JP6179319B2 - Printing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to a printing apparatus that stores a print job received from an external apparatus and starts printing the print job when information for permitting printing of the stored print job is input.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a printing apparatus that does not print a received print job immediately, but can perform accumulated printing that starts printing of the print job when information that permits printing of the print job is input after that. . For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for setting authentication information for a print job, receiving input of authentication information in a printer, and printing all print jobs having authentication information that matches the input authentication information. Yes.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-341991

  However, the conventional technique described above has the following problems. In other words, a printing apparatus that accepts a stored job that is a print job for stored printing tends to be full of memory. In order to reduce the possibility of memory full, the stored job may be compressed and stored. However, decompression processing is required at the time of printing, and it takes time to complete the printing.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art. That is, the problem is to provide a printing apparatus that can reduce the possibility of memory full without taking time to complete printing.

  A printing apparatus made for the purpose of solving this problem includes a receiving unit that receives input of specific information that is information that permits printing, a communication unit that communicates with the information processing device, a printing unit, and a control unit. The control unit stores a storage process for storing a print job received via the communication unit, and prints an accumulated job that is a print job stored in the storage process. If the print processing to be executed by the printing unit and the change condition that changes the data compression state of the stored job are satisfied on the condition that the print job is received, the specified stored job stored It is characterized by decompressing a user's compressed stored job and executing compression / decompression processing for compressing an uncompressed stored job other than the specific user.

  The printing apparatus disclosed in this specification accepts a stored job. When a stored job is received, the stored job is stored. When input of specific information for the stored stored job is received, printing of the stored job is permitted. When the change condition for changing the data compression state is satisfied, the printing apparatus sets the data compression state of the accumulated job to the non-compressed state for the job of the specific user, and the job of the user other than the specific user to the compressed state. Change as follows. Examples of stored printing that uses stored jobs include secure printing in which a password is added to the print job (specific information is a password), and login printing using login as a printing condition (specific information is login information). Applicable. The change conditions include, for example, reception of a new accumulated job (stored in the storage unit of the accumulated job), input of specific information to a certain accumulated job (allowing printing of the accumulated job), successful login, predetermined time ( For example, it corresponds to a midnight time when the printing unit is not expected to operate. The specific user includes, for example, the user of the most recently received stored job, the user who has input specific information, the login user, the user with the highest use frequency, and the user specified in advance.

  According to the printing apparatus disclosed in this specification, by satisfying the change condition, stored jobs other than the specific user among the stored jobs stored in the storage unit are compressed. This reduces the possibility of memory full in the storage unit. On the other hand, when the change condition is satisfied, the stored job of the specific user is decompressed. Therefore, when the specific user inputs specific information that permits printing, printing of the stored job of the specific user can be started immediately, and the time until the completion of printing is suppressed.

  In addition, the control unit may use the change condition to receive a new stored job in the compression / decompression process, and set the user of the new stored job as the specific user. When a new stored job is received, the possibility that specific information for the stored job is input tends to be higher than that of other stored jobs. Therefore, when a new stored job is received, among the existing stored jobs, the print job of the user of the new stored job is decompressed, and the stored jobs of other users are compressed, so that A suitable operation can be expected.

  The stored job is a stored job that is permitted to be printed on condition that authentication information set for each stored job is input, and the receiving unit receives the authentication information as the specific information, and performs the control. In the compression / decompression process, the change condition may be that the authentication information for a certain stored job stored in the storage process is input, and the user of the certain stored job may be the specific user. In such a printing apparatus, when authentication information is input for a certain stored job, the possibility that the authentication information is input also for other stored jobs of the user of the stored job tends to increase. Therefore, when authentication information is input for a certain stored job, among the existing stored jobs, the other stored jobs of the user of the stored job are also decompressed, and the stored jobs of other users are compressed. A suitable operation of the compression / decompression process can be expected.

  The stored job is a stored job that is permitted to be printed on condition that authentication information set for each stored job is input, and the receiving unit receives the authentication information as the specific information, and performs the control. When the change condition is that one of the accumulated jobs stored in the storage process is designated as a print target in the compression / decompression process, and the user of the designated accumulated job is the specific user, Good. Before the stored job authentication information is input, the stored job to be printed is selected and specified. In other words, the printing apparatus accepts input of authentication information of the designated accumulated job after accepting designation of the accumulated job to be printed. In such a printing apparatus, when a storage job to be printed is designated, there is a tendency that authentication information may be input for other storage jobs of the user of the storage job. Therefore, when one stored job is designated as a print target, among the existing stored jobs, other stored jobs of the user of the specified stored job are also decompressed, and the stored jobs of other users are compressed. Therefore, it is expected that the compression / decompression process can be suitably used.

