JPH07281849A - Printer status display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a printer status display device which enables an operator to recognize which printer is free, provides excellent operation efficiency, and indicates the replacement period of maintenance articles such as toner for printing and cleaning kit. CONSTITUTION:Plural printers 2a, 2b... are connected to work stations 1a, 1b..., and also this device has magnetic disks 3a and 3b and buffers 4a and 4b where print file information sent from the work stations 1a, 1b... to the specified printers 2a, 2b are stored and a print information output means which outputs the print file information stored on the magnetic disks 3a and 3b and buffers 4a and 4b to a monitor.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a LAN, etc.
The present invention relates to a printer status display device of a computer system in which a plurality of printers are connected to a plurality of workstations as terminals.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional computer system of this type, for example, as shown in FIG.
It is known that a plurality of printers 2a, 2b ... Are connected to a plurality of workstations 1 ...

In such a computer system, an operator prints out the print file information created on the workstation 1. Therefore, the workstation 1 sends the print file information to any of the printers 2a ... Then, under the control of the CPU 3, the print processing currently being performed by the designated printer 2a is temporarily interrupted, priority is given to the print processing having a high degree of urgency, and then the interrupted print processing is restarted. It is configured to be able to.

[0004]

However, in such a conventional printer, the operator is required to use each printer 2
It is impossible to know how much print file information is being sent to a, 2b, ... From other workstations 1. For this reason, print file information may be intensively transmitted to the printer 2a that is printing or has accumulated files waiting for print processing, although there are available printers 2b other than the designated printer 2a. .

In such a case, normally, this print file information is entered after the print file information previously sent from another waiting workstation 1, ... Since the print file information is printed after the printout is completed, it takes time.

Further, if it is assumed that the print processing is highly urgent, if the print processing currently being performed by the printer 2a is temporarily interrupted and the print processing is preferentially performed as in the computer system described above, The print file information sent earlier from another workstation 1, etc. will be postponed.

For this reason, when the entire computer system is considered, it is difficult to say that the printout processing work is stagnant and the work efficiency is good.

Further, in such a computer system, each printer 2a, 2b ... Is provided with a maintenance article such as a toner for printing and a cleaning kit for cleaning. The printing toner and the cleaning kit for cleaning must be replaced every time a certain number of printouts are performed.

However, the worker is not sure which printer 2a, 2
b ... cannot know how many printouts are being made. For this reason, a large amount of print file information is transmitted to the printer 2a or the like which requires replacement of toner and cleaning kit, and printing is not performed due to running out of toner, or the effect of the cleaning kit declines, and printed matter There was a risk that the product would become dirty and unusable.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the worker can recognize the vacant printer, and the working efficiency is good, and
An object of the present invention is to provide a printer status display device capable of knowing when to replace maintenance items such as toner for printing and a cleaning kit for cleaning.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to a first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of printers are connected to at least one terminal, and at least one of the terminals is connected to at least one terminal. A print information accumulating means for accumulating print file information transmitted from the terminal to the designated printer, and a print for outputting the print file information accumulated in the print information accumulating means to the display means It is characterized by a printer status display device having information output means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the printer status display device according to the first aspect is characterized in that the print information storage means stores the number of print files as print file information.

And, according to the third aspect,
In the print information storage means, as print file information,
The printer status display device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the total print file amount is accumulated.

Further, according to a fourth aspect, when the printer usage amount exceeds a certain amount based on the print file information, the terminal outputs excess usage amount display information to the display means. The printer status display device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is characterized in that a warning display output means is provided.

[0015]

According to the first aspect of the present invention having such a configuration, when the terminal outputs the print file information to the printer, the print information storage means stores the print file information to be transmitted to the printer.

The print file information stored in the print information storage means is output and displayed on the display means by the print information output means.

While viewing this display, the operator can operate each printer efficiently by designating an empty printer and sending print file information from the terminal to the printer.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the number of print files is accumulated by the print information accumulating means and is output to the display means by the print information outputting means for display.

While looking at this display, the operator can operate each printer efficiently by designating a printer with a small number of print files and sending the print file information from the terminal to the printer.

And, in the one described in claim 3,
The print file amount is accumulated by the print information accumulation means,
The print information output means outputs and displays the information on the display means.

While looking at this display, the operator can operate each printer efficiently by designating a printer with a small amount of print file storage and sending print file information from the terminal to the printer.

Further, according to the fourth aspect, when the warning display output means of the terminal exceeds the predetermined amount of printer usage on the basis of the print file information, the excess usage amount is displayed on the display means. Output display information. The display means displays the excessive usage amount display.

For this reason, the operator sees this excessive usage amount display and refrains from outputting the print file information to the over-usage printer, and maintains the toner for printing and the cleaning kit for cleaning. You can change the supplies.

[0024]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 4 show a first embodiment of the present invention. The same or equivalent parts as those of the conventional example will be described with the same reference numerals.

First, the structure will be described.
A plurality of printers 2a, 2b are provided in a plurality of workstations 1a, 1b as terminals such as the LAN of the first embodiment.
Is the computer system to which it is connected.

