JP2005174096A - Printing system, printing apparatus, printing control apparatus, and printer driver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a user with information useful for determining a paper discharge port to be registered in a printing system having a mailbox function.
A printing system including a printing apparatus having a plurality of paper discharge openings and one or a plurality of print control apparatuses, the printing apparatus notifying designation of paper discharge openings from the print control apparatus. Receiving means, means for storing designation status information of each paper discharge outlet, means for transmitting the designation status information, and paper discharge related to the designation based on the paper discharge outlet designation command And a printing control device that presents the designation status information sent from the printing device and inquires of the designated status of the paper ejection port. A means for receiving and storing the designation; a means for notifying the printing apparatus of a paper discharge outlet for which the designation has been received; and a paper discharge opening designation command for designating the stored paper discharge opening to the printing apparatus. Specially provided with means Printing system.
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system, and more particularly to a printing system including a printing apparatus having a plurality of paper discharge ports.

  Printers that are intended to be shared by multiple users, such as printers developed for office use, have multiple paper discharge ports, and have been printed from different discharge ports for each user who performed printing. One having a so-called mailbox function for discharging a sheet is known.

  In general, in order to use this function, a command to register a paper discharge port in advance in the printer driver of the computer used by each user, and to specify the paper discharge port in the print data when executing printing is used. Output to the printer. The printer that has received the print data discharges the printed paper from one of the paper discharge outlets according to a command for designating the discharge outlet, thereby realizing a mailbox function.

  Since the printer discharges paper according to the paper discharge port designation command sent from the computer as described above, it is left to the computer to determine which paper discharge port is registered.

  When a user newly registers a paper discharge port, the user often selects and registers a paper discharge port that is not registered by other users. However, as described above, which paper discharge port is registered in the printer. It does not know whether it exists, nor does the printer driver of the computer used by the user know the registration information of other computers.

  For this reason, a user who wants to register a paper discharge port must determine a paper discharge port to be registered in accordance with an inquiry from another computer user or according to a predetermined agreement between users.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a user with information useful for determining a paper discharge port to be registered in a printing system having a mailbox function.

The present invention for solving the above problems is as follows.
A printing system including a printing device having a plurality of paper discharge ports and one or more printing control devices,
The printing apparatus includes:
Paper discharge port designation receiving means for receiving a notification of paper discharge port designation from the print control device;
A designation status storage means for storing designation status information of each paper ejection slot based on the notification received by the ejection slot designation receiving means;
In response to an inquiry about the designated status of the discharge port from the print control device, designated status transmitting means for transmitting designated status information stored in the designated status storage means;
Based on a paper discharge port designation command from the printing control device, and a paper discharge unit for discharging printed paper to a designated paper discharge port,
The print control device includes:
Designated status inquiry means for making an inquiry about the specified status of the discharge port to the printing apparatus;
Paper discharge port registration means for presenting the specified status information sent from the printing apparatus and receiving and storing the specification of the paper discharge port from the user;
Notification means for notifying the printing apparatus of a paper discharge port that has received the designation;
There is provided a printing system comprising command output means for transmitting a paper discharge port designation command for designating the stored paper discharge port to the printing apparatus when printing is performed.

  With this printing system, the user of the printing control apparatus can appropriately determine the paper discharge port to be used with reference to the specified status information received from the printing apparatus.

  The present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining an outline of a hardware configuration of a network printing system to which the present invention is applied.

  As shown in this figure, the network printing system includes a plurality of computers 30 for realizing various processes by application software, printing processes by a printer driver, and the like, and a plurality of paper discharge ports, and has a so-called mailbox function. The printer 10 is configured to be connected by a computer network. In the present embodiment, the computer 30 functions as a print control device that generates print data and transmits the print data to the printer 10, and the printer 10 functions as a print device that performs printing based on the received print data.

  A printer driver, which is a computer program for causing the computer 30 to function as a print control apparatus, is generally developed by the manufacturer of the printer 10 and recorded and distributed on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or via a computer network such as the Internet. Distributed. The configuration of the network printing system is not limited to this.

  For example, a general-purpose personal computer can be used as the computer 30. A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 31 that executes various programs, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 32 that temporarily stores data, programs, and the like, and the computer 30. Are provided with a ROM (Read Only Memory) 33 in which various data, various programs and the like are previously stored in a nonvolatile manner, and a network interface 34 for connection to a network.

