JPH11327833A - Printing system/method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To permit a user to detect to which part paper is discharged when printed paper is discharged to a vacant paper discharging destination. SOLUTION: A printer 1000 discharges printed paper to one of paper discharging destinations 4103-4104, prints paper discharging destination information showing to which paper discharging destination paper is discharged and identification information of a file name for identifying printed paper, and discharges the printing result from a standard paper discharging destination. Identification information which can identify printed paper is received from the other device, received identification information is associated with paper discharging destination information showing the paper discharging destination of the paper discharge device of printed paper and they are visually outputted with such constitution. Thus, a user views information which is visually outputted and it can be detected to which paper discharging destination in the paper discharge device the self-printing result is discharged.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a printing system including a paper ejection device connected to an output device, and a method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a printing system in which a printing apparatus is connected to a host computer via an interface (for example, a Centronics interface), various setting items of the printing apparatus are issued from the operation panel of the printing apparatus or commands from the host computer. It was possible to set it.

When a printing apparatus has a plurality of paper feeding devices and paper discharging devices, information on the paper feeding devices and paper discharging devices is held in the printing device, and a paper feeding port, a paper feeding method, a paper discharging port, and the like. The user's selection of the paper discharge method or the operation panel or
This can be performed by issuing a command from the host computer.

For example, when the printing apparatus is a laser beam printer, a user needs to operate a printer provided in order to specify a printing resolution, a paper size of data, a cassette to be used for paper feeding, and whether to perform double-sided printing. The user can make settings directly on the panel or use a printer driver (a program for controlling the printer) or a utility (a program that can print instructions, such as word processing software) from a host computer connected to the laser beam printer. Can be set.

Further, when the printer has a plurality of paper discharge destinations, the paper discharge destination is fixed and output, the paper discharge destination is sorted for each job, and a paper discharge destination that is not full is selected and discharged. Can be set using the method described above.

[0006]

However, conventionally, in a printer having a plurality of paper discharge destinations, a discharge mode is not a fixed mode but a mode in which an empty paper discharge destination is designated or a paper discharge destination for each job. When the user selects a mode for changing the output destination, the user has to search for the discharge destination one by one to determine the actual output destination of his / her own output.

Further, in order to avoid the above-mentioned problem, when the fixed discharge destination mode is designated, when the designated discharge destination is full, even if other discharge destinations are empty, There is a problem that printing cannot be performed until the paper at the discharge destination is removed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus in which a user discharges a printed sheet to a vacant discharge destination. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing system and a printing method capable of knowing only a paper discharge.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a printing apparatus and a sheet printed by the printing apparatus are output from a plurality of empty discharge destinations. A paper ejection device capable of ejecting paper to a paper end, wherein the printing system is connected to a network,
A print system that receives print data from another device connected to the network and prints the print data, receiving means for receiving identification information capable of identifying the printed sheet from the other device; Output means for visually outputting the received identification information and the discharge destination information indicating the discharge destination of the printed paper of the discharge device in association with each other.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the first aspect, the output means is a printer.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the second aspect, the printer further includes a paper discharge destination for discharging printed paper, and the identification information and the paper discharge destination information are printed. The output sheet is discharged to the discharge destination.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the first aspect, the output means is a display device.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the first aspect, the identification information includes a sender name of the print data.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the first aspect, the identification information includes a file name of the print data.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the first aspect, the identification information includes a name of a device that has transmitted the print data.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the first aspect, the identification information includes a transmission time of the print.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing method for discharging a sheet printed by a printing apparatus to a vacant discharge destination among a plurality of discharge destinations of the discharge apparatus, wherein the printing apparatus includes: In a printing method for receiving print data from another apparatus connected to the network and for printing the print data, receiving identification information capable of identifying the printed sheet from the other apparatus. The received identification information and the discharge destination information indicating the discharge destination of the printed sheet of the discharge device are visually output in association with each other.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the printing method according to the ninth aspect, the identification information and the discharge destination information are visually output to a printer.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the printing method according to the tenth aspect, the printer further has a discharge destination for discharging the printed paper, and the identification information and the discharge destination information are printed out. The discharged sheet is discharged to the discharge destination.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the printing method according to the tenth aspect, the identification information and the discharge destination information are visually output to a display device.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the printing method according to the ninth aspect, the identification information includes a sender name of the print data.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the printing method according to the ninth aspect, the identification information includes a file name of the print data.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the printing method according to the ninth aspect, the identification information includes a name of a device that has transmitted the print data.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the printing method according to the ninth aspect, the identification information includes a transmission time of the print data.