In the printing apparatus disclosed in this specification, the accumulated job includes an accumulated job that is permitted to be printed on the condition that login to the printing apparatus is successful, and the reception unit includes the specific information. Log-in information for successful login is received, and the control unit includes, as the change condition, successful login to the printing apparatus in the compression / decompression process, and the login user who has successfully logged in It may be a specific user. In such a printing apparatus, when login is successful, printing is permitted for the accumulated job of the logged-in user, while printing is not permitted for accumulated jobs other than the logged-in user. For this reason, when the login is successful, the decompressed job of the logged-in user is decompressed, and the accumulated job of the other users is compressed, so that a suitable operation of the compression / decompression process can be expected.

  In the printing apparatus disclosed in this specification, the stored job includes a stored job that is permitted to be printed on condition that authentication information set for each stored job is input. The change condition may include that the authentication information for a certain stored job stored in the storage process is input. In such a printing apparatus, printing is permitted by inputting authentication information after login. Not only when the login is successful, but also when authentication information is entered, it can be expected that the compression / decompression process can be used appropriately by making the change condition.

  In the printing apparatus disclosed in this specification, the stored job includes a stored job that is permitted to be printed on condition that authentication information set for each stored job is input. The change condition includes that, among the stored jobs stored in the storage process, one of the stored jobs that are permitted to be printed on condition that the authentication information is input is designated as a print target. Good. In such a printing apparatus, printing is permitted by inputting authentication information after login. Then, before the authentication information is input, the accumulation job to be printed is specified. Not only when the login is successful, but also when a stored job that requires input of authentication information is designated as a print target, a favorable operation of the compression / decompression process can be expected by setting the change condition.

  Further, the control unit may set the change condition to be successful logoff for canceling login in the compression / decompression process, and the user of the stored job stored most recently as the specific user. At the time of logoff, it is preferable to decompress a part of the stored jobs of the non-logged-in users, so that printing can be started immediately. On the other hand, stored jobs of users who have logged off, even if they remain, are likely not to be printed for a while. Therefore, by decompressing the user's stored job of the latest stored job and compressing the stored jobs of other users, it is possible to expect a suitable operation of the compression / decompression process.

  The control unit may prioritize decompression of the stored job over compression of the stored job in the compression / decompression process. Printing can be started earlier by giving priority to decompression over compression.

  In addition, in the compression / decompression process, the control unit gives priority to the compression of the stored job over the decompression of the stored job when the free space of the storage unit storing the stored job is smaller than the threshold, and otherwise Therefore, decompression of stored jobs should be given priority over compression of stored jobs. If the free space in the storage unit is small, decompression first increases the possibility of memory full, so compression is preferred over decompression. The free space in the storage area may be a physical free space in the memory or a logical free space in the memory area allocated for storing the stored job.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to realize a printing apparatus that can be expected to reduce the possibility of memory full without taking time to complete printing.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of a printer according to an embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of a reception process. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of a compression / decompression process. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of accumulation | storage print processing. It is explanatory drawing which shows an Example. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the accumulation | storage print process which concerns on a 2nd form. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the accumulation | storage printing process which concerns on a 3rd form.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment embodying a printing system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to a printer that receives image data from a personal computer (PC) or the like and prints an image based on the received image data on paper.

[Electrical configuration of printer]
As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 100 of this embodiment includes a controller 30 including a CPU 31, a ROM 32, a RAM 33, a nonvolatile RAM (NVRAM) 34, and an ASIC 35. Further, the printer 100 includes an image forming unit 10, an operation panel 40, a network interface 37, and a USB interface 38, which are connected to the controller 30.

  The ROM 32 stores various control programs for controlling the printer 100, various settings, initial values, and the like. The RAM 33 is used as a work area from which various control programs are read, or as a storage area for temporarily storing data. The CPU 31 controls each component of the printer 100 while storing the processing result in the RAM 33 or the NVRAM 34 according to the control program read from the ROM 32.

