WO2019233326A1 - Printing control method, device and system - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided in one or more embodiments of the present invention are a printing control method, device and system. The method is implemented in a printing control apparatus, and can comprise: receiving a printing request initiated by a user; determining a printing apparatus in response to the printing request; and assigning a corresponding printing task to the printing apparatus according to printing requirements indicated in the printing request and the single-process continuous printing capacity of the printing apparatus.

Description

Printing control method, device and system

This application claims priority from a Chinese patent application filed on June 08, 2018 with an application number of 201810586263.3 and an invention name of "Print Control Method, Device, and System", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical field

One or more embodiments of the present specification relate to the field of printing technology, and in particular, to a printing control method, device, and system.

Background technique

A printer is one of the output devices of a computer, and is used to print the processing results of the computer on the relevant media. By sending the documents and pictures to be printed to the printer, the printer can be printed according to the attributes set by the user, such as the number of copies and the number of copies.

Summary of the Invention

In view of this, one or more embodiments of the present specification provide a printing control method, device, and system.

To achieve the above purpose, one or more embodiments of the present specification provide technical solutions as follows:

According to a first aspect of one or more embodiments of the present specification, a print control method is proposed, which is applied to a print control device; the method includes:

Receive a print request initiated by the user;

Determining a printing device for responding to the print request;

Allocating a corresponding printing task to the printing device according to the printing requirements indicated by the printing request and the single continuous printing capability of the printing device.

According to a second aspect of one or more embodiments of the present specification, a printing control method is proposed, which is applied to a printing device; the method includes:

Receive a print request initiated by the user;

A corresponding print task is generated according to the printing requirements indicated by the print request and a single continuous printing capability of the printing device.

According to a third aspect of one or more embodiments of the present specification, a print control device is proposed, which is applied to a print control device; the device includes:

A receiving unit that receives a print request initiated by a user;

A determining unit that determines a printing device for responding to the print request;

The allocating unit allocates a corresponding printing task to the printing device according to the printing requirements indicated by the printing request and the single continuous printing capability of the printing device.

According to a fourth aspect of one or more embodiments of the present specification, a print control device is proposed, which is applied to a printing device; the device includes:

A receiving unit that receives a print request initiated by a user;

The generating unit generates a corresponding printing task according to the printing requirements indicated by the print request and a single continuous printing capability of the printing device.

According to a fifth aspect of one or more embodiments of the present specification, a print control method is proposed, which is applied to a print control device; the method includes:

Receive a print request initiated by the user;

Determining a printing device for responding to the print request;

Allocating a corresponding printing task to the printing device according to the printing requirements indicated by the print request and the printing capability of the printing device.

According to a sixth aspect of one or more embodiments of the present specification, a print control device is proposed, which is applied to a print control device; the device includes:

A receiving unit that receives a print request initiated by a user;

A determining unit that determines a printing device for responding to the print request;

The assigning unit assigns a corresponding print task to the printing device according to the printing requirements indicated by the print request and the printing capability of the printing device.

According to a seventh aspect of one or more embodiments of the present specification, a print control system is provided, including: a print control device and a print device;

The print control device is configured to allocate a print job to the print device by using the print control method according to any one of the above embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a print control system according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2A is a flowchart of a print control method according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2B is a flowchart of another print control method according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of another print control method according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an interaction schematic diagram of a print control process according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of selecting a printing device according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a device according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a print control apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of another print control apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of still another print control apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment.

Detailed ways

Exemplary embodiments will be described in detail here, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the accompanying drawings, the same numerals in different drawings represent the same or similar elements unless otherwise indicated. The implementations described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all implementations consistent with one or more embodiments of the present specification. Rather, they are merely examples of devices and methods consistent with some aspects of one or more embodiments of the specification, as detailed in the appended claims.

It should be noted that, in other embodiments, the steps of the corresponding method are not necessarily performed in the order shown and described in this specification. In some other embodiments, the method may include more or fewer steps than described in this specification. In addition, a single step described in this specification may be divided into multiple steps for description in other embodiments; and multiple steps described in this specification may be combined into a single step for other embodiments. description.

In one embodiment, the printing control scheme of this specification can be applied to a printing device. In the running process, the printing device responds to the print request initiated by the user, and can combine with its single continuous printing capability to generate a reasonable printing task. While completing the response as soon as possible, it can ensure that the printing device can maintain a good working state.

In another embodiment, FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a print control system according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the system may include a server 11, a network 12, several printing devices (such as a printer 13, a printer 14, a printer 15, and the like), and a mobile phone 16.

The server 11 may be a physical server including an independent host, or the server 11 may be a virtual server carried by a host cluster. In the running process, the server 11 can run a server-side program of an application to be implemented as a server of the application, so that the server 11 can combine printing devices such as printers 13 to 15 after receiving a print request initiated by a user Single-time continuous printing capability, reasonably distribute the corresponding printing tasks.

The printers 13 to 15 can run a client-side program of an application during the running process so as to be the client of the application, so that the printers 13 to 15 can receive the printing task issued by the server 11 and implement the printing task according to the printing task. The corresponding print operation.

It should be noted that although some printing devices can directly run the client-side program of the above application to be configured as the client of the application, such as printers 13-14 shown in FIG. 1; however, other printing such as printer 15 The device may not be able to run the client-side program of the above application directly due to the old model and other reasons. In order to enable the printer 15 to be applied to the technical solution of this manual, the print control system may also include a print as shown in Figure 1. Assisting device 17, for example, the printing assisting device 17 may be called a "cloud printing box", "smart printing box", "printing extension box", etc. The printing assisting device 17 may directly run a client-side program of the above application to Configured as a client of the application, the print assisting device 17 can be connected to the printer 15 at the same time, so as to receive the print task assigned by the server 11 and send it to the printer 15 so that the printer 15 can execute the print task assigned by the server 11, which is equivalent to the printer 15 Configured as a client for the above application.

Therefore, in the following embodiments, for a printing device whose composition is not explicitly described, it may be a printing device similar to the printer 13-14 that can be directly configured as a client, or it may be a printing assist device similar to the printer 15 17 assist in indirect configuration of the print device as a client.

The mobile phone 16 is just one type of electronic device that a user can use. In fact, it is obvious that users can also use electronic devices such as the following types: tablet devices, notebook computers, PDAs, wearable devices (such as smart glasses, smart watches, etc.), etc., which are not covered by one or more embodiments Limitation. During the running process, the electronic device may initiate a print request to the server 11, so that the server 11 allocates the corresponding print tasks to the printers 13 to 15.