  The computer 30 includes a display device 21 such as a color display, an input device 22 such as a mouse and a keyboard, a media reading device 23 that reads data from a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, and a built-in or external auxiliary storage device 24. Connected. Of course, the configuration of the computer 30 is not limited to this.

  The printer 10 is, for example, a laser type page printer. A laser-type page printer includes a toner cartridge that contains toner in a housing, and performs printing by transferring the toner to a printing medium such as printing paper. The printer 10 may be either a color laser printer or a monochrome laser printer. For example, an ink jet printer may be used instead of the laser method.

  The printer 10 includes an interface 11 that controls transmission and reception of data with the computer 30 via a network, a CPU 12 that executes various programs such as a printer driver, a RAM 13 that temporarily stores print data and the like, and a printer 10 that controls the printer 10. A ROM 14 in which various data and various programs are stored in a nonvolatile manner, a print cartridge 15 including a toner cartridge, a photosensitive drum, and a laser beam irradiation mechanism, an operation panel 16 that receives instructions from a user, font data, and the like are stored. A hard disk (HDD) 17, a paper feeding device 18 that feeds paper, and a paper discharge device 19 that discharges printed paper. Of course, the configuration of the printer 10 is not limited to this.

  The paper discharge device 19 has a plurality of paper discharge ports (bins), and discharges paper from one of the bins based on a bin designation command sent from the computer 30 by being included in the print data.

  By setting a bin designation command to be included in the print data for each computer 30 in advance, a plurality of bins function as so-called mailboxes. That is, when printing is performed from a certain computer 30, printed paper is discharged from the bin assigned to that computer 30.

  Next, functional configurations realized in the computer 30 and the printer 10 by the printing system will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.

  As shown in the figure, an operating system unit 300, an application unit 310, and a printer driver unit 320 are constructed on the computer 30.

  The operating system unit 300 is so-called basic software of the computer 30 that provides system management of the computer 30 and a basic user operating environment.

  The application unit 310 has a function for causing the computer 30 to perform processing for creating and editing a document. The CPU 31 executes a word processor program, a graphics processing program, and the like read by the RAM 32, thereby executing the processing on the computer 30. Built in.

  The printer driver unit 320 performs processing for controlling the printer 10 to execute printing. Specifically, when a print instruction is received from the user, the drawing data of the document generated by the application unit 310 is read and converted into print data in a format that can be interpreted by the printer 10 according to the print settings. To the printer 10. Here, the drawing data is data described in the specifications defined in the operating system unit 300, and the print data is described in a page description language, for example, and includes a command group that controls the printer 10. . Note that the print data can include a bin designation command for designating discharge from any bin of the printer 10.

  In order to perform these processes, the printer driver unit 320 includes a user interface unit 321 that receives print instructions, print settings, and the like from a user, and a print processing unit 322 that generates, manages, and transmits print data.

  In the present embodiment, the user interface unit 321 includes a bin setting unit 321a for registering a bin designated by a bin designation command. In other words, in the present embodiment, registration of one of a plurality of bins provided in the printer 10 is received in advance from the user of the computer 30. When printing, a bin specifying command for specifying a registered bin is included in the print data as necessary. The bin registration acceptance process will be described later.

  In FIG. 2, a print control unit 110 and a print execution unit 120 are constructed on the printer 10.

  The print control unit 110 interprets the print data transmitted from the computer 30 and performs control for causing the printer 10 to perform printing based on the print data. Specifically, print image data based on the print data is generated, and an instruction is sent to the print execution unit 120 to print this print image data.

  In the present embodiment, the printer 10 manages whether settings are received from any one of the computers 30 for each bin. For this reason, the print control unit 110 has a bin setting information management unit 110a.

  The bin setting information management unit 110a manages, for example, whether or not registration is accepted from any computer 30 for each bin in a bin setting information table as shown in FIG. In this example, it is assumed that the printer 10 is provided with bins 1 to 5 and a face-down tray as discharge ports.

  The table shown in FIG. 3A records the number of registered computers 30 for each bin. For example, bin 1 accepts registration from two of computers 30 connected to the network, and bin 2 indicates that registration from any computer 30 is not accepted. Thus, each bin may accept registration from a plurality of computers 30.

  In the use where each bin does not accept registrations from a plurality of computers 30, as shown in FIG. 3B, it is recorded whether each bin receives registration from any computer 30. It may be. That is, a bin that has not been registered from any computer 30 has a blank in the corresponding column, and a bin that has been registered from one or more computers 30 has a circle in the corresponding column.

