JPH1011479A - Print system and cad system having the print system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To additionally print only the added and corrected parts on a printed form by printing the management number added to the book information at a prescribed part of the print form and therefore making a processor to automatically recognize the hitherto extents of addition and correction despite the increase of the addition/correction frequency of electronic information. SOLUTION: A means 22 which calculates a correcting part calculates the difference of design books of old and latest versions which are stored in a data base 21 based on the data on both books. Based on this calculated difference, a print image generation means 23 expands the data to be processed. At the same time, a print management number is included in the area of a print image where a print area is printed. A management version number is ordinarily added to a design book. However, a processor 1 automatically generates the print management numbers for every print page in addition to the management version number. Thus, the print management number is always included in the print image, and it's desired that the print management number can be mechanically read.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing system for printing a book having both electronic information such as a circuit design drawing and a specification sheet and a print image thereof, and in particular, to reduce storage / disposal costs of printing paper. The present invention relates to a print system suitable for printing and a CAD system including the print system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art CAD, word processors, and the like have been introduced in various design tasks, and it has become common to create drawing information and document information as digitized information. When using digitized information, it is rare to use it simply by displaying it on the screen of a display device. In most cases,
Print and use on paper. When correcting the digitized drawing information, it is reprinted each time a character is corrected or a line is corrected, that is, each time a correction occurs. Is always the case. This contributes to an increase in paper consumption.

For this reason, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
In the conventional word processor described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H10-107, only an additional portion of the document is printed on a sheet on which the document is already printed, or a part of the document can be corrected, thereby reducing the amount of paper consumption.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-3 is disclosed.
In the related art described in Japanese Patent No. 37862, the print position of the additional document is automatically aligned so as to match the print position of the original printed document. However, selection management of which additional document is to be further printed on the printed paper is performed by the user one by one. In this way, humans can manage the case where the number of additions and corrections is small. As the number of additions and corrections increases, the burden on the user increases. For example, when a plant design drawing is created by CAD, the number of drawings is tens or hundreds, and the number of corrections is ten for each drawing.
As the number of times increases, it becomes impossible for human beings to individually manage which drawing of which drawing was printed, and which file is a file storing a new correction portion to be added. If this management is not easy, in practice, when a correction is made, the corrected document will be printed from the beginning on the new paper instead of overwriting only the corrected part on the printed paper. It is not possible to reduce the consumption.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to make the apparatus automatically recognize which addition or correction has been performed even if the number of additions and corrections of the digitized information is increased, and to print only the added and corrected portions on the printed paper. And a CAD system having the same.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing system in which a corrected version of book information is printed on a sheet of paper. In a print system that additionally prints only the book information, means for adding a different management number to the book information for each version, and when printing the book information, the management number added to the book information at a predetermined location on the printing paper. Means for printing, means for reading the management number of the predetermined portion of the set printing paper, and identification and version of the book information printed on the paper from the management number read by the means. The difference between the modified version of the book information to be printed and the identified version of the book information is stored in the book information database. Means for determining to access, by providing a means for adding printing the management number indicating only with the modified version difference portion determined by said means to the set print sheet is achieved.

[0007] Since a management number is added for each version and printed, by reading the management number printed on the printing paper, the apparatus can automatically identify the version of the printed book information, and perform additional printing. Only information is obtained based on the identified version, and additional printing can be performed. Therefore, the user can use the print system that enables only the additional printing without having to manage each time, so that the amount of paper consumption can be reduced.

[0008]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a print system used in a CAD system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This printing system includes a processing device 1 for storing information of a book created by using CAD and processing a print image, a drawing information reading unit 2, and a high-precision printing unit 3. The processing device 1 has a database that stores digitized data such as drawings or specifications designed on CAD from an initial version to the latest version. When a print request is issued, the data is converted from the digitized data. Generate a print image.

FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of the processing apparatus 1.
The processing apparatus 1 includes a database 21, a unit 22 for calculating and calculating a corrected portion, and a print image generating unit 23.
Consists of Note that, without having a unique database 21, C
It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which a CAD database is shared by connecting to an AD system. The means 22 calculates a difference between the old version and the latest version of the design document data stored in the database 21. Means 23
The data to be processed by the printing unit 3 is developed from the calculated difference. At this time, the print image includes an area for printing a print management number, which will be described in detail later.

