JP6385111B2 - Processing apparatus, method thereof, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a processing technique for performing processing for forming an image.

  2. Description of the Related Art A printing apparatus typified by a printer or the like is widely known in which a rendering process is performed on data described in a data description language such as PDL to generate an image and then print it out. The data rendering time varies depending on the complexity of the data, the data size, and the contents of image processing at the time of rendering. There have been proposed a method for predicting the rendering time and a method for predicting whether or not an overrun occurs when the rendering process is not in time for printing (see Patent Document 1).

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228688 discloses a technique for performing accurate prediction by temporarily rasterizing print data and measuring the raster development time.

JP 2001-228988 A

  In Patent Literature 1, an image is output after the predicted output time is transferred to the host device side, and the rendering time cannot be predicted while performing image processing. In order to perform accurate prediction, processing close to the actual rendering processing must be performed, and a load is applied. For this reason, when the prediction process is performed in parallel with the rendering process, the rendering process becomes slow and may not be in time for printing.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a processing technique capable of efficiently predicting the end time of image processing while suppressing the stop of printing processing.

In order to achieve the above object, a processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is,
A prediction means for predicting the time required for image processing of job data;
Determining means for determining whether to perform prediction by the prediction means based on information related to execution of the image processing ;
The determination means uses the data amount of the image processed job data as the information, and the job data that is different from the image processed job data and is not subjected to the image processing, It is characterized by determining whether to perform prediction by the prediction means .

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the processing technique which can estimate the end time of an image process efficiently can be provided, suppressing the stop of a printing process.

1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration in the image forming apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the job execution process in a control part. It is a flowchart which shows the rendering time prediction process in a control part. It is a flowchart which shows the prediction availability judgment process in a prediction execution judgment part. It is a flowchart which shows the prediction availability judgment process in a prediction execution judgment part. It is a flowchart which shows the prediction availability judgment process in a prediction execution judgment part. It is explanatory drawing which shows the condition of job execution. It is explanatory drawing which shows the condition of job execution. It is explanatory drawing which shows the condition of job execution.

<Embodiment 1>
Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the relative arrangement of the components described in this embodiment, the device shape, and the like are merely examples, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to them.

  In this specification, the “printing apparatus” is not limited to a dedicated machine specialized in the printing function, but is a multifunction machine that combines the printing function and other functions, a manufacturing apparatus that forms an image or a pattern on recording paper, and the like. The device is also included.

  FIG. 1 is an overall configuration cross-sectional view of an image forming apparatus 100 that uses a roll sheet (a continuous continuous sheet longer than the length of a printing unit in the transport direction) that is a storage medium. The image forming apparatus 100 functioning as a printing apparatus includes a roll sheet unit 101, a transport unit 102, a transport encoder 103, a rotation roller 104, a head unit 105, a print head 106, a scanner unit 107, a control device 108, an ink tank 109, a cutter. A unit 110, a back surface printing unit 111, a drying unit 112, a sheet winding unit 113, a sorting unit 114, and an operation unit unit 115 are provided, and these various components are arranged in the casing of the image forming apparatus 100.

  The control device 108 incorporates a controller, a user interface, and a control unit having various I / O interfaces, and controls various controls of the entire device. Specifically, the control device 108 includes a CPU, RAM, and ROM therein. The ROM stores programs for executing various processes including the processes shown in the flowcharts to be described later, and the CPU executes various processes by reading and executing the programs stored in the ROM on the RAM. To do.

  The roll sheet unit 101 includes two cassette units, an upper sheet cassette 101a and a lower sheet cassette 101b. The user attaches a roll sheet (hereinafter referred to as “sheet”) to the magazine, and inserts and attaches it to the main body of the image forming apparatus 100 from the front. The sheet pulled out from the upper sheet cassette 101a is conveyed in the direction a in the drawing, and the sheet pulled out from the lower sheet cassette 101b is conveyed in the direction b in the drawing. Sheets from any cassette unit travel in the direction c in the figure and reach the transport unit 102. The conveyance unit 102 conveys the sheet in the direction d (horizontal direction) in the drawing during printing through the plurality of rotating rollers 104.

  A head unit 105 is disposed above the transport unit 102 so as to face each other. In the head unit 105, independent print heads 106 for a plurality of colors (seven colors in the embodiment) are held along the sheet conveyance direction. In synchronization with the conveyance of the sheet by the conveyance unit 102, ink is ejected from the print head 106 to form an image on the sheet. The transport unit 102, the head unit 105, and the print head 106 constitute a printing unit.

