JPH071797A - Printer apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To give notice of paper change during a standby period of the job for use of a recording paper except a sort of recording paper being presently housed in the tray among jobs in a print queue. CONSTITUTION:With respect to a job programmed from an operation indicator 1, a source document fed by an automatic source document 2 is read in by means of a scanner 3, the source document image is given a data compression process and so forth by an image processing part 4, and thereafter it is kept in custody of a jog file 5 together with the content of a job program and the number of image pages. Further, it is forwarded to a main processor 6 to be given a programmed image operation and then accommodated in a print queue 7. When the main processor recognizes the recording paper housed in a plurality of paper feeding trays, a sort of the recording paper to be used in each job in a print queue is compared one another in outputting order, and as a recording paper to be used to a predetermined order in the print queue is not set in the tray, if there is any tray not to be used before the order, a message is indicated for changing the recording paper within the tray to necessary recording paper.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer device for temporarily holding image data read from an original or image data of a print job sent from a network client such as a workstation, and performing output printing as soon as the printer becomes available. In particular, the present invention relates to a printer device having a paper replacement instruction display function for a paper feed tray, which is configured to notify the user while the print job is on standby when recording paper required for the print job is not set.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a printer in an image processing apparatus such as a copying machine, a workstation, or a system combining them, at the stage of programming a job and at the stage of a client sending a job to the printer,
If the recording paper used in the job is not accommodated in the printer device, the job is not accepted, or if the recording paper is accepted, the recording paper normally required for the job is input to a paper feed tray (hereinafter referred to as tray). Instruct to set to. Further, the operator is made to recognize that the type of recording paper required for the job is different, and then the selection of the tray or recording paper size, reduction ratio, etc. is accepted. When a job is sent from the printer queue to the print output unit, it is determined that the recording paper required to execute the job is not set in the tray, the printer is stopped, the operator is instructed to display, and the action is taken. The method such as blue was known.

[0003]

However, in the conventional paper replacement instruction display method, when the recording paper required for the job is not accommodated in the tray, the recording paper is replaced according to the instruction display and printing is performed. The output must be performed and the printer device is stopped during the paper change. Therefore, when the recording paper required for the succeeding job is set, a delay occurs due to the paper replacement of the preceding job, although the succeeding job can be printed out. That is, the efficiency is lowered by stopping the printer device during the paper replacement time. Further, there is a problem that the operator or the client must pay attention such as programming the job or performing a sending operation after confirming whether the required recording paper is currently set in the printer device. An object of the present invention is to notify a paper exchange during the standby of a job when a recording paper of a type other than the recording paper currently accommodated in the tray is used in the job of the print queue. To provide a printer device.

[0004]

To achieve the above object, the present invention temporarily stores image data read from a scanner or sent through a network in a print queue and prints out as soon as an output section becomes available. In the printer device that performs the above, a plurality of paper feed trays capable of accommodating recording papers according to print output, paper recognition means for recognizing the recording papers accommodated in each paper feed tray, and recognition by the paper recognition means The comparison means for comparing the types of recording paper used in each job in the print queue based on the recording paper in the output order, and among the jobs in the print queue,
When there is a job that is planned to use a type of recording paper other than the recording paper currently accommodated in the tray, and there is a tray that is not scheduled to be used for the jobs up to that job in the print queue. And a display unit for instructing replacement of the recording paper in the tray with recording paper scheduled to be used in the job. The invention according to claim 2 is
In the above invention, the display means is configured to instruct the change of the program of the job when there is no tray for exchanging the recording paper used for the job sent to the print queue.

[0005]

The image data to be printed out is temporarily stored in the print queue after the image operation is performed. When the recording sheets stored in the plurality of paper feed trays are recognized, the comparing means compares the types of recording sheets used in each job in the print queue in the order of output. In other words, if the recording paper to be used up to the specified order in the print queue is not set in the tray, if there is a tray that will not be used before that order, a message will be sent to replace the recording paper in that tray with the required recording paper. Instructed by the display. In the case of a printer having a function of instructing to change the program of a print job, if the number of trays is smaller than the type of recording paper used, the program change is instructed by a message display.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a system configuration of a printer device of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows the configurations of the main processor unit, the image processing unit, and the print processor unit. The operation / display unit 1 displays information necessary for executing an operating means such as a key switch and a touch switch for an operator to input job conditions and a printer function, for example, print waiting information of a stored job. Display means such as CRT and LCD are provided.

