KR100594743B1 - Network printing system using messenger and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A network printing system is disclosed. The network printing system according to the present invention, which is connected to a network and provides an information device for transmitting and receiving a message with an external device through the network, provides a messenger to the information device and mediates the transmission and reception of messages between the information device and the external device through the provided messenger. And a printer connected to a chat server and a network, which performs a print job on a file requested by the information device. Here, when the server receives a file requested to be printed through the messenger from the information apparatus, the server transmits the received file to the printer. As a result, information devices without a printer driver can be freely printed through a network printer, thereby maximizing the use of the portable terminal.

Network printer, information device, messenger, chat server, printer driver

Description

Network printing system using messenger and method

1 is a schematic view showing a general network printing system;

2 is a block diagram schematically showing a network printing system according to the present invention;

3 is a flowchart illustrating a network printing method by the network printing system of FIG. 2;

4 is a view showing an example of a print command input via the information device of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating another example of a print command input through the information device of FIG. 2.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

210: information device 211: storage unit

213: application unit 215: transceiver

230: chat server 231: command parser

233: command execution unit 240: conversion server

250: printer

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a network printing system and a method thereof, and more particularly, to a printing system and an apparatus by an information apparatus without a printer driver installed.

Generally, a printer is an office device connected to a computer and outputs a result on paper, and receives a document or image data created or edited on the computer as print data, and converts it into a print language suitable for the set printing conditions. It is a device that outputs to paper using colored dye such as ink or toner.

In recent years, printers are connected to a network and shared by many users, thereby increasing work efficiency. The system connecting the printer to the network as described above is called a network printing system.

In general, a network printer system allows a printer and a plurality of computers to be connected through a local area network (LAN), and print jobs are performed in the printer as a plurality of computers transmit print data through the network. Such a system can establish a low cost office automation system by allowing several users to share a single printer.

1 is a view schematically showing a general network printing system. Referring to the drawings, the network printing system includes a network printer 110 that performs printing according to received print data, a computer 120 requesting printing to the network printer 110, a network printer 110, and a computer 120. It consists of a network 130 to connect the.

The network printer 110 is a core and essential device of the office automation device together with the computer 120. When the document created in the computer 120 is printed by the network printer 110, the network printer 110 may be connected to the network printer 110. You need a printer driver to run the printer.

The printer driver converts print data created by an application program of a computer into data that can be interpreted by the network printer 110. That is, when a print command for outputting a document created by an application program of the computer 120 to the network printer 110 is selected, the print data is divided into pages, and data and control codes included in one page of print data are divided. And the like are properly processed and converted into data that can be interpreted by the network printer 110 and then transmitted to the network printer 110. The printer driver provides a print information selection screen for setting various print information (for example, print range, number of copies, printing method, paper cassette, etc.) for a corresponding document to be printed by a user.

The network printer 110 which prints the print data received from the printer driver of the computer 120 according to the print information is equipped with a paper cassette on which the above-mentioned chainchain paper is loaded, and picks up the paper loaded in the paper cassette. up), and the image is discharged by forming an image with a dye such as a toner on the paper conveyed through the image forming unit.

However, as described above, the general network printing system must install a program such as a printer driver in order for the computer 120 to communicate with the network printer 110. If such a printer driver is not installed, data created and edited by the computer 120 cannot be printed by the network printer 110.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a network printing system and a method for printing an information device without a printer driver through a network printer.

A network printing system according to the present invention for achieving the above object is an information device connected to a network and transmitting and receiving a message with an external device through the network, providing the messenger to the information device and the information device through the provided messenger. And a chat server for mediating transmission and reception of the message between the external device and a printer connected to the network and performing a print job for a file requested by the information device, wherein the chat server includes the information device. When the file is requested to print through the messenger from the received, characterized in that for transmitting the received file to the printer.

The network printing system may further include a conversion server for converting a file requested to be printed by the information device into PDL (Page Description Language) data. Here, when the printer cannot recognize the file requested to be printed, the printer preferably prints the PDL data converted by the conversion server.

In addition, the information device preferably includes a transmission and reception unit, an application unit for driving the messenger provided from the chat server, and a storage unit for storing the file for printing. Here, it is preferable that the transmission and reception unit transmits the file stored in the storage unit to the chat server through the messenger driven by the application unit.

