JP2010152462A - Printing system, control method for the printing system, program and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing system and control method therefor, allowing totaling of respective use situations of papers to a plurality of print devices in each user without performing work for construction or the like of a print management server or the like on a network. <P>SOLUTION: In this printing system, user information of a login user is acquired (S1501), device information stored in a device information database of the print devices corresponding to the user information is acquired (S1502 and S1503), print jobs corresponding to the user information (S1501) stored in a job information database of the other print devices are required based on the device information (S1505-S1509), and results thereof are totaled (S1513) and are displayed on a screen (S1515). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to control of a printing system in which a client terminal and a printing device that stores and manages print data in association with user information are connected to each other via a network. In particular, the present invention relates to control of a print job management system in a system connected to a plurality of printing devices.

  Conventionally, an image is printed on a storage medium such as paper by a printing device such as a printer from a computer. Users can print freely from their computers, so they can print excessively without knowing and use so-called consumables such as storage media such as paper and toner for printing devices. Occurs. For this reason, how much the user is currently using the paper, that is, the usage status is displayed on the panel of the printing device or the like to suppress printing.

  In recent years, a plurality of printing devices are connected to a network such as a local area network, and a user can output an image to a desired printing device. In such a usage mode, the current situation is that the user cannot know the usage status of paper in all the printing devices on the network at a time.

  Therefore, a method has been considered in which a print management server is constructed on the network, the paper usage statuses of all printing devices connected on the network are managed, and the results are notified to the user.

  As one of them, Patent Document 1 discloses a print management system that aggregates the number of printed sheets for each user in an arbitrary period using print log information accumulated in a printing device. In this system, a print management server is required on the network. Further, the print management server requests a print log from each printer on the network, and totals the number of printed sheets for each user.

Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a print job management program that counts the number of printed sheets for each user using print job history information existing in a plurality of printing devices. Even in this system, a print management server is required on the network.
JP 2003-67174 A JP-A-2005-78160

  However, in the system described in Patent Document 1, it is possible to count the number of prints for a plurality of printing devices connected to the network for each user, but it is necessary to construct a print management server.

  The same applies to the system described in Patent Document 2, and it becomes necessary to construct a print management server.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems. A user does not perform a task such as constructing a print management server device on a network, and a plurality of printing devices can be used. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing system, a control method thereof, a printing control program, and a storage medium that can perform usage status aggregation for each user.

  In order to achieve the above object, a printing system according to claim 1, wherein a client terminal for issuing a printing instruction and a plurality of printing devices for performing printing output according to the printing instruction from the client terminal are connected via a network. In the printing system, the client terminal includes input means for inputting user identification information for identifying a user, printing device information for identifying a printing device that the user can print out, and the printing device. Forming device information storage means for storing device information including communication information for performing communication, and forming a print job including user identification information input by the input means in response to a print instruction, in the device information storage means Client terminal transmission for transmitting stored device information to the printing device The printing device includes: a printing device information receiving unit that receives the print job and device information transmitted by the client terminal transmitting unit; and the device information received by the printing device information receiving unit as user identification information. According to the device information stored in the device information storage means, the print job storage means for storing the print execution result based on the print job received by the print device information reception means, and the device information stored in the device information storage means A print job requesting unit that requests a print execution result corresponding to the user information from another device, a print execution result requested and acquired by the print job requesting unit, and a print execution result stored in the print job storage unit Counting means to be printed, and the print summed up by the counting means Characterized by comprising display means for displaying a line result.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printing system according to the first aspect, wherein the printing device transmits an execution result transmitted by the aggregation unit to the client terminal. And a client terminal display means for displaying a print execution result received by the print result reception means. The client terminal display means displays the print execution result received by the print result reception means. And.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printing system according to the first or second aspect, wherein the print job requesting unit is configured according to the device information stored in the device information storing unit. Requesting a print execution result corresponding to the user information from another device, and deleting the device information in the device information storage unit corresponding to the print device for which the print execution result cannot be obtained.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printing system according to the third aspect, wherein the print job requesting means transfers the user to another device according to the device information stored in the device information storing means. When a print execution result corresponding to the information is requested and there is a print device for which the print execution result cannot be acquired, the device information in the device information storage unit corresponding to the print device for which the print execution result cannot be acquired is deleted. It is characterized by comprising selection means capable of selecting whether or not to do.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing system control method in which a client terminal for issuing a print instruction and a plurality of print devices that perform print output in response to a print instruction from the client terminal are connected via a network. In the printed system, the client terminal has an input process for inputting user identification information for identifying a user, print device information for identifying a print device that can be printed by the user, and the print device. Device information storage step for storing device information including communication information for communication with the device, and a print job including user identification information input in the input step in response to a print instruction and the device information storage step A client that transmits device information stored in the printer to the printing device A print terminal information receiving step for receiving the print job and device information sent in the client terminal sending step, and the device information received in the print device information receiving step. A device information storing step for storing the information corresponding to the user identification information, a print job storing step for storing a print execution result based on the print job received in the printing device information receiving step, and a device information storing step. A print job request process for requesting a print execution result corresponding to the user information to another device according to the device information, a print execution result requested and acquired by the print job request process, and a print execution result stored in the print job storage process And a totaling process for totaling A display step of displaying the print execution result of the aggregate by degree, and further comprising a.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable program for causing a computer to execute the printing system control method according to the fifth aspect.