The document feeder 2 conveys the originals one by one from the bundle of originals onto the platen glass according to the recording mode based on the input job conditions, and discharges them after reading the original image. In the scanner unit 3, when an original is placed at the original reading position on the platen glass, the optical reading device operates to read the original image. The image processing unit 4 performs image processing such as image enhancement (edge processing) and data compression / decompression on the read image data, and also performs program image operations such as image rotation and composition only when programmed.

The job file 5 is composed of a hard disk, and stores image data (including the number of image data) after image processing sent from the image processing unit 4,
The contents (job ticket) of the job program for the job sent from the main processor unit, that is, the print output information is temporarily stored. The structure of this job file consists of image data and a job ticket. Here, the contents of the job program are for performing post-processing such as the number of prints, single-sided / double-sided, contraction / expansion, and stapling.
In addition to the program contents of the conventional copying machine, it includes various settings such as merging (annotation), rotation, job processing (job deletion after printing / saving in job file after printing / saving in job file without printing) .

The main processor section 6 includes a CPU 11 and an R
A memory control 13 for controlling writing and reading of data to and from the AM 12, a ROM 14 in which data necessary for displaying software and an error message necessary for print output processing is stored, and a data stored in the RAM 12 is stored in a disk during an off process. Operate the disk control 16, display data and input data that is transferred to and stored in 15.
I / O interface 1 for communicating with the display unit 1
7. A network control 18 for controlling image data sent from an external device such as an image recording device connected by a network 10 (LAN). The CPU 11 executes programming of the order in which print output processing is performed for jobs input from the operation / display unit 1 and processed by the image processing unit 4 or jobs sent by the LAN, and the hard disk 15 is used. The print queue 7 is temporarily stored in the configured print queue 7, and the print queue information is managed from the received job and the processed job.

The print processor section 8 comprises a print processor 81 and a print output control 82.
The print processor 81 temporarily stores the print job in the print queue, and displays a message indicating that the print job is in the print waiting state on the display unit. Also, the tray required for print output is checked for each input / output of the print job, and tray information for the print jobs in the print queue is displayed on the display unit as a message. Upon receiving the print end information from the print output control 82, the print processor 81 takes out the image data of the next print job from the print queue 7 (disk 15), decompresses the image data, and sends it to the print output control 82. Send and print out from the print output section.

Next, the operation of the above system will be described. When the job is programmed from the operation display unit and the start button is pressed, the documents set in the automatic document feeder are sequentially fed onto the platen, and the document image is read by the scanner. The read original image is processed by the image processing unit such as data compression,
Stored in the job file along with the contents of the job program and the number of image pages read. Further, it is sent to the main processor section, and the necessary (programmed) image operation is performed in the image operation section. Here, when “Save in job file after printing” or “Save in job file without printing” is selected as the job action, the job is sent to and saved in the job file. When "Delete after printing" and "Save in job file after printing" are selected, the print queue is temporarily stored in the print queue, and the display section indicates that print standby is in progress. When saving after printing, the job is sent to the shove file and the print queue configured by the hard disk 15.

Here, among the contents of the job program, the data of the type of recording paper to be output is sent to the main processor unit, temporarily stored in the RAM, and stored in the current print output unit also stored in the RAM. It is compared with the data of the type of recording paper used. These data must be retained when the device is powered off, so when the power is off the data is transferred to the disk during the off process and when the power is on the data is transferred from the disk back to RAM during the on process and stored. To be done.

As described above, when a new job is sent to the print queue, when one job output process is completed in the print output unit, when the recording paper is exchanged in the tray of the print output unit, and in the apparatus. When the power is turned on, the check routine shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is executed by the main processor unit. In FIG. 3, when the check routine is activated, it is first determined whether or not there is a job in the print queue (S100), and if there is no print job, the process ends. If there is a job in the print queue, the type of recording paper in each tray is checked (S101). Then, with n = 1, the type of recording paper used in the n-th job in the print queue is checked (S102). From the check result, the number of trays for the type of recording paper to be used in the nth job is determined (S103). Here, for example, assuming that there are two types of recording papers A4 and B4 used in a certain order of jobs, it is checked whether or not there are at least two trays for setting these two types of recording papers.

