JPH08198513A - Information processing device and information processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an information processing device which can increase the activity ratio of bins in a nail box sorter. CONSTITUTION: When no output of a storage part designation instruction occurs from an external apparatus, for example, the external apparatus has no storage part designation instruction or outputs no storage part designation instruction, and as a result, no storage part designation instruction is received at the time of inputting images from the external apparatus, the existence of outputted paper in respective storage parts detected by a paper sensor is first discriminated (S41). Based on the discriminated results, a non-sort bin is selected out of a plurality of storage parts (S43), and the outputted paper is stored in the non- sort bin.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and an information processing apparatus having an output paper sorting device (mail box sorter) for sorting and storing output paper output from an image output device such as a copying machine, a facsimile or a printer. It is about the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an information processing apparatus having a mail box sorter which is connected to an external device such as a computer and a facsimile on a network and sorts and stores the output paper, a place for storing the output paper from the external device by driver software. It is known that it is possible to specify.

However, the external device does not always have the above-mentioned driver software, and if the driver does not have the driver software, the output paper is stored in a predetermined fixed storage location. That is, in this type of information processing apparatus, a special storage location called a non-sort bin is prepared, and when the storage location of the output paper is not designated, the output paper is stored in the non-sort bin.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional information processing apparatus, the space of the non-sort bin, which is fixedly prepared, becomes an obstacle from the viewpoint of sorting output papers and storing them with maximum efficiency. There was a problem.

In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus and an information processing method capable of increasing the efficiency of using a bin in a mail box sorter.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the information processing apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention visualizes an input image from an external device connected to a network on a paper surface to output an output paper. Image forming means for forming, storage section designation command receiving means for receiving a storage section designation command issued from the external device, a plurality of storage sections for storing output sheets from the image forming means, and the storage section designation An image from the external device in an information processing apparatus having a sorting storage unit that sorts the output paper into the storage units according to a command, and a paper detection unit that is provided in each storage unit and detects the presence or absence of paper in the storage unit. When the storage unit designation command receiving unit does not receive the storage unit designation command at the time of input, a predetermined storage unit is selected from the plurality of storage units based on the information from the paper detection unit. Selection control means is provided, and the sorting storage means stores the output paper in the storage portion selected by the selection control means when the storage portion designation command receiving means does not receive the storage portion designation command. It was done.

Further, it is desirable that a display indicating that the storage unit selected by the selection control means is not the storage unit designated by the storage unit designation command is displayed.

The information processing method according to the second aspect of the present invention is an image forming process for visualizing an input image from an external device connected to a network to form an output sheet, and a storage section designation issued from the external device. In an information processing method for performing a sorting storage process for sorting the output paper after image formation into a plurality of storage units according to a command, when the storage unit designation command is not received when an image is input from the external device, each storage unit Based on the paper presence / absence information, a selection control process of selecting a predetermined storage unit from the plurality of storage units is performed before the sorting storage process, and the sorting storage process is selected by the selection control process. The output paper is stored in the storage portion.

In addition, after the selection control process, a non-designated storage unit display process for displaying that the storage unit selected by the selection control process is not the storage unit designated by the storage unit designation command is executed. Is desirable.

[0010]

According to the information processing apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention having the above-described structure, the storage unit can be transferred from the external device such as when the external device does not have a storage unit designation command or when the storage unit designation command is not output. If the storage unit designation command is not received when the image is input from the external device, the selection control unit determines whether the output sheet in the storage unit is detected by the paper detection unit. Based on the information, a predetermined storage unit is selected from the plurality of storage units, and the sorting storage unit stores the output paper in the storage unit selected by the selection control unit. As a result, a storage unit (non-sort bin) for storing output paper of an external device that does not output a storage unit designation command can be flexibly assigned according to the storage status of each storage unit.

Further, the storage unit selected by the selection control means displays a message indicating that the storage unit is not the storage unit designated by the storage unit designation command, so that the user can identify the non-sort bin at a glance. .

According to the information processing method of the second aspect of the present invention, for example, when the external device does not have the storage unit designation command or when the storage unit designation command is not output, the storage unit designation command is issued from the external device. If there is no output and therefore the storage section designation command is not received when the image is input from the external device, a predetermined storage section is selected from the plurality of storage sections based on the paper presence / absence information of each storage section. , Output paper is stored in the selected storage unit. As a result, the non-sort bin can be flexibly assigned according to the storage status of each storage unit.

