JPH06305217A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To give a mailbox function to the device concerned by a method wherein a means for outputting arbitrary information document, which is transferred from a host device to a bin selected with a bin selecting means, and the like. CONSTITUTION:Arbitrary information is sent together with a bin selecting command for selecting a bin 31e from a personal computer 32 to a laser printer 1. The CPU of the laser printer 1 selects the bin 31e, which accepts the bin selecting command. In succession, when arbitrary information is transferred, the CPU judges whether document is under outputting to the bin 31e selected by the bin selecting command or not. When no document is being outputted, the document transferred state is immediately outputted to the bin 31e with a printer engine. When document is under outputting, the information takes refuge in memory and, after the outputting of document is brought to an end, the information having sought refuge in the memory is outputted to the bin 31e.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus which can be connected to a plurality of host devices and has a sorter (mail box) having a plurality of bins which can be designated by the host devices in a paper discharge section.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As such an image forming apparatus, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 64-43069, the address of a tray (bin) corresponding to each workstation (host device) is designated. , A printer device with a sorter that can output confidential information documents transferred from each workstation to the tray of the specified address and prevent others from seeing the mail and realize confidentiality protection. is there.

Further, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-180407, only a document of information transferred from a host device is output to a bin selected in advance by an instruction from a host device. When the document (paper) cannot be output to the bin because the bin is full, the document is output to another bin and the host device is informed of the information. There is also one that makes it possible to take out the paper efficiently.

[0004]

The conventional image forming apparatus as described above aims to improve the efficiency of document editing by maintaining confidentiality of output documents and clarifying the discharge position, but this is not the case. Documents edited by the host device are output to a bin allocated to the host device, and the host device is not entirely for document management to the bin.

As a result, although there is a merit of maintaining confidentiality, a situation occurs in which information cannot be exchanged with other host devices, which may limit the applications. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to broadly utilize an image forming apparatus having a mailbox function.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is an image forming apparatus having a sorter which is connectable to a plurality of host devices and has a plurality of bins which can be designated by the host devices in a paper discharge section. A bin selection means for selecting a bin other than a bin designated in advance for the host device according to an instruction from the host device, and arbitrary information transferred from the host device to the bin selected by the means. And a document output means for outputting the document (1).

The document output means judges whether or not the document selected for the bin selected by the bin selection means is being output when arbitrary information is transferred from the host device, and the document output is being performed. If not, the document with the above information is immediately output to the above bin.If the document is being output, the above information is saved in the memory, and when the output of the document is completed, the information is retrieved from the memory and the document is output. Means for outputting to the bin is preferable.

On the other hand, there is also provided an image forming apparatus provided with transfer means for transferring arbitrary information transferred from one host device to another host device (claim 3). Further, it is preferable to provide document output means for outputting a document of arbitrary information sent from the certain host device to a bin designated in advance for the other host device.

The document output means determines whether or not a bin is designated for the other host device, and if so, outputs the document of the above information to the bin and designates it. If not, it may be a means for outputting the document of the above information to another empty bin. Further, it is desirable to provide means for giving additional information to the information transferred by the transfer means.

[0010]

According to the image forming apparatus of the first aspect, when the bin selecting means selects a bin other than the bin designated in advance for the host device in response to an instruction from the host device, the document output means for the bin. Outputs a document of arbitrary information transferred from the host device, so information can be exchanged with each host device, and since it is done in the document format, the user of each host device Can also save the information received from the other host device.

When any information is transferred from the host device, the document output means determines whether or not a document is being output to the bin selected by the bin selection means, and is outputting the document. If not, the document with the above information is immediately output to the above bin, but if the document is being output, the above information is saved in the memory, and when the output of the document is completed, the information is retrieved from that memory and the document is output. Is output to the bin, information can be exchanged with each host device quickly and reliably.