In the computer system 11 as described above, the workstations 1a, 1b ... Are respectively provided with monitors 5 ... As display means.

The print file information can be displayed on the monitor 5 such as another workstation 1a, 1c to 1h.

Of these workstations 1a, 1b ..., some of the workstations 1b ... In the lower part of FIG. 2 are connected to the printers 2a, 2b. The work stations 1b ... Are provided with magnetic disks 3a and 3b as a part of print information storage means. Further, the printer 2a, 2b ...
And buffers 4a and 4b as other parts of the print information storage means. When print file information exceeding the capacity of the buffers 4a and 4b is accumulated in the buffers 4a and 4b,
Next, the remaining print file information is stored in the magnetic disks 3a and 3b.

Of these, among the print file information, the number of print files sent to the printer 2a or the like is stored in the magnetic disk 3a and the buffer 4a.

Further, the magnetic disk 3b and the buffer 4b
In the print file information, the print file amount sent to each of the printers 2a and the like is stored in bytes.

The workstations 1a and 1b are also provided.
.. can be designated to output and print out the print file information to any of the printers 2a, 2b.

Then, each of the workstations 1a,
1b ..., as shown in FIG.
a, 3b and print information output means 6 for outputting the print file information accumulated in the buffers 4a, 4b to the monitor 5.
Is provided.

The print information output means 6 includes a print file number information output means 6a for outputting the number of print files accumulated in the magnetic disk 3a and the buffer 4a to the monitor 5, and a print file number information output means 6a for the magnetic disk 3b and the buffer 4b. A print file amount information output means 6b for outputting the accumulated print file amount to the monitor 5 in bytes, and a warning information "DISKFULL" when either print file information exceeds the capacity of the magnetic disks 3a, 3b. Is provided to the monitor 5 and a warning display output means 6c for capacity is provided.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described.

Computer system 1 of the first embodiment
1 outputs the print file information from the workstations 1a, 1b ... To the printers 2a, 2b, etc., and the buffers 4a, 4b and the magnetic disks 3a, 3b are sequentially transmitted to the printers 2a. Accumulate in. An example of the accumulated print file information is shown in FIG.

The printers 2a ... Start printing, but the print file information accumulated in the buffers 4a, 4b and the magnetic disks 3a, 3b is printed by the print information output means 6 in parallel with the printout. It is output to the monitor 5 and displayed as shown in FIG.

That is, the number of print files for which printout processing has not been completed is accumulated by the buffer 4a and the magnetic disk 3a, and the print file number information output means 6
It is output to the monitor 5 by a. On monitor 5,
In the approximately central request number column, the number of print files for which the printout process has not been completed is set to the printers 2a, 2b ...
It is displayed every time.

The print file information can be displayed on the monitor 5 such as the other workstations 1a, 1c to 1h.

The amount of print files for which printout processing has not ended is the buffer 4b and the magnetic disk 3b.
And is output to the monitor 5 by the print file amount information output means 6b. On the monitor 5, in the total file size column, the print file amount for which the printout processing is not completed is the number of bytes in the printer 2a,
It is displayed every 2b.

While looking at this display, the operator designates a vacant printer (in this example, the printer 2c in which both the number of print files and the amount of print files are 0) and specifies the print file from the workstation 1a to this printer 2c. By sending the information, each printer 2a ... Can be operated efficiently.

Further, in the first embodiment, the capacity warning display output means 6c provided in the print information output means 6 causes the print file information of either the number of print files or the print file quantity to be magnetic. Disks 3a, 3b
Warning information "DISKFULL" when the capacity is exceeded
Is output to the monitor 5. On the monitor 5, as shown in FIG. 4, the warning information “DISKFUL” is displayed in the warning column in the rightmost column.
"L" is displayed. In this example, since the printer 2d has exceeded the predetermined capacity, "DISKFULL" is displayed.

At the same time when the warning information "DISKFULL" is output to the monitor 5, the request to the printer 4 cannot be accepted.

As described above, the operator can recognize the vacant printer 2c and the like by the monitor 5 at his / her hand provided in the workstations 1a, 1b ....

Therefore, the printers 2a ... Can be efficiently operated to improve the overall printing efficiency, and it is not necessary to look around to check the status of each printer 2a. Good efficiency.

5 to 7 show a computer system 21 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The same or equivalent portions as those in the first embodiment will be described with the same reference numerals.

In this computer system 21, a management workstation 101 is provided in addition to the workstations 1a, 1b ... As terminals.

The management workstation 101 is provided with a warning display output means 16 for outputting excess usage amount display information to the monitor 5 when the printer usage amount exceeds a certain amount based on the print file information. Has been.

The warning display output means 16 estimates the amount of toner used for printing based on information such as the number of printed sheets and the type of paper, and outputs it to the monitor 5 serving as display means to display the amount of toner used. The output unit 16a, the cleaning cartridge usage amount display output unit 16b that estimates the usage amount of the cleaning cartridge used for cleaning based on information such as the number of printed sheets and the type of paper, and outputs and displays it on the monitor 5, and each usage amount has a predetermined value. When it exceeds, the color change display means 16c for changing the display from the black and white display to the red display as the usage amount excess display information, and the reset means 16d for resetting each usage amount to 0 when the toner and the cleaning cartridge are replaced. Have

Next, the operation of the second embodiment will be described.