  Furthermore, a recording medium according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is a computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to the sixth aspect is recorded.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to aggregate paper usage status for each of a plurality of printing devices for each user without the user performing operations such as building a print management server on the network.

  Hereinafter, a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a printing system to which the client terminal 100 and the printing device 200 of the present invention can be applied. The configuration of various terminals connected to the network in FIG. 1 is an example, and it goes without saying that there are various configuration examples depending on the application and purpose.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system according to the present embodiment includes one or a plurality of client terminals 100 (for example, a client terminal that can be used for each user is installed) and a plurality of printing devices (a printing device A and a printing device B). , A plurality of printing devices (such as a printing device 200a, a printing device 200b, and a printing device 200c) are connected via the local area network 300. Yes.

  In the client terminal 100, a printer driver is installed, and after a user designates a print device to be output, a print instruction is given, and print data is transmitted to each print device via the printer driver. .

  Next, the hardware configuration of the client terminal 100 in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the client terminal 100.

  The CPU 201 comprehensively controls each device and controller connected to the system bus 204.

  Further, the ROM 202 or the external memory 211 is necessary for realizing a BIOS (Basic Input / Output System) or an operating system program (hereinafter referred to as OS) that is a control program of the CPU 201 and functions executed by each server or each PC. Various programs to be described later, communication information necessary for communication with external devices, and the like are stored.

  The RAM 203 functions as a main memory, work area, and the like for the CPU 201. The CPU 201 implements various operations by loading a program necessary for execution of processing into the RAM 203 and executing the program.

  An input controller (input C) 205 controls input from a pointing device such as a keyboard 209 or a mouse (not shown).

  A video controller (VC) 206 controls display on a display device such as a CRT display (CRT) 210. The display device may be a liquid crystal display as well as a CRT. These are used by the administrator as needed. The present invention is not directly related.

  The memory controller (MC) 207 is a hard disk (HD), floppy (registered trademark) disk (FD), or PCMCIA that stores a boot program, browser software, various applications, font data, user files, editing files, various data, and the like. Controls access to an external memory 211 such as a CompactFlash (registered trademark) memory connected to the card slot via an adapter.

  A communication I / F controller (communication I / FC) 208 is connected to and communicates with an external device via a network, and executes communication control processing in the network. For example, Internet communication using TCP / IP is possible.

  For example, the CPU 201 can perform display on the CRT 210 by executing outline font rasterization processing on a display information area in the RAM 203. In addition, the CPU 201 enables a user instruction with a mouse cursor (not shown) on the CRT 210.

  Next, the hardware configuration of the controller unit of the printing device 200 in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the controller unit of the printing device 200.

   In FIG. 3, a controller unit 316 is connected to a scanner 314 that functions as an image input device and a printer unit 312 that functions as an image output device, while a LAN (for example, the local area network 300 shown in FIG. 1) or a public line. By connecting to (WAN) (for example, PSTN or ISDN), input / output of image data and device information is performed.

