WO2018088159A1

WO2018088159A1 - Order management device, order management method, and order management program

Info

Publication number: WO2018088159A1
Application number: PCT/JP2017/037797
Authority: WO
Inventors: 大島　康広; 井上　正俊; 祐介阿閉; 泰行奥田
Original assignee: 株式会社プラザクリエイト; ノーリツプレシジョン株式会社
Priority date: 2016-11-14
Filing date: 2017-10-19
Publication date: 2018-05-17
Also published as: JPWO2018088159A1

Abstract

An order management device according to one aspect of the present invention is equipped with: an order receiving unit for receiving orders from a plurality of terminals for photographic print processing to be performed by a photograph-printing device; an order division unit for dividing the order received from each terminal into a plurality of sub-orders; and an order registration unit which rotates registration authority between the plurality of terminals, and registers the sub-orders of the terminal that has the registration authority as targets of print processing by the photograph-printing device.

Description

Order management apparatus, order management method, and order management program

The present invention relates to an order management apparatus, an order management method, and an order management program.

There are various types of photographic printing devices such as inkjet, sublimation thermal transfer, and silver salt printing. The photo printing apparatus can automatically print a large number of photos, and is therefore used in a store specializing in photo printing such as a photo shop. In recent years, a service that allows a user to print a photo by placing a photo printing apparatus in a convenience store or the like has begun to be provided. For example, Patent Document 1 shows one type of silver halide printing type photo printing apparatus.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-010196 JP 2007-094316 A

The inventors of the present invention have found the following problems with respect to a printing process control method in a photographic printing apparatus. In other words, when the terminal that accepts an order and the photo printing apparatus have a one-to-one correspondence, the photo printing apparatus does not accept orders from other terminals, so the orders accepted by the terminal are sequentially received. What is necessary is just to process.

On the other hand, when an order for one photographic printing apparatus is received by a plurality of terminals, if an order received by each terminal is sequentially processed, an order with a large number of prints received by a certain terminal is assigned to the photographic printing apparatus. A situation of occupying can occur. The present inventors have found a problem that, due to this situation, orders received by other terminals may not be processed for a long time.

On the other hand, Patent Document 2 proposes a control method in which when there is an order with high priority, processing of the order being processed is interrupted and the order with high priority is interrupted. However, even with this control method, it is impossible to avoid a situation in which one order with high priority occupies the photographic printing apparatus, and the above problems have not been fundamentally solved.

In one aspect, the present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object thereof is to provide a technique for appropriately processing orders received from a plurality of terminals.

The present invention adopts the following configuration in order to solve the above-described problems.

That is, an order management apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention divides an order reception unit that receives a photo print processing order for a photo printing apparatus from a plurality of terminals and a plurality of child orders. An order dividing unit that registers a child order of a terminal having the registration authority as an object to be subjected to the printing process while circulating the registration authority between the plurality of terminals. Prepare.

The order management apparatus according to the above configuration divides the order of photo print processing received from a plurality of terminals into a plurality of child orders. Then, the order management apparatus registers the child order of the terminal having the registration authority as a processing target of the photo printing apparatus while circulating the registration authority among the plurality of terminals. That is, the order management apparatus according to the above configuration does not continuously process orders from one terminal, but subdivides the orders from each terminal into child orders, and sequentially switches the target terminals to be processed. The photographic printing apparatus is controlled to print the image. Therefore, according to the above-described configuration, it is possible to prevent a single terminal from occupying the photo printing apparatus, and thus it is possible to appropriately process orders received from a plurality of terminals.

As another form of the order management apparatus according to the above aspect, the order division unit divides the order received from each terminal as a single child order for every predetermined number of photo print processes. Also good. According to the said structure, the division | segmentation of the order received from each terminal can be performed by a simple process, and, thereby, the processing load concerning order management can be suppressed.

