JP6512073B2 - Printing system and storage control method of reprinting data in the printing system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system and a storage control method of reprinting data in the printing system, and more particularly, a printing system including a RIP (Raster Image Processor) processing unit that rasterizes print data, and RIP for reprinting in the printing system. The present invention relates to a method for controlling stored data.

  When printing using an image forming apparatus such as a copier or a multifunction machine (MFP: Multi Function Peripheral), first, data (in the page description language (PDL) format) from a client apparatus connected to the network (Page Description Language (PDL)) Receiving the print data, rasterizing the print data (bit map development) to generate raster data, and performing printing based on the raster data.

  In the above-described image forming apparatus, normally, only printed print data is deleted so that printed print data and raster data can be deleted from a storage unit such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or reprinting can be performed. The raster data (called RIP-completed data) which has been printed and is left in the storage unit is deleted from the storage unit, but leaving the RIP-completed data in the storage unit enables the maximum processing speed of the print engine at the time of reprinting. Printing becomes possible, and the time taken for reprinting can be shortened. However, since RIP-completed data has a larger data size than print data, leaving a large number of RIP-completed data in the storage unit will quickly exhaust the capacity of the storage unit. That is, it is preferable to leave the RIPped data as much as possible in the storage unit in order to reduce the reprinting time, but to prevent the capacity of the storage unit from being exhausted early, the RIPped data to be left in the storage unit is minimized Is more preferable, and these are in a trade-off relationship.

  As a technique related to such storage of RIPped data, for example, in Patent Document 1 below, a communication unit for receiving a print job including print data described in a page description language, and analyzing the print data A print data analysis unit that generates print image data based on a bit map, a thumbnail generation unit that generates thumbnail data from the print data, and the print data, the print image data, and the thumbnail data are stored for each print job A storage unit; and an image forming unit configured to form an image on a recording medium based on the print image data, the print data analysis unit including the print instruction information according to hold print instruction information included in the print job The print data of the job, the print image data, and the thumbnail data are stored in the storage unit. When the print unit including the instruction information is received by the communication unit, the image forming apparatus determines whether the data volume stored in the storage unit has reached a predetermined upper limit level, Storage data for deleting the print image data and the thumbnail data of the print job that meets the predetermined condition among the data of the other print jobs already stored in the storage unit An arrangement having an operation unit is disclosed.

JP, 2014-200956, A

  In Patent Document 1 described above, print data, print image data (RIP completed data), and thumbnail data are held in the storage unit as print job data, and the data capacity stored in the storage unit reaches a predetermined upper limit level. In this case, exhaustion of the capacity of the storage unit is avoided by deleting the print image data and the thumbnail data from the storage unit.

  However, if some RIPped data requires time to rasterize (for example, print data having a large data size or data obtained by rasterizing print data having a complicated object configuration), the data may be rasterized in a short time. In some cases, if data requiring time for rasterization is deleted from the storage unit, reprinting at the maximum processing speed of the print engine can not be performed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its main object is to efficiently reduce data stored in a storage unit while enabling reprinting at the maximum processing speed of a print engine. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing system capable of implementing the method and storage control method of reprinting data in the printing system.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, in a printing system including an image forming apparatus provided with a printing engine, a RIP processing unit that converts received print data into raster data, and RIP time of each page of the print data at the time of RIP processing is listed Calculated from the RIP time of the target page described in the list and the maximum processing speed of the print engine for each page when reprinting, the list creation unit to be described, the storage unit for storing printed raster data, and reprinting And the print preparation time for which the print preparation of the target page is completed is compared, and based on the comparison result, each page is stored, leaving the raster data in the storage unit or deleting the raster data from the storage unit Determination unit that performs determination processing for determining a deletion page to be deleted, and deletion processing that deletes raster data corresponding to the deletion page from the storage unit Characterized in that it and a storage control unit that performs.

  One aspect of the present invention is a storage control method of reprint data in a printing system including an image forming apparatus including a print engine, the RIP processing step of converting received print data into raster data, and the printing at the time of RIP processing A list creation step of listing the RIP time of each page of data, a save step of saving printed raster data in a storage unit, and RIP of a target page listed in the list for each page at the time of reprinting The time is compared with the print preparation time for completing printing preparation of the target page, which is calculated from the maximum processing speed of the print engine, and each page is raster data stored in the storage unit based on the comparison result. Determining the storage page to be left or the deletion page for deleting raster data from the storage unit; the deletion page A deletion step of deleting the corresponding raster data from said storage unit, characterized in that the run.

  According to the printing system of the present invention and the storage control method for reprinting data in the printing system, it is possible to efficiently reduce the data stored in the storage unit while enabling reprinting at the maximum processing speed of the printing engine. Can.