  The image forming unit 10 is configured to print an image on a sheet. The image forming method of the image forming unit 10 may be an electrophotographic method or an ink jet method. The image forming unit 10 of the printer 100 may be capable of forming a color image or only a monochrome image.

  The operation panel 40 includes a liquid crystal display and various buttons, and receives an instruction input from the user. The network interface 37 and the USB interface 38 are hardware for communicating with various external devices such as the PC 200. The printer 100 is connected to the PC 200 via the USB interface 38. The printer 100 executes printing based on the print job received from the PC 200. The PC 200 may be connected via the network interface 37. Further, more external devices may be connected.

  The operation panel 40 is an example of a reception unit. The network interface 37 and the USB interface 38 are examples of a communication unit. The RAM 33 and the NVRAM 34 are examples of a storage unit. The image forming unit 10 is an example of a printing unit. The CPU 31 is an example of a control unit. The controller 30 may be a control unit, and the ASIC 35 may be a control unit. Note that the controller 30 in FIG. 1 is a collective term for hardware used for controlling the printer 100 such as the CPU 31, and does not necessarily represent a single piece of hardware that actually exists in the printer 100.

[Print Job]
Next, a print job accepted by the printer 100 will be described. The printer 100 receives, as a print job, a normal print job that executes printing immediately after being received, and a stored job that executes printing when a predetermined condition is satisfied without executing printing at the time of reception. .

  When the printer 100 receives a normal print job, the printer 100 starts executing printing based on the image data of the received job. When the execution of printing is completed, the image data and job information of the job are deleted. A log related to printing may be left.

  On the other hand, when the printer 100 receives a stored job, the printer 100 does not print immediately, but temporarily stores the received stored job in the RAM 33 or the NVRAM 34. When a stored job is received, the printer 100 receives job information regarding the job together with image data to be printed. The job information of the stored job includes specific information that is information that permits printing of the job and information about the user who has submitted the print job. When the printer 100 receives input of specific information from the operation panel 40 or the like, the printer 100 prints image data corresponding to the specific information.

  Specifically, in this embodiment, there are two types of stored jobs, a login print job and a secure print job. The login print job is a stored job that is printed on the condition that the login of the job owning user is accepted. A secure print job is a stored job that is printed on condition that authentication information is set for each job and the input of the authentication information is accepted. The printer 100 according to this embodiment may accept only a login print job as a stored job, may accept only a secure print job, or may accept both a login print job and a secure print job.

  The job information of the login print job includes information indicating that it is a login print job and login information that is information for identifying a user. In a login print job, login information corresponds to specific information. Then, when the printer 100 that receives the login print job receives the login of the user, the printer 100 prints all the login print jobs of the login user. When printing is completed, the image data is deleted. The login may be performed by inputting an ID or the like from the operation panel 40 or by reading an ID card or the like.

  The job information of the secure print job includes information indicating a secure print job and authentication information such as a password. In a secure print job, authentication information corresponds to specific information. The authentication information for the secure print job is set for each job by the user who submits the job. When the printer 100 that accepts a secure print job accepts input of authentication information through the operation panel 40 or the like, the printer 100 executes printing of the corresponding secure print job. When printing is completed, the image data is deleted.

[Compression and decompression of stored jobs]
Next, the compression and decompression of stored jobs executed by the printer 100 will be described. As described above, when receiving a stored job, the printer 100 stores the job information and image data in the RAM 33 or the NVRAM 34. For this reason, if a large number of stored jobs are received without printing being performed, the total amount of stored stored jobs may increase, and the storage capacity may become tight. Therefore, the printer 100 reduces the amount of data to be stored by compressing and storing the stored job for a part of the received stored jobs.

  On the other hand, when input of specific information for a stored job is accepted, it is desirable to start printing the corresponding job at an early stage. However, if the stored job to be printed is compressed, it cannot be started until it is first decompressed and uncompressed. That is, in the case of a stored job in a compressed state, it may take a long time to complete printing.

  Therefore, the printer 100 estimates a job that is likely to accept input of specific information at an early stage among the stored jobs stored, stores the corresponding stored job in an uncompressed state, and stores other stored jobs. Store in compressed state. Specifically, a user of an accumulation job that is estimated to be likely to input specific information at an early stage among users who have input the accumulation job is a specific user. Then, the accumulated job of the specific user is decompressed, and the accumulated jobs of users other than the specific user are compressed. If there are multiple stored jobs for a specific user, all stored jobs are decompressed. The specific user will be described later.

