KR100382775B1 - Network Printing System and the Method Thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

According to the present invention, a personal computer user is connected to a personal computer through an Internet network.

Print documents from remote printers and authenticate and charge on a central server

The present invention relates to a network printing system and a method thereof.

According to the present invention, at least one remote from one or more personal computers

In order to be able to print from your printer, you need to

To convert the transfer data file and send it to the print server via the Internet.

It is equipped with a user installation program, and personalized by the user's request through the internet network.

Transfers to a computer and includes a database containing the member database and billing database

You will be provided with the account and perform the user registration, member authentication, and billing procedures. remote

Print server is sent by a user installer installed on a personal computer.

Interpret and process print information, so printers connected to the print server perform print jobs

It has a configuration to make.

Description

Network Printing System and the Method Thereof

The present invention relates to a network printing method, and a network printing system and method for allowing a personal computer user to print a document through a remote printer connected to the personal computer through an internet network and to perform authentication and billing at a central server. It is about.

Generally, a printer is used as a means for outputting a finished document through computer work. However, since the printer has a volume and weight that cannot be carried, it is inconvenient to print the desired document by directly visiting a nearby stationery store or printing shop in order to print the document at a place where the printer is not provided, such as when traveling. There was a ham.

On the other hand, since a conventional printer communicates directly with a computer, only the simple functions provided by the printer can be used to manage printing tasks, thereby allowing the user to manage the amount of output to be printed and to permit the use of the printer for a specific user. Statistical management of the printout results, such as impossibility management and success / failure of the print job, was not possible.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and to provide a network printing system and method for printing a document through a remote printer even in a place where a printer is not provided.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing system and method capable of performing statistical management of the output amount associated with the use of the printer, whether the user is permitted to use the printer, and the output result.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a printing system and method for enabling printing by installing only one printer driver on a user's personal computer regardless of the type of printer to be installed at a remote location.

1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a network printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of a central server shown in FIG.

3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a user installation program transmitted from the central server shown in FIG. 1 to a user's personal computer and set-up to the personal computer;

4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a program installed in the printer server shown in FIG. 1;

5 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a network printing method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: personal computer 20: central server

21: network interface 22: database

23: Application 24: User Installer

25: memory 30: print server

31: network interface 32: database

40: printer

In order to achieve the above object, the network printing system of the present invention is provided with a user installation program for converting a document file to be printed by a user into a transcription-type data file and performing a transmission to a print server through an Internet network. A central server for transmitting to a personal computer through an Internet network at the request of a user, and having a database including a member database and a billing database to perform user registration, member authentication, and billing procedures; One or more remote printer servers for interpreting and processing print information sent by a user installation program installed in the personal computer; And the remote printer connected to the print server to perform a print job by a print command of the print server.

In addition, the network printing method according to the present invention receives a user installation program for converting a document file to be printed into a transcription-type data file and performing a transmission to a print server using an Internet network from a central server via an Internet network. Installing on a computer; Giving personal identification information of a member at the request of a user and storing it in a member database of a database of a central server; By requesting a user print job, the central server requests the user to input personal identification information, receives the input personal identification information from the central server, and compares it with personal identification information stored in the member database of the member database. Performing; If the member authentication is normally terminated, the central server transmitting an order menu including an output point and a payment method to the personal computer for the user to select; A user completing a selection and giving a print command to the order menu; Transmitting, by the user installation program, print information including the user's personal identification information, order details, and transcription-type data of the document file to the printer server at the output point; And receiving and interpreting the print information from the print server and transferring the print information to a printer for processing.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a network printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, one or more personal computers 10, a central server 20, and one or more printer servers 30 are connected to an internet network, which is one of communication networks. The central server 20 and the printer server 30 may be connected through an internet network, but each printer server 30 may be connected to the central server 20 using a dedicated line. In FIG. 1, the personal computer 10, the central server 20, and the printer server 30 are illustrated as being connected to each other through an internet network. The term “internet network” in the present invention means TCP / IP. And a set of networks interconnected by standard protocols such as HTTP, including various changes that may be made in the future, including changes or additions to existing standard protocols.

The central server 20 and the printer server 30 may be provided with network interfaces 21 and 31 to be connected and communicate with an internet network.

2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the central server 20 shown in FIG. The central server 20 provides an HTML document to the user of the personal computer 10 and has a user installation program 24 to be described later so that the user can download it. The central server 20 includes a database 22, which includes a member database for storing user IDs, passwords, and personally identifiable information, an order history database for storing user orders, and members. A billing database for storing billing information for the user, a print result of the printer server 30 for the user's print command, a process result database, and an IP address database for storing the IP address of the print server 30 installed at the output point And a statistical database for storing various statistical data generated for the operation of the network printing system of the present invention using the databases.

