JPH05229282A - Printing control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a printing control system certainly performing post- processing such as classification, bookbinding, pasting or the like after the printing of cut paper by a printer in relation to the post-processing of the post- processing machine connected to the printer. CONSTITUTION:The control means of a printing control system is constituted of an input means 11 inputting the post-processing data such as the post- processing capacity (max. processable number of sheets, min. processable number of sheets) or operation states (after processing, during processing) of a post- processing machine 2 to a printer 1, a memory means 10b storing the command from a host computer and the post-processing data inputted from the input means 11 and a control means 10a judging and determining the optimum post- processing period and the optimum post-processing essentials on the basis of the post-processing data stored in the memory means 10b by the input means.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print control system for ensuring post-processing such as sorting and bookbinding after printing cut sheets by a post-processing machine connected to a printing device.

In recent years, cut paper has been adopted as a paper used in a printing apparatus of a computer system because of demands for resource saving, standardization, handling, and the like, and its spread is remarkable.

However, post-processing of cut paper requires various operations such as sorting, bookbinding, gluing, stapling, tape fixing, bagging, and inserting paper for chapter division. Labor saving and automation were required.

Therefore, various post-processing machines have been developed which are connected to a printing device to perform post-processing. However, since the performance varies depending on the type of post-processing machine, there are problems such as a mismatch between the post-processing command of the printing device and the capacity of the post-processing machine, and an improper distribution of the number of pages in the bound book. Improvement is desired.

[0005]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a work command from a host computer to a post-processing machine is transmitted to the post-processing machine through a printing device. That is, the post-processing after printing is a complete upper-level control, and the post-processing machine performs processing based on the "post-processing" command from the host computer regardless of the capability of the post-processing machine. However, this "post-processing" command is on a job-by-job basis, and is also a simple command such as "glue margin" or "stapling margin". The number of prints per job, the number of sheets for sorting, or how many I did not give specific information that I sent it.

Further, the information from the post-processing device to the printing device is only simple information such as "processing in progress" or "processing completed". For this reason, in the post-processing after printing, the host computer has problems such as instructing the stapler with the number of sheets exceeding the capacity of the post-processing machine or instructing the gluing with an excessive number of sheets.

On the other hand, if the decision regarding the execution of post-processing is left to the post-processing machine, the maximum number of sheets that can be processed by the post-processing machine is automatically processed. There are also problems such as the number of pages and the improper division of chapters.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to perform a post-processing by various post-processing machines in an optimum state according to the processing capacity of the post-processing machines. To provide a control system.

Another object of the present invention is to consolidate a part of information and control functions for post-processing in a printing apparatus and process them comprehensively so that the control mechanism of the post-processing machine, the printing apparatus and the post-processing apparatus can be integrated. An object of the present invention is to provide a print control system capable of standardizing and simplifying the interface of a processor.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of a print control system according to the present invention.

The control means of the print control system of the present invention comprises:
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an input unit for inputting post-processing information such as post-processing capacity (maximum processable number, minimum processable number) and operating status (processing completed, in process) of the post-processing machine 2 to the printer 1. 11, a command from the host computer, a storage means 10b for storing the post-processing information input from the input means 11, and a storage means 10 by the input means.
The control means 10a is configured to determine and determine the optimum post-processing time and post-processing procedure based on the post-processing information accumulated in b.

Further, in order to achieve the second object,
The post-processing information (information about the performance of the post-processing machine 2) and the functions related to the control of the post-processing machine 2 are collected in the control means 10a.

[0013]

According to the present invention, in the post-processing after printing, the printing apparatus 1
For example, in addition to receiving post-processing information instructed by the host computer, the post-processing machine 2 also receives post-processing information regarding the type of work, work capacity, work state, and the like that the post-process machine 2 can perform. Printing device 1 based on this
The control means 10a comprehensively judges and determines an appropriate processing procedure and processing timing according to the processing capacity of the post-processing machine 2, and issues an appropriate command to perform the post-processing. .