According to the image forming apparatus of the third aspect, arbitrary information transferred from a certain host device can be transferred to another host device, so that information can also be exchanged with each host device. I can do it. Further, in this case, the user of each host device can save the information by outputting the document of the information received from the other host device to the bin designated in advance for the own host device. .

Further, if the document output means outputs a document of arbitrary information sent from the certain host device to a bin designated in advance for the other host device, each of the host devices described above can be output. There is no need for the user to save information from the other host device.

In this case, the document output means is
Judging whether or not a bin is specified for the other host device, if it is specified, the document of the above information is output to that bin, and if it is not specified, another empty document is output. It is also possible to output the document of the above information to the bin, and in that case, the waiting time of the document output by the user of each host device does not become long.

Also, additional information is added to the information transferred from one host device to another host device, for example, information indicating to which bin the document of the transfer information was output, in what format it was output, and the like. By doing so, when the user of the other host device receives arbitrary information from the certain host device, the user can easily receive the document of the information output to the bin from the additional information added to the information. There are also advantages such as being able to.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the laser printer which is the first embodiment of the present invention. The laser printer 1 includes a controller 10, a printer engine 2, an operation panel 3, and a disk device 4.

The controller 10 is a general term for a control mechanism for converting print data from the host device into video data and outputting the video data to the printer engine 2 in accordance with the control mode set at that time and the control code from the host device.
It consists of the following modules.

That is, a central processing unit (hereinafter "CPU")
11, program ROM 12, font R
OM13, RAM14, NVRAM15, IC card 1
6, PLD circuit 17, peripheral device 18, engine interface (hereinafter “interface” is abbreviated as “I / F”) 19, panel I / F 20, disk I / F 2
1, a host I / F 22.

The CPU 11 has a program stored in the program ROM 12 and a mode instruction from the operation panel 3.
And the controller 1 by a command from the host device
It is a central processing unit that controls the whole. Program ROM
12 is a read-only memory, which stores the control program of the controller 10, and a font ROM 13.
Is a read-only memory that stores font pattern data and the like.

The RAM 14 is a work memory used when the CPU 11 performs data processing, a buffer for managing and temporarily storing data from the host device in page units, and the data temporarily stored in the buffer as an actual print pattern. Random access that is used for a bitmap memory for converting to, and storing as video data, a font file for storing downloaded fonts, etc.
It is a memory.

The NVRAM 15 is a non-volatile memory for storing the contents of mode instructions from the operation panel 3, and the IC card 16 is a removable memory card or PLD used when externally supplying font data and programs. The circuit 17 is a programmable controllable logic IC that controls the timing of ROM, RAM, peripheral devices and the like. In this PLD circuit 17,
There are two types, one is writable only once and the other is writable / erasable repeatedly. The peripheral device 18 is
The timing is controlled by the PLD circuit 17 to operate.

The engine I / F 19 is an interface for communicating commands and statuses and print data (video data) with the printer engine 2 which actually prints. The panel I / F 20 is for the user to indicate the current printer status. It is an interface for communicating commands and statuses with an operation panel 3 provided with a display section for notifying the user of the status and various switches for giving a mode instruction.

The disk I / F 21 is an interface for communicating with the disk device 4. Host I /
F22 is an interface for communicating with the host device, and is a parallel I / F such as Centronics I / F, RS
A serial I / F such as 232C or a network I / F for a network is used. The disk device 4 is
An external storage device that stores various data such as font data, programs, and print data, such as a floppy disk device (FDD) or a hard disk device (HDD)
And so on.

The data sent from the host device through the host I / F 22 are print data and control codes (SP, CR, LF, HT, VT,
.., etc.) and others, and the print data and the control code are stored in the buffer of the RAM 14.

When the print command or data from the host device exceeds one page, the CPU 11 issues a print start command to the printer engine 2 through the engine I / F 19. The print data from the host device is printed via the printer engine 2 in the above-described series of flow.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of connection between the laser printer 1 and a plurality of external devices. The laser printer 1 is composed of a printer body 30 having the controller 10 shown in FIG. 2 and a sorter (mail box) 31 having six bins 31a to 31f in a paper discharge section.