As another form of the order management apparatus according to the above aspect, the order division unit may divide the order received from each terminal as one child order for each print process having the same attribute. According to this configuration, since it is possible to process photos having the same attribute relatively continuously in the photo printing apparatus, for example, it is possible to reduce the number of times the paper magazine is replaced. Can be achieved. Note that the attributes of the print process may include a wide range of photo print settings that can be specified when ordering the print process, such as the print size, the type of glossy finish, and the presence or absence of a white border around the print.

In addition, as another form of the order management apparatus according to each of the above forms, an information processing method for realizing each of the above configurations, a program, a computer in which such a program is recorded, or the like It may be a storage medium that can be read by an apparatus, a machine, or the like. Here, the computer-readable recording medium is a medium that stores information such as programs by electrical, magnetic, optical, mechanical, or chemical action.

For example, in the order management method according to one aspect of the present invention, a step in which a computer receives an order of a photo print process for a photo printing apparatus from a plurality of terminals, and an order received from each terminal as a plurality of child orders. Information for executing the step of dividing and the step of registering the child order of the terminal having the registration authority as an object to be subjected to the printing process while circulating the registration authority between the plurality of terminals. It is a processing method.

Further, for example, an order management program according to one aspect of the present invention includes a step of receiving, from a plurality of terminals, a photo print processing order for a photo printing apparatus, and a plurality of subordinate orders received from each terminal. Performing a step of dividing into orders, and a step of registering a child order of a terminal having the registration authority as an object to be subjected to the printing process while circulating the registration authority between the plurality of terminals. It is a program to make it.

According to the present invention, orders received from a plurality of terminals can be appropriately processed.

FIG. 1 schematically shows an example of a scene to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an example of a hardware configuration of the photographic printing apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 schematically illustrates an example of a hardware configuration of the controller (order management apparatus) according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 schematically illustrates an example of a functional configuration of the controller (order management apparatus) according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 illustrates an example of an order management processing procedure performed by the controller (order management apparatus) according to the embodiment. FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a scene where an order is divided into a plurality of child orders. FIG. 7A illustrates an example of a scene in which a child order is registered as a processing target. FIG. 7B illustrates an example of a scene in which a child order is registered as a processing target. FIG. 7C illustrates an example of a scene where a child order is registered as a processing target.

Hereinafter, an embodiment according to one aspect of the present invention (hereinafter also referred to as “this embodiment”) will be described with reference to the drawings. However, this embodiment described below is only an illustration of the present invention in all respects. It goes without saying that various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. That is, in implementing the present invention, a specific configuration according to the embodiment may be adopted as appropriate. Although data appearing in this embodiment is described in a natural language, more specifically, it is specified by a pseudo language, a command, a parameter, a machine language, or the like that can be recognized by a computer.

§1 Application scene First, the scene where the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a scene in which the order management apparatus according to the present embodiment is used. The controller 1 according to the present embodiment is an information processing apparatus that receives an order of a photo print process from a plurality of terminals 3, and causes the photo print apparatus 2 to execute a photo print process based on the received order. Corresponds to the “order management device”.

Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the controller 1 accepts an order of photo print processing for the photo print apparatus 2 from a plurality of terminals 3. Subsequently, the controller 1 divides the order received from each terminal 3 into a plurality of child orders. Then, the controller 1 registers the child order of the terminal 3 having the registration authority as an object to be printed by the photo printing apparatus 2 while circulating the registration authority among the plurality of terminals 3.

That is, the controller 1 does not cause the photo printing apparatus 1 to process the orders received from one terminal at a time, but subdivides the orders from each terminal 3 into a plurality of child orders, and registers and registers the child orders. While repeating the transfer of authority, the photo print apparatus 1 is made to process the subordinate child orders. Thereby, in this embodiment, it is possible to prevent the single terminal 3 from occupying the photo printing apparatus 2, and it is possible to appropriately process orders received from the plurality of terminals 3.