Computer system 2 of the second embodiment
1, the warning display output means 16 is provided on the management terminal 101.
However, when the printer usage amount exceeds a certain amount based on the print file information, the usage amount excess display information is output to the monitor 5. The monitor 5 displays this excessive usage amount display.

That is, the print file information is output to the printers 2a, ...
a, 4b or information such as the number of prints and the type of paper accumulated on the magnetic disks 3a, 3b is used by the toner usage amount display output means 16a and the cleaning cartridge usage amount display output means 16b to determine the printer usage amount and the cleaning cartridge usage amount. It is estimated as a quantity and is output to the monitor 5 and displayed as a bar graph as shown in FIG.

Therefore, the operator can refrain from outputting the print file information to the printer which is over-used by seeing this over-used display.

At this time, the bar graph output to the monitor 5 is displayed in black and white. However, when a predetermined amount is exceeded as shown in the printer 2c in the toner column on the left side of FIG. , The color of the displayed bar graph is changed from black and white display to red display.

The worker can replace the maintenance article such as the toner for printing or the cleaning kit for cleaning by looking at the bar graph displayed in red.

After the replacement, as shown in the example of the printer 2a in the cleaning cartridge column on the right side in FIG. 6, the reset means 16d resets the displayed bar graph to the 0 state.

Therefore, as in the conventional case, a large amount of print file information is transmitted to a printer in which the toner and the cleaning kit need to be exchanged, and the toner runs out and printing is not performed or the printer becomes dirty. There is no possibility that it will become unusable, and there is no need to look around to check the status of each printer 2a ...

In the second embodiment, information about the number of prints and the type of paper stored in the buffers 4a and 4b serving as the print information storage means or the magnetic disks 3a and 3b is displayed as the toner usage amount output. By means 16a and cleaning cartridge usage amount display output means 16b,
Although the printer usage amount and the cleaning cartridge usage amount are estimated and output to the monitor 5, the present invention is not limited to this, and the buffer 4a,
4b or the print file information stored in the magnetic disks 3a, 3b, the number of bytes of the print file amount may be displayed, or the stain on the printed matter may be read by a scanner or the like to determine the difference. You may decide automatically.

The display of the bar graph is not limited to the management terminal 101, but may be output and displayed on the monitor 5 of another terminal 1a.

Although the respective embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments, and there may be a design change or the like within a range not departing from the gist of the present invention. Included in this invention. For example, in each of the above-described embodiments, the print file information is stored in the buffers 4a and 4b and the magnetic disks 3a and 3b as the print information storage means, but the present invention is not limited to this, and either one may be stored. Good or readable and writable optical storage medium,
Of course, the print file information may be stored in another storage means.

[0061]

As described above, according to the above construction, the worker can recognize the vacant printer by the display means provided in the terminal.

Therefore, each printer can be operated efficiently, and the overall printing efficiency can be improved.
There is no need to look around to check the status of each printer, and work efficiency is good.

Moreover, the operator can know the replacement time of the maintenance article such as the toner for printing and the cleaning kit for cleaning by the display means provided on the terminal.

Therefore, as in the conventional case, a large amount of print file information is transmitted to a printer in which the toner and cleaning kit need to be replaced, and printing is not performed due to running out of toner or it becomes dirty. In addition to eliminating the possibility of being unusable, it is not necessary to look around to check the status of each printer one by one, and the working efficiency is good, which is a useful effect in practice.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of essential parts of a printer status display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a computer system having the printer status display device of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 shows a printer status display device of the first embodiment, and is a table showing an example of print file information stored in a print information storage means.

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing a state in which print file information accumulated in the printer status display device of the first embodiment is displayed on a monitor.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a printer status display device according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing a printer status display device according to a second embodiment and showing how each usage amount is displayed on a monitor.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the main part of the printer status display device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a conventional printer status display device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1a to 1h, 101 Workstation (terminal) 2a to 2e Printer print information storage means 3a, 3b Magnetic disks 4a, 4b Buffer 5 Monitor (display means) 6 Print information output means 6a Print file number information output means 6b Print file amount information Output means 6c Capacity warning display Output means 16 Warning display output means

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of printers are connected to at least one terminal, at least one of the terminals is provided with a display means, and print file information transmitted from the terminal to a designated printer is stored. A printer status display device, comprising: print information storage means for performing the above; and print information output means for outputting the print file information stored in the print information storage means to the display means. 2. The printer status display device according to claim 1, wherein the print information storage unit stores the number of print files as print file information. 3. The printer status display device according to claim 1, wherein the print information storage unit stores a total print file amount as print file information. 4. The terminal is provided with warning display output means for outputting excess usage display information to the display means when the printer usage exceeds a certain amount based on the print file information. The printer status display device according to claim 1, wherein the printer status display device is a printer status display device.