[0025]

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

Before describing the configuration of the present embodiment, the configuration of a laser beam printer as an example of a suitable printer to which the present embodiment is applied will be described with reference to FIG. The printer to which this embodiment is applied is not limited to a laser beam printer (LBP), and it goes without saying that a printer of another printing method such as an ink jet printer may be used. In FIG. 1, 1000
Is an LBP body, which inputs and stores print information (character codes and the like), form information, macro instructions, and the like supplied from an externally connected host computer, and corresponding character patterns and forms according to the information. A pattern or the like is created, and an image is formed on a recording medium such as recording paper. Reference numeral 1012 denotes an operation panel on which switches for operation, an LED display, and the like are arranged.
Is a printer control unit that controls the entire LBP main body 1000 and analyzes character information and the like supplied from the host computer.

The printer control unit 1001 mainly converts character information into a video signal having a corresponding character pattern and outputs the video signal to the laser driver 1002. The laser driver 1002 is a circuit for driving the semiconductor laser 1003, and switches on / off a laser beam 1004 emitted from the semiconductor laser 1003 according to an input video signal. The laser beam 1004 is rotated by a polygon mirror 1005
And scans and exposes the surface of the electrostatic drum 1006. As a result, an electrostatic latent image of a character pattern is formed on the electrostatic drum 1006.

This latent image is developed by a developing unit 1007 disposed around the electrostatic drum 1006 and then transferred to a recording sheet. A cut sheet is used as the recording paper, and the cut sheet recording paper is stored in a paper cassette 1008 mounted on the LBP 1000, is taken in the apparatus by a paper feed roller 1009, a conveyance roller 1010, and a conveyance roller 1011, and is electrostatically charged. It is supplied to the drum 1006. The LBP main body 1000 is provided with at least one or more card slots (not shown) so that an optional font card and a control card (emulation card) having a different language system can be connected in addition to the built-in fonts.

The present invention is applied to a case where a paper discharge device having a plurality of output destinations as shown in FIG. 2 is connected to such an output device. 2, reference numeral 1000 denotes the printer (body) shown in FIG. 1, and 4000 denotes a paper discharge device. 4101
Reference numeral denotes a transport mechanism for transporting the recorded paper discharged from the printer 1000 to the staple 4102. Reference numeral 4101 denotes a staple for discharging a plurality of recorded sheets to the discharge destinations 4103 and 4104 when printing a plurality of sheets on the same document.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the system configuration of the printing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows a system configuration between the host computer and the printer. FIG. 4 shows a system configuration of a paper discharge device with a printer, staples, and a job offset function. Here, the printer will be described by taking a laser beam printer (FIG. 1) as an example. In addition,
As long as the functions of the present invention are executed, the printing system may be a single device, a system including a plurality of devices, or a system in which processing is performed via a network such as a LAN. It goes without saying that the present invention can be applied.

For convenience of description, the same portions in FIGS. 3 and 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, reference numeral 3000 denotes a host computer in which graphics, images, characters, tables (including spreadsheets, etc.) are mixed based on a document processing program or the like stored in a program ROM of the ROM 3. The system includes a CPU 1 that executes document processing, and the CPU 1 controls each device connected to the system device 4 as a whole.