By displaying that the storage unit selected by the selection control process is not the storage unit designated by the storage unit designation command, the user can identify the non-sort bin at a glance.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the schematic arrangement of an information processing system including an information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 10 is a network such as a LAN. In this network 10, a copying machine 12 to which a mailbox sorter 11 is connected and a computer terminal 1 are connected.
3, 14, a computer terminal 15 to which a scanner 16 is connected, a facsimile 17, and a printer 18 are connected.

On such a network 10,
The image is a copy machine 12, computer terminals 13, 14, 1.
5, it is possible to output from the facsimile 17 or the printer 18, and the line communication with the outside is the facsimile 1
Performed by 7. Further, the copying machine 12 is configured to read an image or output an image independently.
Further, the computer terminal 15 and the computer terminal 13 capable of capturing the image of the scanner 16 have driver software capable of driving all the devices on the network of this system, and transmit the image via the line of the facsimile 17. It is possible.

Further, a document created on the computer terminal 13 or the computer terminal 15 can be printed by the printer of the copying machine 12 and then stored in a predetermined storage section (described later) of the mail box sorter 11, or The image read by the copying machine 12 is transferred to the computer terminal 1
It is also possible to edit with 5 and output from the printer 18.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the mail box sorter 11 shown in FIG.

Reference numeral 21 in the figure is a mail box sorter 11.
It is the output paper entrance from the device located further upstream,
The output sheet entrance 21 has a single sheet conveying path 22.
Are in communication. A plurality of output paper storage units (bins) 23-1 to 23-2 are provided on the downstream side of the single sheet conveying path 22.
3-12, and a bundle transport unit 24 that transports a bundle of sheets is provided between the output paper inlet 21 and the bins 23-1 to 23-12.

The single sheet is branched by a flapper (not shown) via the single sheet conveying path 22 and stored in each designated storage section, and the mail box sorter 11 is also provided.
When the sheet bundle by finishing is conveyed further upstream, after being delivered to the bundle conveying unit 24, the bundle conveying unit 24 moves up and down to store the sheet bundle in the designated storage section. Has become.

The bins 23-1 to 23-12 have paper sensors 25-1 to 25 for detecting the presence / absence of paper in the bins.
-12 and display units 26-1 to 26-12 for displaying bin numbers and bins with no bin designation (non-sort bins) are provided. Paper sensors 25-1 to 25-
12 is High when there is paper in the storage
("1") is output, and Low ("0") is output when there is no paper. Further, the display units 26-1 to 26-12 display numbers or characters or marks other than numbers and are composed of liquid crystal or light emitting diodes.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing the relationship between the CPU in the copying machine 12 and the CPU in the mailbox sorter 11 in FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 31 is an external device control CPU provided inside the main body of the copying machine 12, and 32 is a sorter control CPU provided inside the mail box sorter 11.

The external device control CPU 31 is an external device,
That is, it is a CPU that controls the computer terminals 13, 14, 15, the facsimile 17, and the printer 18, and sends a control signal from the copying machine body to the sorter control CPU 3.
Send to 2. Further, the external device control CPU 31
In addition to the print standby status, the usage status of the network 10, the usage bin status, the output paper count, the output paper form (single sheet or a bundle), and the number of copies, the external device connected to the network 10 emits a message. It has a function of receiving a storage unit designation command for designating an output paper storage unit.

On the other hand, the sorter control CPU 32 is a CPU that communicates with the main body of the copying machine and controls the mail box sorter 11, and grasps the presence / absence of paper in each of the storage units 23-1 to 23-12. And each storage part 23-1-23
The output papers stored in -12 are total counted. Further, in response to the storage section designation command sent from the external device control CPU 31, control is performed to keep the productivity by the storage sorting operation to the maximum.

Further, when the sorter control CPU 32 does not receive the storage section designation command, based on the paper presence / absence information from the paper sensor 26, the storage sections 23-1 to 23-12.
It has selection control means (see FIGS. 4 to 6) for selecting a predetermined storage unit from among the non-sort bins. When the storage section designation command is not received, the output paper is stored in the storage section (non-sort bin) selected by the selection control means.

Next, the operation (information processing method) of this embodiment will be described.

An initial state is a state in which there is no paper in the mail box sorter 11. From this initial state, the computer terminal 13 outputs the image created by the computer terminal to the copying machine 12 and performs 6-minute sorting from 5 bins (storage unit 23-5) to 10 bins (storage unit 23-10). And

In this state, for example, when an image is sent from the facsimile 17 that does not have a function of issuing a storage section designation command, output paper is output via the copying machine 12 and stored in the mail box sorter 11, Empty 1 bin (storage unit 23-1) to 4 bins (storage unit 23-4), or 11 bins (storage unit 23-11) to 12 bins (storage unit 2)
It will be stored in any of 3-12).