Preferably, the chat server includes a command parser for analyzing a command performed by the information device, and a command execution unit for controlling the printer / the conversion server according to the command analyzed by the command parser.

On the other hand, the network printing system according to the present invention, (a) providing a messenger to the information device connected to the chat server via the network, (b) receives a file requested to print from the information device through the provided messenger And (c) printing the received file through a printer.

Preferably, the network printing method comprises the steps of: (d) determining whether the printer can print the received file; (e) when the printer determines that printing of the file is impossible; The method may further include converting the file received through the PDL data. Here, the printer preferably prints the PDL data converted by the step (e).

Advantageously, the network printing method further comprises: (f) retrieving an application program for said file received via said conversion server. Here, the step (e) converts the file into the PDL data so as to be linked with the application program searched by the step (f).

The network printing method may further include (g) storing the file for printing by the information device, and (h) driving the messenger provided from the chat server. In this case, the information device transmits the stored file to the chat server through the driven messenger.

The network printing method may further include (i) analyzing the print command executed by the chat server by the chat server, and (j) controlling the printer / the conversion server according to the analyzed print command. It is preferable to further include.

In this way, an information apparatus without a printer driver or an application program can be printed via a network printer.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in more detail the network printing system according to the present invention.

2 is a block diagram schematically showing a network printing system according to the present invention. Referring to the drawings, the network printing system is composed of an information device 210, a network 220, a chat server 230, a conversion server 240, and a printer 250. In this case, the information device 210, the chat server 230, the conversion server 240, and the printer 250 are connected to each other through the network 220.

The information device 210 is connected to the network 220 and transmits and receives a message with an external device through the network 220. Here, the information device 210 refers to a device capable of transmitting and receiving data by connecting to the network 220 by wire or wirelessly, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a notebook computer, and the like. In addition, the external device is a broad concept including the chat server 230, the conversion server 240, and the printer 250 as well as other information devices.

Meanwhile, the information device 210 includes a storage unit 211, an application unit 213, and a transceiver unit 215. The storage unit 211 stores a file for printing (hereinafter referred to as a 'printing file'). In addition, the application unit 213 drives a messenger provided from the chat server 230. In addition, the transceiver 215 transmits the file stored in the storage 211 to the chat server 230 through a messenger driven by the application unit 213.

In addition, the chat server 230 includes a command parser 231 and a command execution unit 233. The command parser 231 analyzes a print command for a file for printing performed by the information device 210. In addition, the command execution unit 233 controls the conversion server 240 / printer 250 in accordance with the print command analyzed by the command parser 231.

The conversion server 240 converts the file requested to be printed by the information device 210 into PDL (Page Description Language) data. Here, the PDL data, also called a page description language, refers to a language used for describing information of one page transmitted to the printer in a printer device that prints the contents of one page at a time, such as a laser printer.

The printer 250 is connected to the network 220 and performs a print job for a file requested by the information device 210.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a printing method by the network printing system of FIG. 2. With reference to the drawings will be described in detail the operation and operation of the network printing system according to the present invention.

The chat server 230 provides a messenger to the information device 210 connected to the network 220 (S301). The information device 210 transmits and receives a message with another external device through a messenger received from the chat server 230.

Meanwhile, the information device 210 creates and stores a content of a conversation transmitted and received with another external device or a file for printing a document created by another external device such as a computer or a notebook (S303).

The application unit 213 of the information device 210 drives the messenger provided by the chat server 230 (S305). That is, the application unit 213 drives a messenger provided by the chat server 230 to send and receive text messages with other external devices. In addition, when printing a file for printing stored in the storage unit 211 of the information device 210, the user inputs a print command through an input unit (not shown) provided in the information device 210, the application unit ( 213 transmits a print command input by the user to the chat server 230 through the network 220. In addition, the transceiver 215 transmits the print file to the chat server 230 through a messenger.

