JP5825034B2 - Printing system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a printing system that monitors the status of printing apparatuses on a network.

  2. Description of the Related Art A printing system is widely known that includes a printing apparatus such as a plurality of printers and a host apparatus that is connected to the printer via a network, acquires the status of each printer, and monitors and manages the printer status.

  When the number of printers connected to the network is large and the printing system is large-scale, the amount of information required for management increases, and the amount of communication increases, causing a load on network traffic. There is. In order to solve this problem, a technique for reducing the load on the network by acquiring the printer status and printer information from each printer at an appropriate timing (optimizing the polling interval) has been proposed.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an information processing apparatus that changes a monitoring interval according to the status and load state of a device on the network for the purpose of reducing the load on the network.

  However, in the prior art, the monitoring interval in the printer status monitoring is changed according to the status and the load status to reduce the network load. However, the monitoring interval is determined according to the generated status. Therefore, even when a state where no error has occurred continues, the monitoring interval is not changed (extended) as it is, and the load on the network cannot be reduced. Also, depending on the error frequency, error content, etc., it is necessary to monitor with a shortened monitoring interval. However, the monitoring interval is not extended and cannot be shortened, resulting in a delay in error detection. There was also.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a printing system capable of monitoring the status of a printing apparatus while reducing the network load by changing the monitoring interval of the printing apparatus according to the status of the printing apparatus. In addition, the printing device can be reduced more preferably while reducing the load on the network by changing the monitoring interval of the printing device in consideration of the comparison result of the error occurrence frequency with other printing devices in the network and the error occurrence time. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing system capable of monitoring the state of the printer.

In order to achieve this object, a printing system according to the present invention is a printing system in which a host device and a plurality of printing devices are connected via a network, and the host device monitors the status of the plurality of printing devices. , A status monitoring unit that polls each printing device at a predetermined acquisition time, and an acquisition time setting unit that changes the acquisition time. The printing device counts the number of error occurrences in the printing device. A counter and an error time counter that counts the occurrence time of an error for each time are provided, and the acquisition time setting means generates an error when an error occurrence is detected in a certain printing device with respect to the status monitoring result by the status monitoring means. It compares the printing device, the error counter and error value of the timing counter with the other printing device, the error counter Based on the time counter comparison result of the error and is intended to extend or shorten the acquisition time of the printing apparatus in which the error occurred.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to monitor the status of the printing apparatus while reducing the load on the network.

1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a printing system according to the present invention. It is a functional block diagram of a printing system. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of acquisition setting time change processing executed by the printing system (first embodiment); It is an example of an acquisition setting time table (1st Embodiment). 10 is a flowchart illustrating another example of acquisition setting time change processing executed by the printing system (second embodiment). It is another example of an acquisition setting time table (2nd Embodiment). 10 is a flowchart illustrating another example of acquisition setting time change processing executed by the printing system (third embodiment).

  Hereinafter, a configuration according to the present invention will be described in detail based on the embodiment shown in FIGS.

[First embodiment]
The printing system according to the present embodiment includes a host apparatus 110 and a plurality of printing apparatuses 120 connected via a network 130, and the host apparatus 110 monitors the status of the plurality of printing apparatuses 120 by the host apparatus 100. Includes a state monitoring unit 113 that polls each printing apparatus 120 at predetermined acquisition times, and an acquisition time setting unit 114 that changes the acquisition time. The acquisition time setting unit 114 is a state monitoring unit 113. If the state of the printing apparatus 120 does not change, the number of times that the state does not change is counted, the acquisition time is extended for each predetermined count, and the state is acquired when the state of the printing apparatus 120 changes. The time is returned to a predetermined acquisition time.

(Configuration of printing system)
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a printing system 100 according to the present embodiment. The host device 110 and the printers 120A to 120C are connected via a network 130 such as a LAN or a dedicated line, and various information communication is performed. In the example of FIG. 1, the printers 120 </ b> A to 120 </ b> C are shown as the printer 120, but it is needless to say that the number of printers is not limited.

  The host device 110 transmits and receives various types of information to and from the printers 120 </ b> A to 120 </ b> C via the network 130. For example, an acquisition request for acquiring printer information (error information, status, etc., hereinafter also referred to as printer status information) is executed, and the printer information of each printer 120A-C is acquired and monitored. It is. The host device 110 is constituted by an information processing device (personal computer, server, etc.) comprising hardware such as arithmetic means (CPU, etc.), storage means (RAM, ROM, etc.) connected to the bus line, and input / output interface. Is done.

  The printer 120 receives the inquiry content from the host device 110 via the network 130 and responds with printer information.

  FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of the printing system 100 according to the present embodiment. The host device 110 includes a request transmission unit 111, an information reception unit 112, a state monitoring unit 113, an acquisition time setting unit 114, a counter 115, and an acquisition setting time table 116.

