the print control unit 111c transmits a print job start command to the printer 20 (step S101). The print job start command is a command for notifying the printer 20 of the start of a new print job. The printer that has received the print job start command is placed under the control of the print job until a print job end command is received.

  Next, the print control unit 111c transmits parameters corresponding to the printing conditions to the printer 20 (step S102). These parameters include a print job identifier, PC 10 identifier, necessity of cutting paper P, print quality, and the like.

  Next, the print controller 111c transmits a print job start command with authentication to the printer 20 (step S103). The print job start command with authentication is a command for notifying the printer 20 of the start of command transmission for one page on which authentication information is printed. The printer that has received the print job start command with authentication is placed under the control of the print job with authentication until the print job end command with authentication is received.

  Next, the print control unit 111c transmits print data, which is bitmap data for printing an arbitrary object designated by the user and the color chart, to the printer 20 in band units. Upon receiving the print data, the printer 20 drives the printing unit 23 and the paper feeding unit 24 by the control unit 21, and prints an arbitrary object and a color chart designated by the user on the paper P (step S104).

  In a state where printing of an arbitrary object designated by the user and the color chart is completed, an arbitrary image 51 and a color chart 52 are printed on the paper P, which is roll paper, as shown in FIG. An image 51 is a print result of an arbitrary object designated by the user. The color chart 52 is a collective figure of a plurality of color patches 52a having different colors.

  Next, the print control unit 111c acquires the current time as time measurement data from the operating system (step S105). The current time acquired at this time substantially coincides with the time when printing of an arbitrary object designated by the user is completed. The timing for acquiring the current time as time measurement data may be any time during execution of a print job, such as immediately after the start of execution of a print job with authentication. For example, the current time may be acquired immediately before transmission of a print job start command with authentication and immediately after the end of printing of an arbitrary object designated by the user, and each may be used as time measurement data representing the print start time and the print end time.

  Next, the print controller 111c transmits a sensor command for inquiring sensor data to the printer 20 (step S106), and acquires the sensor data from the printer 20 (step S108). The printer 20 that has received the sensor command acquires sensor data indicating the temperature, temperature, and humidity of the print head from the temperature sensor 23b, the temperature sensor 20a, and the humidity sensor 20b attached to the print head 23a. Sensor data is transmitted to the PC 10.

  Next, the print control unit 111c transmits a drying command to the printer 20 (step S109). Upon receiving the drying command, the printer 20 activates the heat generator and the blower fan 25a of the dryer 25, and dries the entire ink forming the image 51 and the color chart 52 while transporting the paper P (step S110).

  Next, the print control unit 111c transmits a color measurement start command to the printer 20 (step S111). The printer 20 that has received the colorimetry start command shifts to a mode linked to the colorimeter 30, and transports the paper P to a position where the color chart 52 is measured by the colorimeter 30 (step S112). Subsequently, the printer 20 transmits a colorimetry control command to the colorimeter 30 (step S113), and conveys the paper P for scanning the color chart 52 (step S114a). The colorimeter 30 that has received the colorimetry control command turns on the light source 30a to illuminate the color chart 52, and detects the reflected light of the color chart 52 incident on the light receiver 30b through the spectroscope. Color measurement is performed (step S114b), and the color measurement result is output to the printer 20 (step S115).

  Next, the print control unit 111c transmits a color measurement result inquiry command to the printer 20 (step S116). When the printer 20 receives the color measurement result from the color measuring device 30, it transmits the color measurement result to the PC 10 in response to the color measurement result inquiry command (step S118). The color measurement result is image data obtained by reading the color chart 52 with Lab values.

  When receiving the color measurement result, the print control unit 111c transmits a color measurement end command to the printer 20 (step S119). When the color measurement end command is received, the printer 20 shifts from the mode linked to the color measuring device 30 to the normal print mode.

  Next, the print control unit 111c determines the authentication information based on the current time acquired as time measurement data, the temperature / temperature / humidity of the print head 23a acquired as sensor data, and the color measurement result (step S120). That is, the authentication unit 110a converts the data representing the current time, sensor data, and color measurement results into text data composed of identifiable character strings and symbols, and further converts the text data composed of the character strings and symbols as print data. The data is converted into a bitmap, and the print controller 111c acquires a bitmap as the print data.

  Next, the print control unit 111c transmits print data of authentication information to the printer 20 in band units. When receiving the print data, the printer 20 drives the printing unit 23 and the paper feeding unit 24 by the control unit 21 to print the authentication information on the paper P (step S121).

  When the transmission of the print data of the authentication information is completed, the print control unit 111c transmits a print job end command with authentication to the printer 20 (step S122). Upon receiving the authenticated print job end command, the printer 20 conveys the paper P until the cutting position moves directly below the cutter 24c, and cuts the paper P by the cutter 24c (step S123). As a result, a one-leaf printed matter on which an arbitrary object designated by the user, a color chart, and authentication information are printed is completed. In FIG. 4, the cutting line of the cutter 24c is illustrated by a broken line.

  When the execution of the print job with authentication for one leaf is completed by the above processing, the print control unit 111c determines whether there is a print job with authentication for the next leaf (step S124). If there is a print job with authentication for the next leaf, the above-described processing is repeated from step S103. If there is no print job with authentication for the next leaf, the print control unit 111c transmits a print job end command to the printer 20 to complete the execution of the print job (step S125). When the print job end command is received, the printer 20 shifts to a standby mode waiting for reception of a print job start command corresponding to the next print job.