As a result, reliable execution of the post-processing can be expected, and the function of controlling the various post-processing machines 2 can be integrated in the control means 10a of the printing apparatus 1, so that the control mechanism of the main body of the post-processing machine. It is possible to simplify the above, and to share the interface between the printing apparatus 1 and each post-processing machine 2,
It is possible to provide a simple and low-priced print control system.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the same or corresponding portions as those in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of the main parts of the print control system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 21 is a control mechanism provided in the host computer. The control mechanism 21 includes, for example, a processor, and a command related to printing (hereinafter referred to as “print command”) output from the host computer to the printing apparatus 1 and a command related to post-processing of the post-processing device 2 (hereinafter referred to as “post-processing”). Command)).

The print command and the post-processing command for each job generated by the control mechanism 21 are sent to the control mechanism 1 of the printer 1.
Given to 0a.

The printer 1 prints the information received from the host computer on a cut sheet. The printing apparatus 1 is provided with a control mechanism 10a and an information storage unit 10b. The control mechanism 10a includes a processor and controls the entire printing apparatus. The information storage unit 10b is composed of, for example, a RAM, and is used to store information input from the host computer and the post-processor 2.

That is, the control mechanism 21 of the host computer
The print command and the post-processing command input from are sent to and stored in the information storage unit 10b of the printing apparatus 1 as described above. Then, when the control mechanism 10a of the printing apparatus 1 finishes the processing corresponding to the predetermined command and the next processing is ready, the required data is called from the information storage unit 10b of the printing apparatus 1.

From the control mechanism 11 of the post-processing device 2 to the printing device 1
The post-processing information input to the storage unit 1 of the printer 1 is also the same as in the case of the command from the control mechanism 21 of the host computer.
0b to be stored and called by the control mechanism 10a of the printing apparatus 1 as required.

The information sent from the control mechanism 11 of the post-processing machine 2 includes the information indicating the operating state of the conventional post-processing machine 2 (during processing, processing end), the maximum number of sheets that can be processed by the post-processing machine 2, Information about the performance of the post-processing machine 2 such as the minimum number of sheets that can be processed is included.

The control mechanism 10a of the printing apparatus 1 sends a post-processing command sent from the control mechanism 21 of the host computer regarding the job unit processing of the post-processing device 2 and a maximum post-processing command sent from the control mechanism 11 of the post-processing device 2. Based on post-processing information regarding the capacity of post-processing machine 2, such as the number of sheets that can be processed and the minimum number of sheets that can be processed, determine the optimum post-processing procedure such as the number of chapters, the number of separate volumes, and the number of pages that should be divided into separate volumes. It gives an instruction to the control mechanism 11 of the processor 2.

Specific examples of the post-processing machine include a bagging post-processing mechanism 26, a tape fastening post-processing mechanism 22, a gluing post-processing mechanism 23, a stapler post-processing mechanism 24, and a sorting post-processing mechanism 25. ..

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the main part of the printing apparatus 1.

The printing apparatus 1 includes a main control unit 30, which serves as a control mechanism 10a, an input control unit 31, and a post-processing command output unit 32,
And the information storage unit 10b.

The respective units 30 to 32 and 10b in the figure are realized by the functions of predetermined hardware and software.

In the figure, a main control unit 30 is a part that controls the entire printing apparatus 1 and controls the type and performance of various post-processing machines connected to the printing apparatus 1. For example, a post-processing instruction (print number of sheets, chapter division, etc.) for each job of the post-processing machine 2 issued from the host computer, a print end notification from other parts of the printing apparatus 1 (one by one), and a post-processing machine 2 the post-processing information (maximum, minimum processable number of sheets, etc.) and the status of the processing currently being performed by the post-processing machine 2 (processing in progress, processing end), etc. The post-processing machine 2 is instructed to judge the timing to be processed each time.

The input control unit 31, the post-processing command output unit 32, and the information storage unit 10b also operate under the control of the main control unit 30.

As described above, the information storage unit 10b stores post-processing commands and print commands related to job-by-job processing from the host computer, information on the processing capacity of the post-processing device 2, the current state of operation, and the like. Used to store the.