The program ROM of the ROM 3
Stores a control program of the CPU 1 and the like.
The font ROM stores font data and the like used in the document processing, and the data ROM of the ROM 3 stores various data used in the document processing and the like. Reference numeral 2 denotes a RAM, which functions as a main memory, a work area, and the like of the CPU 1. 5 is a keyboard controller (KB
In C), key input from the keyboard 9 or a pointing device (not shown) is controlled. Reference numeral 6 denotes a CRT controller (CRTC) which controls display on a CRT display (CRT) 10. 7 is a memory controller (MC)
It controls access to an external memory 11 such as a hard disk (HD) or a floppy disk (FD) that stores a boot program, various applications, font data, user files, edited files, and the like.

8 is a printer controller (PRTC)
Then, it is connected to the printer 1000 via a predetermined bidirectional interface (interface) 21 and executes communication control processing with the printer 1000. Note that CP
U1 is, for example, a display information RAM set on RAM2
The rasterization process of the outline font on the CRT 10 is performed to enable WYSIWYG on the CRT 10. Further, the CPU 1 opens various registered windows based on commands specified by a mouse cursor or the like (not shown) on the CRT 10 and executes various data processing.

In the printer 1000, reference numeral 12 denotes a printer CPU which controls various devices connected to the system bus 15 based on a control program or the like stored in a program ROM of the ROM 13 or a control program or the like stored in the external memory 14. , And outputs an image signal as output information to a printing unit (printer engine) 17 connected via a printing unit interface 16.

The program ROM of the ROM 13
Stores a control program of the CPU 12 as shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 5, 6, and 7. ROM
The font ROM used for generating the output information is stored in the font ROM 13. In the case of a printer having no external memory 14 such as a hard disk in the data ROM of the ROM 13, the host computer 3000 is used.
The information used above is stored. The CPU 12 is capable of communicating information with the host computer 3000 via the input unit 18, and is configured to be able to notify the host computer 3000 of information in the printer and the like.

Reference numeral 19 denotes a RAM that functions as a main memory, a work area, and the like of the CPU 12, and is configured so that the memory capacity can be expanded by an optional RAM connected to an expansion port (not shown).

The RAM 19 has an output information development area,
Used for environmental data storage area, NVRAM, etc. The access to the external memory 14 such as a hard disk (HD) and an IC card is controlled by a memory controller (MC) 20.

The external memory 14 is connected as an option, and includes font data, an emulation program,
Stores form data and the like. Reference numeral 18 denotes the above-described operation panel on which switches for operation, an LED display, and the like are arranged.

The above-mentioned external memory is not limited to one. At least one external memory is provided. In addition to the built-in fonts, an optional font card and a plurality of external memories storing programs for interpreting printer control languages of different languages are connected. It may be configured to be able to do so. Further, an NVRAM (not shown) may be provided to store the printer mode setting information from the operation panel 1012.

The paper discharging device 4000 is connected to the printer 1000 via a bidirectional interface (interface) 31.
And processes commands related to paper ejection from the printer 1000.

In the printing system configured as described above, the host computer 30
Various commands and print data such as resolution and paper size received from 00 through the interface 21 are stored in the RAM 19 of the printer 1000, the commands are analyzed by a program stored in the ROM 13, and printed as instructed by the commands. The data is developed into a bitmap, sent to the printing unit 17 via the printing unit I / F 16, and the actual printing is performed.

The data received by the printer 1000 from the host computer 3000 may be stored in a secondary storage device (not shown) of the printer 1000.

Further, when there is a command relating to the paper ejection, a request for the command is sent from the paper ejection control unit 22 to the paper ejection device 4000 via the interface 31 and stored in the RAM 33 of the paper ejection device. Here, the paper discharge device 40
The program stored in the ROM 34 performs a paper discharge operation that matches the command request.

The operation unit 1 of the printer 1000 is designated in the same manner as specified by a command from the host computer 3000.
By using 012, the resolution of the print data, the paper feed port, and the like can be set. Here, the operation unit 1012
Are stored in the NVRAM (not shown) of the printer 1000.

When a discharge port is instructed from the host computer 3000, a discharge port designation command, other commands, and print data are sent from the host computer 3000 to the printer 1000 via the interface 21. The printer 1000 stores the received commands and data in the RAM 19 of the printer 1000 or a secondary storage device (not shown).
The analysis is performed using the flowchart shown in FIG. In step (1) of FIG.
The transmission host, sender, file name, time, and other commands and data received by 00 are stored in the RAM 19 or the secondary storage device in step (2).