The network 12 for interaction between the printer 13-15, the mobile phone 16 and the server 11 may include various types of wired or wireless networks. In an embodiment, the network 12 may include a public switched telephone network (Public Switched Telephone Network, PSTN) and the Internet.

FIG. 2A is a flowchart of a print control method according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2A, the method is applied to a print control device (such as the server 11 shown in FIG. 1), and may include the following steps:

Step 202A: A print request initiated by a user is received.

In an embodiment, the user may initiate a print request to the print control device through any type of electronic device such as a mobile phone, a PC, and the specification does not limit this.

In an embodiment, the user may send an object to be printed (such as a file or content) to the print control device, so that the print control device determines the printing request indicated by the print request and allocates a print task according to the object to be printed.

In one embodiment, the user can send the address information of the object to be printed to the print control device. For example, when the object to be printed is located in the cloud storage space, the user can inform the storage path of the object to be printed in the cloud storage space. The control device acquires the device to be printed based on the storage path by the print control device, and further determines the printing requirements indicated by the print request according to the object to be printed, and allocates printing tasks.

Step 204A: Determine a printing device for responding to the print request.

In an embodiment, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the printing control device and the printing device, and then the printing device used to respond to the print request can be directly determined as the printing device corresponding to the printing control device.

In an embodiment, the print control device may correspond to multiple print devices. For example, the print control device may control all print devices in an enterprise. Then, the print control device may be based on a preset rule, and among these print devices, a print device used to respond to a print request is selected.

In an embodiment, the print control device may determine the location of the user, and select a print device for responding to the print request from the print devices near the user. For example, the user's location can be determined from the image data of the user captured by the camera, combined with information such as the installation position and shooting angle of the camera; for example, based on the GPS built into the electronic device used by the user The positioning data detected by the chip, Beidou navigation chip, etc., determine the location of the electronic device and use it as the user's location; for example, the printing device can send the ID containing its own ID to the electronic device within a certain range (Such as a Bluetooth signal), and the electronic device used by the user can extract the ID of the corresponding printing device from the received signal, and upload the ID to the print control device, and the print control device determines the user's location The location is near the printing device.

In an embodiment, the print demand may include a print amount indicated by the print request. When there are multiple printing devices near the user, the print control device may determine the estimated waiting time of each printing device according to the assigned tasks, single continuous printing capabilities, and the print volume indicated by the print request of each printing device. Time; then, the printing device with the shortest expected waiting time is selected as the printing device for responding to the print request.

For example, under other conditions being the same, the more the print device has more assigned tasks, the corresponding expected waiting time is usually longer, otherwise the expected waiting time is usually shorter; however, if a single continuous printing by a printing device A The capacity exceeds the print volume indicated by the print request, and the single continuous printing capability of another printing device B is not as good as the print volume indicated by the print request, so even if the print device A has an assigned task being processed (that is, the estimated continuous print volume> 0) 1.Printing device B does not have an assigned task that is being processed (that is, the expected continuous print volume = 0), but because printing device A can complete a response to the print request through a single continuous printing, printing device B needs to print in batches multiple times Only the response to the print request can be completed, so the expected waiting time of the printing device A may be shorter than the expected waiting time of the printing device B.

For another example, under the same conditions, the lower the single continuous printing capability of a printing device is, the longer the corresponding expected waiting time is, and vice versa, the expected waiting time is usually shorter. However, if printing device A, printing device The single continuous printing capability of B is greater than the print volume indicated by the print request. Even if the single continuous printing capability of printing device A is stronger, if printing device A has assigned tasks being processed and printing device B does not exist and is processing Assigned task, the expected waiting time of printing device B will be shorter than the expected waiting time of printing device A.

Therefore, the print control device needs to comprehensively consider the assigned tasks of each printing device (such as task completion status, estimated continuous print volume, etc.), the single continuous printing capability, and the print volume indicated by the print request to accurately determine each The estimated waiting time corresponding to the printing equipment of the platform, so as to select a more appropriate printing equipment to improve the response efficiency of the printing request.

In an embodiment, when the printing device is in a continuous printing working state, a large amount of working heat is generated, making the printing device unable to be in the printing state all the time. It is necessary to pause for a period of time to cool down after a certain workload to avoid causing damage to the printing device. damage. Therefore, based on the model or actual working conditions of each printing device, the single continuous printing volume, recovery time, and printing speed of each printing device can be determined as a single continuous printing of the printing device. In other words, the single continuous printing capability of the printing device may include at least one of the following: a single continuous printing amount of the printing device, a recovery time after a single continuous printing, a printing speed, and the like.

In an embodiment, the printing control device may recommend the printing device determined in the above manner to the user, and the user determines whether to use the corresponding printing device for printing. For example, suppose that although the user is near a certain printing device, the user will go to another printer as soon as possible to handle other affairs, so the user can manually select the other printer to respond to a print request.

In an embodiment, the print control device may provide all the alternative print devices to the user, and the user manually selects the print devices that respond to the print request.

In an embodiment, the printing requirement indicated by the print request may include a print mode, and the print control device may determine whether each printing device supports the print mode according to the print mode indicated by the print request, so that the print device supports the print mode. And selecting a printing device for responding to the print request. The printing mode may include at least one of the following: black and white printing or color printing, size specifications of the printing paper, and material type of the printing paper.

Step 206A: Assign a corresponding printing task to the printing device according to the printing requirements indicated by the printing request and the single continuous printing capability of the printing device.

In an embodiment, the print amount indicated by the print request may be related to at least one of the following parameters: the number of printed pages, and the file type. For example, when most of the printed content is characters, there is not much difference in the print volume of each page, and the print volume can be determined according to the number of printed pages. When the file type of the object to be printed is text, picture, or photo, The print volume of a photo is much larger than the text, so the print volume can be determined based on the file type.

In one embodiment, it is assumed that the printing tasks of the printing device are discrete, and there is a sufficiently long interval between the processing time periods of different printing tasks, and the assigned tasks of the printing device may not be considered. Then: when the print request indicates When the printing amount does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, the printing control device may assign a single printing task to the printing device, and the printing amount of the single printing task is the printing amount indicated by the print request, That is, the printing device can complete the response to the print request in a single continuous operation. And, when the print amount indicated by the print request exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, the printing device cannot continuously complete the response to the print request in a single continuous operation, so the printing control device can allocate multiple stages to the printing device Printing tasks, the printing volume of each phase of the printing task does not exceed the single continuous printing capacity of the printing device, thereby avoiding the single continuous printing volume of the printing device exceeding its single continuous printing capacity, preventing the printing device from overheating, etc. The cause has been damaged, making sure to complete the response to the print request.