[First embodiment]
Next, the operation of the printer 100 according to the first embodiment that realizes the above-described processing for compressing and decompressing stored jobs will be described. Assume that the printer 100 of this embodiment accepts a login print job as a stored job.

[Receive processing]
First, reception processing executed when the printer 100 receives a print job will be described. Hereinafter, the procedure of the reception process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This reception process is executed by the CPU 31 when a print job is received via the USB interface or the like.

  In the reception process, first, it is determined whether or not the received print job is an accumulation job (S101). If it is determined that the job is an accumulated job (S101: YES), the job is stored in the RAM 33 or NVRAM 34 (S102). The user who has input the job is set as a specific user (S103). Further, a compression / decompression process for changing the compression state of the stored job is executed (S105). In the storage decompression process of S105, the change condition is that the storage job has been received, and the specific user is the user of the input storage job.

  The procedure of the compression / decompression process executed in S105 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the compression / decompression process, first, it is determined whether or not there is a sufficiently large free space in the area for storing the accumulated job in the RAM 33 or the NVRAM 34 (S201). If it is determined that the free space is sufficiently large (S201: YES), if there is a compressed job stored in a specific user, it is decompressed (S203). Specifically, for each stored job in a compressed state, if the user of the stored job is a specific user, the stored job is decompressed and stored.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the CPU 31 is busy (S205). If it is determined that the current state is busy (S205: YES), the process waits until it is no longer busy. If there is sufficient free space, the compression process described later is not urgent. Therefore, it is desirable that the CPU 31 be preferentially used for other processes during the busy state and the compression process be postponed, because the busy state can be released earlier.

  If it is determined that the job is not busy (S205: NO), if there is an uncompressed job stored by a user other than the specific user, the job is compressed (S206). Specifically, for each stored job in an uncompressed state, if the user of the stored job is not a specific user, the stored job is compressed and stored. Then, the compression / decompression process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the free space is not sufficiently large (S201: NO), if there is an uncompressed job stored by a user other than the specific user, the job is first compressed (S208). S208 is the same processing as S206. However, since the priority of the compression process is high when the memory is imminent, S208 is executed even if the CPU 31 is busy. Thereafter, if there is a stored job of a specific user in a compressed state, it is decompressed (S209). S209 is the same process as S203. Then, the compression / decompression process is terminated.

  In other words, in the compression / decompression process, when the stored job of a specific user is set to the uncompressed state and the stored job of a user other than the specific user is set to the compressed state, the compression process and the decompression process are performed depending on the amount of free space in the storage area. The execution order is reversed. That is, if the change condition is satisfied, the decompression process has a higher priority because there is a high possibility of receiving an instruction to start printing thereafter. However, when the free space is small, the compression process is exceptionally executed first in order to avoid the memory full during the decompression process.

  Returning to the reception process of FIG. 2, after the compression / decompression process of S105, the reception process is terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined that the received print job is not a stored job (S101: NO), since it is a normal print job, printing is performed immediately (S107), and the reception process is terminated.

[Stored print processing]
Next, the procedure of the accumulation printing process for executing the printing of the accumulation job with the printer 100 of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This accumulated printing process is executed by the CPU 31 when the printer 100 that accepts a login print job as an accumulated job receives a login request from a user.

  In the accumulated printing process, first, it is determined whether or not login is permitted in response to the accepted login request (S301). For example, the determination is made by collating the input ID and password with the permission information stored in the own device. If it is determined that the login is permitted (S301: YES), the login user is specified from the input login information, and the login user is set as the specific user (S303).

  Then, the compression / decompression process shown in FIG. 3 is executed (S305). In the compression / decompression process of S305, the change condition is that the login is successful, and the specific user is a login user who is a user who has successfully logged in. As a result, the login print job of the login user is in an uncompressed state, and the login print jobs of users other than the login user are in a compressed state. If the user who recently submitted the login print job is a login user, the login print job of the login user is already uncompressed, and the login print job of the non-login user is already compressed. The compression / decompression process ends.

  Next, the login user prints the login print job (S307). If there are multiple login print jobs for a specific user, all are printed. As a result, all login print jobs for the login user are eliminated.

  After S307, the printer 100 accepts the logoff of the login user and executes logoff (S309). If an instruction for another process is received before logoff, it is executed as appropriate. If no operation input is received for a predetermined time or more, the printer 100 may execute logoff by itself.