In step (3), the designation of the paper discharge destination is
It is determined whether the mode is the fixed mode (designation of the discharge destination) or the automatic mode (output to a vacant discharge destination). If the fixed mode is specified, normal printing is performed on the discharge destination specified by the command in step (5). If the automatic mode is designated, an empty discharge destination is obtained by searching in step (4) whether the discharge destination is full.

Here, the processing content of step (4) will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Step (1
In step 01), a counter (sheet discharge destination number) is initialized to 1. In step (102), full load detection of the discharge destination N specified by the counter is performed, and if the load is not full in step (103), the value of the counter (discharge destination number) is returned in step (107).

If it is full, the value of the counter is incremented in step (104), and
In step 05), the incremented value is compared with the number of paper discharge destinations of the paper discharge device. If the value of the counter is not large, the flow returns to step (102) to detect the full load of the paper discharge destination N.
If the value of the counter is large, the standard paper discharge destination (0) is set in the counter in step (106), and the value of the counter is returned in step (107).

Returning to the description of FIG. 5, it is determined in step (6) whether there is a vacant discharge destination (whether the returned value is 0). In (8), the paper is discharged to a standard paper discharge destination. If there is an empty paper discharge destination, the paper is discharged to the paper discharge destination obtained in step (5) in step (9), and step (9)
In the printing apparatus 1000, information relating to the present invention, that is, the actual output destination (counter value) and the transmission host, sender, file name, time, and the like stored in step (2) are stored. Is printed in the format shown in FIG.

The case where the determination of data from the host computer is performed by the printer 1000 has been described above, but it goes without saying that the determination may be made by the printer 1000 or by the host computer 3000.

(Other Embodiments) Next, another embodiment for performing processing different from the above-described embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, when a discharge port is instructed from the host computer 3000, a discharge port designation command, other commands, and print data are sent from the host computer 3000 to the printer 1000 via the interface 21. The printer 1000 stores the received commands and data in the RAM 19 of the printer 1000 or a secondary storage device (not shown), and the printer CPU 12 analyzes using the flowchart shown in FIG.

The transmission host, sender, file name, transmission time, and other commands and data received by the printer 1000 in step (201) of FIG. 7 are stored in the RAM 19 or the secondary storage device in step (202). In step (203), it is determined whether the specification of the discharge destination is the fixed mode (designation of the discharge destination) or the automatic mode (output to a vacant discharge destination). If the fixed mode is specified, normal printing is performed on the discharge destination specified by the command in step (205). If the automatic mode is designated, step (204)
Is searched for whether or not the discharge destination is full, thereby obtaining an empty discharge destination.

Here, the processing in step (204) is the same as the processing shown in FIG. In step (206), it is determined whether there is a vacant discharge destination (whether the returned value is 0). If there is no vacant discharge destination, in step (208), the discharge is performed to the standard discharge destination. Paper. If there is an empty paper discharge destination, the paper is discharged to the paper discharge destination obtained in step (205) in step (209), and the paper discharge destination (counter value) actually output in step (209) Then, the transmission host, the sender, the file name, the transmission time, and the like stored in step (202) are displayed on the LED display of the operation panel of the printing apparatus.

In this embodiment, a case has been described where the determination of data from the host computer is performed by the printer 1000. However, it is needless to say that the determination may be made by the printer 1000 or by the host computer 3000.

As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, in the input / output device such as a printer having a plurality of paper discharge destinations connected to the host computer, and the device, there is no designation as the paper discharge destination. When the automatic mode for discharging to the discharge destination is selected, by printing the discharge destination on the standard discharge destination, it is possible to know which discharge destination was actually output.

Further, in the input / output device such as a printer having a plurality of paper discharge destinations connected to the host computer and the apparatus, an automatic mode for discharging paper to a vacant paper discharge destination is selected as a paper discharge destination. By displaying the discharge destination on the operation panel of the printing apparatus at the time of the printing, it is possible to know which discharge destination is actually output.