   In the controller unit 316, the CPU 301 is a processor that controls the entire system. A RAM 302 is a system work memory for the CPU 301 to operate, and is also a program memory for storing a program and an image memory for temporarily storing image data.

   The ROM 303 stores a system boot program and various control programs. A hard disk drive (HDD) 304 stores various programs for controlling the system, image data, and the like.

   An operation unit interface (operation unit I / F) 307 is an interface unit with the operation unit (keyboard) 308. Further, the operation unit I / F 307 serves to transmit the key information (for example, pressing of the start button) input from the operation unit 308 to the CPU 301.

   A network interface (Network I / F) 305 is connected to the network 300 and inputs / outputs data. A modem 306 (MODEM) is connected to a public line and inputs / outputs data such as FAX transmission / reception.

   An external interface (external I / F) 318 is an I / F unit that accepts external inputs such as USB, IEEE 1394, printer port, RS-232C, etc., and reads an IC card (storage medium) of a portable terminal required for authentication Card reader 319 is connected to external interface 318. The CPU 301 can control reading of information from the IC card of the portable terminal by the card reader 319 via the external interface 318, and can acquire information read from the IC card of the portable terminal. The above devices are arranged on the system bus 309.

   An image bus interface (IMAGE BUS I / F) 320 is a bus bridge that connects the system bus 309 and an image bus 315 that transfers image data at high speed and converts a data structure.

   The image bus 315 is configured by a PCI bus or IEEE1394. The following devices are arranged on the image bus 315.

   The raster image processor 310 (RIP) develops vector data such as a PDL code into a bitmap image, for example. A printer interface 311 (printer I / F) connects the printer unit 312 and the controller unit 316, and performs synchronous / asynchronous conversion of image data. A scanner interface 313 (scanner I / F) connects the scanner 314 and the controller unit 316 to perform synchronous / asynchronous conversion of image data.

   The image processing unit 317 corrects, processes, and edits input image data, and performs printer correction, resolution conversion, and the like on print output image data. In addition to this, the image processing unit 317 performs image data rotation and compression / decompression processing such as JPEG for multi-valued image data and JBIG, MMR, MH for binary image data.

   The scanner unit 314 illuminates an image on paper as a document and scans it with a CCD line sensor, thereby converting it into an electrical signal as raster image data. The original paper is set on the tray of the original feeder, and when the apparatus user gives a reading start instruction from the operation unit 308, the CPU 301 gives an instruction to the scanner 314, and the feeder feeds the original paper one by one to read the original image. I do.

   The printer unit 312 is a part that converts raster image data into an image on paper. The method is an electrophotographic method using a photosensitive drum or a photosensitive belt, and ink is ejected from a micro nozzle array directly on the paper. There is an inkjet method for printing an image, but any method may be used. The activation of the printing operation is started by an instruction from the CPU 301. The printer unit 312 has a plurality of paper feed stages so that different paper sizes or different paper orientations can be selected, and has a paper cassette corresponding thereto.

   The operation unit 308 has an LCD display unit, and a touch panel sheet is pasted on the LCD. The operation unit 308 displays an operation screen of the system. When a displayed key is pressed, the position information is displayed on the operation unit I / F 307. To the CPU 301 via The operation unit 308 includes, for example, a start key, a stop key, an ID key, a reset key, and the like as various operation keys.

   It should be noted that the display unit has different display performance depending on the printer, the printer that can be operated via the touch panel, and the printer that simply has a liquid crystal screen and displays a character string (displays the print status and the name of the document being printed). The invention is structured.

   Here, the start key of the operation unit 308 is used when starting a document image reading operation. At the center of the start key, there are two color LEDs, green and red, which indicate whether or not the start key can be used. Further, the stop key of the operation unit 308 functions to stop the operation in operation. The ID key of the operation unit 308 is used when inputting the user ID of the user. The reset key is used when initializing settings from the operation unit.

   The card reader 319 reads information stored in an IC card provided in the portable terminal under the control of the CPU 301 and notifies the CPU 301 of the read information via the external interface 318.