If the type of recording paper is less than the number of trays, n
The number of trays is determined with respect to the cumulative types of recording sheets up to the th job, that is, the total number of types of recording sheets scheduled to be used in the first to nth jobs in the print queue (S1).
04). If the number of types of recording paper required up to the n-th job exceeds the number of trays, this check routine ends. That is, if the current paper set in the tray is left
Although the second job cannot be executed, there is no tray that can replace the recording paper, that is, a tray that is not used until the nth job, so the job is executed in the current tray. For example, if three trays are provided, a job that uses four types of recording paper cannot be used. If the number of types of recording paper required is less than or equal to the number of trays, it is determined whether all the recording papers to be used in the n-th job are set in the tray (S105). Here, for example, if the n-th recording paper to be used is of two types A4 and B4, it is checked whether or not these two types of recording paper are set in the tray.

If all the recording papers to be used are set in the tray, the nth paper to be used is from tray 1 to m.
Check which tray of the tray is set (S
106). If the paper in the tray m (T (m)) can be used, it is determined whether the paper is used in another job (S107). If not, T (m) = n and the tray (T (T (m)) is used. m)) is set to the nth job (S108). After checking the papers in trays 1 to m and all the jobs (S109), it is determined whether the next job exists in the print queue (S110).
When a new job is added, n = n + 1 is set and the process returns to S102 to check the n + 1th job. If there is no additional job, this check routine ends.

Next, the message display and the paper replacement instruction will be described. FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are flowcharts showing the flow of processing executed in the check routine for displaying a message and instructing paper replacement. In S103, if the number of types of recording paper to be used in the nth job exceeds the number of trays, an error message is displayed (S120). In other words, if the job is programmed (recording paper settings) so that more recording paper types are used than the number of trays in the device, "Too many paper types are set. Please change and set the paper type to N or less. "Is called from the ROM and sent to the display section for display.

Here, N is the number of trays that can be used in one job. If the device has three trays,
Normally N = 3, but if one of them fails, then N = 2. When the job program is first programmed from the operation display unit, it is possible to use a program that uses three types of recording paper even if one tray fails. Therefore, by storing the job file in advance, printing is possible after the tray is repaired. However, if one of the trays fails during actual printing, it cannot be executed and an error occurs.

When an error message is displayed and the execution of the job is stopped (fault), the job is canceled once. It is determined whether this job has been canceled (S121), and the next step 122 or 125 is executed.
Move to processing. That is, if the job is canceled, the job is deleted from the print queue (S122) and the error message is cleared (S12).
3). Then, it is determined whether or not the nth job exists in the print queue (S124), and if there is no job, the process ends. If there is a job, the process returns to step 102.

If it is determined in step 121 that the job has not been canceled, the fault is cleared, that is, the type of recording paper used by changing the program is set to the tray number or less. If it is confirmed that the change of this program is correct (S125), the fault is released,
After the error message display is cleared (S12
6) and returns to step 104. The error message display processing when it is determined in S105 that there is a job that uses a recording sheet that is not in the tray will be described with reference to FIG. 6, and there is a tray that contains recording sheets that are not used in the nth job. Check whether or not (S
130). If there is no corresponding tray, this check routine ends. If there is a corresponding tray, a message for instructing the exchange of recording paper is displayed (S131).

For example, the number of types of recording paper used up to the (n-1) th job in the print queue is N-1, all of which are already set in the tray, and a new type of recording is performed in the nth job. When using one type of paper, the message "Please change the paper of tray number" X "to" YYY "paper." Is called from the ROM and sent to the display unit for display. Here, “X” and “YYY” are variables, which are the tray number and the type of recording paper newly used in the Nth job, respectively, stored in the RAM. If the chart paper is not changed correctly, the message “Replaced paper is incorrect. Tray number“ X ”is displayed.
Please set the "YYY" paper to. Message is displayed.

If it is determined in step 5 that all the recording sheets to be used in the n-th job are not set in the tray, the display process shown in FIG. 6 is executed and a necessary message is displayed. That is, the presence / absence of a tray accommodating recording sheets not used in the nth job is checked (S130), and if there is no tray, no instruction is issued and the process ends. On the other hand, if there is a tray in which recording paper can be replaced, a recording paper replacement message is displayed (S13).
1). When the paper of the relevant tray is replaced (S13
2) The message prompting you to replace the recording paper is cleared (S
133). Then, it is judged whether or not the replaced paper is the nth recording paper to be used (S134), and when the unusable paper is replaced, "the replaced recording paper is not correct. Tray number" X " Message "Please set the recording paper" YYY "to" is displayed, and the paper replacement is prompted again (S135). Then, step 132
Return to. When the correct paper is replaced, n
= 1 and it moves to step 106.