The laser printer 1 includes a host I / F.
22 (in this case serial I / F or parallel I / F
Personal computer (host PC) 3 via F)
2 are connected to each other, and a large number of host devices (data output devices) including a file server 34, a printer server 35, and workstations (host WS) 36 and 37 are connected via a network 33. -The printer system is configured.

Here, each host device has a network driver, and the personal computer 3
A printer server that manages the printer body 30 and the mailbox 31 runs on the printer 2.

Next, the operation of the laser printer thus constructed will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3. CPU 1 in this laser printer 1
The reference numeral 1 designates a bin other than a bin designated in advance for the host device in response to an instruction (bin selection command) from the host device, and sends arbitrary information (print data) to the bin from the host device. ) Document (paper on which print data is printed) can be output using the printer engine 2.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing an example of the processing operation according to the present invention by the CPU 11. This routine starts when called by a main routine (not shown). First, it is determined whether or not a bin selection command is received from any of the host devices, and if not received, the process immediately returns to the main routine.

When a bin selection command is received, the bin indicated by the command (a bin other than the bin designated in advance for the host device that transmitted the bin selection command) is selected, and then the bin selection command is issued. It is determined whether or not any information has been received from the transmitted host device, and when received, it is determined whether or not a document is being output to the bin selected by the bin selection command.

When the document is not being output, the printer engine 2 outputs the document of the received information.
To output to the bin immediately using, save the above information to the memory (RAM 14 or disk device 4) when the document is being output, and take out the saved information to the memory when the output of the document is completed. The document is output to the above bin and the process returns to the main routine.

For example, assuming that the personal computer 32 shown in FIG. 3 is preliminarily designated the bin 31b and the workstation 36 is designated the bin 31e, the personal computer 32 occupying the bin 31b is the workstation 36. Personal computer 32 for outputting a document of arbitrary information to the occupied bin 31e
Each process of the laser printer 1 (CPU 11) is shown below.

That is, first, the personal computer 3
2 to the laser printer 1 and sends arbitrary information together with a bin selection command for selecting the bin 31e. When the CPU 11 of the laser printer 1 receives the bin selection command, it selects the bin 31e, and when arbitrary information is subsequently transferred, the document is being output to the bin 31e selected by the bin selection command. Determine whether or not.

When the document is not being output, the document of the transferred information is immediately output to the bin using the printer engine 2, and when the document is being output, the information is saved in the memory. When the output of the document is completed, the information saved in the memory is taken out and the document is output to the bin 31e.

As described above, according to this embodiment, after selecting a bin other than the bin designated in advance for the host device by the instruction of the bin selection command sent from the host device, the bin is arbitrarily selected from the host device. When the information of is transferred, it is judged whether the document selected for the bin selected by the bin selection command is being output. If the document is not being output, the document of the above information is immediately output to the above bin. However, if the document is being output, the above information is saved in the memory, and when the output of the document is completed, the information is extracted from the memory and the document is output to the above bin. You can exchange information quickly and reliably,
Moreover, since it is performed in the document format, the user of each host device can also save and manage the information received from the other host device.

As a method of determining whether or not a document is being output to the bin selected by the bin selection command, a method of determining by monitoring the processing status of the job or a sensor for each bin of the mailbox 31 is used. Is provided and based on the output, it is determined by checking whether or not the document is not output for a predetermined time. The sensor mechanism in this case is not limited to a mechanical mechanism or an optical sensor.

Further, the host device is provided with means for detecting whether or not the document selected for the bin selected by the bin selection command is being outputted. If the document is not being outputted, the host device sends an arbitrary laser printer 1 to the bin. Send information to output the document to the bin, send the above information to the laser printer 1 and save it in the internal memory when the document is being output, and save it in the memory when the output of the document is completed. The information may be retrieved and the document may be output to the bin.