[0010] In the case of a design document or the like, a management version number is usually assigned. However, the processing device 1 automatically generates a printing management number for each printed page separately from the number, and generates a printing management number in the print image. Always include the printing management number. The management number may be mechanically readable, and is combined with a print image by a notation that is easy to read mechanically, such as a bar code, or another notation that has a higher information density per unit area.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a book including a management number for printing. In this example, an area 31 for printing a print management number represented by a pattern is provided in the upper right part outside the entry area 32 surrounded by the frame. By setting the print management number to a unique number for each printed page, the printed content can be determined from the management number without recognizing the image of the entire drawing. In addition, if a unique management number is generated every time printing is performed, history data indicating when, which page and how to output the page can be left. Such an output history not only enables the contents of the printed matter to be recognized from the management number, but can also be used for confidential management of important documents.

The drawing information reading means 2 shown in FIG. 1 is an optical reading means stored in the same housing as the printing means 3, and prints a printed matter (white paper in some cases) set on a paper tray inside the housing. When scanning to the printing surface,
Read the top, bottom, left and right of the printed drawing and the management number for printing. The acquired printed matter is sent out to the mechanism of the printing means 3 as it is.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing after reading drawing information from a design document. In the present embodiment, a new / new
It is assumed that a notation method (FIG. 5) in which both the old and old designs are described in parallel is adopted.

In FIG. 4, first, in step 41, the processing device 1 searches the read printing management number for the corresponding digitized data. Then, it is determined whether or not there is a newer version of the data to which a correction has been made (step 42). If there is no newer version, there is no need to modify,
The printing unit 3 discharges the taken printing paper as it is.
If a newer version exists, the processing device 1
The book data taken into the printing means 3 is compared with the latest version of the data, and the difference, that is, the corrected portion is calculated (step 43).

Next, a print image of the old version and the latest version of the corrected part is generated from the calculated corrected part. Since the old book data has already been printed on the printing paper, an image 51 (FIG. 5) of a correction symbol to be superimposed on the old book image is generated (step 44). In addition, the print image 52 of a portion not included in the old version data among the latest version data is generated (step 45). When multi-color printing is possible with the output unit 3, the latest version of the print image can be printed in a different color to distinguish it from the old version of the data, and generation and printing of the correction symbol image 51 can be omitted. Further, in order to update the management number for printing, a print pattern representing a unique management number is generated with a pattern that can be printed over the management number of the old version (step 46), and is combined with the print image of the book already printed. (Step 47). At this time, if the printing direction of the book taken into the output unit 3 is different from the default printing direction, the corrected print image is rotated in accordance with it (step 48).

The generated modified print image is output to output means 3
And printed on the printing surface of the printed matter already taken in. The output unit 3 adjusts the position of the taken print, and overwrites the corrected print image on the print. Since the print content of the old version is inherited as it is, books with the same design content as the latest version can be printed by partial printing of only the correction range. The resulting printed matter has been revised to the latest version, and at the same time the revised parts from the old version have been clearly specified.
become.

The print system according to this embodiment includes:
By reusing the old version of the printed matter as it is, it is possible to greatly save the paper of the design document that has been printed each time a design is modified. In addition, since the print management number that is overwritten each time an additional print is added is always unique, the printing system automatically reads the management number to determine at which point the correction has been made. It is not necessary for the user to manage which of the added and corrected data is to be additionally printed.

In the print system according to the present embodiment, the information of the old version is also inherited at the same time.
The revision history of the design document can be stored as a printed matter. This is effective not only for the design drawing targeted in the present embodiment, but also for the case where a history of text proofreading is left.

Further, in order to retain information such as memorandums handwritten on the design book in the course of making the design correction, it is necessary to keep the old version of the book or transfer it to the design book again. By using the print system of the present embodiment that reuses the old design book as it is for each print content, the handwritten memorandum can be passed on to the latest design book as it is. Therefore, the transfer from the old edition and the storage of the old edition books are not required, so that the cost for the operation for the transcription and the storage / management of the books can be reduced, and the transcription error can be prevented.

From a viewpoint other than cost, by using the print system according to the present embodiment periodically, the design documents referred to by each designer can always be kept up-to-date, and at the same time, the old version Since the design book is overwritten, it is possible to prevent the old book from being discarded and being erroneously referred to in the new design book.