The input control section 31 controls the input of post-processing commands and print commands from the host computer and post-processing information from the post-processing machine 2. The information input by the input control unit 31 is sent to the main control unit 30.

The post-processing command output unit 32 is a unit that creates and outputs a command related to the post-processing of the post-processing device 2 according to the information from the main control unit 30.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention having the above structure will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG.

When the power of the printing apparatus 1 is turned on, first,
Initial conditions are set (step S1). That is,
Post-processing information (number of printed sheets, number of document chapters, number of pages to be sorted, etc.) from the host computer regarding post-job processing for each job, and information on post-processing capacity from post-processing machine 2 (maximum number of sheets that can be processed) , The minimum number of sheets that can be processed) is input via the input control unit 31, and the information storage unit 1
It is set to 0b.

Next, processing for determining the optimum processing procedure is performed (step S2). That is, the main control unit 30 refers to information such as the maximum and minimum processable number of the post-processing device 2 set in the information storage unit 10b, and within the range of the maximum and minimum processable number of the post-processing device 2. Then, the optimum processing procedure of the work is determined. As one of the optimum processing procedures, the optimum number of processed sheets is determined.

Next, printing is performed and the number of printed sheets is counted (step S3). That is, printing is performed on a cut sheet according to information from the host computer, and when printing of one sheet is completed, a counter (not shown) is counted up.

Then, it is checked whether or not post-processing should be performed (step S4). That is, the optimum processed number determined in step S2 is compared with the printed number counted by the counter.
If it is determined that the number of printed sheets counted by the counter is smaller than the optimal number of sheets to be processed, the process returns to step S3 to repeat the above-described operation. When it is determined that the number of printed sheets counted by the counter becomes equal to the optimal number of sheets to be processed in the course of this repeated execution, the post-processing is carried out.

In the case of a post-processing command, post-processing is carried out (step S5). That is, the post-processing is performed by issuing a post-processing command from the main control unit 30 to the post-processing machine 2. As a result, the post-processing machine 2 connected to the printing apparatus performs predetermined post-processing such as bookbinding, sorting, and gluing according to the type of the post-processing machine.

When the post-processing is completed, it is checked whether or not the job is completed (step S6). That is, the main control unit 30 checks whether or not the job is "finished" by referring to the post-processing command received from the host computer and stored in the information storage unit 10b. When it is determined that the job has ended, the series of processes ends. On the other hand, if it is determined that the processing has not ended, the process returns to step S3 and the same operation as described above is repeated.

In the above embodiment, the printing apparatus 1 has the post-processing unit 2
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the control mechanism of the host computer may be provided with the control function of the post-processing machine. The same action and effect as.

[0041]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
Providing a print control system that can perform desired post-processing by various post-processing devices after printing in an optimal state according to the processing capacity of the post-processing device, improve post-processing reliability, and save labor it can.

Further, by consolidating the functions for controlling the post-processing machine in the printing apparatus 1, the control device and interface of the post-processing machine can be made common and simplified.
It is possible to provide a low cost print control system with improved compatibility with various post-processing machines.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of a print control system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a printing apparatus used in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 printing apparatus 2 post-processing machine 10a control means 10b storage means 11 input means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A printing control system for connecting a printing device (1) to a post-processing device (2) for continuously printing cut sheets and performing post-processing, the processing capability of the post-processing device (2). The input means (11) for inputting the post-processing information, the storage means (10b) for storing the post-processing information input by the input means (11), and the post-processing information stored in the storage means (10b) A printing control system comprising: a control means (10a) for determining a predetermined post-processing procedure based on the predetermined post-processing procedure and driving the post-processing machine (2) based on the post-processing procedure. 2. The print control system according to claim 1, wherein the input unit (11), the storage unit (10b), and the control unit (10a) are formed on the printing apparatus (1). .. 3. The print control system according to claim 1, wherein the post-processing information regarding the processing capacity of the post-processing machine (2) includes at least a maximum processable sheet number and a minimum processable sheet number.