  The reason is that, in a printing system including a RIP processing unit that converts print data into raster data, and a storage unit that stores printed raster data, the RIP time of each page is stored in a list, and each page is stored. By comparing the RIP time of the page with the print preparation time of the page calculated from the maximum processing speed of the print engine, and deleting the printed raster data of the page whose RIP time is shorter than the print preparation time from the storage unit It is.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the printing system which concerns on the 1st Example of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the other structure of the printing system which concerns on the 1st Example of this invention. It is a block diagram showing composition of a client device concerning a 1st example of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure explaining the preservation | save control method of the data for re-printing based on the 1st Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the result of preservation | save control of the data for reprinting which concerns on the 1st Example of this invention. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation (processing at the time of initial printing) of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation (RIP completed data deletion processing) of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation (RIP completed data deletion calculation processing) of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the image forming apparatus (control part) which concerns on the 2nd Example of this invention. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an operation (additional deletion processing) of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an operation (a search process of two “leave in HDD” pages) of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the operation (replacement determination processing) of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. When the addition and deletion process according to the second embodiment of the present invention is performed (when the page in which "re-RIP" is selected on one of the two "leave in HDD" pages is changed to "leave in HDD") It is a figure which shows an example of the result of preservation | save control of. When the addition and deletion process according to the second embodiment of the present invention is performed (when the page in which "re-RIP" is selected on one of the two "leave in HDD" pages is changed to "leave in HDD") It is a figure which shows the other example of the result of preservation | save control of. When the addition and deletion process according to the second embodiment of the present invention is performed (when the page on which "re-RIP" is selected two on the two "leave in HDD" page is changed to "leave in HDD") It is a figure which shows an example of the result of preservation | save control of. When the addition and deletion process according to the second embodiment of the present invention is performed (when the page with the longest RIP time is changed to "leave in HDD" among the pages on the two "leave in HDD" pages) It is a figure which shows an example of the result of preservation | save control of. It is a figure which shows an example of the result of preservation | save control of the data for reprinting which concerns on the 3rd Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the result of preservation | save control of the data for reprinting which concerns on the 4th Example of this invention.

  As described in the background art, leaving RIPped data in the storage unit enables printing at the maximum processing speed of the print engine at the time of reprinting, and can reduce the time required for reprinting, but it is RIPped. Since the data size of the data is larger than that of the print data, leaving a large number of RIPped data in the storage section may quickly deplete the capacity of the storage section. With regard to this problem, in Patent Document 1, when the data capacity stored in the storage unit reaches a predetermined upper limit level, the capacity of the storage unit is deleted by deleting the print image data and the thumbnail data from the storage unit. However, some of the RIPped data requires time for rasterization, and some data has completed rasterization in a short time, so deleting data that requires time for rasterization In some cases, reprinting at the maximum processing speed of the print engine can not be performed.

  Therefore, in one embodiment of the present invention, when reprinting is performed, reprinting can be performed at the maximum processing speed of the print engine even if rasterized again without using RIPped data stored in the storage unit. , Remove the RIPped data from the storage unit, and reduce the data stored in the storage unit.

  Specifically, RIP time for each page is recorded in the list at the time of RIP processing, "RIP time recorded in list" and "print preparation time required for printing at maximum processing speed of print engine" on each page And RIPped data of pages that can be printed at the maximum processing speed of the print engine even if rasterized again is deleted from the storage unit.

  In addition, by deleting RIPped data of a certain page from the storage unit, it is verified whether there is a situation where excess RIPped data of the subsequent page is left in the storage unit, and the above situation occurs. To change from “page to delete RIPped data from storage” to “page to leave RIPped data to storage” and change the number of pages to be stored in the storage if it can be reduced .

  Further, each print data stored in the storage unit is provided with status information indicating the editing status, and the above-mentioned storage control process is executed only for the print data whose status information is “edited”. That is, if there is still an edit schedule, there is a possibility that the page may be replaced, etc., and the comparison of the above time and the determination of the page may be wasted, so the status information becomes “edited” Stores the RIPped data of all pages in the storage unit.

  In addition, when performing RIP again, the RIP time is corrected in consideration of parallel operation processing in advance so that the maximum processing speed of the print engine can be secured even if other functions operate in parallel, the comparison of the above time or page Make a decision on

  By performing such control, it is possible to efficiently reduce data stored in the storage unit while enabling reprinting at the maximum processing speed of the print engine.

  In order to describe the above-described embodiment of the present invention in further detail, a printing system according to a first example of the present invention and a storage control method of reprinting data in the printing system will be described with reference to FIGS. To explain. 1 and 2 are schematic views showing the configuration of the printing system of this embodiment, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the client apparatus of this embodiment, and FIG. 4 is an image forming apparatus of this embodiment Is a block diagram showing a configuration of FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the storage control method of the reprint data of this embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a view showing the result of storage control of the reprint data. 7 to 9 are flowcharts showing the operation of the image forming apparatus of this embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system of the present embodiment is configured of a client device 10 functioning as a print instruction device and an image forming device 20 functioning as a printing device. These are connected by a communication network 50 such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or a WAN (Wide Area Network) defined by a standard such as Ethernet (registered trademark), token ring, or FDDI (Fiber-Distributed Data Interface). In FIG. 1, the printing system includes the client apparatus 10 and the image forming apparatus 20. However, as shown in FIG. 2, the control apparatus such as the printer controller 40 for controlling the image forming apparatus 20 is the image forming apparatus It may be provided separately from 20. In that case, data transfer from the printer controller 40 to the image forming apparatus 20 can also use IEEE 1394, Parallel, or the like. Hereinafter, each apparatus will be described in detail based on the configuration of FIG.