  In either case of FIGS. 3A and 3B, information about which computer 30 has received registration may be further recorded in the bin setting information table.

  When the bin setting information management unit 110a receives a registration notification of a bin specifying any bin from the computer 30, the bin setting information management unit 110a updates the bin setting information table for the specified bin. That is, in the case where management is performed using the table shown in FIG. 3A, the value corresponding to the designated bin is increased by one. If the table shown in FIG. 3B is used for management, the column corresponding to the designated bin is updated to “◯”.

  In addition, the bin setting information management unit 110a performs a process of transmitting the contents of the bin setting information table in response to an inquiry from the computer 30.

  The print execution unit 120 includes a print engine 15, a paper supply device 18, a paper discharge device 19, and the like. The print engine 15 applies a sheet fed from the paper supply device 18 according to an instruction from the print control unit 110. Execute printing. Then, the paper discharge device 19 discharges the printed printing paper. At this time, if a bin is designated by a bin designation command included in the print data, the paper is discharged to the designated bin. When the print data does not include a bin designation command, the print data is discharged from a predetermined standard discharge port, for example, a face-down tray.

  Next, bin registration acceptance processing in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  This processing is mainly performed by exchange between the bin setting unit 321a of the printer driver unit 320 and the bin setting information management unit 110a of the printer 10. The processing of the bin setting unit 321a is shown on the left side in the flowchart of FIG. 4, and the processing of the bin setting information management unit 110a is shown on the right side of the flowchart of FIG.

  This process is performed, for example, when the printer driver unit 320 is initially set. In this case, it is preferable to automatically shift to this processing at the end of installation of the printer driver program. Further, it can be performed at any time based on an instruction from the user.

  First, the bin setting unit 321a of the printer driver unit 320 inquires of the bin setting information management unit 110a of the printer 10 about the setting status of the bin (S101).

  In response to this inquiry, the bin setting information management unit 110a transmits the contents of the bin setting information table to the bin setting unit 321a of the printer driver unit 320 (S201).

  The bin setting unit 321a of the printer driver unit 320 that has received the contents of the bin setting information table displays a bin setting status display screen as shown in FIG. 5 (S102), and accepts a bin specification from the user (S103). As shown in the figure, the bin setting status display screen displays the bins provided in the printer 10 and accepts the designation of one of the bins. At this time, based on the contents of the received bin setting information table, bins that have already been registered by any of the computers 30 are displayed in gray, for example, so as to notify the user that they have been registered. To do. In the example of this figure, bin 1, bin 3, and bin 4 are registered. However, it is only possible to notify that registration has been completed, and it is possible to accept designation even for bins that are displayed in gray. However, duplicate registration for the same bin may be prohibited. Further, the method of indicating that the registration has been completed is not limited to gray display. For example, you may make it display the symbol which shows that.

  When the user specifies a bin that has not yet been registered by another computer 30, the user may specify a bin that is not displayed in gray on this screen.

  When receiving a bin specification from the user, the bin setting unit 321a of the printer driver unit 320 stores and registers the bin that has received the specification, and notifies the bin setting information management unit 110a of the printer 10 (S104).

  The bin setting information management unit 110a of the printer 10 that has received the notification of the designated bin updates the bin setting information table according to the content of the notification (S202), and ends this processing.

  Thereafter, when receiving a print command from the user, the printer driver unit 320 includes a bin designation command for designating the bin registered in the process (S104) and transmits the print data to the printer 10. Then, the printer 10 executes printing and discharges printing paper from the designated bin in accordance with the bin designation command.

  Note that the bin setting unit 321a of the printer driver unit 320 may be configured to cancel bin registration based on a command from the user in preparation for a case where the user changes a registered bin. In this case, a designation cancellation notification including registered bin information is sent to the bin setting information management unit 110a of the printer 10. The bin setting information management unit 110a of the printer 10 updates the bin setting information table in response to this notification. For example, when the bin setting information table is managed by the table shown in FIG. 3A, the value corresponding to the bin related to the designation is decreased by one. Further, in the case where management is performed using the table shown in FIG. 3B, the column corresponding to the designated bin is left blank.