In an embodiment, it is assumed that there may be a continuity in the processing time period between the printing tasks of the printing device. For example, when the server is assigning a printing task to the printing device, the printing device is processing a previously assigned task, and then the currently assigned printing of the server There will be continuity and connection between the task and the assigned task being processed, resulting in continuous work of the printing device. Therefore, the impact of the assigned tasks of the printing device on the subsequent task allocation can be considered, that is, the print control device can be based on the assigned tasks of the printing device, the printing requirements indicated by the print request, and the single continuous printing of the printing device Ability to assign corresponding printing tasks to the printing device. E.g:

When the printing device has no assigned task being processed, and the print volume indicated by the print request does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, or the printing device has an assigned task being processed, and When the sum of the estimated continuous printing amount of the printing device and the printing amount indicated by the print request does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, assigning a single printing task to the printing device, the single printing The print amount of the task is the print amount indicated by the print request, that is, the printing device can continuously complete the response to the print request in a single continuous operation.

When the print amount indicated by the print request exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the print device, or the print device has an assigned task being processed, and the estimated continuous print amount of the print device is inconsistent with the print request indication When the sum of the printing amount exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, a multi-stage printing task is assigned to the printing device, and the printing amount of the printing task at each stage does not exceed the single continuous printing of the printing device Capacity, thereby avoiding the single continuous printing volume of the printing device exceeding its single continuous printing capacity, preventing the printing device from being damaged due to overheating, and ensuring the completion of the response to the print request.

In an embodiment, for a multi-stage printing task, the printing control device may specify that the printing device suspends a preset recovery duration between printing tasks in adjacent phases, the recovery duration may be specified by the printing control device, or may be notified by the printing device Print control equipment, this manual does not limit this.

In one embodiment, the print control device does not need to actively set the above-mentioned recovery time, and the printing device can automatically pause the preset recovery time between adjacent print tasks (single print task or print task at a certain stage).

FIG. 2B is a flowchart of another print control method according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2B, the method is applied to a print control device (such as the server 11 shown in FIG. 1), and may include the following steps:

In step 202B, a print request initiated by the user is received.

Step 204B: Determine a printing device for responding to the print request.

In an embodiment, steps 202B-204B may refer to steps 202A-204A shown in FIG. 2A, which are not described herein again.

In one embodiment, the printing capability of the printing device is related to at least one of the following parameters: single continuous printing capability, type of printing consumables, remaining amount of printing consumables, etc., which are not limited in this specification.

In an embodiment, a printing device used to respond to the print request may be determined according to a printing requirement indicated by the print request and a printing capability of the printing device. For example, when the printing requirements include the type of printing consumables, take the paper type as an example. If the printing request instructs printing on A3 size paper, and a printing device only supports A4 size paper type, the print control device should avoid selecting the printing The device responds to the print request, and should ensure that the print device that responds to the print request supports printing on A3 paper. As another example, when the printing requirements include the remaining amount of printing supplies, taking the remaining amount of ink in the ink cartridge as an example, if the printing amount indicated by the print request is 200 pages, and the remaining ink amount of a printing device is only enough to print 100 pages, the printing control The device should avoid selecting the printing device to respond to the print request, and should ensure that the remaining ink of the printing device that responds to the print request is sufficient to print at least 200 pages. As another example, when the printing requirements include a single continuous printing capability, the printing control device can select a printing device with a stronger single continuous printing capability as much as possible to complete the response to the printing request as soon as possible; of course, the printing requirements can also be considered comprehensively in practice The indicated print volume, the assigned tasks of the printing device, etc., comprehensively determine the response speed of each printing device to the print request, and make a choice accordingly.

Step 206B: Assign a corresponding printing task to the printing device according to the printing requirements indicated by the printing request and the printing capability of the printing device.

In one embodiment, the printing capability of the printing device is related to at least one of the following parameters: single continuous printing capability, type of printing consumables, remaining amount of printing consumables, etc., which are not limited in this specification. In other words, in addition to the task assignment based on the single continuous printing capability in step 206A shown in FIG. 2A, the print control device may also perform a corresponding task assignment operation according to the type of printing consumables, the remaining amount of printing consumables, and the like. Among them, printing supplies can include paper, printing materials (such as ink cartridges), etc .; printing supplies types can include paper types, printing materials types, etc., and the remaining amount of printing supplies can include paper remaining amounts, printing material remaining amounts (such as ink cartridge remaining ink amount) )Wait.

For example, although the printing device's single continuous printing capability can meet the printing requirements, if the remaining amount of printing supplies is insufficient, the printing control device can avoid assigning printing tasks to the printing device, or only assign printing tasks that can be covered by the remaining amount of printing supplies , Other print tasks are assigned to other print devices, or other task allocation strategies are adopted.

In the technical solution of this specification, when the printing device is controlled by the printing control device, the printing control device may trigger (such as an administrator trigger) or periodically obtain the status information of the printing device for selecting the printing device or determining the printing. The printing capabilities of the device. The method for acquiring status information may be obtained by the printing control device actively from the printing device, or passively receiving the status information reported by the printing device, which is not limited in this specification.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of another print control method according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the method is applied to a printing device and may include the following steps:

Step 302: Receive a print request initiated by a user.

In one embodiment, a user may initiate a print request to a printing device through any type of electronic device such as a mobile phone or a PC, and this specification does not limit this. For example, a user can establish a Bluetooth or WIFI connection with a printing device via a mobile phone, thereby initiating a print request to the printing device wirelessly. As another example, a user may establish a wired connection with a printing device through a PC, so as to initiate a print request to the printing device through a wired manner.

In an embodiment, the user may directly initiate a print request to the printing device through the electronic device; or, the user may initiate a print request to the printing device through the server.

In an embodiment, the user may send an object to be printed (such as a file or content) to the printing device, so that the printing device determines the amount of printing indicated by the print request according to the object to be printed, and generates a printing task.