  The ink tank 109 stores ink of each color independently. Ink is supplied from the ink tank 109 to a sub tank provided corresponding to each color by a tube, and ink is supplied from the sub tank to each print head 106 by a tube. The print head 106 has line heads of respective colors (seven colors in the embodiment) arranged in the conveyance direction d during printing. The line head of each color may be formed with a single nozzle tip without a seam, or the divided nozzle tips may be regularly arranged in a single row or a staggered arrangement. . In this embodiment, it is a so-called full multihead in which nozzles are arranged in a range that covers the printing width of the maximum sheet to be used. As an ink jet method for ejecting ink from a nozzle, a method using a heating element, a method using a piezo element, a method using an electrostatic element, a method using a MEMS element, or the like can be adopted. Ink is ejected from the nozzles of each print head 106 based on the print data, and the ejection timing is determined by the output signal of the transport encoder 103.

  The image forming apparatus 100 functioning as the printer in FIG. 1 is not limited to an ink jet printer, and various printing methods such as a thermal printer (sublimation type, thermal transfer type, etc.), dot impact printer, LED printer, laser printer, and the like. It is applicable to.

  After the image is formed on the sheet, the sheet is conveyed from the conveyance unit 102 to the scanner unit 107. The scanner unit 107 reads a print image or special pattern to check whether there is a problem with the print image or to check the state of the apparatus. In the present embodiment, in the image confirmation method, a method for reading a pattern for confirming the state of the print head 106 may be used, or a method for comparing with the original image may be selected.

  The sheet conveyed from the scanner unit 107 is conveyed in the e direction and introduced into the cutter unit 110. In the cutter unit 110, the sheet is cut for each length of a predetermined printing unit. The length of a predetermined printing unit varies depending on the image size to be printed. For example, the length in the transport direction is 135 mm for the L-size photo, and the length in the transport direction is 297 mm for the A4 size.

  The sheet conveyed from the cutter unit 110 is conveyed in the direction f in the drawing and is conveyed to the back surface printing unit 111. The back surface printing unit 111 is a unit for printing information (for example, order management number) for each print image.

  The drying unit 112 conveyed from the back surface printing unit 111 heats the sheet passing in the direction g in the drawing with warm air in order to dry the sheet to which ink has been applied in a short time. The sheets cut to the printing unit length pass through the drying unit 112 one by one, are conveyed in the h direction in the figure, and are conveyed to the sorting unit 114. In the sorting unit 114, sheets passing in the direction i in the figure are stacked on a tray number set for each print image while being confirmed by a sensor. The sorting unit 114 holds a plurality of trays (22 trays in the embodiment) that are paper feed trays, and sorts the trays at the loading destination according to the length of the printing unit. The sorting unit 114 uses a status display such as loading or completion of loading (for example, LED display). Details of the sorting unit 114 will be described later.

  The sheet winding unit 113 first performs surface image formation during duplex printing, and winds a sheet that is not cut by the cutter unit 110 and passes in the j direction in the drawing by the sheet winding unit 113. After completing the front surface image formation, the sheet winding unit 113 transports the wound sheet again in the k direction in the drawing to form the back surface image.

  The operation unit unit 115 provides a user interface for receiving instructions for various operations of the image forming apparatus 100, and executes various processes according to instructions from the user for the user interface. The operation unit unit 115 is configured by a touch panel display, for example. With this operation unit unit 115, the user can confirm on which tray the specified order image is stacked, check the printing status for each order such as printing, completion of printing, remaining ink amount, remaining paper amount, etc. Operation / confirmation for performing apparatus maintenance such as apparatus state confirmation and head cleaning can be performed.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control configuration in the image forming apparatus 100. An image forming apparatus 100 that forms (prints) an image processes job data from an external apparatus 201 such as an information processing apparatus such as a PC, and prints it on a storage medium. Here, the job data is data described in a data description language such as PDL, and an image is generated by rendering processing. Here, the rendering process is a process of generating an image by interpreting a data description language constituting data.

  The image forming apparatus 100 includes a control unit 203, a rendering unit 204, a user interface unit 205, and a printer engine unit 206 as main components for performing the control. Each of these components may be realized, for example, as hardware implemented in the control device 108 of FIG. 1 or may be realized in cooperation with hardware and software.

  The control unit 203 analyzes job data that is received data from the external device 201, and creates a command and data to be transmitted to the rendering unit 204 based on the analysis result and an instruction from the user interface unit 205. The control unit 203 receives the rendered data from the rendering unit 204 and transmits it to the printer engine unit 206 to perform printing.

  The rendering unit 204 performs rendering processing based on the command and data transmitted from the control unit 203 and generates printing bitmap data. Thereafter, the rendering unit 204 transmits the printing bitmap data to the control unit 203.