§2 Configuration example [Hardware configuration]
<Photo printing device>
Next, an example of the hardware configuration of the photo printing apparatus 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 shows an example of the hardware configuration of the photo print apparatus 2. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the photographic printing apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment is a so-called silver salt printing photographic printing apparatus, and includes a substantially rectangular housing.

In the housing, a paper discharge path 20 from the photographic paper magazine 21 to each discharge port (26, 27) is formed by a plurality of transport rollers and arms. On the paper discharge path 20, a cutter unit 22, an exposure unit 23, a development processing unit 24, and a drying unit 25 are provided in this order.

The photographic paper magazine 21 stores photographic paper wound in a roll shape. As the photographic paper, a known paper can be used. Each transport roller and arm provided in the paper discharge path 20 feeds out the photographic paper stored in the photographic paper magazine 21, and the photographic paper fed out into the cutter unit 22, the exposure unit 23, the development processing unit 24, and the drying unit 25. Pass in the order.

The cutter unit 22 includes a paper cutter, and cuts the photographic paper supplied by the paper cutter into a print size. The print size may be specified when a photo print request is received, or may be set in advance. The photographic paper cut to the print size is conveyed on the paper discharge path 20 and supplied to the next exposure unit 23.

The exposure unit 23 includes an exposure head capable of irradiating light, and based on image data designated as a development target, for example, light beams of three primary colors R (red), G (green), and B (blue). Is applied to the photographic paper. Specifically, the exposure head synchronizes with the conveyance speed of the photographic paper and sets the conveyance direction in which the photographic paper is conveyed as the sub-scanning direction, and scans the light beam while scanning in the main scanning direction perpendicular to the sub-scanning direction. Irradiate. As a result, the photographic paper is exposed.

The type of the exposure unit 23 may be appropriately selected according to the embodiment. For example, a laser beam method, a fluorescence beam method, a liquid crystal shutter method, a DMD (Digital Micro-mirror Device) method, or the like may be employed. . The exposed photographic paper is conveyed on the paper discharge path 20 and supplied to the next development processing unit 24.

The development processing unit 24 includes a color development processing tank 241, a bleach-fixing processing tank 242, and four stable processing tanks 243 as processing tanks for storing a processing solution for development processing. The color development processing tank 241 stores a color development processing solution. The bleach-fixing processing tank 242 stores a bleach-fixing processing solution. The stable treatment tank 243 stores a stable treatment liquid. Each processing solution can be a known one. The stable treatment liquid is, for example, water.

The photographic paper exposed by the exposure unit 23 is immersed (passed) in the order of the color development processing tank 241, the bleach-fixing processing tank 242, and the stabilization processing tank 243 while being transported along the paper discharge path 20 by the transport roller. Thus, the development processing unit 24 performs development processing on the exposed photographic paper. The photographic paper subjected to the development processing is conveyed on the paper discharge path 20 and supplied to the next drying unit 25.

The processing tanks 241 to 243 of the development processing unit 24 are appropriately connected with a replenishing tank, a water supply tank, and a waste liquid tank (not shown) for each processing liquid, together with a pump. Thus, each of the processing tanks 241 to 243 is configured so that the processing liquid used for development can be discharged to the waste liquid tank and the processing liquid can be newly replenished from the replenishing tank. In addition, each of the treatment tanks 241 to 243 is configured to be capable of diluting the treatment liquid and replenishing water for evaporation by receiving supply of water from the water supply tank.

The drying unit 25 includes a blower that supplies dry air heated by a heater, and the photographic paper immersed in each processing liquid is dried by the blower. Thus, the photo printing process is completed, and a photo in which the designated image is printed is formed.

After the drying unit 25, the paper discharge path 20 is branched into two paths, a first discharge port 26 and a second discharge port 27. A switching guide (not shown) is provided at the branch of the first outlet 26 and the second outlet 27 so that a printed photograph can be appropriately conveyed to the first outlet 26 or the second outlet 27. It has become.