[Client device]
The client device 10 is a computer device such as a personal computer, and includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, a network I / F unit 13, a display unit 14, an operation unit 15 and the like as shown in FIG. Ru.

  The control unit 11 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 11 a and a memory such as a read only memory (ROM) 11 b and a random access memory (RAM) 11 c, which are connected via a bus. The CPU 11a reads the program from the ROM 11b or the storage unit 12, develops the program in the RAM 11c, and executes the program to perform overall control of the client device 10.

  The control unit 11 is, as shown in FIG. 3B, an OS (Operating System) 16 such as Windows (registered trademark) or Macintosh (registered trademark), and a document creation application 17 for creating a document on the OS 16. The document data created by the document creation application 17 is converted into print data (PCL (Printer Control Language) or PDL data such as PS (Post Script)) of a language that can be interpreted by the image forming apparatus 20, and printing conditions and It also functions as a printer driver 18 that specifies processing conditions.

  The storage unit 12 is configured of an HDD, a solid state drive (SSD), or the like, and stores a program for the CPU 11a to control each unit, data of a document, print data, and the like.

  The network I / F unit 13 includes a NIC (Network Interface Card) and a modem, establishes a connection with the image forming apparatus 20 connected via the communication network 50, and transmits print data and the like.

  The display unit 14 is configured by an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or the like, and a screen for creating a document, document printing conditions (number of copies, paper type, single / double-sided, color / monochrome etc.) and post-processing conditions (tab sheet insertion) Display a screen to set up, staple, punch, etc.). The operation unit 15 is composed of a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel integrated with the display unit 14 and the like, and enables operations such as creation of a document and setting of printing conditions and post-processing conditions.

[Image forming apparatus]
The image forming apparatus 20 is a printing apparatus that executes printing in accordance with print data received from the client apparatus 10. As shown in FIG. 4A, the image forming apparatus 20 displays the control unit 21, the storage unit 22, the network I / F unit 23, and It comprises an operation unit 24, an image processing unit 25, a print processing unit 26, and the like.

  The control unit 21 includes a CPU 21a and memories such as a ROM 21b and a RAM 21c, which are connected via a bus. The CPU 21a reads the program from the ROM 21b, develops the program in the RAM 21c, and executes the program, thereby performing overall control of the image forming apparatus 20.

  The control unit 21 functions as a list creation unit 27, a determination unit 28, and a storage control unit 29, as shown in FIG. 4 (b).

  The list creation unit 27 creates a list recording the time (RIP time) required for the image processing unit 25 to rasterize each page of print data, and stores the list in the storage unit 22 or the like.

  The determination unit 28 refers to the above list to acquire the RIP time of each page, and secures the maximum processing speed of the print engine to calculate the print preparation time required to print each page. Then, for each page, the acquired RIP time is compared with the calculated print preparation time, and a page having a shorter RIP time is a deleted page for deleting RIPped data from the storage unit 22 (“re-RIP” The page called “page” is determined, and the page whose RIP time is longer is determined as a storage page (called “leave in HDD” page) in which the RIPped data is left in the storage unit 22.

  The storage control unit 29 stores, in the storage unit 22, RIPped data on which the image processing unit 25 has performed the RIP process. Further, the storage control unit 29 deletes the RIPped data corresponding to the “re-RIP” page from the storage unit 22 according to the determination result of the determination unit 28. The deletion process may be executed immediately after the printing is completed, but if there is an edit schedule for the print data, there is also the possibility of replacing pages etc., so the status showing the editing status in the print data It is preferable to execute the deletion process when information is provided and the status information is "edited".

  The list creation unit 27, the determination unit 28, and the storage control unit 29 may be configured as hardware, or as a print control program that causes the control unit 21 to function as the list creation unit 27, the determination unit 28, and the storage control unit 29. It may be configured to cause the CPU 21a to execute the print control program.

  The storage unit 22 is configured by an HDD, an SSD, or the like, and stores a program for the CPU 21a to control each unit, the list, the print data, the RIP completed data, and the like. In the following, the storage unit 22 will be described as an HDD.

  The network I / F unit 23 includes a NIC, a modem, and the like, establishes a connection with the client device 10 connected via the communication network 50, and receives print data and the like.

  The display operation unit 24 is a touch panel or the like in which a touch sensor consisting of transparent electrodes in the form of a grid is formed on a display unit such as an LCD, and displays various screens and enables various operations on the screens.

  The image processing unit 25 functions as a RIP processing unit, translates print data to generate intermediate data, and performs rendering to generate bitmap image data for each page (this series of processing is called RIP processing). ). In addition, the image processing unit 25 performs screen processing, tone correction, density balance adjustment, thinning, halftone processing, and the like on bitmap image data as necessary. Then, the image processing unit 25 outputs the generated bitmap image data to the print processing unit 26.