Further, as another embodiment, if a structure is adopted in which a large number of sheets are set in a sheet tray and can be taken in one by one in order, the spelling of a design book composed of a plurality of pages can be set as it is and corrected. Since only the pages that have been modified can be rewritten, compared to a method of printing and replacing the pages that have been modified anew, not only can paper be saved, but also missing pages and missing pages can be prevented.

The processing by the drawing information reading means 2 may be performed by scanning the entire printing surface and recognizing the printing direction and the printing management number by image processing, or the processing may be performed on a standard paper (for example, A4 size paper). As long as the format can be limited to a specific format such as (paper), a reading device may be provided so as to scan only the area of the print management number. For example, when the control number is always printed in the upper right area of the fixed form paper as in the design drawing of FIG. 5,
A reading device dedicated to the management number for printing is provided only at both ends of the paper inlet. By doing so, it is possible to determine which of the two readers has read the number, whether the design drawing has been inserted from the right end or from the left end.

In the present embodiment, the processing device 1 stores CAD data in the database 21 for each version. However, storing data for each version requires a large-capacity storage device. If it is not desired to use a large-capacity storage device, the capacity of the database can be reduced by storing only the correction data between versions. In that case, instead of calculating the difference between the data of the book taken into the output means 3 and the data of the latest version by the processing device 1, the accumulation of the correction data from the version of the taken book to the latest version is calculated and the correction is performed. Generate a print image.

If a design document such as a circuit diagram is corrected repeatedly, the corrected print image may overlap the original print, making it difficult to read. In that case, by providing the processing device 1 with an automatic layout function,
The elements of the corrected portion that overlap the print image of the original drawing may be laid out again from the CAD data to obtain a print image arranged so that the prints do not overlap.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a print system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is effective when it is not desired to save a revision history. In this embodiment, the output means 61 is used which can print at least two colors or more, and has a function of printing as one color in the same color as printing paper (generally white).

The processing in this case is the same as that of the first embodiment up to the calculation of the corrected portion, and only the processing for generating an image for corrected printing is different. In the second embodiment, it is the same to generate the print image of the old version and the latest version of the corrected part from the calculated corrected part, but as shown in FIG. While it is generated in the same way as the form, instead of the correction symbol,
A print image 72 that fills an area covering the print image of the corrected portion of the old edition is generated. The two print images and the print image for updating the management number for printing are sent to the output unit. The output means 61 first outputs an image 72 to be printed in the same color as the printing paper, and outputs an image for updating the latest version of the print image and an image for updating the print management number in a superimposed manner. As a result, the unmodified portion of the old edition can be reused as it is, and the book can be updated to the latest edition without leaving the history of the old edition.

The second embodiment is effective not only for design documents but also for general documents. The print system of this embodiment can erase only the corrected portion of the once printed document and print it on it.
Partial correction is easy, and paper can be saved.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a print system according to the third embodiment, in which a user can specify a print range. This print system includes a display 81 for displaying a print image and an input means 82 for designating a print range, and displays an old print image and a latest print image on the display in a superimposed manner. The correction portion calculated by the correction range calculation means 83 is displayed in a different color. The user looks at the display on the display, selects a range to be printed from the latest version of data, and specifies a correction symbol to be overwritten on the old version image. At this time, if the user can adjust the layout at the time of printing by using the input unit 82, if the print range overlaps with the print image of the old version and is difficult to see, the automatic image generation function is added to the unit for generating the print image. You can easily solve the problem without it.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration diagram in which the print system according to the above-described embodiment is connected to a CAD system or a word processor system. The user operates the CAD 90 to correct the design document. The paper on which the old book being modified is printed is set on the tray of the print system, and a print command is issued to the print system at the same time when the correction result is registered in the CAD. The processing device 91 reads the print management number of the printed matter taken in the same manner as in the first embodiment, determines whether or not the paper to be corrected and printed is on the paper, and determines whether the paper on which a different book is printed is If the sheet is set, the sheet is immediately discharged, and the user is requested to set a correct sheet. If the old book to be corrected is a printed sheet, the data before correction is received from the CAD and stored in the local database 92. The contents of the correction made by the user are sequentially transferred to and stored in the local database of the printing system. When the print command is issued from the CAD, the processing device 91 specifies the correction range on the printed matter from the data of the book before correction stored in the local database and the content of the correction performed by the user, Generate the print image required for correction.