   With the above-described configuration, the printer 300 can transmit the image data read from the scanner 314 to the local area network 300 and print out the print data received from the local area network 300 by the printer unit 312.

   Further, the image data read from the scanner 314 can be faxed to the public line by the modem 306, and the image data received by fax from the public line can be output by the printer unit 312.

  Next, FIG. 4 is a screen necessary for performing authentication at the time of login to the printing device 200a, the printing device 200b, and the printing device 200c, setting print authority for each printing device, and the like. The form printing system can take a form displayed on at least one of the CRT 210 and the operation unit 308.

  A user inputs user information such as a user name and a password for identifying the user into the user name 401 and the password 402 in order to perform authentication and print authority setting, and presses an OK button to perform authentication and printing. Shift to processing such as authority setting. When the cancel button is pressed, the processing of the printing system ends.

  FIG. 5 is a screen for selecting the paper usage status for any of the printing devices 200a, 200b, and 200c for user information (see FIG. 4) input by the user. In the printing system according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to take a form displayed on at least one of the CRT 210 and the operation unit 308.

  The printing device used by the user is displayed on the used printing device 501, and the used printing device information is acquired from the information set in the printer driver stored in the ROM 202 or the external memory 211 and displayed. It is possible.

  The used printing device information displayed on the used printing device 501 can be selected by the user operating the keyboard 209, the operation unit 308, a mouse (not shown), and the like. It is possible to select.

  Also, in the printing device used by the user, it is possible to know the usage status related to the user regardless of the usage status of the user's own paper. For example, the average paper of the department to which the user belongs If the user wants to know the usage status, the user can operate the department usage status check box 502 by inputting a check mark and operating the keyboard 209, the operation unit 308, a mouse (not shown), and the like.

  After the user inputs these pieces of information, when the user presses an OK button, the process proceeds to processing such as summing up the paper usage status of the printing device corresponding to the user information. In addition, when the cancel button is pressed, the processing of the printing system is completed, or the screen of FIG. 5 is closed and user information can be input again (see FIG. 4).

  Further, in FIG. 5, although (this device) is displayed, it shows that an operation is being performed on the screen of the printing device 200a.

  FIG. 6 is a screen for displaying the result of totalizing the paper usage status of each printing device. In the printing system according to the embodiment of the present invention, a form displayed on at least one of the CRT 210 and the operation unit 308 is shown. It is possible to take.

  On the printing device usage status screen 601, information related to the printing device in which the usage status of the paper is totaled is displayed in the printing device totaling information 602, and the total usage status of the paper for all the displayed printing devices is displayed as printing device totaling detailed information. 603 is displayed. The usage status of the paper includes information such as the total number of pages used at the time of printing, the total number of pages, the number of color pages, and the total number of pages when performing duplex printing.

  Furthermore, it is also possible to display the paper usage status in the print device aggregation detailed information 603 in the order of the displayed print devices.

  In addition to the paper usage status of the printing device, it is also possible to grasp the usage status of the user corresponding to the user information and the usage status related to the user, which are displayed on the user total information 606 and the user related total information 607. It is also possible to do.

  The user-related tabulation information 607 displays the result of tabulating the paper usage status when a check mark is entered in the department usage status check box 502 described above.

  Reference numeral 605 denotes the same information as the information displayed in the print device total information 602.

  In FIG. 6, not all information is shown for the print device total information 603, the user total information 606, and the user-related total information 607, but a scroll bar is provided on the right side of each column so that the user can It is possible to refer to all information by scrolling the scroll bar up and down. The same applies to the print device total information 602 and the print device total information 605.

  Next, an example of processing for creating a print job in the printer driver of the client terminal 100 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to flowcharts shown in FIGS. Each step of this process is controlled and executed under the control of the CPU 201.

  As an example, the user A executes printing from the client terminal 100 to the printing device 200a.

  In step S801, the printer driver that has received the print execution from the user A creates a print job. This print job includes information such as a print job name, print execution date / time, print execution user, and print data. Like the print job image 701 shown in FIG. 7, an example of a print job created by the printer driver has the illustrated configuration.

