KR20050111278A - Printing system capable of printing device configuration by using file and method using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A printing system is disclosed. The printing system relates to a printing system having an image forming apparatus and a host connectable to the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus includes a storage unit for storing an environment setting value for the image forming apparatus, an environment for the environment setting value. A configuration file generation unit for generating a configuration file, and a control unit for transmitting the configuration file to the host, wherein the control unit loads the configuration file transmitted and stored in the host to update the configuration value set in the storage unit. According to such a printing system, the printing environment of the image forming apparatus can be stored as a file, and the stored file can be loaded into the image forming apparatus and printed according to the setting information of the stored file, thereby inputting a large amount of setting information of the image forming apparatus. Eliminate the hassle of doing. In addition, when the image forming apparatus manager needs to set a plurality of image forming apparatuses, the printing environment may be collectively set for the plurality of image forming apparatuses according to the stored files.

Description

Printing system capable of printing device configuration using a file and a printing method using the same {Printing system capable of printing device configuration by using file and method using the same}

The present invention relates to a printing system capable of setting a printing apparatus using a file and a method using the same, and more particularly, a file for setting a printing environment of a printing apparatus using a file storing function settings provided by the printing apparatus. The present invention relates to a printing system capable of setting a printing apparatus using a printing method and a printing method using the same.

In general, in order to print through a printer, a printer driver that transmits the printing environment and data to the printer must be installed in a host (eg, PC) device connected to the printer and a cable. The application must be installed.

In this way, in the PC where the printer driver and the application are installed, the user may change the printing environment setting value through the printer driver, and the printing environment setting value may also be changed in the application. In general, the printing environment of the application is selected prior to the printing environment of the printer driver and transmitted to the printer. As the printing environment of the application is generally selected in preference to the printing environment of the printer driver, users can finish all the work from one application to printing without setting up the printing environment through the printer driver.

1A to 1C are diagrams showing a means for setting a conventional printing apparatus.

FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating a printing apparatus front panel user interface (UI), and FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating an interface for setting a printing apparatus using a PC application program. 1C is a diagram illustrating an interface for setting a printing apparatus using a web.

As shown in Figs. 1A to 1C, the printing apparatus has many printing functions to be set. General printing device should be set printing direction, duplex printing, paper margin, number of copies, power saving, color, resolution, paper type, paper feed, font, etc. as printing function, fax function, copy function, scan function or network function. If this is added, more information needs to be set.

However, in the conventional printing apparatus setting system, inputting a large amount of setting information of the printing apparatus is troublesome for the user, and after incorrectly inputting the setting of the printing apparatus, it is impossible to return to the previously set value. In addition, when a printing apparatus manager needs to set a plurality of printing apparatuses, there is a problem in that a lot of time and effort are required for printing setting.

Therefore, an object of the present invention can be stored in the host device as a function setting provided in the printing device, and prints using a file that can be stored according to the setting environment of the file by loading the stored file to the printing device (load) A printing system capable of setting a device and a printing method using the same are provided.

A printing system capable of setting an image forming apparatus using a file according to the present invention for achieving the above object comprises a printing system including an image forming apparatus and a host connectable to the image forming apparatus, wherein the image forming apparatus includes: And a storage unit for storing an environment setting value for the image forming apparatus, a setting file generation unit for generating an environment setting file for the environment setting value, and a control unit for transmitting the environment setting file to the host. The environment setting value set by the storage unit is updated by loading the stored landscape setting file transmitted to the host.

Here, a plurality of image forming apparatuses may be connected to the host and the network, and the configuration file analyzing unit may extract a printing option for the image forming apparatus by analyzing the configuration file loaded from the host to the image forming apparatus. Include.

The host transmits the configuration file transferred from the image forming apparatus and backed up to any one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses to perform configuration of the image forming apparatuses.