With such a configuration, the correction made by the user is immediately reflected on the printed matter, so that the consistency between the digitized data and the printed matter is always maintained.

[0031]

According to the present invention, each time an additional print of only the corrected portion is overwritten on the same sheet, a unique print management number is always overwritten on the same sheet. In addition, the apparatus can automatically identify whether the paper for correction printing is the correct paper, and at which point the correction has already been performed, and the management burden on the user can be reduced. As a result, the user can easily use the print system that can overwrite only the corrected portion on the already printed paper, and the paper consumption can be actually reduced.

As described above, by reusing the old version of the printed matter as it is, it is possible to greatly save the sheets of the design documents. Further, by reusing the old printed matter, the storage of the old book is not required, and the cost for storing / disposing of the book can be reduced. At the same time, since the information printed on the old book is inherited, the revision history of the design book can be accumulated as a printed matter. Also, the handwritten memorandum added to the design document can be inherited by the latest design document as it is, so that the transfer operation can be omitted, and the associated transcription error can be prevented.

From a viewpoint other than cost, by using the print system according to the present invention regularly, the design documents referred to by each designer are always kept up-to-date, and the situation where new and old design documents are mixed is considered. Can be prevented. Furthermore, in the embodiment in which the spelling of a design book composed of a plurality of pages can be set as it is, only the page that has been modified is rewritten,
Compared to a method that prints only the pages that have been corrected and replaces them, it saves paper and also prevents missing or missing pages.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a print system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of the processing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a book including a printing management number.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing after reading drawing information from a design document.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a notation method in which both new and old designs are described side by side.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a print system (second embodiment) effective when it is not desired to save a revision history.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a print image in which an area covering a print image of a correction portion of an old version is painted.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a print system (third embodiment) that allows a user to specify a print range.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration in which the print system is combined with a CAD or a word processor.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Processing apparatus which processes a print image, 2 ... Drawing information reading means, 3 ... High-precision printing means, 21 ... Database, 22 ... Means for calculating a corrected part of a design document, 23
... print image generation means, 31 ... print management number printing area, 32 ... design drawing entry area, 51 ... correction symbol print image superimposed on the old version image, 61 ... function to print in the same color as printing paper , Output means having the print data of the latest version of data included in the correction range, 72 ...
A print image for filling an area covering the correction part of the old edition, 81 a display for displaying the print image, 82
... input means for designating a print range, 83 ... correction range calculation means, 91 ... correction range calculation means, 92 ... local database of the print system.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Agency reference number FI Technical indication location G06F 15/60 614D (72) Inventor Shinichiro Ichiya 7-2-1, Omika-cho, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan Hitachi, Ltd. Power and Electricity Development Division (72) Inventor Yoshikazu Ishii 7-2-1, Omika-cho, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture Hitachi, Ltd. Power and Electricity Development Division (72) Inventor Taro Takagi Hitachi, Ibaraki Prefecture 7-2-1, Mikamachi, Oita City Hitachi Electric Power / Electricity Development Division

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A printing system which prints a modified version of book information on a sheet and additionally prints only a difference between the old version and the corrected version on a printed sheet of an old version of the book information already printed. Means for adding a management number different for each version to the book information, and means for printing the management number added to the book information at a predetermined location on the printing paper when printing the book information. Means for reading the management number of the predetermined portion of the printing paper, and from the management number read by the means for identifying the version of the book information printed on the paper and the book information of the corrected version to be printed from now on Means for obtaining a difference from the identified version of the book information by accessing the book information database; Means for additionally printing only the difference portion obtained by the means and a management number indicating the corrected version on the set printing paper. 2. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the management number is displayed in a pattern. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the direction of the set sheet is identified, and when the direction of the additional print information does not match the direction of the sheet, the additional print information is rotated and printed in alignment with the sheet direction. A printing system comprising means. 4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of, when the additional information includes a deleted portion of the book information, overwriting the portion to be deleted with the same color as the printing paper to delete the portion. Features a printing system. 5. The book information database according to claim 1, wherein the book information database stores only a difference portion from the version before the correction as a file as book information of the corrected version. Printing system. 6. The book information database according to claim 1, wherein the book information database stores all book information from the initial creation of the book information to the correction as a file as a corrected version of book information. A printing system characterized by the following. 7. A CAD system comprising the print system according to claim 1 as a device for outputting book information created on a screen of a display device.