  The user interface unit 205 accepts operation instructions and displays the device status. The printer engine unit 206 performs image processing such as color conversion on the bitmap data transmitted from the control unit 203, and then performs printing (image formation) on a storage medium.

  The control unit 203 includes a reception unit 207, a job management unit 208, a job analysis unit 209, a rendering management unit 210, a prediction execution determination unit 214, a user interface control unit 215, and a spool unit 216. In the control unit 203, the receiving unit 207 receives job data from the external device 201 and stores it. The job management unit 208 divides the received job data into units (for example, page units) instructed to the rendering unit 204 to generate divided job data, and determines the printing order. The job analysis unit 209 analyzes the processing content required by the divided job data, and notifies the job management unit 208 of the analysis. The rendering management unit 210 instructs the execution of processing in the image correction processing unit 211 and the rasterization processing unit 212 of the rendering unit 204 according to the printing order instructed by the job management unit 208. In addition, the rendering management unit 210 instructs the prediction execution determination unit 214 to determine whether or not to execute prediction of the rendering time, and instructs the rendering time prediction unit 213 to perform prediction based on the determination result.

  The prediction execution determination unit 214 determines whether or not the rendering time prediction unit 213 can predict the rendering time of the divided job data to be predicted by the rendering management unit 210 according to an instruction. The prediction method will be described later. The user interface control unit 215 performs control for displaying the status of each divided job data on the user interface unit 205.

  The spool unit 216 functions as a rendering time prediction result holding unit (first holding unit), and associates the rendering time of the divided job data to be predicted by the rendering time prediction unit 213 with the prediction result, thereby rendering prediction time information. Hold as. At the same time, the spool unit 216 functions as a rendered data holding unit (second holding unit), and holds bitmap data as a rendering result and status information regarding the bitmap data.

  In the rendering unit 204, the image correction processing unit 211 and the rasterization processing unit 212 perform processing based on a rendering instruction from the control unit 203. The image correction processing unit 211 performs image correction processing specified by a command on the image data in the divided job data. The rasterization processing unit 212 performs processing such as logical drawing, and creates bitmap data and status information related thereto. The status information is information indicating whether the divided job data has been normally rendered or an error has occurred, and is used for displaying the job status on the user interface unit 205. In the rendering unit 204, the rendering time prediction unit 213 performs rendering time prediction processing based on the rendering time prediction instruction from the control unit 203. As a prediction method, there are a method of performing temporary rendering at a reduced resolution, and a method of predicting from the number and size of images included in the divided job data by analyzing the divided job data, but are not particularly limited.

  The rendering unit 204 receives divided job data corresponding to a printing unit (for example, a page unit corresponding to one page of an A4 size sheet) in the printer engine unit 206 from the control unit 203. The rendering unit 204 executes rendering processing on the divided job data, and transmits page data (bitmap data) for one page, which is the processing result, to the control unit 203.

  Next, job execution processing in the control unit 203 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  A program corresponding to the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3 is stored in the ROM of the control device 108, and the control unit 203 executes this program on the RAM of the control device 108, whereby the process shown in FIG. Is realized.

  First, in step S <b> 301, the control unit 203 receives job data from the external apparatus 201 by the reception unit 207, and analyzes the divided job data divided by the job management unit 208 by the job analysis unit 209. In step S302, the control unit 203 issues a rendering instruction from the rendering management unit 210 to the rendering unit 204, and performs a rendering process. In step S <b> 303, the control unit 203 receives the bitmap data that is the result of the rendering process and the status information thereof in the rendering management unit 210, and stores the bitmap data in the spool unit 216. In step S304, the control unit 203 acquires bitmap data in the order in which the job management unit 208 should print from the spool unit 216, transmits the bitmap data to the printer engine unit 206, and instructs printing.

  Next, rendering time prediction processing in the control unit 203 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  A program corresponding to the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4 is stored in the ROM of the control device 108, and the control unit 203 executes this program on the RAM of the control device 108, whereby the process shown in FIG. Is realized.

  First, in step S401, the control unit 203 determines whether there is divided job data predicted by the rendering management unit 210. This determination is based on the divided job data (prediction) that is received when the receiving unit 207 receives and divides the divided job data and the rendering unit 204 has not yet issued the rendering time prediction instruction and the rendering instruction. It is determined that there is target job data. If it is determined that there is no job data to be predicted (NO in S401), in S402, the control unit 203 sets the state to a state where prediction is not performed (prediction is stopped), and state information indicating this is set. Hold and end processing.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that there is job data to be predicted (YES in S401), the control unit 203 determines job data to be predicted for predicting the rendering time in S403. In the divided job data received and divided by the receiving unit 207, the job to be transmitted to the printer engine unit 206 first among divided job data for which the rendering unit 204 has not yet issued a rendering time prediction instruction and a rendering instruction. Data is determined as job data to be predicted. In step S <b> 404, the control unit 203 executes a prediction possibility determination process in which the prediction execution determination unit 214 determines whether it is a timing at which the rendering time of the divided job data can be predicted. Details of the prediction availability determination process will be described later.