On the other hand, a printing method using an image forming apparatus system that can be set using the file of the present invention is at least one image forming apparatus and a printing system comprising at least one host connected to the image forming apparatuses In the configuration method, generating a configuration wave for the configuration values set in each image forming apparatus to each image forming apparatus, and transmits the configuration files generated by each image forming apparatus to a host Storing in the host, and loading any one of the configuration files stored in the host into any one of the image forming apparatuses.

here. The loading of the image forming apparatus into one of the image forming apparatuses may include analyzing an environment setting file transmitted from the host in the image forming apparatus, an environment setting value of the analyzed environment setting file, and an environment previously stored in the image forming apparatus. Comparing the setting values, and updating the preset environment setting values for the image forming apparatus according to the comparison result.

Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings will be described the present invention in more detail.

2 is a block diagram showing a printing system capable of setting a printing apparatus using a file according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, a printing system capable of setting a printing apparatus using a file according to the present invention includes a printer 100 and a computer 200. First, the printer 100 includes a configuration file processing unit 130 including a configuration file generation unit 132 and a configuration file analysis unit 134, an input interface 142 of the printer, and a display unit 144 of the printer. The unit 140, a storage unit 110 of the printer, a controller 120 of the printer, and an interface unit 150. In addition, the host device and the computer 200 connected to the printer 100 may include a user interface unit 240 (UI: User Interface) and a setting file search of a computer including an input unit 242 of the computer and a display unit 244 of the computer. The control unit 220 of the computer including the unit 222, the application unit 232, the printer driver unit 234, the printer interface unit 250, the printer interface unit 210, and the storage unit 210 of the computer Include.

As shown in FIG. 2, the user interface 140 provided in the printer 100 includes an input unit 142 of a printer and a display unit 144 of a printer, and the printer 100 is a storage unit of the printer. When searching for a configuration file stored in 110, an operation key (not shown) for selecting the configuration file and a display unit 144 for displaying a search result are provided. In addition, the user interface 140 may display a menu for generating a configuration file in the printer 100. This will be described later.

The interface unit 150 performs bidirectional data communication with the computer 200. The interface unit 150 receives the print data transmitted from the computer 200 and converts the print data into a form recognizable by the printer 100, or transmits state information about the printer 100 to the computer 200.

The storage unit 110 of the printer stores a control program for driving the printer 100, various temporary data generated while the printer 100 is driving, and an environment setting value for the printer 100. As a control program stored in the storage unit 110 of the printer, a program for converting the print data transmitted from the computer 200 into a bitmap form or a pulse form according to the driving method of the printer, and stored in the storage unit 210 of the computer. The program is loaded by loading a file stored in the storage unit 210 or by transferring a pre-stored configuration file to the computer 200. Here, the printing environment setting value refers to a printing format for the file to be printed.

The setting file processor 130 generates an environment setting file for an environment setting value set in the printer 100. Here, the configuration file is generated when the user instructs the creation of the configuration file through the interface unit 150.

The controller 120 of the printer generally controls the printer 100, and processes the print data received through the interface unit 150 to convert the data into printable form in the printer 100. When the printer 100 is a transfer photograph method, the control unit 120 of the printer converts the print data into a bitmap form, and in the inkjet method, a pulse signal provided to each head constituting the ink head may be generated. In addition, the control unit 120 of the printer transmits the configuration file generated by the configuration file processing unit 130 to the computer 200 and writes it to a storage medium of the computer 200, or loads the configuration file recorded on the storage medium. Control the setting file processor 130 to be recorded in the storage unit 110 of the printer.

The configuration file generation unit 132 generates a configuration file for the user based on the configuration values set in the printer 100 through the user interface 140 of the printer. In this case, the storage unit 110 of the printer includes a font for a menu screen for generating a setting file in the user interface unit 140 of the printer, and a menu for generating a setting file in the user interface unit 140 is selected. At the time, a program for converting an environment setting value set in the printer 100 into a file having a predetermined format is embedded.

The computer 200 includes a printer interface unit 150, a user interface unit 240 of a computer, a controller 220 of a computer, an application 232, a printer driver 234, and a storage unit 210 of a computer. . The storage unit 110 of the printer stores the environment setting file generated by the printer 100. At this time, the configuration file stored in the storage unit 110 of the printer is loaded and stored in the printer 100, or the storage unit 210 by accessing the configuration file stored in the storage unit 110 of the printer from the controller 220 ) Can be stored. When storing from the printer 100 to the computer 200, path information for storing the configuration file in the computer 200 should be set in the printer 100.