The block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of a network printing system. The block diagram which shows the function structure of a network printing system. The figure which shows the example of a bin setting information table. The flowchart explaining the reception process of registration of a bin. The figure which shows the example of a bin setting condition display screen.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Printer, 11 ... Interface, 12 ... CPU, 13 ... RAM, 14 ... ROM, 15 ... Print engine, 16 ... Operation panel, 17 ... HDD, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 18 ... Paper feeding device, 19 ... Paper discharge device, 21 ... Display device, 22 ... Input device, 23 ... Media reading device, 24 ... Auxiliary storage device, 30 ... Computer, 31 ... CPU, 32 ... RAM, 33 ... ROM, 34 ... Network interface, 110 ... Print control unit, 110a ... Bin setting information management unit, 120 ... Print Execution unit, 300 ... operating system unit, 310 ... application unit, 320 ... printer driver unit, 321 ... user interface unit, 321a ... bin setting unit, 322 ... print processing unit

Claims (10)

A printing system including a printing device having a plurality of paper discharge ports and one or a plurality of printing control devices,
The printing apparatus includes:
A paper discharge port designation receiving means for receiving a paper discharge port designation notification from the print control device;
Designation status storage means for storing designation status information of each paper ejection slot based on the notification received by the ejection slot designation receiving means;
In response to an inquiry about the designated status of the discharge port from the print control device, designated status transmitting means for transmitting designated status information stored in the designated status storage means;
Based on a paper discharge port designation command from the print control device, and a paper discharge means for discharging printed paper to a designated paper discharge port,
The print control device includes:
Designated status inquiry means for making an inquiry about the specified status of the discharge port to the printing apparatus;
Paper discharge port registration means for presenting the specified status information sent from the printing apparatus and receiving and storing the specification of the paper discharge port from the user;
Notification means for notifying the printing apparatus of a paper discharge port that has received the designation;
A printing system comprising: a command output unit that transmits a paper discharge port designation command for designating the stored paper discharge port to the printing apparatus when printing is performed. A printing apparatus having a plurality of paper discharge ports,
A paper discharge port designation receiving means for receiving a paper discharge port designation notification from the print control device;
Designation status storage means for storing designation status information of each paper ejection slot based on the notification received by the ejection slot designation receiving means;
In response to an inquiry about the designated status of the discharge port from the print control device, designated status transmitting means for transmitting designated status information stored in the designated status storage means;
A printing apparatus comprising: a discharge unit that discharges a printed sheet to a specified sheet discharge port based on a sheet discharge port designation command from the print control device. The printing apparatus according to claim 2,
The printing apparatus, wherein the paper discharge port designation receiving unit further receives a paper discharge port designation cancellation from the print control device. The printing apparatus according to claim 2,
The printing apparatus characterized in that the designation status information stored by the designation status storage means indicates how many printing control apparatuses have received designation for each paper discharge port. The printing apparatus according to claim 2,
The printing apparatus characterized in that the designation status information stored by the designation status storage means indicates whether or not a designation is received from any one of the printing control apparatuses for each sheet discharge port. The printing apparatus according to claim 4 or 5,
The specified status information stored by the specified status storage means further includes information from which print control device the specification is received. A printing control apparatus for controlling a printing apparatus having a plurality of paper discharge ports,
Designated status inquiry means for inquiring the printing apparatus for a specified status of a paper discharge port;
Paper discharge port registration means for presenting the specified status information sent from the printing apparatus and receiving and storing the specification of the paper discharge port from the user;
Notification means for notifying the printing apparatus of a paper discharge port that has received the designation;
A print control apparatus comprising: a command output unit configured to transmit a sheet discharge port designation command for designating the stored sheet discharge port to the printing apparatus when printing is performed. The print control apparatus according to claim 7.
The paper discharge port registration means, when presenting the specified status information, performs a display that clearly indicates the paper discharge port specified by any of the print control devices. . A printer driver that causes a computer to execute processing for controlling a printing apparatus having a plurality of paper discharge ports,
Designated status inquiry means for inquiring the printing apparatus for a specified status of a paper discharge port;
Paper discharge port registration means for presenting the specified status information sent from the printing apparatus and receiving and storing the specification of the paper discharge port from the user;
Notification means for notifying the printing apparatus of a paper discharge port that has received the designation;
A printer driver that causes a computer to function as command output means for transmitting a paper discharge port designation command for designating the stored paper discharge port to the printing apparatus when printing is performed. The printer driver according to claim 9.
The paper discharge port registration means, when presenting the specified status information, displays a message that clearly indicates the paper discharge port specified by any of the print control apparatuses.

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