Next, the interrupt job will be described. If all the sheets used in the interrupt job are currently set in the tray, the job currently being printed is interrupted and the interrupt job is printed. Also, if the paper used in the interrupt job is not currently set in the tray, put it in the top of the print queue in the interrupt job or start the paper check routine to replace the paper from the tray that is used the slowest. Send a message to do. As a method of discriminating the tray which is the slowest to be used, the parameter T (m) is set so as to hold the number of the job to be used first for each tray during a normal check routine. Introduce.

FIG. 7 shows a flow of processing an interrupt job.
First, an interrupt job is inserted at the head of the print queue (S140), and the type of paper to be used in the interrupt job is checked (S141). Then, it is checked whether the type of paper to be used in the interrupt job is the number of trays or less (S142). If the number of trays is exceeded, error message processing for instructing the change of the job program shown in FIG. 9 is performed. If the number of trays is less than or equal to the number of trays, it is determined whether or not all the papers to be used in the interrupt job are set in the trays (S143). If it is not set, a message prompting the replacement of the recording paper shown in FIG. 9 is displayed. If it is set, the job being printed is interrupted and printing of the interrupt job is started (S1).
44). After that, when the printing of the interrupt job is completed (S145), the printing of the interrupted job that was completed in the middle of the job is restarted (S146).

If it is determined in step S142 that the type of paper to be used in the interrupt job exceeds the number of trays, the processing of FIG. 8 is performed. That is, an error message indicating the change of the job program is displayed. Here, the user can change the job program,
Alternatively, it is selected whether to cancel the job (S150). When the job is canceled (cancelled), the interrupt job is deleted from the print queue (S152). When the job deletion is confirmed, the error message is cleared (S153). If there is a tray that is not used due to a failure of a certain tray, it is checked whether the failure of the tray has been resolved (S154), and if it has been resolved, the error message is cleared (S155).

If it is determined in step S143 that all of the sheets of paper to be used in the interrupt job have not been set in the tray, the processing shown in FIG. 9 is performed.
Paper that is to be used in an interrupt job but not set in the tray is replaced with a tray with a large T (m) value, that is, a job that is waiting in the print queue and used in a later job. A message is displayed (S160), and then it is determined whether the paper of the relevant tray has been replaced (S161). If the paper exchange is completed, the message is cleared (S162), and it is checked whether the exchanged paper is correct (S163). If it is replaced with the correct paper, the process ends. If the paper is not correct, an error message is displayed (S164) and the process returns to step 161.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to program a job without the operator or client worrying about whether or not the required recording paper is currently set in the printer. Also, the operator or client is notified while waiting in the job print queue that the recording paper set in the job is not currently stored in the printer, so there is no need to stop print output. The efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a printer device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing configurations of a main processor unit, an image processing unit, and a print processor unit.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a check routine for realizing a recording paper exchange instruction display function of a recording paper tray mounted in the printing apparatus of the present invention, and is a flowchart up to the tray number check.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart following the flow of FIG.

5 is a flowchart after the determination processing in step 103 of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart after the determination process of step 105 of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of interrupt job processing.

8 is a flowchart after the determination processing in step 142 of FIG.

9 is a flowchart after the determination process of step 143 of FIG. 7.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Operation / display unit, 2 ... Document feeder, 3 ... Scanner unit, 4 ... Image processing unit, 5 ... Job file, 6 ... Main processor unit, 7 ... Print job queue, 8 ...
Print processor unit, 9 ... Print output unit, 10 ... Network

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A printer device for storing image data of a print job, which is read from a scanner or sent through a network, in a print queue, and prints out as soon as an output section becomes available. A plurality of paper feed trays that can hold paper, a paper recognition unit that recognizes the recording paper stored in each paper feed tray, and each job in the print queue based on the recording paper recognized by the paper recognition unit There was a comparison unit that compares the types of recording paper used in the output order, and among the jobs in the print queue, there were jobs that were planned to use recording paper types other than those currently stored in the tray. When there is a tray that is not scheduled to be used by a job before the job in the print queue, the recording paper of the tray is And printers apparatus and a display means for indicating the replacement of the recording paper to be used by the job. 2. The display means is configured to instruct a program change of a job sent to a print queue when there is no tray for exchanging recording sheets used by the job. The printer device according to claim 1.