  In step S802, the printer driver creates a device information list 702. A detailed description of the processing contents in this step will be given with reference to FIG.

  In step S <b> 901, user information of the user who executed the print instruction is acquired and stored in the RAM 203.

  This user information can be obtained from, for example, the screen used when the user logs in as shown in FIG. 4, and can be realized by obtaining the user information entered in the user name 401 and password 402 by the user. is there.

  Next, in step S902, the processing from step S903 to step S910 is performed for all printing devices in accordance with the printing device information set in the printer driver installed in the client terminal 100 that has executed the printing instruction. Indicates that it will be executed.

  In step S903, one piece of print device information set in the printer driver installed in the client terminal 100 that has executed the print instruction is acquired. In step S904, it is confirmed using the user information stored in the RAM 203 in step S901 whether the user A who has executed the print instruction has the authority to use the printing device acquired in step S903. If there is no authority, the process returns to step S903. If the authority exists, the process proceeds to step S905. These determinations are made by using authority information set in the printer driver of the client terminal 100.

  In step S905, the port information of the printing device acquired in step S903 is acquired. The port information itself can also be realized by using information set in the printer driver of the client terminal 100.

  In step S906, it is determined whether the type of port included in the port information is a TCP / IP port. If it is not a TCP / IP port, the process returns to step S903. The following is a description when the port type is a TCP / IP port.

  In this example, the TCP / IP port is described. However, the information is not limited to the TCP / IP port as long as information necessary for communication can be acquired.

  In step S907, communication information necessary for communication such as the name, IP address, and port number of the printing device is acquired. Such communication information can also be acquired from information set in the printer driver.

  In step S <b> 908, it is confirmed whether the communication information acquired in step S <b> 907 exists in the device information list stored in the ROM 202. When it exists, it returns to step S903, and when it does not exist, it progresses to step S909.

In step S909, the information acquired in step S907 is stored in the ROM 202. (Device information 703, device information 704, and device information 705 are stored for each of the printing device 200a, printing device 200b, and printing device 200c shown in FIG. 7.)
The processing in steps S903 to S909 is performed for the number of printing devices set in the printer driver installed in the client terminal 100 that has executed printing. In the case of the system configuration diagram shown in FIG. 1, a device information list as shown in the device information 702 shown in FIG.

  The device information list created here holds only information on printing devices that the user A may print from the client terminal 100.

  Next, in step S <b> 803, the printer driver sends the above-described print job and device information list together to the printing device under the control of the communication I / F controller 208.

  FIG. 10 shows a data structure related to a database for receiving a print job and a device information list transmitted from the client terminal 100 and storing a print result for the received print job and device information included in the device information list. The job information database and the device information database correspond to each of the print job and device information.

  An example of a department database for identifying a department to which a user belongs is also shown. These databases are stored in the HDD 304 or the like, and a detailed usage method will be described later. Further, in the flowchart described below, the database is described as DB, but the database and DB have the same meaning. Next, an example of processing when the print device 200a receives the print job and device information list transmitted in step S803 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Each step in this process is controlled and executed under the control of the CPU 301.

  First, in step S <b> 1101, a print job and a device information list received from the client terminal 100 via the network interface 305 are separated and stored in the RAM 302.

  In step S1102, the cut print job is processed inside the printing device. This process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Each step in this process is controlled and executed under the control of the CPU 301.

  In step S1201, the printing device 200a acquires the print job stored in the RAM 302 in step S1101, performs processing according to the acquired print job, and performs print output.

  In step S1202, it is confirmed whether information regarding a print job for the user A who has executed the print instruction exists in the job information database existing in the HDD 304 of the print device 200a.

  If the print job for user A does not exist in the job information database, a record for user A is created in the job information database of HDD 304 of print device 200a in step S1203.

  In step S1204, log information of the print job executed in step S1201 is stored in the job information database. The log information includes at least information such as the date and time of printing, the number of sheets used, the total number of pages, the number of colors, the number of monochrome pages, and the like. Needless to say, the log information is not limited to the above, and may be configured in various configurations and contents depending on applications and purposes.