  The print processing unit (print engine) 26 executes print processing based on bitmap image data. The print processing unit 26 includes an exposure unit that irradiates laser light to expose based on image data, a photosensitive drum, a developing unit, a charging unit, a photosensitive member cleaning unit, and a primary transfer roller. An intermediate belt functioning as an intermediate transfer member which is rotated by a roller and conveys the toner image formed by the image forming portion onto a sheet, and the toner image formed on the intermediate belt The secondary transfer roller to be transferred to the paper, the fixing unit to fix the toner image transferred to the paper, and the feeding unit such as paper feed roller and resist roller to transport the paper, loop roller, reverse roller, discharge roller etc. Configured

  1 to 4 show an example of the printing system of this embodiment, and the configuration and control of each device can be changed as appropriate.

  For example, although the control unit 21 of the image forming apparatus 20 has the functions of the list creation unit 27, the determination unit 28, and the storage control unit 29 in the above description, the printing system includes the printer controller 40 having a RIP processing unit When the control unit of the printer controller 40 is included, the control unit of the printer controller 40 is made to have the functions of the list creation unit 27, the determination unit 28, and the storage control unit 29 (allowing the CPU to execute the print control program). The RIPped data may be stored in a storage unit provided in

  Next, storage control of reprinting data in the printing system having the above configuration will be described with reference to the schematic view of FIG. The print interval is the print required time per page calculated from the maximum processing speed of the print engine. For example, when the print engine has an ability to print 120 pages per minute, the print required time (print interval) per page is 60 seconds / 120 sheets = 0.5 seconds / sheets. Also, RIP-completed data is stored in the HDD, and a time (Read time) taken to read one page of RIP-completed data from the HDD is 0.1 second. Strictly speaking, the Read time changes depending on the data size of the RIPped data, but in this embodiment, the Read time is the same for all pages.

  First, it is assumed that the RIP time of each page is reprinted on the print data as shown in FIG. 5A. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the time after re-RIPing of the first page is taken as a reference, reprinting of the first page is completed 0.5 seconds later. Here, the RIP time for the second page is 0.7 seconds (the dashed line rectangle in the figure), which is longer than 0.5 seconds of the time for which the second page is ready for printing (print preparation time). You can not print at the maximum processing speed of the print engine if you re-RIP the page. Therefore, the RIPped data of the second page is left in the HDD, and the RIPped data of the second page is read out from the HDD. That is, the second page is a "left on HDD" page.

  The time to complete the preparation for printing the third page is 0.9 seconds after reading the RIPped data of the second page from the HDD (The read time of 0.1 second to the RIPped data of the second page from the integration time 0.1) It becomes the time which subtracted the second). Here, since the RIP time of the third page is 0.7 seconds from FIG. 5A and is shorter than the print preparation time (0.9 seconds) of the third page, as shown in FIG. 5C. The third page is the "re-RIP" page.

  The time for completing the preparation for printing the fourth page is 0.7 seconds after the completion of the re-RIPing for the third page (1.5 seconds for the accumulated time from the reading time of the RIPped data for the second page 0.1) This is the time obtained by subtracting the second and the RIP time of the third page 0.7 seconds). Here, since the RIP time of the fourth page is 0.3 seconds from FIG. 5A and is shorter than the print preparation time (0.7 seconds) of the fourth page, as shown in FIG. 5D. The fourth page is also a "re-RIP" page.

  Similarly, the time when the preparation for printing the 5th page is completed is 0.9 seconds after the completion of the re-RIPing of the 4th page (from 2 seconds of the integration time to the reading time of RIPped data of the 2nd page 0. 0). The time obtained by subtracting the RIP time 0.7 seconds of the 1st and 3rd pages and the RIP time 0.3 of the 4th page). Here, since the RIP time of the fifth page is 0.6 seconds from FIG. 5A and is shorter than the print preparation time (0.9 seconds) of the fifth page, as shown in FIG. 5D. The fifth page is also a "re-RIP" page.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the result of the above-described storage control of reprinting data. “RIP time” of “RIP process” in FIG. 6A is the RIP time of each page shown in FIG. 5A. The "compliance time" is a time (print preparation time) from the completion of the re-RIP of the previous page or the reading from the HDD until the printing of the page can be performed. The "adopt" is the RIP time of the "re-RIP" page determined by the above calculation or the read time of the "remaining HDD" page, and the hatched portion is the read time of the "remaining HDD" page. "Integration" is a time obtained by integrating "adopt" time. Further, the "printing interval" of the "printing process" is the required printing time per page calculated from the maximum processing speed of the printing engine as described above. "Integration" is a time obtained by integrating the time of "printing interval". According to FIG. 6A, in order to maintain the maximum processing speed of the print engine, it is sufficient to store only the RIPped data of the second page of the 5 pages in the HDD as shown in FIG. 6B. As a result, it is possible to delete a total of four pages of RIPped data from the HDD from one to three to five pages.

  The operation of the image forming apparatus 20 according to this embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 7 to 9.

  FIG. 7 shows processing (RIP processing / storage of RIPped data in HDD / list creation) performed at the time of first printing. First, the control unit 21 initializes a variable [Page No] to 1 (S101). Next, the image processing unit 25 performs RIP processing of the page [Page No] of the received print data (S102), and the control unit 21 (storage control unit 29) stores the RIP completed data in the storage unit 22 ( S103). Next, the control unit 21 (list creation unit 27) records the RIP time when the image processing unit 25 performs the RIP process in S102 in the list (S104). Then, the control unit 21 adds 1 to [Page No] (S105), determines whether the RIP process is completed for all pages (S106), and if there is a page for which the RIP process has not been performed, It returns to S102 and repeats the same processing.