  In step S <b> 405, the control unit 203 determines whether the rendering time can be predicted by the rendering management unit 210 based on the determination result by the prediction execution determination unit 214. When prediction is not possible (NO in S405), in S406, the control unit 203 sets the state to a state where prediction is not performed (prediction is stopped), holds state information indicating this, and then returns to S401. . This is because, when job data is newly input from the external apparatus 201 after the previous determination in S401, or when a rendering result is received from the rendering unit 204, the determination result in S401 or S404 may change.

  On the other hand, when prediction is possible (YES in S405), in S407, the control unit 203 sets the state to a state where prediction is being performed (prediction is being executed), and holds state information indicating that. In step S408, the control unit 203 predicts the rendering time of the job data to be predicted by the rendering time prediction unit 213, notifies the rendering management unit 210 of the prediction result, and then returns to step S401.

  Next, details of the predictability determination process by the prediction execution determination unit 214 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  A program corresponding to the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5 is stored in the ROM of the control device 108, and the control unit 203 executes this program on the RAM of the control device 108, whereby the process shown in FIG. Is realized.

  First, in step S501, the control unit 203 determines whether the state of the prediction execution determination unit 214 is prediction execution or prediction stop. This determination is made based on the state information held in S402, S406, and S407 in FIG. Note that if none of the steps S402, S406, and S407 has been passed through or if there is no state information for some reason, it is determined that the prediction is being stopped.

  If the result of determination in S503 is that the prediction has been stopped, in S502, the control unit 203 determines whether there are M pages or more of page data that has been stored in the spool unit 216 and has been rendered and has not yet been transmitted to the printer engine unit 206. Judge whether or not. If there are M pages or more (YES in S502), in S504, the control unit 203 determines that the rendering time of the job data to be predicted can be predicted, and ends the process. On the other hand, if there are not more than M pages (NO in S502), in S505, the control unit 203 determines that the rendering time of the job data to be predicted cannot be predicted, and ends the process.

  On the other hand, if the prediction is being executed as a result of the determination in S503, in S503, the control unit 203 has N pages or more of page data that has been rendered and is not yet transmitted to the printer engine unit 206 held in the spool unit 216. Determine whether or not. If there are N pages or more (YES in S503), in S504, the control unit 203 determines that the rendering time of the job data to be predicted can be predicted, and ends the process. On the other hand, if there are not more than N pages (NO in S503), in S505, the control unit 203 determines that the rendering time of the job data to be predicted cannot be predicted, and ends the process. It is determined that a relationship of N <M is established between “M” that is the first threshold value in S502 and “N” that is the second threshold value in S503. The values of M and N are determined in advance based on device information such as the processing capability of the image forming apparatus 100 and the storage capacity of the memory.

  As a result of the above processing, when there is rendered data of a certain page or more, that is, when accumulated bitmap data of a certain page or more is accumulated, it is determined that the rendering time can be predicted and the prediction is performed. Even if the spooled bitmap data is reduced after the start of prediction, the prediction can be executed continuously without stopping the prediction immediately.

  Next, an example of execution and prediction of divided job data according to the flowcharts of FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 will be described with reference to FIG. 8. FIG. 8 shows the passage of time from left to right.

  A column 801 indicates the divided job data (RIP1, RIP2,..., RIP13) rendered by the rendering unit 204 with arrows. A column 802 indicates divided job data (print 1, print 2,..., Print 10) printed by the printer engine unit 206 with arrows. A column 803 indicates job data (prediction 5, prediction 6,..., Prediction 19) whose rendering time is predicted by the rendering time prediction unit 213 with arrows.

  The numbers of the arrows 801, 802, and 803 represent the same job. For example, RIP5, print 5, and prediction 5 represent rendering, printing, and rendering time prediction of job data 5, respectively. All job data is bitmap data for one page, all job data other than job data 5 has the same rendering load, and only job data 5 takes a rendering time compared to the rendering time of other job data. Assume that it is job data. Further, it is assumed that all the divided job data shown in FIG.

  Rendering is performed in the order of job data 1, job data 2, and job data 3 in accordance with the flowchart of FIG. Then, when rendering of the divided job data is completed to some extent (when rendering of job data 3 is completed in FIG. 3), printing is started. The reason why the job data 1 is printed after the job data 3 is rendered is that printing is started after bitmap data is stored in the spool unit 216 to some extent. With this configuration, it is possible to suppress the stop of the printing process due to the time taken for rendering in a certain page.