In addition, the central server 20 is provided with an application program 23 including membership registration, member authentication, billing and statistics modules.

First, the membership registration module is a program for assigning personal identification information such as a user ID and a password to a member in order to use the network printing system according to the present invention. The member registration module generates a user ID and a password and stores the generated ID and password and personal identification information in a member database. The stored ID, password, and personally identifiable information are used for member authentication and billing data generation.

In addition, the membership authentication module is a program for judging whether the user wants to use the network printing system of the present invention. The member authentication module determines whether the printing system of the present invention can be used based on whether the user ID and password input by the member match the user ID and password stored in the member database of the database. If member authentication fails, the user ID and password must be re-entered or the member registration procedure must be performed if the member is not a member.

In addition, the charging module charges according to the output amount of the document of the user, and stores the charged amount in the charging database of the database for each user ID.

Finally, the statistical module extracts various statistical information necessary for the operation of the network printing system of the present invention, such as printing success according to a member's printing command, print amount for each output point, and stores the statistical information in a statistical database.

The central server 20 has a user installation program 24 which allows a user to convert a document file to be printed and sent to the printer server 30. The user installation program 24 may be used by a personal computer ( 10) is downloaded and installed.

3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a user installation program 24 that is transferred from the central server 20 shown in FIG. 1 to a user's personal computer and set-up to the personal computer. Referring to Fig. 3, the user installation program 24 includes a printer driver, file compression and communication module.

The printer driver converts the document file to be printed by the remote printer 40 at the output point into a transfer data format that the printer 40 can recognize, and converts the document file into a bitmap or metafile. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the metafile is converted to minimize the amount of data transmission.

The file compression module compresses the file converted by the printer driver and transmits the file to the print server 30 through the Internet.

Finally, the communication module enables the personal computer 10 to communicate with the central server 20 and the printer server 30. That is, the communication module is executed when the central server 20 and the personal computer 10 transmit and receive data, or when the personal computer 10 transmits print information to the printer server 30.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a program installed in the printer server shown in Fig. 1, which includes print management, decompression, output state management, printer setting, and communication modules.

First, the print management module relates to information for printing among the print information transmitted by the user installation program 24, that is, the user ID, the file name of the document to be printed, the output amount (or the number of output pages), and whether to print immediately or later. The print information is immediately issued to the printer 40 based on the interpreted information or the print information is stored in the databases 32a, 32b, ... for later printing.

The decompression module decompresses the compressed file and transmits the decompressed file to the printer 40. The output state management module monitors whether the printer 40 prints successfully / errors and sends a message accordingly. Is displayed through the display.

In addition, the printer setting module performs a function for setting an environment related to the use of the printer, such as setting on whether or not to retry printing, a retry count, and a retry time interval.

Finally, the communication module allows the printer server 30 to communicate with the personal computer 10 and the central server 20.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a network printing method according to another embodiment of the present invention. First, as a preparation process for printing, a user who wants to use the network printing system of the present invention executes a web browser such as an explorer or a navigator installed in the personal computer 10 to the central server 20 through an internet network. In step S100, the user installation program 24 provided by the central server 20 is downloaded, stored in the personal computer 10, and then set-up (S101). When the set-up process is completed, the network printer of the present invention is added to the printer type registered and registered in the personal computer 10.

Next, the member registration process is performed through the member registration menu provided by the central server 20 (S102). That is, when the user selects the member registration menu, the member registration module of the application 23 is executed, and the user is given a user ID and password by inputting personal identification information requested by the member registration module.

When the preparation process is completed, the user opens a document file to be printed and designates a network printer according to the present invention as a printer to be used for printing (S103). In this way, if the user executes the print command in the editing program (for example, Korean 97) that creates the document file while the document file to be printed is opened (S104), the user installation program set-up on the personal computer 10 is executed. The communication module 24 connects the personal computer and the central server through the Internet network (S105). The printer driver of the user installation program 24 converts the document file data to be printed into a metadata file, stores it in a temporary memory (RAM) of the personal computer 10 and prepares to transmit it to the print server 30 (S106). ).

When connected to the central server 20, the user enters the user ID and password in the user ID and password input window (may be provided by the user installation program) provided from the central server. The data input in this way is transmitted to the central server 20 (S107). When the input of the user ID and password is transmitted to the central server 20, the central server 20 executes the member authentication module to determine whether the input data matches the data stored in the member database (S108), If there is a mismatch, an error message is transmitted to the personal computer 10 (S109). On the other hand, if there is a match, the central server 20 transmits the order menu screen related to printing to the personal computer 10 (S110).