  The RIP processing of all pages of the print data is completed by the processing up to this point, RIPped data of all pages is temporarily stored in the storage unit 22 for reprinting, and the RIP time of each page is recorded in the list.

  8 and 9 show the process of deleting RIPped data. This RIPped data deletion process can be performed immediately after the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7 is completed, but is preferably performed when the status information of the print data is "edited".

  First, the control unit 21 (determination unit 28) executes RIP-completed data deletion calculation processing (S201, details will be described later), and the control unit 21 (storage control unit 29) performs RIP-completed data deletion calculation processing. The RIP-completed data corresponding to the page that has become “re-RIP” is deleted from the storage unit 22 (S202).

  FIG. 9 shows details of S201. The control unit 21 (determination unit 28) initializes a variable [Page No] to 1 and initializes a variable [integration] to 0 (S301). Next, the control unit 21 (determination unit 28) refers to the list stored in the storage unit 22, acquires the RIP time of the [Page No] page, and stores it in the variable [RT] (S302).

  Next, the control unit 21 (determination unit 28) determines whether the processing target page is the first page (S303), and in the case of the first page (Yes in S303), the RIP time of the first page is The one page printing interval (the above-mentioned printing preparation time) is compared (S304). If the RIP time is shorter (Yes in S304), the first page is determined to be the “re-RIP” page (that is, the page for deleting RIPped data from the storage unit 22) (S305), and the RIP time is If it is long (No in S304), the page is determined to be "leave in HDD" (S306).

When the page to be processed is not the first page (No in S303), the control unit 21 (determination unit 28) determines the RIP time of the page and the print preparation time required to secure the maximum processing speed of the print engine. (The required time in FIG. 6 (a)) is compared (S307). The specific formula for the above print preparation time is
Print preparation time = 1 page print interval × ([Page No] −1) −the RIP time or read time of each preceding page is integrated.

  As a result of comparison, when the RIP time is shorter (Yes in S307), the control unit 21 (determination unit 28) determines the “re-RIP” page (that is, the page to delete the RIPped data from the storage unit 22). Then, the RIP time (RT) of the page is added to [integration] (S308). On the other hand, when the RIP time is longer (No in S307), the page is determined to be “leave in HDD” page, and the HDD access time for acquiring RIP-completed data of the page from the storage unit 22 in [integration] (Read Time) is added (S309).

  After that, the control unit 21 (determination unit 28) adds 1 to [Page No] (S310), and if calculation of all pages is not completed (No in S311), returns to S302 and repeats similar processing. .

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the RIP time of each page at the time of printing is recorded in the list, and the RIP time and the time until the preparation for printing of the page is completed for each page of print data If the RIP time is shorter, delete the RIPped data of the page from the HDD and re-RIP when reprinting, and if the RIP time is longer, RIPted data of the page Is stored in the HDD and read out from the HDD at the time of reprinting, it is possible to efficiently reduce the data stored in the storage unit 22 while enabling reprinting at the maximum processing speed of the print engine.

  Next, a printing system according to a second embodiment of the present invention and a storage control method of reprinting data in the printing system will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 17. FIG. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus (control unit) of this embodiment, and FIGS. 11 to 13 are flowcharts showing the operation of the image forming apparatus. 14 to 17 are diagrams showing the results of storage control of this embodiment.

  In the first embodiment described above, the RIP time of the page to be processed and the print preparation time are sequentially compared for each page of print data, and if the RIP time is shorter, the page is read again. In the case where “RIP” is determined and the RIP time is longer, the page is determined to be “retain in HDD”, and the RIPped data is deleted from the storage unit 22 for the page determined to be “re-RIP”. Then, it is possible to more efficiently reduce RIPped data stored in the HDD.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 10, the control unit 21 of the image forming apparatus 20 is added to the list creation unit 27, the determination unit 28, and the storage control unit 29 to function as a verification unit 30. If the verification unit 30 appropriately selects a page determined to be "re-RIP" and changes the page to "leave in HDD", whether the number of "leave in HDD" pages after that page can be reduced If it is possible to verify and reduce the “leave in HDD” page, the determination unit 28 performs an additional deletion process of changing the page from “re-RIP” to “leave in HDD”.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the image forming apparatus 20 in that case will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 11 to 13.

  FIG. 11 shows the addition and deletion process, which is performed after the deletion process of RIPped data of FIG. 8 described in the first embodiment. First, the control unit 21 (verification unit 30) initializes a variable [Page] to the final page, and initializes a counter [Count] of RIP-completed data to 0 (S401). Next, the control unit 21 (verification unit 30) searches for two “leave in HDD” pages from the last page toward the first page (S402).