[0058]

As described above, according to the first and ninth aspects of the present invention, the paper printed by the printing device is discharged to a vacant discharge destination among a plurality of discharge destinations of the discharge device. When doing. The identification information capable of identifying the printed sheet is received from another device, and the received identification information and the discharge destination information indicating the discharge destination of the printed sheet discharge device are visually associated with each other and output. Thus, the user can see the visually output information to know where the paper output destination of the paper discharge device has discharged the print result.

According to the second and tenth aspects of the present invention, the identification information and the discharge destination information are visually output to the printer, so that the self-printed result is discharged to any discharge destination of the discharge device from the output result. You can know what.

According to the third and eleventh aspects of the invention, the identification information and the discharge destination information are printed out from a discharge destination different from the discharge device, and the printed paper discharged and the identification information and the discharge information are output. The printout result of the paper tip information is not confused.

According to the fourth and twelfth aspects of the present invention, the identification information and the discharge destination information are visually output to the display device, and based on the output result, the self-printed result is output to any discharge destination of the discharge device. You can know what was done.

According to the inventions of claims 5 to 8 and 13 to 16, the identification information includes the sender name of the print data, the file name, the name of the apparatus, or the transmission time, and the paper is discharged from these information. It is possible to identify a printed sheet related to itself from among the sheets.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of an output device to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is an external view of an output device having a plurality of discharge destinations to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer control system and a paper discharge mechanism control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an output obtained in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 CPU 2 RAM 3 ROM 4 System bus 12 CPU 13 ROM 19 RAM 32 CPU 33 RAM 34 ROM 1000 Printer 3000 Host computer 4000 (with staple function)

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A printing system comprising: a printing device; and a discharge device capable of discharging a sheet printed by the printing device to a vacant discharge destination among a plurality of discharge destinations. In a printing system in which a system is connected to a network, receives print data from another device connected to the network, and prints the print data, identification information capable of identifying the printed sheet is transmitted to the other device. Receiving means for receiving the received identification information and discharge destination information indicating the discharge destination of the printed sheet from the discharge device, and output means for visually outputting the information in association with each other. Printing system. 2. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein said output means is a printer. 3. The printing system according to claim 2, wherein the printer further has a paper discharge destination for discharging printed paper, and prints the paper on which the identification information and the paper discharge destination information are printed out. A printing system for discharging paper to the discharge destination. 4. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein said output means is a display device. 5. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the identification information includes a sender name of the print data. 6. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the identification information includes a file name of the print data. 7. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the identification information includes a name of a device that has transmitted the print data. 8. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the identification information includes a transmission time of the print data. 9. A printing method for discharging a sheet printed by a printing device to a vacant discharge destination among a plurality of discharge destinations of a discharge device, wherein the printing device is connected to a network, In a printing method for receiving print data from another device connected to the network and printing the print data, receiving identification information capable of identifying the printed sheet from the other device; A printing method, wherein identification information and discharge destination information indicating a discharge destination of the printed sheet by the discharge device are associated with each other and visually output. 10. The printing method according to claim 9, wherein
A printing method, wherein the identification information and the discharge destination information are visually output to a printer. 11. The printing method according to claim 10, wherein the printer further comprises a paper discharge destination for discharging printed paper, and the printer outputs the paper on which the identification information and the paper discharge destination information are printed out. A printing method characterized by discharging paper to a discharge destination. 12. The printing method according to claim 10, wherein the identification information and the discharge destination information are visually output to a display device. 13. The printing method according to claim 9, wherein
A printing method, wherein the identification information includes a sender name of the print data. 14. The printing method according to claim 9, wherein
A printing method, wherein the identification information includes a file name of the print data. 15. The printing method according to claim 9, wherein
A printing method, wherein the identification information includes a name of a device that has transmitted the print data. 16. The printing method according to claim 9, wherein
A printing method, wherein the identification information includes a transmission time of the print data.