  Through the processing in steps S1201 to S1204, a record corresponding to the item 1001 shown in FIG. 10 is created in the job information database stored in the HDD 304 inside the printing device as in 1001 to 1004.

  Next, in step S1103, the device information list stored in the RAM 302 in step S1101 is acquired and processed in the printing device 200a. This process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Each step in this process is controlled and executed under the control of the CPU 301.

  In step S1301, it is confirmed whether information related to the device information list for the user A who has executed the print instruction exists in the device information database existing in the HDD 304 of the print device 200a.

  If the device information list for user A does not exist in the device information database, a record for user A is created in the device information in the HDD 304 of the printing device 200a in step S1302.

  Step S1303 represents that the processes in steps S1303 to 1311 are executed by the number of device information included in the device information list stored in the RAM 302 in step S1101.

  In step S1304, one piece of device information is acquired from the device information list stored in the RAM 302 in step S1101. In the case of the above example, the information shown in the device information 703 in FIG. 7 is acquired. Step S1305 represents that the processing in each step of step S1306 and step S1307 is executed for all device information stored in the device information database.

  In step S1306, one piece of device information is acquired from the device information database stored in the HDD 304 of the printing device 200a.

  In step S1307, the device information acquired in step S1304 is compared with the device information acquired in step S1306. If they do not match, the device information acquired in step S1304 is stored in the RAM 302.

  The processes in steps S1306 to S1307 are performed for the number of device information stored in the device information database inside the printing device.

  In step S1309, it is determined whether or not there is mismatched device information depending on whether or not the device information is stored in the RAM 302 in step S1307.

  If the device information acquired in step S1304 is not stored in the device information database inside the printing device, that is, if the device information is stored in the RAM 302 in step S1307, the process proceeds to step S1310 and acquired in step S1304. If the device information is stored in the device information database inside the printing device, that is, if the device information is not stored in the RAM 302 in step S1307, the process returns to step S1303.

  In step S1310, the device information stored in RAM 302 in S1307 is stored in the device information database.

  In the case of the above-described example in which the processing from step S1304 to step S1310 is executed by the number of device information included in the device information list stored in the RAM 302 in step S1101, the same applies to the device information 704 and device information 705 shown in FIG. Process.

  Through the processing in steps S1301 to S1311, records corresponding to items such as 1005 shown in FIG. 10 are created in the device information database stored in the HDD 304 of the printing device 200a as in 1006 to 1008.

  User A performs the same process as described above when executing a print instruction from the client terminal 100 to the print device 200b and the print device 200c connected to the local area network 300.

  Therefore, a job information database for user A is created on each printing device. 1403 shown in FIG. 14 shows a job information database for user A created in the HDD 304 inside the printing device 200b. Similarly, 1404 shown in FIG. 14 indicates a job information database for user A created in the HDD 304 inside the printing device 200c.

  Next, an example of a process for displaying, with respect to the user A, the total result of the paper usage status in the printing device 200a will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S1501, user information such as the user name and password of the logged-in user is acquired. User A logs in to the printing device 200a using the operation unit 308 of the printing device 200a. An example of the screen displayed at this time is shown in FIG. Although this screen uses the operation unit 308, it goes without saying that the CRT 210 may be used as described above. The same applies hereinafter.

  In step S1502, device information related to user A is acquired from the device information database stored in the HDD 304 of the printing device 200a. In the case of the above-described example, device information such as 1006, 1007, and 1008 shown in FIG. 10 is acquired and stored in the RAM 302.

  In step S1503, the acquired device information stored in the RAM 302 in step S1502 is displayed on the screen. An example of the screen displayed at this time is shown in FIG. In step S1502, the device information stored in the RAM 302 is displayed on the used printing device 501 as used printing device information.

  In step S1504, the user can select a printing device for which the user wants to grasp the usage status of the paper with respect to the used printing device information displayed in the used printing device 501 in step S1503. This indicates that the processing from step S1505 to step S1514 is repeated for the number of times.

  In step S1505, with respect to the used print device information displayed on the used print device 501 in step S1503, the paper usage status of the user A for one of the print devices selected by the user A is printed other than the print device 200a. Request to the device. At this time, the device information stored in the RAM 302 in step S1502 is used as information used for communication such as the IP address of the printing device and the port number of the printing device.