  FIG. 12 shows the details of this step. First, it is determined whether the [Page] page is a "leave in HDD" page (S501). [Page] If the page is a “leave in HDD” page, [Count] is incremented by 1 (S502). Next, it is determined whether [Count] is 2 (that is, it is the second “leave in HDD” page) (S503), and if [Count] is 2, [Status] flag is “ "Available", [Count] is set to 0 (S504), and the processing of the subroutine is ended. On the other hand, if the [Page] page is not the “leave in HDD” page at S501, or if the [Count] is not 2 at S503 (ie, the first “leave on HDD” page), [Page] 1 is subtracted from (S505), and it is determined whether all pages have been completed (ie, [Page] has become 0) (S506). If all pages have not been completed, the process returns to S501 and the same processing is repeated. If all pages are completed, the [Status] flag is set to "absent" (S507), and the subroutine processing is terminated. .

  Returning to the flowchart of FIG. 11, the control unit 21 (verification unit 30) determines whether the [Status] flag is "present" (that is, whether it is the second "leave in HDD" page) (S403), if [Status] is "absent", the process ends; if "Status" is "present", select "re-RIP" before the second "leave in HDD" page When the selected page is replaced with the "leave in HDD" page, a replacement determination process is performed to determine whether there is a reduction effect of the page stored in the HDD (S404).

  FIG. 13 shows the details of this step. First, it is determined whether the [Page] page is a "re-RIP" page (S601). [Page] If the page is a "re-RIP" page, replacement processing is performed (S602). Specifically, the time in the “adopt” column of the [Page] page of the list is replaced with the HDD access time (Read time) required when the RIPped data is read from the HDD without re-RIPing. Next, it is calculated whether or not the number of pages stored in the HDD can be reduced in a state of being temporarily replaced (S603). Specifically, when the RIPped data of the [Page] page is stored in the HDD, the calculation for deleting the RIPped data described in the flowchart of FIG. 9 of the first embodiment is performed for the subsequent pages. Perform the process. Next, as a result of the calculation process for deleting RIPped data, it is judged whether or not it is possible to reduce the page to save the RIPped data (S604), and if the page to be saved can be reduced, the [Status 2] flag is reduced If "Yes" is set (S605), and the page to be stored can not be reduced, the [Status 2] flag is set to "No reduction" and 1 is subtracted from [Page] (S 606), and the processing of the subroutine is ended. . On the other hand, if the [Page] page is not the “re-RIP” page in S601, 1 is subtracted from [Page] (S607). Then, it is determined whether all pages have been completed (that is, [Page] has become 0) (S 608), and if all pages have not been completed, the process returns to S 601 to repeat the same processing and all pages If completed, the processing of the subroutine ends.

  Returning to the flowchart of FIG. 11 again, the control unit 21 (verification unit 30) determines whether the [Status 2] flag is “Reducable” (that is, it is determined that reduction is possible in the replacement determination process of S404). If it is determined (S405) that the [Status 2] flag is "Reducible", replacement processing is performed, and recalculation is performed for the pages after the replacement page (described in the flowchart of FIG. 9 of the first embodiment). The RIP completed data deletion calculation process is performed (S406).

  Then, the control unit 21 (verification unit 30) determines whether confirmation of all pages is completed (that is, [Page] has become 0) (S407), and when confirmation of all pages is not completed, Returning to step S402, the same processing is repeated, and when confirmation of all pages is completed, the series of additional reduction processing is ended.

  FIG. 14A is a specific example of the case where the deletion processing of RIPped data of the first embodiment is performed on print data having 12 pages, and FIG. It is a specific example at the time of implementing the additional reduction process of a present Example. As shown in FIG. 14A, when each page is determined to be a “re-RIP” page or a “leave on HDD” page according to the storage control of the first embodiment, a total of 2 pages, 10 pages, and 11 pages The result is that 3 pages of RIPped data are stored in the HDD.

  [0.9 seconds] indicated by the thick solid rectangular frame in Fig. 14A is the RIP time when the 9th page is determined to be the "re-RIP" page, but this page is left on the "leave in HDD" page If changed, the required time will be [0.1 seconds] of the Read time. As a result, when the RIPped data deletion process of the first embodiment is performed on subsequent pages, pages 10 and 11 are changed to the “re-RIP” page as shown in FIG. 14B. There are 2 pages and 9 pages in total, which are “leave in HDD” pages, which can reduce RIPped data stored in HDD.

  Further, FIG. 15A is a specific example in the case where the deletion processing of RIPped data of the first embodiment is performed on print data having 30 pages, and FIG. e) is a specific example of the case where the additional reduction processing of this embodiment is performed. As shown in FIG. 15A, when each page is determined to be a "re-RIP" page or a "leave in HDD" page according to the storage control of the first embodiment, 2, 9, 10, 14, 16, The result is that the 7 pages of RIPped data on pages 21 and 24 are stored in the HDD.

  The [1.4 seconds] indicated by the thick solid rectangular frame in FIG. 15 (a) was determined to be the “re-RIP” page, the 20th page before pages 24 and 21 which are two “leave in HDD” pages. In the case of RIP time, if this page is changed to “Leave on HDD” page, the required time is [0.1 seconds] of Read time. As a result, when the RIPped data deletion process of the first embodiment is performed on subsequent pages, pages 21 and 24 are changed to the "re-RIP" page as shown in FIG. 15 (b). There are six pages "2, 9, 10, 14, 16, and 20 pages", which are "leave in HDD", and it is possible to reduce RIPped data stored in the HDD.