  Further, when rendering of the divided job data is completed to some extent (when rendering of job data 3 is completed in FIG. 3), rendering time prediction is started. The reason why rendering of job data 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 is longer than that of other job data is because rendering time prediction processing is performed at the same time.

  FIG. 8 shows the execution timing of each processing when processing is performed with “M” in S502 of FIG. 5 set to “3” and “N” of S503 set to “2”.

  From the start of rendering of job data 1 to the end of rendering of job data 3, because the bitmap data already rendered in the determination of S502 is less than three pages, it is determined in S505 that the rendering time of the divided job data cannot be predicted. Thereafter, since the rendered bitmap data becomes 3 pages at the end of rendering of the job data 3, it is determined in step S502 that the rendering time of the divided job data can be predicted. Thereby, it sets during prediction execution by S407. In step S408, the rendering time of the job data 5 is predicted. At this point, rendering up to job data 3 has been completed, and a rendering instruction for job data 4 has been issued. Job data 5 has yet issued a rendering time prediction instruction and a rendering instruction to rendering unit 204. This is because there is not (S401, S403).

  Subsequently, the rendering time up to the job data 9 is predicted. In step S408, the rendering time of the job data 9 is predicted, and steps S401, S403, S404, S501, and S503 are executed. Since the rendering time of job data 5 is long, job data 5 is being rendered at this timing, and job data 3 is being printed. Therefore, the page data that has been rendered and has not been transmitted to the printer engine unit 206 is only the page data of the job data 4. As a result, since there are no more than two pages of rendered page data in S503, it is determined in S505 that the rendering time of the divided job data cannot be predicted, and in S406, the prediction is stopped.

  The rendering time is predicted again immediately after the rendering of the job data 8 is completed. At this point, the page data that has been rendered and has not been transmitted to the printer engine unit 206 is job data 6, job data 7, and job data 8, and the page data that has been rendered is 3 in the determination in S502. It is determined that there are more pages, and the process proceeds to S504.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the timing for performing the prediction is determined based on the amount of data that has been rendered. If the result of the determination is that the amount of rendered data is small, the prediction is not performed and the rendering process is performed with priority. . When the amount of rendered data is large, the rendering time is predicted. By executing such a rendering time prediction process, the rendering time can be predicted while preventing the rendering process from being delayed and not being in time for printing. As described above, the prediction of the rendering time is performed at the timing when the rendering process has a margin, so that even if the processing speed of the rendering process executed in parallel decreases, the printing does not run in time.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the rendering time can be predicted without affecting the printing time.

  The rendering time prediction may be a prediction of an end time of rendering of each divided job data, or may be a prediction of a time required to end rendering of each divided job data. The prediction result of the rendering time may be notified to the user or the like by display or voice.

<Embodiment 2>
In the second embodiment, a modified example of the predictability determination process of the first embodiment will be described. Therefore, details of the predictability determination process by the prediction execution determination unit 214 in the second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Since other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  A program corresponding to the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6 is stored in the ROM of the control device 108, and the control unit 203 executes this program on the RAM of the control device 108, whereby the process shown in FIG. Is realized.

  First, in step S601, the control unit 203 determines whether there is a prediction result of the rendering time of the divided job data being rendered. This determination is made by confirming whether the spool unit 216 has the rendering time prediction result of the job data being rendered in S302. If there is no rendering time prediction result (NO in step S601), in step S604, the control unit 203 determines that the rendering time of the job data to be predicted can be predicted, and ends the process.

On the other hand, if there is a rendering time prediction result (YES in S601), in S602, the control unit 203 determines whether or not the rendering time prediction result of the job data being rendered is equal to or longer than the predetermined time P. If the prediction result is equal to or longer than the predetermined time P (YES in S602), in S603, the control unit 203 determines that the rendering time of the job data to be predicted cannot be predicted, and ends the process. On the other hand, if the prediction result is not equal to or longer than the predetermined time P (NO in S602), in S604, the control unit 203 determines that the rendering time of the job data to be predicted can be predicted, and ends the process. P is
It can be set appropriately.

  Next, an example of execution and prediction of divided job data according to the flowcharts of FIGS. 3, 4, and 6 will be described with reference to FIG. 9. FIG. 9 shows the passage of time from left to right.

  A column 901 indicates job data (RIP1, RIP2,..., RIP13) rendered by the rendering unit 204 with arrows. A column 902 indicates job data (print 1, print 2,..., Print 10) printed by the printer engine unit 206 with arrows. A column 903 indicates job data (prediction 2, prediction 6,..., Prediction 24) whose rendering time is predicted by the rendering time prediction unit 213 by arrows.