The second to sixth embodiments of the present invention will be sequentially described below. The hardware configuration of the laser printer of each embodiment is the same as that shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and the description thereof will be omitted.

First, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, a plurality of bins other than the preset bins for the host device can be selected by the bin selection command sent from the host device.

For example, the personal computer 32 is used as a host device for transmitting a bin selection command and arbitrary information, and the file server 34, printer server 35, workstations 36 and 37 shown in FIG.
Assuming that 1c to 31f are designated in advance, when any information is transferred from the personal computer 32, the bin selection command (bins 31c to 31f) is sent.
Each bin 31 selected by
It is determined whether or not the document is being output for each of c to 31f.

Then, the document of the above information is immediately output to the bin which is not outputting the document, the above information is saved in the memory when there is a bin which is outputting the document, and the bin is output to the bin where the output of the document is completed. The information saved in is extracted and the document is output. As a result, as shown by the thick line with an arrow in FIG. 4, the document of arbitrary information transferred from the personal computer 32 can be output to the bins 31c to 31f occupied by the four host devices 34 to 37, respectively. it can.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the following effects can be obtained in addition to the same effects as described above. That is, the first embodiment described above is suitable for the case where there is a document or the like that another host device wants to issue only to a specific host device, but the second embodiment is different for a plurality of host devices. It is also suitable when there is a document that the host device wants to issue, that is, information that is publicly announced.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the laser printer 1 of this embodiment, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, the host I / F 22 of FIG.
A large number of host devices including four workstations (host WS) 41 to 44 are connected by a network 33 connected to (in this case, a network I / F),
These make up a multi-host-single printer system.

FIG. 6 shows the CPU 1 of the laser printer 1.
3 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing operation according to the present invention according to 1. This routine starts when called by a main routine (not shown), and first determines whether or not a transfer command for transferring arbitrary information transferred from one host device to another host device has been received.

When the transfer command is not received, the process immediately returns to the main routine. When the transfer command is received, when any information is transferred from the host device which transmitted the transfer command, the transfer command transmits the information. The data is transferred to the instructing host device, and the process returns to the main routine.

For example, when arbitrary information is transferred from the workstation 41 to the workstation 43 via the laser printer 1, since the laser printer 1 (controller 10) is used as one buffer,
As shown by a thick line A with an arrow in FIG. 5, arbitrary information is transferred from the workstation 41 to the laser printer 1 together with the corresponding transfer command. As a result, the CPU 11 of the laser printer 1, as shown by the thick line B with an arrow in FIG.
The information from the workstation 41 is transferred to the workstation 43 designated by the transfer command.

As described above, according to this embodiment, arbitrary information transferred from a certain host device can be transferred to another host device, so that each host device can be transferred as in the first embodiment. Information can be exchanged with.
Further, in this case, by causing the user of each host device to output a document of information received from the other host device to a bin designated in advance for its own host device,
You will be able to save and manage that information.

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, it is also possible to transfer arbitrary information from a certain host device to a plurality of other host devices via the laser printer 1. In this case, by transferring arbitrary information together with the corresponding transfer command from the certain host device to the laser printer 1, the laser printer 1 can transfer the information to the other host devices specified by the transfer command. Therefore, it is possible to share a wider range of documents. The data transfer method in this case is not particularly limited as long as the usage status of each host device is monitored and they are relatively lightly loaded.

For example, from the workstation 41 to the other three workstations 4 via the laser printer 1.
When arbitrary information is transferred to each of Nos. 2 to 44, the arbitrary information is transferred from the workstation 41 to the laser printer 1 together with the corresponding transfer command, as indicated by the thick line C with an arrow in FIG. As a result, the thick line D with an arrow in FIG.
As shown by, the laser printer 1 can transfer the information from the workstation 41 to the three workstations 42 to 44 designated by the transfer command, respectively.