The first discharge port 26 is a discharge port for discharging a photograph in which a designated image is printed. The printed photograph discharged from the first discharge port 26 is appropriately sent to the customer who requested the printing of the photograph. For example, a transport conveyor (not shown) for transporting photos may be disposed in the vicinity of the first discharge port 26, and the transport conveyor receives the photos discharged from the first discharge port 26 and sends the received photos to the customer's site. May be conveyed. Further, for example, the operator may collect the photos discharged from the first discharge port 26, and hand the collected photos to the customer as appropriate.

On the other hand, the second discharge port 27 is a discharge port for discharging a test print for adjusting print quality such as color density. The second discharge port 27 is provided below the first discharge port 26 and is connected to the color measurement unit 28. The type of the test print is not particularly limited as long as the color of the image developed on the photographic paper can be determined. For example, a multi-stage gray patch is printed on the test print. The color measurement unit 28 includes a spectrocolorimeter, and measures the density of the gray patch at each stage while frame-feeding the test print. This measurement result can be used to adjust the light emission state of the exposure head, the concentration of the processing liquid in each of the processing tanks 241 to 243, and the like so that a photograph can be printed with the set print quality.

<Controller>
Next, the hardware configuration of the controller 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 schematically illustrates an example of a hardware configuration of the controller 1 according to the present embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the controller 1 according to the present embodiment is executed by the control unit 11 including a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and the like. A computer in which a storage unit 12 for storing the program 8 to be executed, an input / output interface 13 for exchanging data with an external device, and a drive 14 for reading a program stored in the storage medium 9 are electrically connected It is. In FIG. 3, the input / output interface is described as “input / output I / F”.

The storage unit 12 is an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk drive or a solid state drive. The program 8 stored in the storage unit 12 is a program for causing the control unit 11 of the controller 1 to control each component and to execute each process related to order management described later. That is, the program 8 corresponds to the “order management program” of the present invention. This program 8 may be stored in the storage medium 9.

The storage medium 9 stores information such as a program by an electrical, magnetic, optical, mechanical, or chemical action so that the information such as a program stored in a computer or other device or machine can be read. It is a medium to do. In FIG. 3, as an example of the storage medium 9, a disk type storage medium such as a CD (Compact Disk) or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) is illustrated. However, the type of the storage medium 9 is not limited to the disk type and may be other than the disk type. Examples of the storage medium other than the disk type include a semiconductor memory such as a flash memory.

Further, the controller 1 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of input / output interfaces 13 and is connected to the photographic printing apparatus 2 and the terminal 3 via the input / output interfaces 13. As a result, the controller 1 can receive an order of a photo print process from the terminal 3, and can cause the photo print apparatus 2 to execute a photo print process based on the received order.

The user operates the terminal 3 and inputs the order of the photo print processing. The type of the terminal 3 is not particularly limited as long as the print processing order can be input. For example, the terminal 3 may be a desktop PC (Personal Computer) equipped with an input device, a tablet PC, or the like. The terminal 3 may be a simple input device such as a touch panel display.

It should be noted that regarding the specific hardware configuration of the controller 1, the components can be omitted, replaced, and added as appropriate according to the embodiment. For example, the control unit 11 may include a plurality of processors. The controller 1 may be connected to a reading device or the like for capturing image data to be printed. The controller 1 may further include a communication interface, and may be configured to acquire image data to be printed via a network line such as the Internet. The controller 1 may be a general-purpose information processing device such as a desktop PC or a tablet PC in addition to an information processing device designed exclusively for the provided service. Furthermore, the controller 1 may be configured by one or a plurality of computers.

[Function configuration]
Next, an example of a functional configuration of the controller 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 schematically illustrates an example of a functional configuration of the controller 1 according to the present embodiment. The control unit 11 of the controller 1 expands the program 8 stored in the storage unit 12 in the RAM. And the control part 11 interprets and executes the program 8 expand | deployed by RAM by CPU, and controls each component. Accordingly, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the controller 1 according to the present embodiment functions as a computer including the order receiving unit 111, the order dividing unit 112, and the order registration unit 113.