  After executing the log-off in S309, the user who has submitted the login print job most recently among the currently stored login print jobs is set as the specific user (S311). Then, the compression / decompression process shown in FIG. 3 is executed (S312), and the accumulated printing process is terminated. As a result, the login print job of the user who recently submitted the login print job is in an uncompressed state, and the login print jobs of other users are in a compressed state.

  In other words, if the previous specific user has successfully logged off, the user of the login print job stored most recently is set as the specific user, and the login print job and the job of the same user as the user of the job are decompressed. . Users who have recently submitted a login print job are more likely to log in earlier than users of other login print jobs. Therefore, if the login print job of the user who recently submitted the login print job is decompressed, it can be expected to shorten the time until printing is completed after login. The decompression portion of the compression / decompression process of S312 corresponds to the logoff decompression process.

  If it is determined that the requested login is not permitted (S301: NO), the accumulated printing process is terminated. For example, in the case of a login request by a user who is not permitted to use the printer 100, the printer 100 does not permit login.

[Example]
Next, an embodiment executed by the printer 100 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5, (a) to (l) shown with arrows indicate the order of passage of time. Below that, the processing executed at each time point and the compression / compression of each job as a result of the processing are shown. An uncompressed state is schematically shown. “A”, “B”, and “C” indicate users, respectively, and the number after the hyphen indicates the job number. All the jobs in the figure are login print jobs.

  First, from a state in which no login print job is stored, when a new job “A-1” is received in (a) “add”, the received job “A-1” is uncompressed. Remember. At this time, the specific user is Mr. A.

  Next, when Mr. B's job “B-1” is newly accepted in (b) “Add” without accepting Mr. A's login, the accepted job “B-1” is stored in an uncompressed state. To do. By newly accepting Mr. B's job, the specific user is changed to Mr. B. In (c) “compression”, the job “A-1” of Mr. A who is not a specific user is compressed.

  (D) When a new job “A-2” of Mr. A is newly received in “add”, the received “A-2” is stored in an uncompressed state. At this point, the specific user becomes Mr. A again. Therefore, in (e) “decompress”, Mr. A's job in the compressed state is decompressed. In (f) “compression”, the job “B-1” of Mr. B who is a user other than the specific user is compressed. However, when the free space of the storage unit is small, (f) is executed before (e).

  Furthermore, when a new job “C-1” of Mr. C is newly accepted in (g) “Add”, the received job “C-1” is stored in an uncompressed state. At this point, the specific user is Mr. C. Therefore, in (h) “compression”, the jobs “A-1”, “B-1”, and “A-2” of users A and B who are users other than the specific user are compressed.

Next, when Mr. C's login is accepted, Mr. C's job “C-1” is printed. Since Mr. C's job is not compressed, printing can be completed early. When printing is completed, the job “C-1” is deleted in (i) “Delete”. As a result, the most recent job is A
'S job “A-2”. Therefore, the specific user is changed to Mr. A. In (j) “decompress”, the job “A-1” and “A-2” of Mr. A who is the specific user is decompressed.

  In this state, if Mr. A's login is accepted, Mr. A's job is printed. Since both of Mr. A's two jobs are in an uncompressed state in (j), printing can be completed early. When the printing of the jobs “A-1” and “A-2” is completed, the jobs “A-1” and “A-2” are deleted in (k) “Delete”.

  As a result, only Mr. B's job “B-1” is stored, and the specific user is changed to Mr. B. In (l) “decompression”, job “B-1” is decompressed and waits. Thereafter, if Mr. B's login is accepted, the decompressed job “B-1” can be printed at an early stage. If a new login print job by another user is accepted before accepting Mr. B's login, the job “B-1” is compressed again in the same manner as in steps (b) and (c).

  As described above in detail, according to the printer 100 of this embodiment, for example, when a new login print job is received or when the login of the user who has input the login print job is successful, the specific user The compressed login print job is decompressed, and the uncompressed login print job of a user other than the specific user is compressed. By compressing login print jobs other than those for specific users, the possibility of squeezing storage capacity can be reduced. On the other hand, since the login print job of a specific user is decompressed, it is highly possible that printing can be started at an early stage when information that permits printing is received. In this way, according to the printer 100, it is expected that the time from the printing of the login print job to the completion of printing being shortened can be reduced while reducing the possibility of the memory being full.