  According to the embodiment described above, the state of the one-leaf printed matter from the start to the end of the creation of the one-leaf printed matter on which an arbitrary object designated by the user is printed is determined. Authentication data, which is data indicating whether printing has been performed in the situation, is acquired, and authentication information is determined based on the acquired authentication data. Therefore, it is possible to print highly reliable authentication information that accurately represents in what state or situation the printed material of one leaf is actually printed. Further, according to the present embodiment, such accurate authentication information is printed on a leaf on which an image formed by printing authenticated by the authentication information is arranged. Therefore, the correspondence relationship between the authentication information and the image formed by the print authenticated by the authentication information is fixed, and the reliability of the authentication information is further increased.

4). Other Embodiments The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

  For example, the printer 20 may employ an electrophotographic system (laser system / LED system), a thermal system, or the like. Further, the colorimeter 30 may employ a structure of a stimulus value direct reading method. Further, the paper P on which the authentication information is printed is not limited to a roll paper that is cut into one leaf and one leaf by cutting, but may be a standard paper such as A4. In the above embodiment, the PC 10 rasterizes and transmits bitmap data as print data from the PC 10. However, PostScript data may be transmitted from the PC 10 to the printer 20 and rasterized by the printer 20. In this case, the authentication unit 110a of the color management program 110 generates postscript data as print data of the authentication information, thereby confirming the authentication information as a print object.

The block diagram concerning embodiment of this invention. The top view which shows the dialog box concerning embodiment of this invention. The sequence chart concerning embodiment of this invention. The top view which shows the printed matter concerning embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

10: PC, 11: control unit (printing control device), 12: hard disk device, 13: operation unit, 14: display unit, 20: printer, 20a: temperature sensor, 20b: humidity sensor, 21: control unit, 23: Print section, 23a: Print head, 13b: Temperature sensor, 24: Paper feed section, 24b: Roller, 24c: Cutter, 25: Dryer, 25a: Blower fan, 30: Colorimeter, 30a: Light source, 30b: Light reception 51: Image, 52: Color chart, 52a: Color patch, 60: Dialog box, 61: Text box, 62: Check box, 63: Button, 110: Color management program, 110a: Authentication unit, 111: Printer driver 111a: job generation unit, 111b: spool queue, 111c: print control unit, P: paper

Claims (6)

Job generation means for generating a print job with authentication for a print object including a color chart and authentication information regarding printing of the print object;
Print control means for printing the print object and the authentication information on a printer based on the print job with authentication;
Authentication means for confirming the authentication information based on authentication data indicating a printing status or state;
Equipped with a,
After the print object is printed, sensor data is acquired as the authentication data,
After obtaining the sensor data, the colorimeter linked to the printer is color-measured by the color chart, and the colorimetric result is obtained as the authentication data.
After obtaining the color measurement result, the print data of the authentication information is transmitted to the printer.
Print control device. The authentication unit obtains timing data as the authentication data after printing is started, and determines the authentication information based on the timing data.
The print control apparatus according to claim 1 . A printing system comprising a printing control device and a printer connected to the printing control device,
The print control device includes:
Job generation means for generating a print job with authentication for a print object including a color chart and authentication information regarding printing of the print object;
Print control means for transmitting a print command to a printer based on the authenticated print job;
Authentication means for confirming the authentication information based on authentication data indicating a printing status or state after printing is started in the printer;
With
After the print object is printed, sensor data is acquired as the authentication data,
After obtaining the sensor data, the colorimeter linked to the printer is color-measured by the color chart, and the colorimetric result is obtained as the authentication data.
After obtaining the color measurement result, send print data of the authentication information to the printer,
The printer is
Based on the print command, comprising a printing means for printing the print object and the authentication information;
Printing system. A colorimeter linked to the printer;
The authentication means acquires a color measurement result of the color chart as the authentication data by transmitting a color measurement command to the printer,
The printer moves the color measurement patch to a position to be measured by the colorimeter by sending paper according to the color measurement command,
The colorimeter measures the color chart printed by the printer according to the color measurement command.
The printing system according to claim 3 . Job generation means for generating a print job with authentication for a print object including a color chart and authentication information regarding printing of the print object;
Print control means for printing the print object and the authentication information on a printer based on the print job with authentication;
Authentication means for confirming the authentication information based on authentication data indicating a printing status or state after printing is started; and
Cause the computer to function as,
After the print object is printed, sensor data is acquired as the authentication data,
After obtaining the sensor data, the color chart that works in conjunction with the printer measures the color chart, and obtains the color measurement result as the authentication data,
After obtaining the color measurement result, print data of the authentication information is transmitted to the printer.
Print control program. Generating a print job with authentication for a print object including a color chart and authentication information regarding printing of the print object;
Based on the print job with authentication, the print object and the authentication information are printed on a printer,
After the printing is started, the authentication information is determined based on the authentication data indicating the printing status or state.
Look at including it,
After the print object is printed, sensor data is acquired as the authentication data,
After obtaining the sensor data, the colorimeter linked to the printer is color-measured by the color chart, and the colorimetric result is obtained as the authentication data.
After obtaining the color measurement result, the print data of the authentication information is transmitted to the printer.
Print control method.

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