The order receiving unit 111 receives a photo print processing order for the photo print processing 2 from a plurality of terminals 3. The order dividing unit 112 divides the order received from each terminal 3 into a plurality of child orders. Then, the order registration unit 113 registers the child orders of the terminals 3 having the registration authority as targets to be printed by the photo printing apparatus 2 while circulating the registration authority among the plurality of terminals 3. The photo printing apparatus 2 refers to the child orders registered as processing targets, and executes the child order print processing in the registered order. Each function will be described in detail in an operation example described later.

In the present embodiment, an example in which each of the above functions is realized by a general-purpose CPU is described. However, some or all of these functions may be realized by one or more dedicated processors. Further, regarding the functional configuration of the controller 1, functions may be omitted, replaced, and added as appropriate according to the embodiment.

§3 Operation Example Next, an operation example of the controller 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 illustrates an example of an order management processing procedure by the controller 1. The processing procedure described below corresponds to the “order management method” of the present invention. However, the processing procedure described below is only an example, and each processing may be changed as much as possible. Further, in the processing procedure described below, steps can be omitted, replaced, and added as appropriate according to the embodiment.

(Step S101)
In step S <b> 101, the control unit 11 of the controller 1 functions as the order receiving unit 111 and receives an order of photo print processing for the photo printing apparatus 2 from the plurality of terminals 3.

Each user operates each terminal 3 and designates a photograph desired to be printed, thereby inputting a print processing order for the target photograph. The method for inputting the order may be appropriately selected according to the embodiment.

For example, a reader that can read data from a storage medium such as a CD, a DVD, or a flash memory may be connected to each terminal 3 or the controller 1. In this case, each user can set one or a plurality of image data to be printed from the image data stored in the storage medium by setting the storage medium in the reading device. .

Also, for example, each terminal 3 or controller 1 may be connected to a network line such as the Internet. In this case, each user accesses an information processing device (storage device) such as NAS (Network Attached Storage) via the network, and prints from the image data stored in the accessed information processing device. One or a plurality of image data to be processed can be designated.

The control unit 11 receives, for example, such designation of the target of the print process, receives the order of the print process from each terminal 3, and acquires the image data that is the target of the print process of the received order. And the control part 11 performs the process of following step S102 about the received order.

(Step S102)
In the next step S102, the control unit 11 functions as the order dividing unit 112, and divides the order received from each terminal 3 into a plurality of child orders. The method of dividing into child orders may be appropriately selected according to the embodiment. In the present embodiment, the control unit 11 divides the order received in step S101 into a plurality of child orders by the following two division methods.

(1) First Division Method In the first division method, the control unit 11 divides the order received in step S101 as one child order for every predetermined number of photo print processes. According to the first division method, since the order can be divided by a simple process, the processing load of step S102 can be suppressed.

For example, if there is an order to print 100 photos, “predetermined number” is set to 30. In this case, the control unit 11 includes the order that prints 100 photos, 3 child orders that print 30 photos, and 1 child coder that prints 10 photos. It is divided into a total of 4 child orders.

The set value of “predetermined number” as a unit of division may be appropriately set according to the embodiment, may be given in advance as a fixed value, or may be given by an operator or the like. Also, a plurality of setting values of “predetermined number” may be given so that they can be changed depending on the time zone, day of the week, the number of users using each terminal 3, and the like. A plurality of setting values may be given discretely or may be given continuously by specifying a numerical range.

(2) Second Division Method In the second division method, the control unit 11 divides the order received in step S101 as one child order for each print process having the same attribute. The attributes of the print processing can widely include photographic print settings that can be specified when ordering the print processing, such as the print size, the type of glossy finish, and the presence or absence of a white edge around the print. According to the second division method, the photo printing apparatus 2 can continuously print photographs having the same attribute. For example, the number of replacements of the photographic paper magazine 21 can be reduced. Thus, the efficiency of the print process can be improved.