  The printer 120 also includes a request receiving unit 121, an information transmitting unit 122, a state monitoring unit 123, an error information storage unit 124, and a counter device 125. In FIG. 2, one printer 120 is shown as the printer 120, but a plurality of printers 120 are connected to the network 130.

  The state monitoring unit 113 of the host device 110 performs polling, that is, transmission of an acquisition request for acquiring printer information from the request transmission unit 111 to the printer 120. The acquisition request is received by the request receiving unit 121 of the printer 120. In addition, the information receiving unit 112 receives printer information transmitted from the information transmitting unit 122 of the printer 120. In addition, the state monitoring unit 113 includes a counter 115 and an acquisition setting time table 116 used for checking the state of the printer 120, as will be described later.

  The acquisition time setting unit 114 sets (extends or shortens) intervals (also referred to as polling intervals or monitoring intervals) of time (also referred to as acquisition time or acquisition setting time) when the state monitoring unit 113 acquires printer information. In addition, it is also preferable to determine the amount of data to be acquired (contents of printer information).

  Further, the request reception unit 121 of the printer 120 receives the acquisition request transmitted from the request transmission unit 111 and passes the acquisition request to the state monitoring unit 123.

  The status monitoring unit 123 monitors the occurrence of jobs, errors, etc. as printer information. Each printer 120 preferably includes an error information storage unit 124 and a counter device 125. Here, the error information storage unit 124 is a storage unit that stores a table indicating a relationship between the error frequency and the acquisition setting time, an error count value for each predetermined period, and the like. The counter device 125 is a counter that stores the frequency of errors occurring in each printer 120 as a counter value.

  In addition, the information transmission unit 122 transmits the printer information to the information reception unit 112 of the host device 110.

(Control of printing system)
FIG. 3 shows an example of a control flowchart of the printing system 100. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process of increasing the value of the counter 115 when the error of the printer 120A occurs and changing the acquisition setting time.

  The status monitoring unit 113 of the host device 110 performs polling at every acquisition setting time and confirms the status of the printer 120A (S11). The initial value of the acquisition setting time may be set to a predetermined value.

  Next, the acquisition time setting means 114 determines whether or not it is the same as the previous state confirmation (S12), and if it is the same state as the previous time, increments the counter 115 for the printer 120A (S13). The counter 115 is configured to be able to count each printer 120 in the network 130.

  Further, it is determined whether or not the counter 115 is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value (S14). If the counter 115 is equal to or greater than the threshold value (S14: yes), there is no change in the printer state a predetermined number of times or more, so that it is higher than other printers. Since it can be determined that the state is stable, the acquisition setting time is extended (S15). Thereafter, polling is performed based on the extended acquisition setting time (return to S11).

  The acquisition time setting means 114 of the host device 110 holds an acquisition setting time table 116 indicating the relationship between the threshold value for the value of the counter 115 and the acquisition setting time to be extended as shown in FIG. Further, for each printer, the value of the counter 115 is compared with a threshold value, and the acquisition setting time is changed (extended). The acquisition time setting unit 114 has a counter value for each printer 120. Further, the acquisition setting time table 116 shown in FIG. 4 is an example, and even if the same acquisition setting time table 116 is applied to all the printers 120 constituting the printing system 100, the acquisition setting different in threshold value and acquisition setting time. A plurality of time tables 116 may be provided and applied according to the type (model) of the printer.

  On the other hand, in the determination of S12, when the state has changed since the previous state confirmation, the acquisition time is also reset (reduced to the initial value) in order to reset the state of the device (S16).

  According to the printing system according to the present embodiment described above, polling can be performed at an optimal interval according to the printer status by increasing or decreasing the polling interval according to whether or not the same printer status continues. The network communication load can be reduced, and the printer status in the network can be monitored. In addition, it is possible to further reduce the communication load of the network by determining the amount of data acquired at the time of polling. As a result, it is possible to prevent delays in detection of errors due to extension of the acquisition time.

[Second Embodiment]
Hereinafter, another embodiment of the printing system according to the present invention will be described. In addition, the description about the same point as the said embodiment is abbreviate | omitted.

  FIG. 5 shows another example of a control flowchart of the printing system 100. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a process of increasing the value of the counter device 125 of the printer 120A when an error occurs in the printer 120A and changing the acquisition setting time based on the comparison result with other printers in the printing system 100. .

  The status monitoring unit 113 of the host device 110 performs polling at every acquisition setting time and confirms the status of the printer 120A (S21). Note that the initial value of the acquisition setting time is set to a predetermined value.

  Next, the acquisition time setting unit 114 determines whether an error has occurred in the printer 120A (S23). When any error occurs in the printer 120A (S22), the printer 120A stores an error log in the error information storage unit 124 (S24). If no error has occurred in the printer 120A (normal state), polling is continued every predetermined time (return to S21).

  In the printer 120A, when an error occurs, the error counter of the counter device 125 in the printer is incremented (S25), and the value is held in the counter device 125 (S26). Note that the error counter is also preferably counted according to the type of error.