The command parser 231 of the chat server 230 analyzes the print command performed by the information device 210 (S307), and according to the analyzed result, the command execution unit 233 converts the conversion server 240 or the printer ( 250 is controlled (S309). That is, if the print command input by the user through the information device 210 is a print command for the PDL file converted by the conversion server 240, as shown in Figure 4, the chat server 230 is the information device Receives the print request file from the 210 and transmits to the conversion server (240) (S311), the command execution unit 233 is the conversion server 240 and the printer 250 to perform printing on the received file To control. That is, the conversion server 240 receives a file requested to be printed by the information device 210 from the chat server 230, and converts the received file into PDL data. In addition, the printer 250 performs a print job on the PDL data converted by the conversion server 240.

Meanwhile, the user may input a direct print command for the printer 250 as shown in FIG. 5 through the information device 210. In this case, the chat server 230 receives the print request file from the information device 210 and transmits the file to the printer 250 (S311).

The printer 250 determines whether the printer 250 can print the file received from the chat server 230 (S313).

If it is determined that the file received by the printer 250 is a non-printable file, the chat server 230 transmits the print request file to the conversion server 240. In this case, the printer 250 registers and stores the conversion server 240 connected through the network 220, so that the connection is immediately converted to the conversion server 240 when it is determined that printing is impossible. desirable.

The conversion server 240 retrieves the application program for the print request file received from the chat server 230 (S315). At this time, the application program retrieved by the conversion server 240 is an application program that is mutually compatible with the printing file created by the messenger of the information device 210 or stored in the storage unit 211, MS Word, Hangah Hangul, Hunminjeongeum Speak application as.

When the application program for the print request file is retrieved by the conversion server 240, the conversion server 240 converts the received file into PDL data so as to interwork with the retrieved application program (S317). The printer 250 prints the PDL data converted by the conversion server 240 (S319).

If the printer 250 determines that the file received from the chat server 230 is capable of printing, the printer 250 directly prints the file received from the chat server 230 (S321).

As a result, not only a notebook or a computer, but also an information device such as a PDA or a mobile phone without a printer driver can be freely printed through a network printer, thereby maximizing the efficiency of resources of the portable terminal.

According to the present invention, an information device such as a PDA or a mobile phone terminal can also be printed through a network printer, thereby maximizing the network use of the portable terminal.                     

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments of the present invention without departing from the spirit of the present invention as claimed in the claims. Anyone skilled in the art can make various modifications, as well as such modifications are within the scope of the claims.

Claims (9)

An information device connected to a network, the information device transmitting and receiving a message with an external device through the network; A chat server which provides a messenger to the information device and mediates transmission and reception of the message between the information device and the external device through the provided messenger; And A printer connected to the network, the printer performing a print job on a file requested by the information device; When the chat server receives the file requested to be printed through the messenger from the information device, the chat server transmits the received file to the printer. And when the printer cannot recognize the file requested to be printed, the printer converts the file into another format and prints the file. The method of claim 1, And a conversion server for converting the file requested to be printed by the information device into the other format, that is, page description language (PDL) data. The method of claim 2, wherein the information device, A transceiver; An application unit for driving the messenger provided from the chat server; And A storage unit for storing the file for printing; The transmission and reception unit, the network printing system, characterized in that for transmitting the file stored in the storage to the chat server via the messenger driven by the application unit. The chat server of claim 1, wherein the chat server comprises: A command parser for analyzing a print command performed by the information device; And And a command execution unit for controlling the printer / the conversion server according to the print command word analyzed by the command parser. (a) the chat server providing a messenger to an information device connected through a network; (b) receiving a file requested to be printed from the information device through the provided messenger; (c) printing the received file via a printer; And (d) the printer determining whether or not the received file is printable. The method of claim 5, (e) if it is determined by the printer that printing of the file is impossible, converting the file received through the conversion server into PDL data; The printer prints the PDL data converted by the step (e). The method of claim 6, (f) retrieving an application program for the file received through the conversion server; The step (e), the network printing method, characterized in that for converting the file into the PDL data to be linked with the application program retrieved in the step (f). The method of claim 7, wherein (g) storing the file for printing by the information device; And (h) driving the messenger provided from the chat server; And the information device transmits the stored file to the chat server through the driven messenger. The method of claim 8, (i) analyzing, by the chat server, a print command executed by the information device; And (j) controlling the printer / the conversion server according to the analyzed print command.

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