For example, when there is an order for print processing for 10 L-sized photos and 5 2L-sized photos, it is assumed that the setting is made to divide by the same print size. In this case, the control unit 11 includes two sub-orders, one sub-order for printing 10 L-size photos and one sub-order for printing 5 L-sized photos. Divide into orders.

The “attribute” as a unit of division may be set as appropriate according to the embodiment, may be set in advance in advance, or may be set by designation of an operator or the like. In addition, multiple types of “attributes” may be set. For example, the control unit 11 may divide the order according to two types of attributes of print size and glossy finish type.

Note that in the second division method, when there are a large number of photos to be printed with the same attribute in the order received in step S101, it is not possible to appropriately divide into multiple child orders. There is a possibility that the number of photos to be processed included in the child order will increase. Therefore, the control unit 11 may use the first division method together with the second division method.

For example, the control unit 11 may first divide the order received in step S101 into child orders by the second division method. Then, when the number of photos to be processed included in the child order after division by the second division method is greater than a predetermined number, the control unit 11 further increases the number of child orders by the first division method. It may be divided into child orders.

As described above, the control unit 11 divides the order received from each terminal 3 in step S101 into a plurality of child orders. And after dividing | segmenting into a child order, the control part 11 advances a process to the following step S103, in order to make the photograph printing apparatus 2 perform the printing process of the said child order.

(Steps S103 to S105)
In the next steps S103 to S105, the control unit 11 functions as the order registration unit 113, and circulates the registration authority among the plurality of terminals 3, while the child print order of the terminal 3 having the registration authority is transferred to the photo printing apparatus 2. Is registered as a target for print processing.

In the present embodiment, the control unit 11 registers the child order of the terminal 3 having the registration authority as a processing target in the management table as the process of step S103. The registration authority is an authority to register a child order as a print processing target. As an initial operation of this operation example, the registration authority is given to any one of a plurality of terminals 3 that accept orders.

The number of child orders registered at a time may be appropriately selected according to the embodiment. For example, the number of child orders registered at one time may be one. In this case, the control unit 11 registers one child order of the terminal 3 having registration authority in the management table as the process of step S103.

The management table is data for storing the print processing order of the child tasks, and is appropriately stored in the storage unit 12 or the like on the RAM of the control unit 11. However, the data format for storing the print processing order of the child tasks need not be limited to the table format, and may be appropriately selected according to the embodiment. For example, the print processing order of the child tasks may be stored in a FIFO (First In In First Out) format.

In the next step S104, the control unit 11 determines, for each terminal 3, whether or not an unregistered child order remains as a print processing target. When there is no unregistered child order, the control unit 11 ends the process according to this operation example. On the other hand, when an unregistered child order remains, the control unit 11 advances the processing to the next step S105.

In the next step S105, the control unit 11 transfers the registration authority from the terminal 3 that registered the child order in step S103 to the next terminal 3. The order in which the registration authority is transferred may be appropriately set according to the embodiment. After transferring the registration authority, the control unit 11 returns the process to step S103.

In the present embodiment, the control unit 11 repeats such processing of steps S103 to S105, that is, registration of the child order of the terminal 3 having registration authority (step S103) and transfer of registration authority (step S105). repeat. Thereby, the control unit 11 registers the child order of the terminal 3 having the registration authority as an object to be printed by the photo printing apparatus 2 while circulating the registration authority among the plurality of terminals 3. Then, the control unit 11 controls the photo print apparatus 2 so that the child order print processing is executed in the registered order.

[Concrete example]
Next, a specific example of the processing procedure will be described with reference to FIG. 6 and FIGS. 7A to 7C. FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a scene (step S102) in which the order is divided into a plurality of child orders. 7A to 7C illustrate an example of a scene (steps S103 to S105) in which child orders are registered as processing targets while circulating registration authority.

In this specific example, three terminals A to C are connected to the controller 1. In step S101, the control unit 11 receives from the terminal A an order A0 for printing 100 photos, and receives an order B0 from the terminal B for printing 80 photos. Assume that an order C0 for printing a photo is received from the terminal C.