  The error counter value of the printer 120A is transmitted to the host device 110 (or can be extracted from the host device 110). In the host device 110, the error counter value of each printer 120 is managed.

  Then, the acquisition time setting means 114 of the host device 110 compares the error counter values acquired from the printer 120A and other printers (S27). Although the comparison method is not particularly limited, for example, a comparison with an average value of an error counter of another printer may be performed.

  As a result, if the value of the error counter of the printer 120A is larger than that of other printers, it means that errors occur more frequently than other printers and it is necessary to monitor more frequently. The acquisition setting time of 120A is decreased (S28).

  On the other hand, if the error counter value of the printer 120A is smaller than the other counter values, it means that errors do not occur more frequently than other printers, and there is no problem even if the monitoring interval is extended. The acquisition setting time of the printer 120A from the next time is increased (S29).

  Based on the acquisition setting time set in this way, the host device 110 performs polling from the next time on (S30). Note that an increase or decrease in the acquisition setting time may be set on the printer 120A side, and the set acquisition setting time may be notified to the host device 110.

  The acquisition time setting means 114 of the host device 110 has an acquisition setting time table 116 that stores the count value and acquisition setting time of each printer, as shown in FIG. The count value and acquisition setting time of each printer 120 are updated.

  According to the printing system according to the present embodiment described above, polling is performed at an optimal interval by dynamically changing the polling interval by comparison with the frequency of errors occurring in other printers. It is possible to reduce the communication load on the network and monitor the printer status in the network. In addition, by counting according to the type of error, it is possible to increase or decrease the polling interval considering the error content.

[Third embodiment]
In the second embodiment, it is also preferable to consider an error occurrence time (date, time, time zone, etc.). The counter device 125 of each printer 120 in the present embodiment has a counter for each error occurrence time (error time counter) in addition to the error counter described in the second embodiment.

  FIG. 7 shows another example of a control flowchart of the printing system 100. FIG. 7A is a flowchart showing a process of setting a flag (separately counted) for the group at x day and y as the time when an error occurs in the printer 120A, and FIG. 7B is the same period thereafter. It is a flowchart which shows the process which considers the value counted separately when an error generate | occur | produces. In the present embodiment, the processing is performed in consideration of the tendency of the usage situation of each month by considering the date and time of each month. However, the occurrence time may be a predetermined time zone within a day, etc. Classification may be performed based on the above criteria.

  As shown in FIG. 7A, first, when an error occurs at z month x day y in the printer 120A (S31), the value of the group error time counter for the x day y at the printer 120A is incremented ( S32). In addition, what is necessary is just to distinguish a time slot | zone with a predetermined width | variety, for example. Although explanation is omitted, the value of a normal error counter is also counted.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 7B, when an error occurs at the same date z + 1 month x day y of the next month (S33), in addition to incrementing the error counter value of the printer 120A (S34), With reference to the value of the error time counter, the value of the error time counter for the corresponding date is also added (S35). In this way, it is possible to obtain a count value in consideration of the error occurrence date and time. Thereafter, the same processing as S27 to S30 is performed (S36 to S39).

  According to the printing system according to the present embodiment described above, in addition to the above-described embodiment, it is possible to set a polling interval in consideration of the error occurrence time. For example, in network monitoring during the same period (date and time), it is possible to perform polling in consideration of the monthly usage trend by considering the number of errors that occurred during the same period, reducing the communication load on the network. Thus, the printer status in the network can be monitored.

  The above-described embodiment is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but is not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

100 Printing System 110 Host Device 111 Request Transmitting Unit 112 Information Receiving Unit 113 Status Monitoring Unit 114 Acquisition Time Setting Unit 105 Counter 116 Acquisition Setting Time Table 120 Printer 121 Request Reception Unit 122 Information Transmitting Unit 123 Status Monitoring Unit 124 Error Information Storage Unit 125 Counter device 130 network

JP-A-10-301728

Claims (2)

In a printing system in which a host device and a plurality of printing devices are connected via a network, and the host device monitors the status of the plurality of printing devices,
The host device is
Status monitoring means for polling each of the printing devices at predetermined acquisition times;
An acquisition time setting means for changing the acquisition time,
The printing apparatus includes:
An error counter that counts the number of error occurrences in the printing apparatus and an error time counter that counts the time of error occurrence for each time period ;
The acquisition time setting means detects an error occurrence in a certain printing apparatus for the status monitoring result in the status monitoring means,
Compare the error counter and error time counter values of the printing apparatus in which the error has occurred with other printing apparatuses,
Printing system, characterized in that on the basis of the error counter and said error timing counter comparison result, extending or shortening the acquisition time of the printing apparatus in which the error occurred. The acquisition time setting means, and characterized in that it holds the value of the error counter of the printers of said plurality of printing devices in the printing system, and the acquisition time set in the printing device The printing system according to claim 1 .

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