  Note that the printer 100 according to the present embodiment may have a configuration that requires not only login but also job specification as specific information for starting printing of a login print job. That is, only the login print job instructed to start printing by the login user may be printed. In this case, after receiving the job specification, the compression / decompression process may be executed. In this compression / decompression process, the change condition is that a job specification is accepted, and the specific user is a login user.

[Second form]
Next, the operation of the printer 100 according to the second embodiment that realizes the above-described processing for compressing and decompressing the stored job will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Assume that the printer 100 of this embodiment accepts a secure print job as a stored job. Except for the type of stored job to be accepted, the process is the same as in the first embodiment, and therefore, the same processes are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. Further, the reception process is the same as that in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  The accumulated printing process in the printer 100 of the present embodiment is executed by the CPU 31 when the login request is accepted, as in the first embodiment. That is, also in this embodiment, a user who uses the printer 100 needs to log in to the printer 100 first. In the printer 100, the secure print job is printed only after the authentication information for each job is input by the user who has successfully logged in.

  In this embodiment, the procedure from the login permission (S301) to the execution of the compression / decompression process (S303, S305) with the login success as a change condition is the same as in the first embodiment. That is, as a result of S303 and S305, the specific user is a login user, the secure print job of the login user is in an uncompressed state, and the secure print jobs of users other than the login user are in a compressed state.

  Next, it is determined whether or not at least one secure print job has been designated by the login user (S401). If it is determined that it has not been specified (S401: NO), it is determined whether or not the user has logged off (S402). If it is determined that the log-off has not been performed (S402: NO), the process returns to S401, and the determinations of S401 and S402 are repeated.

  If it is determined that a secure print job has been designated (S401: YES), compression / decompression processing is executed (S405). That is, in the compression / decompression process of S405, the change condition is designation of a secure print job by this user, and the specific user is a login user as determined in S303. As a result of S405, the secure print job of the login user is in an uncompressed state, and the secure print jobs of users other than the login user are in a compressed state. This result is the same as the result of S305. For example, if the compression state is changed by an event such as receiving a new job before meeting S305 and executing S405, the process of S405 is performed. Execution is valid.

  After S405, the printer 100 accepts input of authentication information corresponding to the designated secure print job (S407). When the input of appropriate authentication information is accepted, the compression / decompression process is executed (S409). That is, in the compression / decompression process of S409, the change condition is completion of authentication of the secure print job by this user, and the specific user is a login user. If the authentication information received in S407 does not match the information specified for the job, the user may be prompted to input the authentication information again, or return to S401 and start again from the job specification. Also good.

  After S409, the secure print job authenticated by the authentication information is printed (S410). Further, the process returns to S401, and the designation of another secure print job is accepted.

  On the other hand, if logoff is accepted (S402: YES), the user of the most recently stored secure print job is set as the specific user (S311), and the compression / decompression process is executed (S312). The process ends. The processing after accepting logoff is the same as in the first embodiment. As a result, the secure print job of the user who recently submitted the secure print job is in an uncompressed state, and the secure print jobs of other users are in a compressed state.

  As described above in detail, the printer 100 according to the present embodiment stores a secure print job while suppressing the compression of the storage capacity, and takes a long time from the receipt of input of information permitting printing to the completion of printing. Can be expected. In particular, in this embodiment, since the secure print job of the logged-in user is decompressed at the timing of login, there is a high possibility that it has already been decompressed when the input of authentication information is accepted, and an extra waiting time is unlikely to occur. In addition, since the compression / decompression process is executed at the timing when the secure print job is specified and when the authentication information is accepted, even if the compression status changes due to the receipt of the secure print job, etc. Time is unlikely to occur.

[Third embodiment]
Next, the operation of the printer 100 according to the third embodiment for realizing the processing for compressing and decompressing the stored job will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Assume that the printer 100 of this embodiment accepts a secure print job as a stored job. However, the printer 100 of the present embodiment is different from the second embodiment in that it is not necessary to log in in order to execute a secure print job. That is, the user who uses the printer 100 of this embodiment can individually select the stored secure print job from the operation panel 40 without logging in. The same processes as those of the second embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. Since the reception process is the same as that of the second embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  Unlike the second embodiment, the accumulated printing process in the printer 100 according to the present embodiment is executed by the CPU 31 when an individual secure print job designation is received. The printer 100 designates the user of the designated secure print job as a specific user (S501).