Thus, there is no output of the storage section designation command from the external device, as in the case where the external device does not have the storage section designation command, or when the storage section designation command is not issued, therefore, the storage section designation command is not output. The output paper is stored when the message is not received by determining the non-sort bin as follows according to the flowcharts of FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. 4. FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the entire output paper storage operation when the storage section designation command is not received.
FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the bin empty state determination routine in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the non-sort bin determination routine in FIG.

First, as shown in FIG. 4, the output paper storage operation when the storage section designation command is not received is roughly three.
It is divided into two blocks. That is, each of the bins 23-1 to 23-1
23-12 is a bin empty state determination block for determining the presence or absence of output paper (step S41), and a non-sort bin determination block for determining a non-sort bin based on the determination result of the bin empty state determination block (step S42). The non-sort bin display block for performing non-sort bin display on the non-sort bin (step S43) is sequentially executed.

In the bin empty state determination routine shown in FIG.
First, in step S51, the bin number is stored as n and the number of bins is stored as nmax.
Therefore, if there is paper, S = 1; if there is no paper, S =
Remember 0. Then, n = 0 is set (step S5
2) and further increment to n = n + 1 (step S53).

In step S54, it is determined whether or not there is paper in the current bin of interest (S = 1) based on the information from the paper sensor of that bin. If there is paper as a result, step S55
If there is no paper, go to step S56.

In step S55, "1" data is set assuming that there is paper in the current bin of interest (S1 (n) =
1) In step S56, "0" data is set because there is no paper in the current bin of interest (S1 (n) =
0).

Then, in step S57, it is determined whether or not the bin empty state determination is performed for all the bins (n> nmax + 1), and if there are undetermined bins, the process returns to step S53 and all the bins are determined. If it has been done for the bin, this routine ends.

In the non-sort bin determination routine shown in FIG. 6, first, the non-sort bin is stored as S (n) (step S61), n = 0 is set (step S62), and further incremented to n = n + 1 (step). S6
3).

Then, the following steps S64 to S68 are executed in order to research the state that the noticed bin has no paper and the bins on the upper and lower sides have paper.

At step S64, the current bin of interest is
There is paper in the previous bin empty state determination routine (S1).
It is determined whether or not (n) = 1), and if it is a bin with no paper, the process proceeds to step S65.

In step S65, 1 of the current bins of interest.
The upper bin is a bin with paper (S1 (n-1) =
It is determined whether or not 1), and if there is paper, the process proceeds to step S66, and there is paper in the bin immediately below the current bin of interest (S1).
It is determined whether (n + 1) = 1). S1 in step S66
If (n + 1) = 1, the bin of interest has no paper, and the bins above and below are bins with paper. Therefore, the bin of interest is determined as the non-sort bin (Sn (n) = n) (step S67). , This routine ends.

In step S64, S1 (n) =
1, S1 (n-1) = 0 in step S65, or S1 (n + 1) = 0 in step S66.
If it is, it proceeds to step S68, and it is determined whether or not all the bins have been determined (n> nmax + 1). If there are undetermined bins, the process returns to step S63 and performed for all the bins. If so, this routine ends.

The non-sort bins thus determined are displayed, for example, as shown in FIG. In addition, what is shown in the figure is an example in which the 10th bin is a non-sort bin. As described above, in the present embodiment, the non-sort bins can be flexibly assigned according to the storage status of each storage unit, and the bin use efficiency in the mail box sorter 11 can be improved.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of an information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

In the first embodiment, the non-sort bin is determined by using a software program, but in the present embodiment, the non-sort bin is determined by hardware.

In the figure, 71 is a comparator, 72 is a shift register, 73 is an up counter, and 74 is a D latch.

The comparator 71 includes a paper sensor 25-1.
To each bin 23-1 to 23 detected by
The output paper presence / absence status in -12 is input, and a pulse for one clock is input to the shift register 72 for each bin, and the output is shifted according to the number of clocks.

The comparator 71 includes the paper sensors 25-1 to 25-1.
The output from 25-12 is compared with the output of the shift register 72, and the coincidence signal is output only when the target bin has no paper and the upper and lower bins have paper.

The number of clocks is counted by the counter 73, and the content of the D latch 74 is rewritten by the coincidence signal of the comparator 71. Here, the count number of pulses in the counter 73 and the bin address are the same.