In one embodiment, the user can send the address information of the object to be printed to the printing device. For example, when the object to be printed is located in the cloud storage space, the user can inform the printing device of the storage path of the object to be printed in the cloud storage space. The printing device acquires the device to be printed based on the storage path, and further determines the printing amount indicated by the print request according to the object to be printed, and generates a printing task.

Step 304: Generate a corresponding print task according to the printing requirements indicated by the print request and the single continuous printing capability of the printing device.

In one embodiment, it is assumed that the printing tasks of the printing device are discrete, and there is a sufficiently long interval between the processing time periods of different printing tasks, and the assigned tasks of the printing device may not be considered. Then: when the print request indicates When the printing amount does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, a single printing task is generated, and the printing amount of the single printing task is the printing amount indicated by the print request, that is, the printing device can complete a single continuous printing operation. Print the response of the request. And, when the printing amount indicated by the print request exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, a multi-stage printing task is generated, and the printing amount of the printing task at each stage does not exceed the single continuous printing of the printing device. Printing capability, thereby avoiding the single continuous printing volume of the printing device exceeding its single continuous printing capacity, preventing the printing device from being damaged due to overheating, and ensuring completion of the response to the print request.

In an embodiment, it is assumed that there may be continuity in the processing time period between the printing tasks of the printing device. For example, when the printing device generates a printing task, the printing device is processing a previously assigned task. There will be continuity and continuity between the assigned tasks processed, resulting in continuous work of the printing device. Therefore, the impact of the assigned tasks of the printing device on the subsequent task allocation can be considered, that is, the printing device can be based on the assigned tasks of the printing device, the print volume indicated by the print request, and the single continuous printing capability of the printing device. To generate the corresponding print job. E.g:

When the printing device has no assigned task being processed, and the print volume indicated by the print request does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, or the printing device has an assigned task being processed, and When the sum of the estimated continuous printing amount of the printing device and the printing amount indicated by the print request does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, a single printing task is generated, and the printing amount of the single printing task is The print quantity indicated by the print request, that is, the printing device can complete a single response to the print request continuously.

When the print amount indicated by the print request exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the print device, or the print device has an assigned task being processed, and the estimated continuous print amount of the print device is inconsistent with the print request indication When the sum of the print volume exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, a multi-stage print task is generated, and the print volume of each phase of the print task does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, thereby avoiding printing The single continuous printing volume of the device exceeds its single continuous printing capacity, preventing the printing device from being damaged due to overheating and other reasons, and ensuring that the response to the print request is completed.

In an embodiment, for a multi-stage printing task, the printing device may specify that a preset resume duration is paused between the printing tasks in adjacent phases; or, the printing device may automatically A period of printing tasks) pauses the preset resume duration.

In order to facilitate understanding, the technical solution of one or more embodiments of the present specification will be described by taking a print management solution based on a cloud computing platform as an example. It is assumed that a user triggers a print event through a mobile phone, and assigns tasks to the printer through a server of the cloud computing platform, so that the printer performs printing operations. Accordingly, FIG. 4 is an interaction schematic diagram of a print control process provided by an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the interaction process between the mobile phone, the server, and the printer may include the following steps:

Step 401: The user selects an object to be printed on the mobile phone.

In an embodiment, the object to be printed may be located in a local storage space on the mobile phone, and the user may select the object to be printed from the local storage space.

In an embodiment, the object to be printed may be located in a cloud storage space, and the user may access the cloud storage space through a mobile phone, and access and select the object to be printed in the cloud storage space.

Step 402: The user initiates a print request to the server through the mobile phone.

In an embodiment, for the object to be printed in the local storage space of the mobile phone, the object to be printed may be included in the print request to be sent to the server through the print request.

In an embodiment, for the object to be printed in the cloud storage space, the print request may include the storage path information of the object to be printed in the cloud storage space, so that the server obtains the corresponding object to be printed based on the storage path information. .

Step 403: The server selects a printing device that responds to the print request according to the received print request.

In an embodiment, if there is only one printing device associated with the server, the printing device may be directly determined to need to respond to a print request. If the server is associated with multiple printing devices, the server needs to select from these printing devices, and the selected printing device responds to the print request.

In an embodiment, a printing device that responds to a print request may be selected according to the distance between the user and the printing device. For example, FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of selecting a printing device according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, it is assumed that a user A in an enterprise needs to print conference materials, and a total of 4 printing devices are set in the enterprise, that is, For printers PA to PD, the server can determine the distance between the user A and each printer PA to PD in various ways.

In an embodiment, when the user A initiates a print request to the server through the mobile phone, the location of the mobile phone may be identified as the location of the user A. For example, the server may require the mobile phone of the user A to report his location. The position can be determined by the mobile phone's measurement through the built-in positioning chip. At the same time, the printer PA-PD is pre-assembled at a fixed position in the enterprise, that is, the location of the printer PA-PD is predicted by the server. Therefore, the server can match the location of the printer PA-PD with the location of user A. Compare the positions, so that the printer with a separation distance less than the preset distance is determined as the printing device near the user A. For example, when the preset distance is set to be large, the printers PA to PC shown in FIG. 5 may be determined as the printers. The printer PB-PC shown in FIG. 5 may be determined as a printing apparatus near the user A when a printing device near the user A is set, or when a preset preset distance is small.

In one embodiment, the printers PA to PD can send Bluetooth signals to electronic devices within a certain range. The Bluetooth signals include the ID of the printing device as the sender. For example, the Bluetooth signals sent by the printer PA include the ID of the printer PA, The Bluetooth signal sent by the printer PB includes the ID of the printer PB and the like. In one case, the mobile phone of user A may include the received Bluetooth signal or ID information in the Bluetooth signal in the print request, so that the server can determine the printing device near the mobile phone accordingly. In another case, after receiving the print request, the server may send an acquisition request to the mobile phone of user A to cause the mobile phone to receive the Bluetooth signal sent by a nearby printing device, and send the Bluetooth signal or the ID information in the Bluetooth signal. Report to the server so that the server can determine the printing device near the mobile phone accordingly.

In an embodiment, if the printers PA to PD are far apart, there is only one printer near the location of the user A, and the server may determine the printer as a response to a print request.

In an embodiment, if the printers PA to PD are not far apart, there may be multiple printers near the location of the user A, and the server needs to further select a printing device that responds to the print request from these printers. Assume that there are printers PA to PC near user A, and the server can determine the estimated waiting time of printers PA to PC T1 to T3 based on the assigned tasks, single continuous printing capability, and print volume indicated by the print request of the printer PA to PC And select the printer with the shortest expected waiting time as the printing device to respond to the print request.