Then, the compression / decompression process is executed (S502). That is, in the compression / decompression process of S502, the change condition is designation of an individual secure print job, and the specific user is a user of the designated secure print job. As a result of S502, all the secure print jobs of the user of the designated secure print job are in the uncompressed state, and the secure print jobs of users other than the user are in the compressed state.

  Next, the printer 100 receives an input of authentication information corresponding to the designated secure print job (S407), and when an input of appropriate authentication information is received, executes a compression / decompression process (S409). Then, the designated secure print job is printed (S410). Then, after S410, the user of the most recent secure print job stored is set as the specific user (S311), the compression / decompression process is executed (S312), and the accumulated print process is terminated. The processes in S407, S409, S410, S311, and S312 are the same as those in the second embodiment.

  As described above in detail, the printer 100 of this embodiment also stores a secure print job while suppressing the storage capacity, and it takes a long time from the receipt of input of information permitting printing to the completion of printing. You can expect less time.

  Note that this embodiment is merely an example, and does not limit the present invention. Therefore, the present invention can naturally be improved and modified in various ways without departing from the gist thereof. For example, the present invention is not limited to a printer, and can be applied to any apparatus having an image forming function and a job storage function, such as an MFP, a copier, and a FAX.

  Further, for example, although various change conditions are exemplified in the above-described embodiments, it is not necessary to provide all of these, and the compression / decompression process may be executed under one or more change conditions. For example, in the reception process, the processes of S103 and S105 may not be executed, and the received stored job may be stored in a compressed state or a non-compressed state. Further, for example, the compression / decompression process is executed only at the time of reception, and may not be executed in the accumulated printing process. Specifically, the processes of S303 and S305, S311 and S312, S405, S409, S501 and S502 described in FIGS. 4, 6, and 7 may be omitted.

  Further, for example, in the second form shown in FIG. 6, if the compression / decompression process (S305) is executed at the time of login, if the compression / decompression process is not executed even if another new job is received during the login, The compression / decompression process (S405 and S409) may not be executed. Further, for example, in the second form shown in FIG. 6, even if the user logs in, the secure print job is not always printed, so the compression / decompression process does not have to be executed immediately. For example, S305 may be skipped and S405 and S409 may be executed after printing of a secure print job is designated. Also, for example, only one of S405 and S409 may be executed.

  Further, for example, in the third mode shown in FIG. 7, if the compression / decompression process (S502) is executed when a job is designated, the subsequent compression / decompression process (S409) may not be executed. Further, for example, after the secure print job designated in S410 is executed, there is a possibility that the user of the job may execute another secure print job. Therefore, the compression / decompression process in S312 is not necessary. .

  Further, in the first and second embodiments, instead of executing the compression / decompression process (S312) after logoff, even if the user instructs execution of a process other than printing even before logoff, the compression / decompression is performed. Processing may be executed. Similarly, in the third embodiment, when the printer 100 receives an instruction to execute a process other than printing, the compression / decompression process may be executed.

  Moreover, you may provide change conditions besides the change conditions illustrated to said each form. For example, the change condition may be the arrival of a predetermined time such as at night.

  In the above-described compression / decompression process, when the free space of the storage unit is small, compression is performed with priority over decompression. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and decompression is always performed with priority over compression. Also good. Further, for example, the processing may be performed in the order of reception or in the reverse order of the reception order without setting the priority order for compression and decompression. The free space in the storage unit may be a physical free space in the memory or a logical free space in a memory area allocated for storing stored jobs. Further, for example, the storage unit that stores the accumulated job may be a storage device included in an external device such as a server, or may be an external storage unit such as a USB memory. In the compression / decompression process, even if the compression is executed first, if there is not enough free space to decompress all the jobs to be decompressed, some jobs may be decompressed first within the range that can be decompressed. .

  In addition, after logging off, the user who submitted the most recent job among the remaining jobs is assumed to be a specific user, but this is not a limitation. For example, a stored job by a frequently used user is predicted to have a high possibility of receiving an input of a print instruction at an early stage, and a frequently used user may be a specific user. Alternatively, a user with high authority may be designated as a specific user in advance. Further, for example, the specific user is not limited to an individual user, and may be a use group that shares login information.