As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to transfer arbitrary information transferred from a certain host device to a plurality of other host devices. Therefore, the same effect as that of the second embodiment described above. Can be obtained. Further, in this case, similarly to the third embodiment, the user of each host device outputs the document of the information received from the other host device to the bin designated in advance for the own host device, and the information is output. You will be able to save and manage.

Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, the following processing can be performed in addition to the processing similar to that of the third embodiment described above. That is, when transferring arbitrary information from a certain host device to another specific host device via the laser printer 1, it is possible to simultaneously output a document of the information to a bin occupied by the host device.

For example, as indicated by a thick line E with an arrow in FIG. 8, by transferring arbitrary information from the workstation 41 to the laser printer 1 together with a transfer command (instructing transfer to the workstation 44). As shown by the thick line F with an arrow in FIG. 8, the laser printer 1 transfers the information to the workstation 44, and at the same time, the bin 31f is designated for the workstation 44 and the workstation 44 occupies the bin 31f. If so, the document of the information is output to the bin 31f.

As described above, according to this embodiment, arbitrary information transferred from a certain host device is transferred to another host device, and at the same time, output to a bin designated in advance for the other host device. Therefore, it is possible to obtain the same effect as that of the above-described third embodiment, and in this case, it is not necessary for the user of each host device described above to save the information from the other host device.

When transferring arbitrary information transferred from a certain host device to another host device, the other host device (workstation 43) designated as the information transfer destination is set to the bin of the mailbox 31. If the document of the above information is output to an empty bin instead, the output waiting time of the document by the user of each host device does not become long.

Next, a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, the following processing can be performed in addition to the processing similar to that of the above-described fourth embodiment. That is, when arbitrary information is transferred from a certain host device to a plurality of other host devices via the laser printer 1, it is possible to simultaneously output the documents of the information to the bins occupied by those host devices.

For example, as indicated by a thick line G with an arrow in FIG. 9, arbitrary information is transferred from the workstation 41 to the laser printer 1 together with a transfer command (instructing transfer to the workstations 42 and 44). As a result, the laser printer 1 transfers the information to the two workstations 42, 4 as shown by the thick line H with an arrow in FIG.
Workstation 4 at the same time
2 and 44 occupy bins 31d and 31f respectively, the document of the information is written to each bin 31d.
It outputs to d and 31f, respectively.

As described above, according to this embodiment, arbitrary information transferred from a certain host device is transferred to a plurality of other host devices, and at the same time, it is designated in advance for each of the other plurality of host devices. Since it is output to the bin, it is possible to obtain the same effect as that of the above-described fourth embodiment, and in this case, the user of each host device described above has a trouble of storing information from the other host device. It will not be worn.

When transferring arbitrary information transferred from a certain host device to a plurality of other host devices,
If any of the other host devices specified as the information transfer destination does not occupy the bin of the mailbox 31, if the document of the above information is output to an empty bin instead, The waiting time for the document output by the user of each host device will not be long.

Further, the laser printer 1 can give additional information to arbitrary information transferred from a certain host device and transfer it to another host device (regardless of the number). The load information is information indicating in which bin of the mailbox 31 the document of the information was output, in what format, and the like.
Anything is fine.

At this time, the output location and the like when the host device designated as the information transfer destination does not occupy the bin of the mailbox 31 may be given as additional information. Therefore, when the user of the other host device receives arbitrary information from the certain host device, the information actually output to the bin of the mailbox 31 by referring to the additional information added to the information. You can easily receive the document (hard copy). That is, the additional information can be widely used as a reference when managing the document.

Although the embodiment in which the present invention is applied to the laser printer has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and other printers such as an LED printer and a liquid crystal shutter printer, as well as a digital copying machine, a facsimile machine, etc. The present invention can be applied to various image forming apparatuses.

[0063]

As has been described above, according to the image forming apparatus of the first aspect, a bin other than the bin designated in advance for the host device by the instruction from the host device (previously for other host devices (Including the specified bin) is selected, a document of arbitrary information transferred from that host device to that bin is output, so information can be exchanged with each host device, Moreover, since it is performed in the document format, the information received from the host device of the other party can be stored.
Therefore, it is possible to make extensive use of the image forming apparatus having the mailbox function.