For example, assume that the estimated continuous print volume and single continuous printing capacity indicated by the assigned tasks being processed by printer PA to PC are shown in Table 1 below; for example, there is an assigned task being processed by printer PA, and The continuous print volume of the assigned task is 20a (the continuous print volume can only come from the assigned task being processed; or, the continuous print volume can come from the assigned task being processed and other assigned tasks that have completed processing), the remaining The unprinted amount is 10a, and the continuous printed amount is expected to be 30a. Among them, the data in Table 1 introduces a unit print volume a, which can be used to characterize, for example, the workload of a printing device when printing a page of A4 text, or other preset forms; single continuous printing capability It can be exemplarily characterized by printing speed, single continuous printing amount, and recovery time.

Zh	Printer PA	Printer PB	Printer PC
Estimated continuous print volume (a)	30	0	5
Print speed (seconds / a)	1	1.5	1.5
Single continuous print volume (a)	100	80	150
Recovery time (seconds)	20	15	10

Table 1

In an embodiment, when the print amount indicated by the print request is 50a: the estimated waiting time T1 = 30 × 1 + 50 × 1 = 80 seconds corresponding to the printer PA; the estimated waiting time T2 = 50 × 1.5 = corresponding to the printer PB 75 seconds; the estimated waiting time corresponding to the printer PC is T3 = 5 × 1.5 + 50 × 1.5 = 82.5 seconds. Therefore, the estimated waiting time T2 corresponding to the printer PB is the smallest, and the server can select the printer PB to respond to the print request.

In one embodiment, when the print volume indicated by the print request is 60a: the estimated waiting time T1 = 30 × 1 + 60 × 1 = 90 seconds corresponding to the printer PA; the estimated waiting time T2 = 60 × 1.5 = corresponding to the printer PB 90 seconds; the estimated waiting time corresponding to the printer PC is T3 = 5 × 1.5 + 60 × 1.5 = 97.5 seconds. Therefore, the estimated waiting time T1 and T2 of the printer PA and the printer PB are the smallest, and the server may select the printer PA or the printer PB to respond to the print request; for example, the server may randomly select the printer PA and the printer PB, or the server It can be selected according to other preset strategies, which are not limited in this manual.

In an embodiment, when the print amount indicated by the print request is 82a: the estimated waiting time corresponding to the printer PA is T1 = 30 × 1 + 70 × 1 + 20 + 12 × 1 = 132 seconds; the estimated waiting time corresponding to the printer PB T2 = 80 × 1.5 + 15 + 2 × 1.5 = 138 seconds; the estimated waiting time corresponding to the printer PC is T3 = 5 × 1.5 + 82 × 1.5 = 130.5 seconds. Therefore, the estimated waiting time T3 corresponding to the printer PC is the smallest, and the server can select the printer PC to respond to the print request.

In one embodiment, when the print volume indicated by the print request is 85a: the estimated waiting time corresponding to the printer PA is T1 = 30 × 1 + 70 × 1 + 20 + 15 × 1 = 135 seconds; the estimated waiting time corresponding to the printer PB T2 = 80 × 1.5 + 15 + 5 × 1.5 = 142.5 seconds; the estimated waiting time corresponding to the printer PC is T3 = 5 × 1.5 + 85 × 1.5 = 135 seconds. Therefore, the estimated waiting time T1 and T3 corresponding to the printer PA and the printer PC are the smallest, and the server may select the printer PA or the printer PC to respond to the print request; for example, the server may randomly select the printer PA and the printer PC, or the server It can be selected according to other preset strategies, which are not limited in this manual.

In an embodiment, when the print volume indicated by the print request is 100a: the estimated waiting time corresponding to the printer PA is T1 = 30 × 1 + 70 × 1 + 20 + 30 × 1 = 150 seconds; the estimated waiting time corresponding to the printer PB T2 = 80 × 1.5 + 15 + 20 × 1.5 = 165 seconds; the estimated waiting time corresponding to the printer PC is T3 = 5 × 1.5 + 100 × 1.5 = 157.5 seconds. Therefore, the estimated waiting time T1 corresponding to the printer PA is the smallest, and the server can select the printer PA to respond to the print request.

In one embodiment, when the print volume indicated by the print request is 200a: the estimated waiting time corresponding to the printer PA is T1 = 30 × 1 + 70 × 1 + 20 + 100 × 1 + 20 + 30 × 1 = 270 seconds; the printer Estimated waiting time corresponding to PB T2 = 80 × 1.5 + 15 + 80 × 1.5 + 15 + 40 × 1.5 = 330 seconds; Estimated waiting time corresponding to printer PC T3 = 5 × 1.5 + 145 × 1.5 + 10 + 55 × 1.5 = 317.5 seconds. Therefore, the estimated waiting time T1 corresponding to the printer PA is the smallest, and the server can select the printer PA to respond to the print request.

Similarly, when the assigned tasks, single continuous printing capabilities, and print volume indicated by the print request of each printing device change, a suitable printing device may be selected to respond to the print request through a processing method similar to the above embodiment, I will not repeat them here.

Step 404: The server generates a corresponding print job for the selected print device, and assigns the print job to it.

In one embodiment, it is assumed that the selected printing device is the printer PA, and the printer PA is taken as an example to explain how the server generates a printing task.

In an embodiment, the server may generate the print task for the printer PA according to the single continuous printing capability of the printer PA and the print volume indicated by the print request regardless of the assigned task of the printer PA. For example, when the print volume indicated by the print request is 80a and the single continuous print volume of the printer PA is 100a> 80a, the server can generate a single print job for the printer PA, so that the printer PA can complete the single print in a single continuous print Print tasks. As another example, when the print volume indicated by the print request is 150a and the single continuous print volume of the printer PA is 100a <150a, the server may generate a multi-stage print task for the printer PA. The print volume of each stage of the print task is not Greater than 100a, so that the printer PA can enter the recovery time after the completion of each stage of the printing task, to avoid causing damage to the printer PA.