In step S102, it is assumed that the first division method is used, and the “predetermined number” is set to 30. Further, in steps S103 to S105, it is assumed that the registration authority is initially given to the terminal A, and is cyclically transferred in the order of terminal A → terminal B → terminal C → terminal A.

In this case, in step S102, as shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 11 prints the order A0, three child orders A1 to A3 for printing 30 photos, and 10 photos. Is divided into one child order A4. Similarly, the control unit 11 divides the order B0 into two child orders (B1, B2) for printing 30 photos and one child order B3 for printing 20 photos. . The control unit 11 divides the order C0 into one child order C1 that prints 30 photos and one child order C2 that prints 20 photos.

In the next step S103, as shown in FIG. 7A, the control unit 11 registers in the management table one child order (child order A1) of terminal A that initially has registration authority. In step S104, since eight unregistered child orders remain, the control unit 11 advances the processing to the next step S105. In step S105, the control unit 11 transfers the registration authority from the terminal A to the next terminal B, and returns the process to step S103.

While the unregistered child orders remain, the processes in steps S103 to S105 are repeated. In the next steps S103 to S105, as shown in FIG. 7B, the control unit 11 registers one child order (child order B1) of the terminal B having the registration authority in the management table and transfers the registration authority from the terminal B. Transfer to the next terminal C. Further, in the next steps S103 to S105, as shown in FIG. 7C, the control unit 11 registers one child order (child order C1) of the terminal C having registration authority in the management table, and assigns the registration authority to the terminal C. To the next terminal A.

In this way, the control unit 11 registers the child orders as print processing targets while circulating the registration authority in the order of terminal A → terminal B → terminal C → terminal A. Then, the control unit 11 takes out the child order first registered in the management table, and causes the photo printing apparatus 2 to execute print processing of the taken out child order. As a result, the control unit 11 causes the photo printing apparatus 2 to execute the child order print processing in the order of registration.

Note that the number of child orders that can be registered in the management table may be limited. For example, when the number of possible child orders in the management table is limited to two, in the scene illustrated in FIG. 7C, the control unit 11 waits until the print processing of the child order A1 is executed. Then, after the print processing of the child order A1 is executed and the child order A1 is deleted from the management table, the control unit 11 registers the child order C1 of the terminal C in the management table by the process of step S103.

This can solve the following problems. That is, when the number of child orders that can be registered in the management table is not limited, the control unit 11 attempts to register all child orders created from the accepted orders in the management table. Therefore, there is a possibility that the management table is occupied by a child order created from orders from terminals accepted from some terminals. That is, when a small quantity of photo print orders are received from another terminal after receiving a large quantity of photo print orders from some terminals, the management table is occupied by the child orders of some terminals. There is a possibility that the child order registration of the terminal will be after all the child orders of the part of the terminals. In this case, even if the order from each terminal is divided into child orders, the order cannot be appropriately processed. On the other hand, by restricting the number of child orders that can be registered in the management table, it is possible to prevent the management table from being occupied by the child orders of some terminals. The order can be processed appropriately.

[Operation of photo printing device]
Next, the operation of the photo printing apparatus 2 will be described. The photo printing apparatus 2 is controlled by the controller 1 and executes child order print processing in the order registered in step S103.

Specifically, the photo printing apparatus 2 acquires information (image data or the like) of the child order that is earliest registered from the controller 1. Next, the photographic printing apparatus 2 drives a conveyance roller or the like to feed out the photographic paper from the photographic paper magazine 21 and cuts the photographic paper to the print size by the cutter unit 22. Subsequently, the photographic printing apparatus 2 drives the exposure unit 23 based on the image data included in the child order, and performs an exposure process on the cut photographic paper. Further, the photographic printing apparatus 2 passes through the processing tanks 241 to 243 of the development processing unit 24 to perform development processing on the exposed photographic paper. Then, the photographic printing apparatus 2 dries the photographic paper subjected to the development process by the drying unit 25.