  Each arrow number 901, 902, and 903 represents the same job. For example, RIP5, print 5, and prediction 5 represent rendering, printing, and rendering time prediction of job data 5, respectively. All the job data is bitmap data for one page, and all the job data other than the job data 5 have the same rendering load and the rendering time is 1 second, whereas the rendering time of only the job data 5 is 4 Let it be seconds. Also, it is assumed that all the job data shown in FIG.

  Rendering is performed in the order of job data 1, job data 2, and job data 3 according to the flowchart of FIG. 3, and rendering time prediction processing is performed according to the flowcharts of FIGS. Further, the predetermined time P in S602 in FIG. 6 is set to 3 seconds.

  While the job data 1 is being rendered, since there is no prediction result of the rendering time of the job data 1 in S601, it is determined that the prediction can be made in S604. In step S408, prediction of the rendering time of the job data 2 is started. This is because a rendering instruction for job data 1 has been issued at this point, and job data 2 has not yet issued a rendering time prediction instruction or rendering instruction to the rendering unit 204 (S401, S403).

  As shown in FIG. 9, the rendering time prediction results of job data 2 and job data 3 are obtained during the rendering of job data 1, and the rendering time prediction result of job data 4 is obtained during the rendering of job data 2. can get. Therefore, during rendering of job data 2, job data 3, and job data 4, since there are prediction results of rendering times of job data 2, job data 3, and job data 4 in S601, the process proceeds to S602. In S602, since the prediction results of the rendering times of job data 2, job data 3, and job data 4 are each 1 second, it is determined in S604 that prediction is possible. In step S408, during rendering of the job data 2, the job data 3, and the job data 4, rendering time prediction is executed.

  While the job data 5 is being rendered, since there is a prediction result of the rendering time of the job data 5 in S601, the process proceeds to S602. In S602, since the prediction result of the rendering time of the job data 5 is 4 seconds, it is determined in S603 that the prediction is impossible. And in S406, it sets during prediction stop. During the rendering of job data 6 and later, it is the same as the rendering of job data 2, job data 3, and job data 4.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the timing for predicting the rendering time is determined based on the prediction result of the rendering time of the divided job data being rendered. Specifically, when the time indicated by the prediction result of the rendering time of the divided job data being rendered is long, prediction is not performed while the job data is being rendered, and rendering processing is performed with priority. By executing such a rendering time prediction process, the rendering time can be predicted while avoiding a timing at which the rendering process is delayed and is not in time for printing.

<Embodiment 3>
In the third embodiment, a modified example of the predictability determination process of the first embodiment will be described. Therefore, details of the predictability determination process by the prediction execution determination unit 214 in the third embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Since other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  A program corresponding to the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7 is stored in the ROM of the control device 108, and the control unit 203 executes this program on the RAM of the control device 108, whereby the process shown in FIG. Is realized.

  First, in step S701, the control unit 203 determines whether there is a prediction result of the rendering time of the divided job data being rendered. This determination is made by confirming whether or not the spool unit 216 has a prediction result of the rendering time of the divided job data being rendered in S302. If there is no rendering time prediction result (NO in step S701), in step S703, the control unit 203 determines whether the state of the prediction execution determination unit 214 is prediction execution or is stopped. This determination is made based on the state information held in S402, S406, and S407 in FIG. Note that if none of the steps S402, S406, and S407 has been passed through or if there is no state information for some reason, it is determined that the prediction is being stopped.

  As a result of the determination in S703, if the prediction is stopped, in S704, the control unit 203 stores the page data that has been rendered (image processed) and has not been transmitted to the printer engine unit 206, stored in the spool unit 216. Determine whether there are more pages. If there are M pages or more (YES in step S704), in step S707, the control unit 203 determines that the rendering time of the job data to be predicted can be predicted, and ends the process. On the other hand, if there are no more than M pages (NO in S704), in S706, the control unit 203 determines that the rendering time of the job data to be predicted cannot be predicted, and ends the process.

  On the other hand, if the prediction is being executed as a result of the determination in S703, in S705, the control unit 203 has N pages or more of page data that has been rendered and is not yet transmitted to the printer engine unit 206 held in the spool unit 216. Determine whether or not. If there are N pages or more (YES in step S705), in step S707, the control unit 203 determines that the rendering time of the job data to be predicted can be predicted, and ends the process. On the other hand, when there are not more than N pages (NO in S705), in S706, the control unit 203 determines that the rendering time of the job data to be predicted cannot be predicted, and ends the process. It should be noted that an appropriate setting is made so that a relationship of N <M is established between “M” in S704 and “N” in S705. The values of M and N are determined in advance based on device information such as the processing capability of the image forming apparatus 100 and the storage capacity of the memory.