In one embodiment, the server may consider the assigned tasks of the printer PA, and further combine the single continuous printing capability of the printer PA and the print volume indicated by the print request to generate a print task for the printer PA. For example, when the estimated continuous print volume of the printer PA is 30a, the print volume indicated by the print request is 80a, and the single continuous print volume of the printer PA is 100a <80a + 30a, the server can generate a multi-stage print task for the printer PA. The print volume of each stage of the print job is not greater than 100a. As another example, when the estimated continuous print volume of the printer PA is 30a, the print volume indicated by the print request is 60a, and the single continuous print volume of the printer PA is 100a> 30a + 60a, the server may generate a single print job for the printer PA , So that the printer PA can complete the single printing task in a single continuous printing.

Step 405: The printer receives and executes a print job assigned by the server.

In one embodiment, for a single print job, the printer can directly execute the single print job. For multi-stage printing tasks, each stage of the printing task is equivalent to a single printing task, but between the printing tasks of two adjacent stages, the printer needs to suspend the corresponding recovery period to avoid long continuous work.

In step 406, the printer may feed back the task completion progress of the print task to the server, and the server may feedback the user who initiated the print request.

In one embodiment, when a user initiates a print request through a mobile phone, the processing progress of the printer on the print task can be viewed on the mobile phone, such as whether to start printing, the percentage of the printed portion in the print task, and the remaining waiting time.

Similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the user can initiate a print request to the printing device through the mobile phone (the mobile phone sends directly to the printing device; or the mobile phone sends the printing device to the printing device, etc.), and the printing device actively generates and executes printing Task, where the generation process of the print task can refer to step 404, that is, the printing device can actively generate a printing task according to its single continuous printing capability and the print volume indicated by the print request, or the printing device can actively take the task according to its assigned task, The printing task is generated by a single continuous printing capability and the printing amount indicated by the printing request, which will not be repeated here.

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a device according to an exemplary embodiment. Please refer to FIG. 6. At the hardware level, the device includes a processor 602, an internal bus 604, a network interface 606, a memory 608, and a non-volatile memory 610. Of course, it may also include hardware required by other services. The processor 602 reads the corresponding computer program from the non-volatile memory 610 into the memory 608 and then runs it to form a print control device on a logical level. Of course, in addition to the software implementation, one or more embodiments of this specification do not exclude other implementations, such as a logic device or a combination of software and hardware, etc., which means that the execution body of the following processing flow is not limited to each A logic unit can also be a hardware or logic device.

In an embodiment, please refer to FIG. 7. In a software implementation, the print control device is applied to a print control device; the device may include:

The receiving unit 71 receives a print request initiated by a user;

A determining unit 72 for determining a printing device for responding to the print request;

The allocating unit 73 allocates a corresponding printing task to the printing device according to the printing requirements indicated by the print request and the single continuous printing capability of the printing device.

Optionally, the determining unit 72 is specifically configured to:

Determining the location of the user;

Selecting a printing device for responding to the print request from the printing devices near the user.

Optionally, the determining unit 72 is further configured to:

When there are multiple printing devices near the user, the estimated waiting time of each printing device is respectively determined according to the assigned tasks, single continuous printing capabilities, and printing requirements indicated by the print request of each printing device;

The printing device with the shortest expected waiting time is selected as the printing device for responding to the printing request.

Optionally, the printing demand includes a printing amount indicated by a print request; the allocation unit 73 is specifically configured to:

When the printing amount indicated by the print request does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, a single printing task is assigned to the printing device, and the printing amount of the single printing task is the amount indicated by the printing request. Print volume

When the printing amount indicated by the print request exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, a multi-stage printing task is assigned to the printing device, and the printing amount of the printing task at each stage does not exceed the printing amount of the printing device. Single continuous printing capability.

Optionally, the allocation unit 73 is specifically configured to:

Allocating a corresponding printing task to the printing device according to the assigned task of the printing device, the printing demand indicated by the printing request, and the single continuous printing capability of the printing device.

Optionally, the printing demand includes a printing amount indicated by a print request; the allocation unit 73 is specifically configured to:

When the printing device has no assigned task being processed, and the print volume indicated by the print request does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, or the printing device has an assigned task being processed, and When the sum of the estimated continuous printing amount of the printing device and the printing amount indicated by the print request does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, assigning a single printing task to the printing device, the single printing The print amount of the task is the print amount indicated by the print request;

When the print amount indicated by the print request exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the print device, or the print device has an assigned task being processed, and the estimated continuous print amount of the print device is inconsistent with the print request indication When the sum of the printing amount exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, a multi-stage printing task is assigned to the printing device, and the printing amount of the printing task at each stage does not exceed the single continuous printing of the printing device ability.

Optionally, the printing demand includes a printing amount indicated by a print request; the printing amount indicated by the print request is related to at least one of the following parameters: the number of printed pages, and the file type.

In an embodiment, please refer to FIG. 8. In a software implementation, the print control device is applied to a printing device; the device may include:

The receiving unit 81 receives a print request initiated by a user;

The generating unit 82 generates a corresponding print task according to the printing requirements indicated by the print request and a single continuous printing capability of the printing device.

Optionally, the printing demand includes a printing amount indicated by a print request; the generating unit 82 is specifically configured to:

Generating a single print job when the print volume indicated by the print request does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, and the print volume of the single print job is the print volume indicated by the print request;

When the printing amount indicated by the print request exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, a multi-stage printing task is generated, and the printing amount of the printing task at each stage does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device .

Optionally, the generating unit 82 is specifically configured to:

A corresponding print task is generated according to the assigned task of the printing device, the printing amount indicated by the print request, and the single continuous printing capability of the printing device.

Optionally, the printing demand includes a printing amount indicated by a print request; the generating unit 82 is specifically configured to:

When the printing device has no assigned task being processed, and the print volume indicated by the print request does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, or the printing device has an assigned task being processed, and When the sum of the estimated continuous printing amount of the printing device and the printing amount indicated by the print request does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, a single printing task is generated, and the printing amount of the single printing task is The print amount indicated by the print request;

When the print amount indicated by the print request exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the print device, or the print device has an assigned task being processed, and the estimated continuous print amount of the print device is inconsistent with the print request indication When the sum of the printing amount exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, a multi-stage printing task is generated, and the printing amount of the printing task at each stage does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device.

In an embodiment, please refer to FIG. 9. In a software implementation, the print control device is applied to a print control device; the device may include:

The receiving unit 91 receives a print request initiated by a user;

A determining unit 92, which determines a printing device for responding to the print request;

The allocating unit 93 allocates a corresponding print task to the printing device according to the printing requirements indicated by the print request and the printing capability of the printing device.