After a bin other than the bin designated in advance for the host device is selected by the instruction from the host device as described above, and when arbitrary information is transferred from the host device, the bin is selected. If it is not outputting the document, the document of the above information is immediately output to the above bin, and if the document is being output, the above information is saved in the memory. , If the information saved in the memory is taken out when the output of the document is completed and the document is output to the above bin, the information can be exchanged with each host device quickly and reliably. it can.

According to the image forming apparatus of the third aspect, arbitrary information transferred from a certain host device can be transferred to another host device, so that information can also be exchanged with each host device. I can do it. Further, the user of each host device can output the document of the information received from the other host device to a bin designated in advance for the host device, and save the information.

Further, if the document of arbitrary information sent from the certain host device is output to the bin designated in advance for the other host device, the user of each of the above-mentioned host devices can communicate with each other. This saves the trouble of saving the information received from the host device.

Further, in this case, it is determined whether or not a bin is designated for the other host device, and if it is designated, the document of the above information is output to the bin,
If the document of the above information is output to another vacant bin if it is not designated, the user waiting time for the output of the document does not become long.

If additional information is given to the information transferred from one host device to another host device, the additional information can be used as a reference when managing the document, so that the other host device When the user receives arbitrary information from the certain host device, there is an advantage that the document of the information output to the bin can be easily received from the additional information added to the information.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing an example of a processing operation according to the present invention by a CPU 11 of FIG.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a laser printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of connection between the laser printer and a plurality of external devices.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a connection example of a laser printer according to a third embodiment of the present invention and a plurality of external devices together with the flow of information.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing operation according to the present invention in the laser printer.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a connection example of a laser printer according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention and a plurality of external devices together with a flow of information thereof.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of connection between a laser printer according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention and a plurality of external devices, together with the flow of information and the output of documents.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of connection between a laser printer according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention and a plurality of external devices, together with the flow of information and the output of documents.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Laser Printer 2 Printer Engine 3 Operation Panel 4 Disk Unit 11 Central Processing Unit (CPU) 12 Program ROM 13 Font ROM 14 RAM 15 NVRAM 16 IC Card 17 PLD Circuit 18 Peripheral Device 19 Engine I / F 20 Panel I /
F 21 Disk I / F 22 Host I /
F 30 Printer main body 31 Sorter (mail box) 32 Personal computer 33 Network 34 File server 35 Printer server 36, 37, 41-44 Workstation

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus that is connectable to a plurality of host devices and has a sorter having a plurality of bins that can be designated by the host device in a paper output section, is designated in advance for the host device by an instruction from the host device. A bin selection means for selecting a bin other than the selected bin, and a document output means for outputting a document of arbitrary information transferred from the host device to the bin selected by the means. Image forming apparatus. 2. The document output means, when arbitrary information is transferred from the host device, judges whether or not the document selected for the bin selected by the bin selection means is being outputted, and outputs the document. The document of the information is immediately output to the bin when the document is not being output, the information is saved in the memory when the document is being output, and the information is taken out from the memory when the output of the document is completed. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, which is a unit that outputs a document to the bin. 3. An image forming apparatus having a sorter which can be connected to a plurality of host devices and has a plurality of bins which can be designated by the host device in a paper discharge section, and which can transfer arbitrary information transferred from one host device to another. The image forming apparatus is provided with a transfer unit for transferring to the host device. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3,
An image forming apparatus comprising document output means for outputting a document of arbitrary information sent from the certain host device to a bin designated in advance for the other host device. 5. The document output means determines whether a bin is designated for the other host device, and if so, outputs the document of the information to the bin and designates it. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, which is a means for outputting the document of the information to another empty bin if not. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising means for giving additional information to the information transferred by the transfer means.