The printer driver 234 converts a document file generated by the application unit 232 into print data, and the controller 120 of the printer is coupled to a processor, a processor, and a memory device to drive an application by a user, and a driver. Control the behavior of the program. The user interface unit 240 of the computer may be a keyboard, a mouse, or the like provided in the conventional computer 200, and the functions and shapes of the user interface unit 240 of the computer are well known to those skilled in the art. Is omitted below.

In the printing system having the above configuration, the user transfers the configuration file set for the printer to the computer 200 to back it up, or another printer connected to the computer 200 by using the configuration file backed up by the computer 200. Referring to the process of transmitting this to the 100 in more detail as follows.

The user may operate the user interface unit 140 of the printer to set the printing environment, and generate an environment setting file for the printer and store it in the printer 100 or transmit it to the computer 200. At this time, the configuration file is generated by the configuration file generation unit 132. The configuration file generation unit 132 generates configuration settings set for the functions provided to the printer 100 in the form of a file, and the generated configuration files are transmitted to and stored in the storage unit 210 of the computer. The interface unit 150 of the printer 100 and the printer interface unit 250 of the computer may generate the printer 100 and the computer when the generated setting file is transferred to the computer 200 and stored in the storage unit 210 of the computer. Interface 200. In addition, when the setting file is loaded into the printer 100 into the storage unit 210 of the computer, the printer 100 and the computer 200 interface with each other. The control unit 120 of the printer controls the configuration file generation unit 132 so that the files are generated in the configuration file generation unit 132, or controls the files to be transmitted from the printer 100 to the computer 200. The user interface unit 140, the interface unit 150, or the like, or the setting file analysis unit 134 analyzes the information of the setting file and the setting file analysis unit to set the analyzed information as the printing environment of the printer 100 ( Control the operation of each component of the printer 100, such as by controlling 134.

On the other hand, the storage unit 210 of the computer stores the setting file transmitted from the printer 100. The setting file search unit 222 searches for a setting file which the user wants to find among the files stored in the storage unit 210 of the computer under the control of the control unit 220 of the computer.

The storage unit 210 of the computer stores the environment setting file transmitted from the printer 100. The setting file search unit 222 searches for a setting file which the user wants to find among the files stored in the storage unit 210 of the printer under the control of the control unit 220 of the computer.

Then, the configuration file analysis unit 134 of the printer 100 is a configuration file of the configuration file loaded in the printer 100 through the printer interface unit 250 and the printer interface unit 150 of the computer 200 as described above The information is analyzed and set as the printing environment of the printer 100. A user interface unit 140 of a printer including an input unit 142 of a printer, a display unit 144 of a printer, and a user interface unit 240 of a computer including an input unit 242 of a computer and a display unit 244 of a computer. Respectively connects the user and the printer 100 and the user and the computer 200.

The printer driver 234 transfers the printing environment and data from the computer 200 to the printer 100, and the application unit 234 reproduces the print target file.

The controller 220 of the computer generally controls the operation of each component of the computer. For example, the file generated by the configuration file generation unit 132 is controlled to be stored in the storage unit 210 of the computer, or the computer so that the configuration file can be loaded from the computer 200 to the printer 100. The user interface unit 240 and the printer interface unit 250 of the control, or the file stored in the storage unit 210 of the computer control the file setting unit 222 to search for the file that the user wants to find Overall control of the operation of each component of (200).

3A illustrates a user interface for loading and storing a configuration file according to an embodiment of the present invention. That is, FIG. 3A illustrates a case where a user stores a setting file for a printing environment set by using an input unit 142 of a printer or an input unit 242 of a computer in the storage unit 210 of the computer 200, or stores a printer. A user interface used when the setting file stored in the unit 210 is loaded into the printer 100 is shown.

3B illustrates a configuration file according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3B illustrates a setting file in which items of a printing environment that can be set by a user are displayed.