Optionally, the determining unit 92 is specifically configured to:

Determining a printing device for responding to the print request according to a printing requirement indicated by the print request and a printing capability of the printing device.

Optionally, the printing capability of the printing device is related to at least one of the following parameters: a single continuous printing capability, a type of printing consumables, and a remaining amount of printing consumables.

The system, device, module, or unit described in the foregoing embodiments may be specifically implemented by a computer chip or entity, or a product with a certain function. A typical implementation device is a computer, and the specific form of the computer may be a personal computer, a laptop computer, a cellular phone, a camera phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant, a media player, a navigation device, an email sending and receiving device, and a game control Desk, tablet computer, wearable device, or a combination of any of these devices.

In a typical configuration, a computer includes one or more processors (CPUs), input / output interfaces, network interfaces, and memory.

Memory may include non-persistent memory, random access memory (RAM), and / or non-volatile memory in computer-readable media, such as read-only memory (ROM) or flash memory (flash RAM). Memory is an example of a computer-readable medium.

Computer-readable media includes permanent and non-persistent, removable and non-removable media. Information storage can be accomplished by any method or technology. Information may be computer-readable instructions, data structures, modules of a program, or other data. Examples of computer storage media include, but are not limited to, phase change memory (PRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), other types of random access memory (RAM), and read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technologies, read-only disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disc (DVD) or other optical storage, Magnetic tape cartridges, magnetic disk storage, quantum memory, graphene-based storage media, or other magnetic storage devices or any other non-transmission media can be used to store information that can be accessed by computing devices. As defined herein, computer-readable media does not include temporary computer-readable media, such as modulated data signals and carrier waves.

It should also be noted that the terms "including", "comprising" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, product, or device that includes a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also Other elements not explicitly listed, or those that are inherent to such a process, method, product, or device. Without more restrictions, the elements defined by the sentence "including a ..." do not exclude the existence of other identical elements in the process, method, product or equipment including the elements.

The specific embodiments of the present specification have been described above. Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. In some cases, the actions or steps recited in the claims may be performed in a different order than in the embodiments and the desired result may still be achieved. In addition, the processes depicted in the figures do not necessarily require the particular order shown or sequential order to achieve the desired results. In some embodiments, multitasking and parallel processing are also possible or may be advantageous.

The terminology used in one or more embodiments of this specification is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to limit one or more embodiments of this specification. The singular forms "a," "the," and "the" as used in one or more embodiments of this specification and the appended claims are also intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the term "and / or" as used herein refers to and includes any or all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It should be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used to describe various information in one or more embodiments of the present specification, the information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish the same type of information from each other. For example, without departing from the scope of one or more embodiments of the present specification, the first information may also be referred to as second information, and similarly, the second information may also be referred to as first information. Depending on the context, the word "if" as used herein can be interpreted as "at" or "when" or "in response to determination".

The above descriptions are merely preferred embodiments of one or more embodiments of the present specification, and are not intended to limit one or more embodiments of the present specification. Wherever within the spirit and principle of one or more embodiments of the present specification, Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. should be included in the protection scope of one or more embodiments of the present specification.

Claims (30)

1. A printing control method, which is characterized in that it is applied to a printing control device; the method includes:

   Receive a print request initiated by the user;

   Determining a printing device for responding to the print request;

   Allocating a corresponding printing task to the printing device according to the printing requirements indicated by the printing request and the single continuous printing capability of the printing device.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining a printing device for responding to the print request comprises:

   Determining the location of the user;

   Selecting a printing device for responding to the print request from the printing devices near the user.
3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the determining a printing device for responding to the print request further comprises:

   When there are multiple printing devices near the user, the estimated waiting time of each printing device is respectively determined according to the assigned tasks, single continuous printing capabilities, and printing requirements indicated by the print request of each printing device;

   The printing device with the shortest expected waiting time is selected as the printing device for responding to the printing request.
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the printing demand includes a printing amount indicated by a printing request; and the printing demand indicated by the printing request and a single continuous printing capability of the printing device, The printing device assigns corresponding printing tasks, including:

   When the printing amount indicated by the print request does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, a single printing task is assigned to the printing device, and the printing amount of the single printing task is the amount indicated by the printing request. Print volume

   When the printing amount indicated by the print request exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, a multi-stage printing task is assigned to the printing device, and the printing amount of the printing task at each stage does not exceed the printing amount of the printing device. Single continuous printing capability.
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the assigning a corresponding printing task to the printing device according to the printing requirements indicated by the print request and the single continuous printing capability of the printing device comprises:

   Allocating a corresponding printing task to the printing device according to the assigned task of the printing device, the printing demand indicated by the printing request, and the single continuous printing capability of the printing device.
6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the printing demand comprises a printing amount indicated by a printing request; the printing task indicated by the printing request, the printing demand indicated by the printing request, and the printing apparatus Single-time continuous printing capability, assigning corresponding printing tasks to the printing device, including:

   When the printing device has no assigned task being processed, and the print volume indicated by the print request does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, or the printing device has an assigned task being processed, and When the sum of the estimated continuous printing amount of the printing device and the printing amount indicated by the print request does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, assigning a single printing task to the printing device, the single printing The print amount of the task is the print amount indicated by the print request;

   When the print amount indicated by the print request exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the print device, or the print device has an assigned task being processed, and the estimated continuous print amount of the print device is inconsistent with the print request indication When the sum of the printing amount exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, a multi-stage printing task is assigned to the printing device, and the printing amount of the printing task at each stage does not exceed the single continuous printing of the printing device ability.
7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the printing demand comprises a printing amount indicated by a print request; the printing amount indicated by the print request is related to at least one of the following parameters: the number of printed pages, and the file type.
8. A printing control method, which is characterized in that it is applied to a printing device; the method includes:

   Receive a print request initiated by the user;

   A corresponding print task is generated according to the printing requirements indicated by the print request and a single continuous printing capability of the printing device.
9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that the printing demand includes a printing amount indicated by a print request; and the corresponding printing demand indicated by the print request and a single continuous printing capability of the printing device generate a corresponding Print tasks, including:

   Generating a single print job when the print volume indicated by the print request does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, and the print volume of the single print job is the print volume indicated by the print request;

   When the printing amount indicated by the print request exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, a multi-stage printing task is generated, and the printing amount of the printing task at each stage does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device .
10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the generating a corresponding printing task according to the printing requirements indicated by the print request and the single continuous printing capability of the printing device comprises:

    A corresponding print task is generated according to the assigned task of the printing device, the printing requirements indicated by the print request, and the single continuous printing capability of the printing device.
11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the printing demand comprises a printing amount indicated by a printing request; the printing task indicated by the printing request, the printing demand indicated by the printing request, and the printing device Single-time continuous printing capability, assigning corresponding printing tasks to the printing device, including:

    When the printing device has no assigned task being processed, and the print volume indicated by the print request does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, or the printing device has an assigned task being processed, and When the sum of the estimated continuous printing amount of the printing device and the printing amount indicated by the print request does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, a single printing task is generated, and the printing amount of the single printing task is The print amount indicated by the print request;

    When the print amount indicated by the print request exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the print device, or the print device has an assigned task being processed, and the estimated continuous print amount of the print device is inconsistent with the print request indication When the sum of the printing amount exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, a multi-stage printing task is generated, and the printing amount of the printing task at each stage does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device.
12. A printing control device is characterized in that it is applied to a printing control device; the device includes:

    A receiving unit that receives a print request initiated by a user;

    A determining unit that determines a printing device for responding to the print request;

    The allocating unit allocates a corresponding printing task to the printing device according to the printing requirements indicated by the printing request and the single continuous printing capability of the printing device.
13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the determining unit is specifically configured to:

    Determining the location of the user;

    Selecting a printing device for responding to the print request from the printing devices near the user.
14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the determining unit is further configured to:

    When there are multiple printing devices near the user, the estimated waiting time of each printing device is respectively determined according to the assigned tasks, single continuous printing capabilities, and printing requirements indicated by the print request of each printing device;

    The printing device with the shortest expected waiting time is selected as the printing device for responding to the printing request.
15. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the printing demand includes a printing amount indicated by a print request; and the allocation unit is specifically configured to:

    When the printing amount indicated by the print request does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, a single printing task is assigned to the printing device, and the printing amount of the single printing task is the amount indicated by the printing request. Print volume

    When the printing amount indicated by the print request exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, a multi-stage printing task is assigned to the printing device, and the printing amount of the printing task at each stage does not exceed the printing amount of the printing device. Single continuous printing capability.
16. The device according to claim 12, wherein the distribution unit is specifically configured to:

    Allocating a corresponding printing task to the printing device according to the assigned task of the printing device, the printing demand indicated by the printing request, and the single continuous printing capability of the printing device.
17. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the printing demand includes a printing amount indicated by a print request; and the allocation unit is specifically configured to:

    When the printing device has no assigned task being processed, and the print volume indicated by the print request does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, or the printing device has an assigned task being processed, and When the sum of the estimated continuous printing amount of the printing device and the printing amount indicated by the print request does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, assigning a single printing task to the printing device, the single printing The print amount of the task is the print amount indicated by the print request;

    When the print amount indicated by the print request exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the print device, or the print device has an assigned task being processed, and the estimated continuous print amount of the print device is inconsistent with the print request indication When the sum of the printing amount exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, a multi-stage printing task is assigned to the printing device, and the printing amount of the printing task at each stage does not exceed the single continuous printing of the printing device ability.
18. The device according to claim 12, wherein the printing request includes a printing amount indicated by a print request; the printing amount indicated by the print request is related to at least one of the following parameters: the number of printed pages, and the file type.
19. A printing control device is characterized in that it is applied to a printing device; the device includes:

    A receiving unit that receives a print request initiated by a user;

    The generating unit generates a corresponding printing task according to the printing requirements indicated by the print request and a single continuous printing capability of the printing device.
20. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the printing demand includes a printing amount indicated by a print request; and the generating unit is specifically configured to:

    Generating a single print job when the print volume indicated by the print request does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, and the print volume of the single print job is the print volume indicated by the print request;

    When the printing amount indicated by the print request exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, a multi-stage printing task is generated, and the printing amount of the printing task at each stage does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device .
21. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the generating unit is specifically configured to:

    A corresponding print task is generated according to the assigned task of the printing device, the printing amount indicated by the print request, and the single continuous printing capability of the printing device.
22. The apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the printing demand includes a printing amount indicated by a print request; and the generating unit is specifically configured to:

    When the printing device has no assigned task being processed, and the print volume indicated by the print request does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, or the printing device has an assigned task being processed, and When the sum of the estimated continuous printing amount of the printing device and the printing amount indicated by the print request does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, a single printing task is generated, and the printing amount of the single printing task is The print amount indicated by the print request;

    When the print amount indicated by the print request exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the print device, or the print device has an assigned task being processed, and the estimated continuous print amount of the print device is inconsistent with the print request indication When the sum of the printing amount exceeds the single continuous printing capability of the printing device, a multi-stage printing task is generated, and the printing amount of the printing task at each stage does not exceed the single continuous printing capability of the printing device.
23. A printing control method, which is characterized in that it is applied to a printing control device; the method includes:

    Receive a print request initiated by the user;

    Determining a printing device for responding to the print request;

    Allocating a corresponding printing task to the printing device according to the printing requirements indicated by the print request and the printing capability of the printing device.
24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the determining a printing device for responding to the print request comprises:

    Determining a printing device for responding to the print request according to a printing requirement indicated by the print request and a printing capability of the printing device.
25. The method according to claim 23, wherein the printing capability of the printing device is related to at least one of the following parameters: a single continuous printing capability, a type of printing consumables, and a remaining amount of printing consumables.
26. A printing control device is characterized in that it is applied to a printing control device; the device includes:

    A receiving unit that receives a print request initiated by a user;

    A determining unit that determines a printing device for responding to the print request;

    The assigning unit assigns a corresponding print task to the printing device according to the printing requirements indicated by the print request and the printing capability of the printing device.
27. The apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the determining unit is specifically configured to:

    Determining a printing device for responding to the print request according to a printing requirement indicated by the print request and a printing capability of the printing device.
28. The apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the printing capability of the printing device is related to at least one of the following parameters: a single continuous printing capability, a type of printing consumables, and a remaining amount of printing consumables.
29. A printing control system, comprising: a printing control device and a printing device;

    The print control device is configured to allocate a print job to the print device by the print control method according to any one of claims 1-7 and 23-25.
30. The system according to claim 29, further comprising:

    A printing assistance device, which is connected to the printing device and is configured to respond to the printing control device, receive a printing task assigned by the printing control device, and send the received printing task to the printing device, To be processed by the printing apparatus.

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