  Similarly, [1.3 seconds] indicated by a thick solid rectangular frame in FIG. 15B is the 13th page before pages 16 and 14 which are two “leave in HDD” pages in FIG. 15A. It is the RIP time when it is determined to be the “re-RIP” page, but if this page is changed to the “leave in HDD” page, the required time is [0.1 seconds] of the read time. As a result, when the RIPped data deletion process of the first embodiment is performed on the subsequent pages, pages 14 and 16 are changed to the “re-RIP” page as shown in FIG. The 24 pages are changed to “leave in HDD” pages, and the “leave in HDD” pages are 6, 9, 10, 13, 20, 24 pages in total of 6 pages.

  Similarly, [1.5 seconds] indicated by a thick solid rectangular frame in FIG. 15D is the eighth page before pages 10 and 9, which are two “leave in HDD” pages in FIG. 15A. It is the RIP time when it is determined to be the “re-RIP” page, but if this page is changed to the “leave in HDD” page, the required time is [0.1 seconds] of the read time. As a result, when the RIPped data deletion process of the first embodiment is performed on subsequent pages, pages 9 and 10 are changed to the “re-RIP” page as shown in FIG. There are a total of 5 pages of "Leave on HDD" pages 2, 8, 14, 16, and 20, and it is possible to reduce RIPped data stored in the HDD.

  In FIG. 15, the “Re-RIP” page immediately before the two “leave in HDD” pages is changed to the “leave in HDD” page, but predetermined pages of two “leave in HDD” pages (for example, 2 pages) You can also change the previous "Re-RIP" page to a "Leave on HDD" page. For example, [0.9 seconds] indicated by the thick solid rectangular frame in FIG. 16A is “re-RIP” the eighth page two pages 10 pages and 11 pages before, which are two “leave in HDD” pages. It is the RIP time when it is determined to be a page, but if this page is changed to a “leave on HDD” page, the required time is [0.1 seconds] of the read time. As a result, when the RIPped data deletion process of the first embodiment is performed on the subsequent pages, pages 10 and 11 are changed to the “re-RIP” page as shown in FIG. As in the case of FIG. 14, RIP complete data to be stored in the HDD can be reduced.

  Also, from the "Re-RIP" page before the two "Leave on HDD" pages and after the previous "Leave on HDD" pages, the "Leave pages with the longest RIP time on the HDD" page You can change it to For example, [1.0 seconds] indicated by a thick solid rectangular frame in FIG. 17A is the longest “RIP time” among pages “10 pages” and “11 pages”, which are two “leave in HDD” pages 4 It is RIP time when the page is determined to be "re-RIP" page, but if this page is changed to "leave in HDD" page, the required time is [0.1 second] of Read time. As a result, when the RIPped data deletion process of the first embodiment is performed on subsequent pages, pages 10 and 11 are changed to the “re-RIP” page as shown in FIG. 17B. As in the case of FIG. 14, RIP complete data to be stored in the HDD can be reduced, as in the case of FIG.

  As described above, when you find two "leave in HDD" pages from the last page to the first page and change the "re-RIP" page to "leave in HDD" pages in front of those pages In addition, if it is possible to reduce the number of “leave in HDD” pages and if it can be reduced, change the page to “leave in HDD” page to re-execute at the maximum processing speed of the print engine. The data stored in the storage unit 22 can be further reduced while enabling printing.

  In the present embodiment, two “leave in HDD” pages are found from the last page to the first page, but two “leave in HDD” pages are found from the first page to the last page. It is also possible to find three or more "leave on HDD" pages and perform similar verifications.

  Next, a printing system according to a third embodiment of the present invention and a storage control method of reprinting data in the printing system will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of the result of storage control of reprint data according to this embodiment.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the RIP time at the time of reprinting is taken as the RIP time required for the first RIP process, but if other processes are operating in parallel at the time of reprinting, the first RIP time And RIP time when reprinting may not match. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the RIP time is corrected in anticipation of parallel operation so that reprinting at the maximum processing speed of the printing engine can be surely performed. Note that parallel operation refers to the case where processing that affects RIP processing without affecting printing processing is performed in parallel with RIP processing.

  For example, FIG. 18 is a table showing the time required for the RIP process and print process for each page. In the first and second embodiments, the RIP time is the time of (1) in the table, but (2) Assuming that the parallel operation expected time of is 20% of the RIP time, the actual RIP time is the time obtained by adding (1) and (2). As a result, there are three “2, 5 and 9 pages,” which are “leave in HDD” pages.

  In FIG. 18, although the parallel operation estimated time is 20% of the RIP time, the parallel operation estimated time is, for example, a ratio according to the type of processing to be operated in parallel (for example, scan processing and FAX data transmission / reception processing) Or may be set based on the load of the CPU 21a.

  Next, a printing system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention and a storage control method of reprinting data in the printing system will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of storage control of reprint data according to the present embodiment.

  In the first to third embodiments described above, for each page of print data, the RIP time of the page and the print preparation time are compared, and if the RIP time is shorter, the page is "re-RIPed". The page is determined, and if the RIP time is longer, the page is determined to be "leave in HDD" page, and the control is based on deleting the RIPped data from the storage unit 22 for the "re-RIP" page. It is also possible to leave RIPped data in the HDD for pages whose RIP time exceeds a predetermined threshold, and to re-RIP pages whose RIP time is less than the above threshold to delete RIPped data from the HDD.