When a plurality of pieces of image data are included in one child order, the photo print device 2 executes the print process for each piece of image data. As a result, the printing process for one child order is completed, and a photograph in which the image data included in the child order is printed is formed. The formed photograph or sheets are discharged from the first discharge port 26 and appropriately sent to the order owner. When there is a child order that has not been printed, the photo printing apparatus 2 acquires information about the next child order from the controller 1 and executes the printing process for the acquired child order.

[Characteristic]
As described above, in the present embodiment, in step S102, the order of the photo print processing received from each terminal 3 is divided into a plurality of child orders. Then, in steps S103 to S105, the child order of the terminal 3 having the registration authority is registered as a processing target of the photo printing apparatus 2 while circulating the registration authority among the plurality of terminals 3.

Thereby, in this embodiment, the order received from one terminal 3 is not continuously processed, but the order received from each terminal 3 is subdivided into child orders, and the processing target terminals 3 are sequentially switched. The child print order is processed by the photo printing apparatus 2. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to prevent the single terminal 3 from occupying the photo printing apparatus 2, and therefore it is possible to appropriately process orders received from the plurality of terminals 3.

§4 Modifications Embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, but the above description is merely an illustration of the present invention in all respects. It goes without saying that various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, the following changes are possible. In the following, the same reference numerals are used for the same components as in the above embodiment, and the description of the same points as in the above embodiment is omitted as appropriate. The following modifications can be combined as appropriate.

For example, in the above embodiment, the photographic printing apparatus 2 is a silver halide printing photographic printing apparatus. However, the type of the photographic printing apparatus 2 is not limited to the silver salt printing method, and may be other methods. For example, the photographic printing apparatus 2 may be a photographic printing apparatus such as an inkjet method or a sublimation type thermal transfer method.

Also, for example, in the examples of FIGS. 1, 6, and 7A to 7C, the controller 1 has three terminals connected thereto. However, the number of terminals connected to the controller 1 is not limited to three, and may be two or four or more. The number of terminals connected to the controller 1 may be appropriately selected according to the embodiment.

1 ... Controller (order management device),
11 ... control unit,
111 ... Order reception unit, 112 ... Order division unit, 113 ... Order registration unit,
12 ... Storage unit, 8 ... Program, 9 ... Storage medium,
13 ... Input / output interface, 14 ... Drive,
2 ... Photo printing device,
20 ... paper discharge path, 21 ... photographic paper magazine,
22 ... Cutter unit, 23 ... Exposure unit,
24: Development processing unit,
241 ... Color development processing tank, 242 ... Bleach fixing processing tank,
243 ... Stabilization tank,
25 ... Drying unit, 26 ... First outlet, 27 ... Second outlet,
3 ... terminal

Claims

An order accepting unit that accepts an order of photo print processing for a photo printing apparatus from a plurality of terminals;
An order dividing unit that divides the order received from each terminal into a plurality of child orders;
An order registration unit for registering child orders of terminals having the registration authority as targets for the print processing, while circulating the registration authority between the plurality of terminals;
Comprising
Order management device.
The order dividing unit divides the order received from each terminal as one child order for every predetermined number of photo print processes.
The order management apparatus according to claim 1.
The order dividing unit divides the order received from each terminal as one child order for each print process having the same attribute.
The order management apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.
Computer
Receiving a photo print processing order for the photo printing apparatus from a plurality of terminals;
Dividing the order received from each terminal into a plurality of child orders;
Registering a child order of a terminal having the registration authority as an object to be subjected to the printing process while circulating the registration authority between the plurality of terminals;
Order management method to execute.
On the computer,
Receiving a photo print processing order for the photo printing apparatus from a plurality of terminals;
Dividing the order received from each terminal into a plurality of child orders;
Registering a child order of a terminal having the registration authority as an object to be subjected to the printing process while circulating the registration authority between the plurality of terminals;
Order management program to execute.