  Through the above processing, after the accumulated bitmap data of a certain page or more is accumulated, it is determined that the rendering time can be predicted, and immediately after the prediction starts, the spooled bitmap data decreases. The prediction can be executed continuously without stopping the prediction.

  If there is a rendering time prediction result as a result of the determination in S701 (YES in S701), in S702, the control unit 203 determines whether or not the prediction result of the divided job data being rendered is equal to or longer than the predetermined time P. . If the prediction result is equal to or longer than the predetermined time P (YES in S702), in S706, the control unit 203 determines that the rendering time of the job data to be predicted cannot be predicted, and ends the process. On the other hand, if the prediction result is not equal to or longer than the predetermined time P (NO in S702), in S707, the control unit 203 determines that the rendering time of the job data to be predicted can be predicted, and ends the process.

  Next, an example of execution and prediction of divided job data according to the flowcharts of FIGS. 3, 4, and 7 will be described with reference to FIG. 10. FIG. 10 shows the passage of time from left to right.

  A column 1001 indicates job data (RIP1, RIP2,..., RIP13) rendered by the rendering unit 204 with arrows. A column 1002 indicates job data (print 1, print 2,..., Print 10) printed by the printer engine unit 206 with arrows. A column 1003 indicates job data (prediction 2, prediction 6,..., Prediction 22) whose rendering time is predicted by the rendering time prediction unit 213 by arrows.

  The numbers of arrows 1001, 1002, and 1003 represent the same job. For example, RIP5, print 5, and prediction 5 represent rendering, printing, and rendering time prediction of job data 5, respectively. All the job data is bitmap data for one page, and all the job data other than the job data 5 have the same rendering load and the rendering time is 1 second, whereas the rendering time of only the job data 5 is 4 Let it be seconds. Also, it is assumed that all the job data shown in FIG.

  Rendering is performed in the order of job data 1, job data 2, and job data 3 according to the flowchart of FIG. 3, and rendering time prediction processing is performed according to the flowcharts of FIGS. Further, the fixed time P in S702 of FIG. 7 is 3 seconds, M in S704 is 3, and N in S705 is 2.

  In job data 1, since there is no prediction result of the rendering time of job data 1 in S701, the process proceeds to S703. In S703, since the prediction has not started yet, the process proceeds to S704. In S704, since the rendered bitmap data is less than 3 pages, it is determined in S706 that prediction is impossible. The same applies from the start of rendering of job data 2 to the end of rendering of job data 3. Since rendering bitmap data becomes 3 pages at the end of rendering of job data 3, it is determined in S707 that prediction is possible. Thereby, in S407, it sets during prediction execution. In step S408, the rendering time of the job data 5 is predicted.

  While the job data 5 is being rendered, since there is a prediction result of the rendering time of the job data 5 in S701, the process proceeds to S702. In step S702, since the rendering time prediction result of the job data 5 is 4 seconds, the process proceeds to step S706. In S706, it is determined that it cannot be predicted. And in S406, it sets during prediction stop. That is, during the rendering of the job data 5, no new prediction of the rendering time is performed. During rendering of job data 6 and later, since there is a rendering time prediction result of the divided job data being rendered, the process proceeds from S701 to S702, and since the rendering time prediction result is 1 second, prediction can be made in S707. Judge.

  As described above, according to the third embodiment, when there is a prediction result of the rendering time of the job data being rendered, the timing for performing the prediction of the rendering time is determined based on the prediction result. On the other hand, if there is no rendering time prediction result, the timing for rendering time prediction is determined based on the amount of rendered data. By executing such a rendering time prediction process, it is possible to execute a prediction while avoiding a timing at which the rendering process is delayed and is not in time for printing.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where one job data is divided into a plurality of print units (page units) has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can be applied to the case where the estimated rendering time is specified for each job without dividing the job data. For example, when the control unit receives a plurality of job data, the prediction execution determination unit 214 may determine whether to predict the rendering time for each job. In this case, it may be determined whether there are N or more rendered job data in S503 and S705, and whether there are M or more rendered job data in S502 and S704. In S602 and S702, it may be determined whether the expected time of rendering time of the job data being rendered is P or more.

  In addition, the function of the above embodiment is realizable also with the following structures. That is, it is also achieved by supplying a program code for performing the processing of the present embodiment to a system or apparatus, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus executing the program code. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the function of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code also realizes the function of the present embodiment.

  Further, the program code for realizing the function of the present embodiment may be executed by one computer (CPU, MPU), or may be executed by a plurality of computers cooperating. Also good. Further, the program code may be executed by a computer, or hardware such as a circuit for realizing the function of the program code may be provided. Alternatively, a part of the program code may be realized by hardware and the remaining part may be executed by a computer. Further, the CPU is not limited to the one that performs all the processing by one CPU, and a plurality of CPUs may perform the processing while appropriately cooperating.