  For example, with respect to the print data of the configuration shown in FIG. 6A of the first embodiment, when RIP finished data of a page having a RIP time of 0.5 seconds or more is left in the HDD, as shown in FIG. As shown in), the “leave in HDD” page is 3 pages of 2, 3 and 5 pages, which is more than 1 page of FIG. 6 (b) but RIP of all pages shown in FIG. 19 (a) It is possible to reduce RIPped data stored in the HDD, compared to the conventional method of leaving data in the HDD.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the configuration and control of the printing system and each device can be appropriately changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  The present invention can be used for a printing system including a RIP processing unit that rasterizes print data and a storage control method of reprinted data for reprinting in the printing system.

10 client device 11 control unit 11a CPU
11b ROM
11c RAM
12 storage unit 13 network I / F unit 14 display unit 15 operation unit 16 OS
17 Document Creation Application 18 Printer Driver 20 Image Forming Device 21 Controller 21a CPU
21b ROM
21c RAM
22 storage unit 23 network I / F unit 24 display operation unit 25 image processing unit 26 print processing unit 27 list creation unit 28 determination unit 29 storage control unit 30 verification unit 40 printer controller 50 communication network

Claims (14)

In a printing system including an image forming apparatus provided with a printing engine,
A RIP processing unit that converts received print data into raster data;
A list creation unit that lists RIP time of each page of the print data at the time of RIP processing;
A storage unit for storing printed raster data;
At the time of reprinting, comparing the RIP time of the target page described in the list with the print preparation time for completing the print preparation of the target page, which is calculated from the maximum processing speed of the print engine, A determination unit that performs determination processing to determine each page as a storage page for leaving raster data in the storage unit or a deletion page for deleting raster data from the storage unit based on a comparison result;
A storage control unit that performs deletion processing for deleting raster data corresponding to the deletion page from the storage unit;
A printing system characterized by The determination unit determines, as the deletion page, a page in which the RIP time is shorter than the print preparation time.
The printing system according to claim 1, The printing system is
And a verification unit that verifies whether raster data stored in the storage unit can be reduced when any of the deleted pages is changed to the storage page.
If the determination unit can reduce raster data to be stored in the storage unit as a result of the verification, the determination unit performs the determination process again on pages subsequent to the changed page.
The printing system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The verification unit searches the stored page for two pages in ascending order of pages from the last page of the print data, and changes the deleted page before the searched two pages to the stored page. Verify that the raster data saved in the storage unit can be reduced,
The printing system according to claim 3, characterized in that: The verification unit may be configured to delete the deleted page having a predetermined page before the searched two pages or the deleted page having the longest RIP time among pages before the searched two pages. Change to save page,
The printing system according to claim 4, characterized in that: The storage control unit acquires status information indicating an editing status of the print data, and performs the deletion process when the status information is edited.
The printing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The determination unit corrects the RIP time in consideration of processes operating in parallel when comparing the RIP time and the print preparation time.
The printing system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: A storage control method of reprint data in a printing system including an image forming apparatus including a printing engine, the method comprising:
A RIP processing step of converting received print data into raster data;
A list creation step of listing RIP time of each page of the print data at the time of RIP processing;
A storage step of storing printed raster data in a storage unit;
At the time of reprinting, comparing the RIP time of the target page described in the list with the print preparation time for completing the print preparation of the target page, which is calculated from the maximum processing speed of the print engine, for each page. Determining each page as a storage page for leaving raster data in the storage unit or a deletion page for deleting raster data from the storage unit based on the comparison result;
Performing a deletion step of deleting raster data corresponding to the deletion page from the storage unit;
A storage control method of reprint data characterized in that. In the determination step, a page whose RIP time is shorter than the print preparation time is determined as the deletion page.
9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the reprint data storage control method. A verification step of verifying whether raster data to be stored in the storage unit can be reduced when any of the deleted pages is changed to the storage page;
If the raster data to be stored in the storage unit can be reduced as a result of the verification, the determination step is executed again on the pages subsequent to the changed page.
The method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the reprint data storage control method. In the verification step, the stored page is searched for two pages in ascending order of pages from the last page of the print data, and the deleted page before the searched two pages is changed to the stored page. Verify that the raster data saved in the storage unit can be reduced,
The method of controlling storage of reprint data according to claim 10, characterized in that: In the verification step, the deleted page which has a predetermined page before the searched two pages or the deleted page which has the longest RIP time in the pages before the searched two pages is selected. Change to save page,
The method according to claim 11, wherein the reprint data storage control method. In the deletion step, status information indicating the editing status of the print data is acquired, and when the status information is edited, raster data corresponding to the deletion page is deleted from the storage unit.
The method according to any one of claims 8 to 12, wherein the reprint data storage control method. In the determination step, when comparing the RIP time and the print preparation time, the RIP time is corrected in consideration of processes operating in parallel.
The method for controlling storage of reprint data according to any one of claims 8 to 13, characterized in that:

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