As described above, the shift register 72 includes
A pulse for one clock is input, and this one clock physically corresponds to one bin of the mail box sorter 11. By sequentially shifting the pulses of one clock, the mail box sorter 11 searches for a state in which the bin of interest has no paper and the bins above and below the bin have paper. When this state is searched, the bin of interest is determined to be a non-sort bin.

When there are a plurality of states, the bin of interest in the last state is the non-sort bin. Further, when there is no state in which the bins adjacent to the top and bottom are paper and the bin of interest is no paper, the final bin is determined to be the non-sort bin. Then, the determined non-sort bin address notifies the terminal having the driver software on the network that the bin specification is prohibited.

In the configuration of this embodiment, since the up counter and the increment of the bin number are used, the bin with the highest bin address of the bins of interest in the paper-out state automatically becomes the non-sort bin, but the down counter is used. However, this does not apply when the address is determined or another address determining means is used.

[0052]

As described in detail above, the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, based on the information from the paper detection means when the storage section designation command is not received at the time of image input from an external device, A selection control means for selecting a predetermined storage portion from the plurality of storage portions is provided, and the sorting storage means outputs the output paper to the storage portion selected by the selection control means when the storage portion designation command is not received. I decided to store it,
The non-sort bins can be flexibly assigned according to the storage status of each storage unit, and the bin usage efficiency in the device can be improved.

By displaying a message indicating that the storage unit is not the storage unit designated by the storage unit designation command in the storage unit selected by the selection control means, the user can identify the non-sort bin at a glance. Usability is improved.

In the information processing method according to the second aspect of the present invention, when a storage section designation command is not received when an image is input from an external device, a predetermined number of storage sections are selected based on the presence / absence information of paper in each storage section. The selection control process for selecting the storage unit is performed before the sorting storage process, and the sorting storage process stores the output paper in the storage unit selected by the selection control process. It can be flexibly assigned according to the storage status of the parts, and the efficiency of using the bin in the device can be improved.

Further, by displaying in the storage section selected by the selection control processing that the storage section is not the storage section designated by the storage section designation command, the user can identify the non-sort bin at a glance, and the convenience of use is improved. improves.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of an information processing system including an information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment.

2 is an external view of the mail box sorter 11 shown in FIG.

3 is a conceptual diagram showing a relationship between a CPU of a copying machine 12 and a CPU of a mail box sorter 11 in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the entire output paper storage operation when a storage section designation command is not received.

5 is a flowchart showing a bin empty state determination routine in FIG. 4. FIG.

6 is a flowchart showing a non-sort bin determination routine in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example of a non-sort bin.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a second embodiment of the information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Network 11 Mailbox Sorter 12 Copier 13, 14, 15 Computer Terminal 16 Scanner 17 Facsimile 18 Printer 23-1 to 23-12 Storage Section 25-1 to 25-12 Paper Sensor 31, 32 CPU

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Shizuo Hasegawa 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Hiroichi Kodama 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Kya Non non corporation

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image forming means for visualizing an input image from an external device connected to a network on a paper surface to form an output sheet, and a storage for receiving a storage section designation command issued from the external device. Set designation command receiving means, a plurality of storage portions for storing output paper from the image forming means, sorting storage means for sorting the output paper into the storage portions according to the storage portion designation command, and each storage portion. In an information processing device having a paper detection unit provided to detect the presence or absence of paper in the storage unit, when the storage unit designation command receiving unit does not receive the storage unit designation command at the time of image input from the external device, A selection control unit is provided for selecting a predetermined storage unit from the plurality of storage units based on information from the paper detection unit, and the sorting storage unit is the storage unit designation command receiving unit. Wherein when receiving no storage unit designation command, the information processing apparatus is characterized in that so as to house the output sheets have been to the storage unit selected by the selection control means. 2. The storage unit selected by the selection control means is displayed to indicate that the storage unit is not the storage unit designated by the storage unit designation command. Information processing equipment. 3. An image forming process of forming an output sheet by visualizing an input image from an external device connected to a network on a paper surface, and the image forming according to a storage section designation command issued from the external device. In an information processing method for sorting output paper after processing into a plurality of storage units and performing a sorting storage process, when the storage unit designation command is not received when an image is input from the external device, the presence or absence of paper in each storage unit Based on the information, a selection control process for selecting a predetermined storage unit from the plurality of storage units is performed before the sorting storage process, and the sorting storage process is performed on the storage unit selected by the selection control process. An information processing method characterized in that output paper is stored. 4. A non-designated storage section display process for displaying in the storage section selected by the selection control processing that the storage section is not designated by the storage section designation command is executed after the selection control processing. The information processing method according to claim 3, wherein