  100: Image processing device 203: Control unit 204: Rendering unit 205: User interface unit 206: Printer engine unit

Claims (16)

A prediction means for predicting the time required for image processing of job data;
Determination means for determining whether to perform prediction by the prediction means based on information related to execution of the image processing ;
The determination means uses the data amount of the image processed job data as the information, and the job data that is different from the image processed job data and is not subjected to the image processing, A processing apparatus for determining whether to perform prediction by a prediction means . If the data amount is greater than or equal to a threshold value, the determination unit determines that the prediction unit performs prediction on the job data that is the other job data and has not been subjected to the image processing, and the data 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the amount is less than the threshold value, it is determined that the prediction unit does not execute prediction for the other job data that is not subjected to the image processing. The processing apparatus as described. A prediction means for predicting the time required for image processing of job data;
Determination means for determining whether to perform prediction by the prediction means based on information related to execution of the image processing;
The determination means is job data different from the predicted job data, using a prediction result of the predicted job data as the information during execution of the image processing of the predicted job data. A processing apparatus for determining whether to perform prediction by the prediction means for job data that has not been predicted. When the prediction result of the predicted job data is shorter than a predetermined time, the determination unit performs prediction by the prediction unit for job data that is another job data and has not been predicted. If the prediction result of the predicted job data is equal to or longer than the predetermined time, the prediction unit performs prediction on the job data that is another job data and has not been predicted. The processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein it is determined that there is not. The determination unit determines whether to perform the prediction by the prediction unit based on the data amount of the image processed job data when there is no prediction result of the predicted job data. The processing apparatus according to claim 3 or 4 . Managing means for managing or during the forecast Stopped predicted executed as the state of the prediction means further includes a,
The determination means according to claim wherein said management means based on the threshold value of state the amount of data varies according to the prediction means for managing, characterized in that to determine the execution of prediction by the prediction means The processing apparatus according to 2 or 5 . Wherein the threshold condition of the prediction means are used when it is in the prediction stopped, in claim 6 in which the state of the prediction means being larger than the threshold value used when it is in said predicted executed The processing apparatus as described. A processing method executed in a processing device,
A prediction process for predicting the time required for image processing of job data;
A determination step for determining whether to perform the prediction in the prediction step based on information related to the execution of the image processing;
In the determining step, the data amount of the image processed job data is used as the information, and the job data that is different from the image processed job data and is not subjected to the image processing is described above. A processing method characterized by determining whether to perform prediction in the prediction step . In the determination step, when the data amount is equal to or greater than a threshold, it is determined that the prediction in the prediction step is performed on the job data that is the other job data and has not been subjected to the image processing, and the data 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein when the amount is smaller than the threshold value, it is determined not to perform prediction in the prediction step for job data that is the other job data and has not been subjected to the image processing. The processing method described. A processing method executed in a processing device,
A prediction process for predicting the time required for image processing of job data;
A determination step for determining whether to perform the prediction in the prediction step based on information related to the execution of the image processing;
In the determination step, during the execution of the image processing of the predicted job data, the prediction result of the predicted job data is used as the information, and the job data is different from the predicted job data. A method of processing, comprising: determining whether to perform prediction in the prediction step for job data that has not been predicted. In the determination step, when the predicted result of the predicted job data is shorter than a predetermined time, the prediction in the prediction step is executed for the job data that is another job data and has not been predicted. When the prediction result of the predicted job data is equal to or longer than the predetermined time, the prediction in the prediction step is performed for the job data that is another job data and has not been predicted. The processing method according to claim 10, wherein the processing method is determined not to exist. In the determination step, when there is no prediction result of the predicted job data, it is determined whether to perform prediction in the prediction step based on a data amount of the image processed job data. The processing method according to claim 10 or 11. A management step of managing whether the prediction is being executed or the prediction is being stopped as a state in the prediction step;
The determination step determines whether to perform prediction in the prediction step based on a threshold value of the data amount that differs depending on the state in the prediction step managed in the management step. The processing method according to 9 or 12. The threshold value used when the state in the prediction step is the prediction stop is larger than the threshold value used when the state in the prediction step is the execution of the prediction. The processing method according to 13. Claim 1, claim 2, programs for causing a computer to function as each unit of the processing device according to any one of claims 6, claim 7 when dependent on claim 2. The program for functioning a computer as each means of the processing apparatus of any one of Claim 6 to Claim 7 which depends on Claim 3 thru | or 5 and Claim 5.

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