Referring to FIG. 3B, in the case of the printer 100, a setting file includes setting items such as a font number, a tray 1 paper size, an input / output timeout, and the like. There are setting items such as a dicard size, a fax number, a customer ID name, and a redial term. In a network in which a plurality of printing apparatuses are connected to a host device, there may be setting items such as a host name, a gateway address, a domain name, and the like. After the user's selection is input to the print setting items of the respective printing apparatuses, a print environment according to the input print setting items is generated in the setting file generation unit 132 as a setting file. As shown in FIG. 3B, information on printing items such as a printer and a fax may be generated in one setting file, and information such as a printer and a fax may be generated in each setting file.

3C is a diagram illustrating means for connecting a printing apparatus and a host device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3C, when the configuration file is loaded from the storage unit 210 of the computer in which the configuration file is stored to the printer 100, a LAN (Local Area) is a means for connecting the computer 200 to the printer 100. Network), parallel printer cable, USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable and the like can be used.

4A is a flowchart illustrating a method of storing a file in a host device in a printing method using a printing system in which a printing apparatus can be set using a file according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4A, information on print setting items of the printer 100 is generated as a setting file through the user interface 140 of the printer as shown in FIG. 3A (S410). When the save configuration file button of the user interface unit 140 shown in FIG. 3A is pressed, the printer 100 displays information on each setting item of the setting file as shown in FIG. 3B. It is filled with the information of the setting item when it is pressed. For example, if the item information on the paper size of the printer 100 is B5 and the item information on the number of fonts is PCL1 or the like when the save setting file button is pressed, the paper size is B5 and the number of fonts is PCL1, respectively. Information about the setting items of the file is created in a file. At this time, the setting file is generated by the setting file generation unit 132 of the printer 100.

Subsequently, the setting file generated by the setting file generator 132 is transmitted to the computer 200 through the printer interface unit 250 of the printer interface unit 150 and the computer 200 (S420).

The setting file transmitted to the computer 200 is stored in the storage unit 210 of the computer (S430). At this time, the setting file may be stored as a single file information on the print setting items for all the printing devices connected to the computer 200, such as printer 100, fax, etc. as shown in Figure 3b, for each printing device Information of print setting items may be stored in each file. On the other hand, when the information of the same print setting item as the setting file stored in the storage unit 210 of the computer is required, the printer 100 loads the setting file and sets the printing environment of the printer 100 according to the setting item of the setting file. Can be.

4B is a flowchart illustrating a method of transmitting a setting file to a printing apparatus in a printing apparatus setting method using a file according to an embodiment of the present invention.

 Referring to FIG. 4B, when a user inputs a file search command through the user interface as shown in FIG. 3A, the setting file search unit 222 searches for a setting file stored in the storage unit 210 of the computer ( S511).

The setting file retrieved by the setting file search unit 222 is loaded into the printer 100 (S513). In this case, as shown in FIG. 3C, a configuration file stored in the computer 200 is loaded into the printer 100 using a local area network (LAN), a parallel printer cable, a universal serial bus (USB) cable, or the like. When loading a configuration file using a parallel printer cable or a USB cable, data can be loaded by a copy command, and the configuration file may be provided in a batch file format. When loading a configuration file over a LAN, the configuration file can be loaded using a network application or a web server built into the printer. The loaded configuration file is stored in the storage unit 110 of the printer.

For example, using a user interface as shown in FIG. 3A, the user presses a browse button to select a configuration file stored in storage 210 of the user's computer. When the configuration file is selected and the load configuration file button of the user interface is pressed, the configuration file is loaded from the computer 200 to the printer 100.

After the setting file is loaded from the computer 200 to the printer 100, it is determined whether the user has changed the information on the setting items of the setting file (S515).

If the information on the setting item is not changed, the setting file analysis unit 134 analyzes the information on the setting item of the setting file loaded into the printer 100 (S517). That is, the configuration file analysis unit 134 extracts respective information about each configuration item. Then, the printing environment of the printer 100 is set according to the respective information on the setting items of the setting file analyzed by the setting file analyzing unit 134 (S519). For example, when the information on the item about the paper size is stored in the setting file as B5 and the information about the number of fonts is stored as PCL1 in the setting file as described above, the setting file analyzing unit 134 sends the printer 100 to the printer 100. The printing environment of the printer 100 is set by setting the paper size of the print target to be printed by B5, the number of fonts by PCL1, and the like.