The order menu may include, for example, an output point (Yeoksam-dong branch, Jongno branch, Busan branch, ...), a completed form (binding or not, whether a cover is included, etc.), a method of receiving (post, courier service, branch visit, etc.), payment It includes menus such as method (establishment: depositing a certain amount in advance and subtracting the amount used), postpay method: paying when receiving printed materials at the output point, card payment, electronic money payment, etc. The central server 20 stores the selected order details in the memory whenever the user selects one item from the output point, completion form, receipt method, and payment method menu on the order menu screen, and charges data based on the order details. In operation S111, when the user selects an output point, the central server 20 transfers the IP address of the printer server 30 of the corresponding output point to the personal computer 10. And the communication module of the user installation program 24 is recognized.

At this time, the user selects desired methods from each item of the order menu and inputs a print command (S112). In response to the print command, the central server 20 stores the order history and the billing data stored in the memory 25 in the order history database and the billing database (S113). On the other hand, the user installation program 24 performs the print command. In accordance with this, the print information including the user ID, the order history and the metadata file is transmitted to the printer server 30 of the IP address (S114).

Then, the print server 30 receives the print information and interprets, by the print management module, a user ID, a file name of a document to be printed, an output amount (or an output page), and information about whether to print immediately or later (S115), On the basis of the analyzed information, a print command is immediately given to the printer 40, or the print information is stored in the databases 32a, 32b, ... for later printing (S116). For example, if the payment method of printing information is credit, card, or electronic money, a printing command is given to the printer so that printing can be performed immediately. In the case of postpaid payment, the printing information is stored in the database 32a, 32b, ... ) So that it can be printed at a later visit by the user.

Finally, the processing result of the user's print command is immediately transmitted to the central server 20 through the Internet network or a dedicated line and stored in the processing result database, which is usefully used when generating various statistical data (S117).

Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, this is for the purpose of illustration and various modifications, changes, additions, and the like may be made by those skilled in the art within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

As described above, the present invention entails the effect of allowing a user to print a document at a place where a user wants to output through a remote printer even in a place where a printer is not provided, and at the central server, output quantity management related to the use of a printer. In addition, it is possible to perform the management of the user's permission to use the printer and statistical management of the output result, thereby providing a high quality printing service to the user.

In addition, by converting the document file in the form of a metadata file to a remote printer and transmitting the document file, it is possible to conveniently print by installing only one printer driver on a user's personal computer regardless of the type of printer installed at the remote site. have.

Claims (11)

In a network printing system for performing a print job to a remote printer in response to a request from a personal computer connected to a network, Receive a request for a remote print order from the personal computer, transmit information of a remote printer to the personal computer to perform a remote print order according to the request, and when the remote print order of the personal computer is completed A central server for controlling billing based on the completed print order; At least one remote printer server for interpreting print information received from the personal computer and performing a print job; And And a remote printer connected to the print server for performing a print job by a print command of the print server. delete delete delete In the network printing method for performing a print job using at least one remote printer from at least one personal computer, (a) converting a document file to be printed into a transcription-type data file and installing a user installation program for transmitting to a printer server using an internet network from a central server via the internet network and installing it on a personal computer; (b) granting the member's personal identification information at the request of the user and storing the member's personal identification information in the member database of the database of the central server to be registered as a member; (c) requesting a user to input personal identification information upon request of a print job, receiving the input personal identification information, and performing a member authentication procedure by comparing the personal identification information stored in the member database of the member database; ; (d) in the case of an authenticated member, transmitting an order menu including an output point, an IP of a print server, and a payment method to the personal computer for the user to select; (e) receiving and storing contents of a print command from a user's computer; (f) receiving a processing result of the user's print command from the remote printer server; And and (g) controlling to process the charging based on the print command and the processing result from the print server. delete delete The method of claim 1, The central server may include a network interface connected to an internet network to communicate therewith; A user installation program that is downloaded to a user computer and converts a document file to be printed into a predetermined format and sent to a print server; An application for registration, certification, billing and statistics of members; A database storing member information; And And a memory storing an output point, a completion form, a receiving method, and a payment method for performing printing based on a printing order. The method of claim 8, The user installation program includes a printer driver for converting a document file to be printed into a transfer data file format; A file compression module for compressing the file converted by the printer driver; And And a communication module for allowing the personal computer, the central server, and the printer server to communicate with each other. The method of claim 1, The printer server includes a network interface for communicating with an Internet network; A database for storing print information received from a personal computer; And And a printing program for controlling the printer based on the printing information stored in the database. The method of claim 10, The print program includes a print management module which manages printing; A decompression module for decompressing the received document file; An output state management module for managing information such as an output result; And A network printing system comprising a printer setting module for controlling a setting state of a printer.