  In the above embodiment, the normal print job and the accumulation job are received separately for each job. However, the settings of the normal mode and the accumulation mode may be accepted as the printer mode setting. For example, in the normal mode, if the accepted job is a secure job, it is accumulated, and if it is a non-secure job, printing is performed immediately. In the accumulation mode, all are accepted regardless of whether or not the accepted job is a secure job. It is also possible to accumulate the jobs. Even in such a printer, when the accepted job is stored, YES is determined in S101 of the reception process. Further, when printing a secure job stored in the normal mode, if the setting requires login to the apparatus, the above-described storage printing process of the second mode may be executed. If login is unnecessary, the above-described accumulated printing process of the third form may be executed. On the other hand, when a user login is accepted in the accumulation mode, the above-described accumulation printing process of the first embodiment may be executed. When printing a secure job accepted in the accumulation mode, after executing the above-described accumulated printing process of the first form, the processes after the determination of the secure print job in S401 in the accumulated printing process of the second form are executed. That's fine.

  The processing disclosed in the embodiments may be executed by a single CPU, a plurality of CPUs, hardware such as an ASIC, or a combination thereof. Further, the processing disclosed in the embodiment can be realized in various modes such as a recording medium or a method recording a program for executing the processing.

10 Image forming unit 31 CPU
33 RAM
34 NVRAM
38 USB interface 40 Operation panel 100 Printer

Claims (10)

A reception unit that accepts input of specific information that is permitted to be printed;
A communication unit that communicates with the information processing device;
A printing section;
A control unit;
With
The controller is
A storage process for storing a print job received via the communication unit;
A printing process that causes the printing unit to print the accumulated job, which is a print job stored in the storage process, on condition that specific information for the accumulated job is received by the receiving unit;
When a change condition, which is a condition for changing the data compression status of an accumulated job, is satisfied, among the stored accumulated jobs, the accumulated job that has been compressed by a specific user is decompressed, and the compressed job other than that specific user is compressed. Compression and decompression processing to compress the stored jobs that are not,
The printing apparatus characterized by performing. The printing apparatus according to claim 1,
The controller is
A printing apparatus characterized in that a new storage job is received in the compression / decompression processing as the change condition, and a user of the new storage job is the specific user. The printing apparatus according to claim 1,
A stored job is a stored job that is permitted to be printed on condition that the authentication information set for each stored job is entered.
The reception unit receives the authentication information as the specific information,
The controller is
In the compression / decompression process, the change condition is that the authentication information for a certain stored job stored in the storage process is input, and a user of the stored job is the specific user. Printing device. The printing apparatus according to claim 1,
A stored job is a stored job that is permitted to be printed on condition that the authentication information set for each stored job is entered.
The reception unit receives the authentication information as the specific information,
The controller is
In the compression / decompression process, the change condition is that one of the accumulated jobs stored in the storage process is designated as a print target, and the user of the designated accumulated job is the specific user. A printing device. The printing apparatus according to claim 1,
Stored jobs include stored jobs that are permitted to be printed on the condition that login to the printing device is successful.
The reception unit receives login information for successful login as the specific information,
The controller is
A printing apparatus comprising, as the change condition, successful login to the printing apparatus in the compression / decompression process, and a login user who has successfully logged in as the specific user. The printing apparatus according to claim 5,
Stored jobs include stored jobs that are permitted to be printed on condition that the authentication information set for each stored job is entered.
The printing apparatus including the change condition that the authentication information for a certain stored job stored in the storage process is input in the compression / decompression process. The printing apparatus according to claim 5,
Stored jobs include stored jobs that are permitted to be printed on condition that the authentication information set for each stored job is entered.
In the compression / decompression process, among the stored jobs stored in the storage process, one of the stored jobs that are permitted to be printed on the condition that the authentication information is input is designated as a print target. A printing apparatus comprising the change condition. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 7,
The controller is
A printing apparatus characterized in that, in the compression / decompression process, successful logoff for canceling login is used as the change condition, and the user of the most recently stored job is the specific user. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
The controller is
A printing apparatus characterized in that in the compression / decompression process, decompression of a stored job has priority over compression of a stored job. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
The controller is
In the compression / decompression process, when the free space of the storage unit that stores the stored job is smaller than the threshold value, the compression of the stored job is given priority over the decompression of the stored job, and in other cases, the stored job is decompressed. A printing apparatus characterized by giving priority to job compression.

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