However, if the information on the setting item is changed, it is determined whether to apply the information on the setting item of the changed setting file (S521). That is, when the user changes the information on the setting items of the setting file loaded into the printer 100, whether to set the printing environment in the printer 100 according to the information of the changed setting file or the storage unit 210 of the computer 200. To save the changed configuration file.

When setting the printing environment according to the information of the changed setting file, the setting file analysis unit 134 analyzes the information of the setting file as described above, and sets the printing environment according to the analyzed information. On the other hand, if the printing environment is not set according to the information of the changed setting file, the setting file is transferred from the printer 100 to the computer 200 in the same manner as described with reference to FIG. 4A to store the storage unit 210 of the computer 200. The changed configuration file is stored in step S523.

As described above, according to the present invention, the printing environment of the printing apparatus can be stored as a file, and the stored file can be loaded into the printing apparatus and printed according to the setting information of the stored file, thereby providing a large amount of setting information of the printing apparatus. Typing them can eliminate the hassle for the user.

In addition, when the image forming apparatus manager needs to set a plurality of image forming apparatuses, the printing environment may be collectively set for the plurality of image forming apparatuses according to the stored files.

In addition, although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, but the technical field to which the invention belongs without departing from the spirit of the invention claimed in the claims. Of course, various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art, and these modifications should not be individually understood from the technical spirit or the prospect of the present invention.

1A to 1C show a means for setting a conventional printing apparatus,

2 is a block diagram showing a printing system capable of setting a printing apparatus using a file according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3A illustrates a user interface for loading and storing a configuration file according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3b is a view showing a configuration file according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3C is a view showing means for connecting a printing apparatus and a host device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4A is a flowchart illustrating a method of storing a file in a host device in a printing method using a printing system capable of setting a printing apparatus using a file according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

4B is a flowchart illustrating a method of loading a file stored in a printing apparatus in a printing method using a printing system in which a printing apparatus can be set using a file according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

100: printer 200: computer

110: storage unit of the printer 120: control unit of the printer

130: configuration file processing unit 132: configuration file generation unit

134: configuration file analysis unit 140: printer user interface unit

142: input unit of the printer 144: display unit of the printer

150: interface unit 210: storage unit of the computer

220: control unit of the computer 222: configuration file search unit

232: application unit 234: printer driver unit

240: user interface unit of the computer 242: input unit of the computer

244: display unit of computer 250: printer interface unit

Claims (7)

A printing system comprising an image forming apparatus and a host connectable with the image forming apparatus, The image forming apparatus, A storage unit which stores an environment setting value for the image forming apparatus; A configuration file generation unit generating a configuration file for the configuration value; And And a control unit for transmitting the environment setting file to the host, wherein the control unit loads the landscape setting file transmitted and stored in the host and updates the environment setting value set in the storage unit. The method of claim 1, The image forming apparatus, And a setting file analyzer configured to analyze the configuration file loaded from the host to the image forming apparatus and extract print options for the image forming apparatus. The method of claim 1, And a plurality of the image forming apparatuses, and are connected to the host through a network. The method of claim 3, wherein The host, And a configuration setting for the image forming apparatuses by transferring the configuration file transferred from the image forming apparatus and backed up to any one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses. The method of claim 4, wherein The host, And receiving and storing a plurality of configuration files transmitted from the plurality of image forming apparatuses, and transmitting one of the transferred files to any one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses. In the configuration method of the printing system comprising at least one image forming apparatus and at least one host connected to the image forming apparatuses, Generating, in each of the image forming apparatuses, a configuration wave for the configuration values set in each of the image forming apparatuses; Transmitting the configuration files generated by each image forming apparatus to a host and storing the configuration files in the host; And And loading any one of the configuration files stored in the host into any one of the image forming apparatuses. The method of claim 6, Loading into any of the image forming apparatuses, Analyzing the configuration file transmitted from the host in the image forming apparatus; Comparing the environment setting values of the analyzed environment setting file with the environment setting values previously stored in the image forming apparatus; And Updating the pre-stored preference values for the image forming apparatus according to the comparison result.