  In step S1506, the request is received via the network interface 305 that the printing device other than the printing device 200a has.

  In step S1507, the printing device other than the printing device 200a that has received the request in step S1506 acquires the print job of user A from the job information database stored in the HDD 304 within itself.

  In step S1508, the job information of user A acquired in step S1507 is transmitted to the printing device 200a via the network interface 305. Note that the processing in each step from step S1506 to step S1508 is executed under the control of the CPU 301 provided in a printing device other than the printing device 200a. In step S1509, the printing device 200a checks whether a result from a printing device other than the printing device 200a has been transmitted. If it is determined that the results have been transmitted from all the printing devices other than the printing device 200a, the process proceeds to step S1513. If it is determined that the results have not been transmitted, the process proceeds to step S1510.

  In step S1513, the usage status of the paper of user A including the job information transmitted in step S1508 is tabulated. An example of this tabulation is shown below.

  For example, assume that the job information database of the printing device 200a stores the job information of user A as 35 sheets used, 70 pages, 15 colors, and 20 monochrome pages. It is assumed that the result is transmitted from another printing device as the number of used sheets is 20, the total number of pages is 20, the number of colors is 10, and the number of monochrome sheets is 10.

  In the above case, the total paper usage status of the user A in the printing device 200a and other printing devices is tabulated as 55 paper usage, 90 total pages, 25 color, and 30 monochrome.

  In step S1510, it is confirmed whether the acquisition has been failed more than the specified number of times. If the acquisition has not failed more than the specified number of times, the process ends without doing anything.

  If acquisition fails for the specified number of times or more, in step S1511, the user is confirmed whether to delete the target device information from the device information database. For this confirmation, as shown in FIG. 16, information about a printing device that has failed to be acquired more than the specified number of times is displayed on the operation unit 308, and the user selects a printing device to be deleted by operating the operation unit 308. If it is detected that the OK button is pressed, the process proceeds to step S1512. If it is detected that the cancel button is pressed, the process returns to step S1504.

  In step S1512, the device information to be deleted is deleted from the device information for user A from the device information database stored in the HDD 304 inside the printing device 200a.

  By executing the processing in steps S1504 to S1514, the total paper usage status on the printing device selected by the user can be totaled.

  In step S1515, the screen is displayed using the results obtained in step S1513. An example of the screen displayed at this time is shown in FIG.

  If a check mark is entered in the department usage status check box 502 shown in FIG. 5 in step S1504, the department name to which user A belongs to the used printing device information displayed on the used printing device 501. Is acquired from the department database, and the user name corresponding to the department name is acquired.

  In step S1505, instead of requesting the usage status of the paper of user A, the usage status of the paper of the user name acquired in step S1504 is requested to a printing device other than the printing device 200a.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 10, since user A belongs to department A, user B who belongs to the same department also requests a printing device other than printing device 200a to use the paper. That is, the print job information for the user A and the user B is received from the job information database stored in the HDD 304 of the print device other than the print device 200a.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the usage status of a particular user's paper is acquired from a plurality of printing devices connected to the network without a server or the like, and totalized. Can output the result.

  In addition, by applying this processing, it is possible to acquire the paper usage status of a plurality of users and compare it with the usage status of a specific user paper as indicated by reference numeral 604 in FIG.

  In the case of the example described, the form of requesting the use status of the paper from the printing device 200a at the time of aggregation to another printing device has been taken. However, for example, when printing is executed, the printing device 200 is directed to another printing device. It is also possible to take a form in which the paper usage status is transmitted, and the other printing devices that have transmitted the paper update the paper usage status with respect to the job information database that they have.

  In this case, in step S1505, only the job information database in its own printing device is referred to without requesting the use status of the user's paper to other printing devices, so steps S1505, S1506, and S1508 This can be realized by executing the step S1507 in the printing device 200a without executing the above process.

  Although the embodiments have been described in detail above, the present invention can take an embodiment as, for example, a system, an apparatus, a method, a program, or a storage medium, and specifically includes a plurality of devices. The present invention may be applied to a system that is configured, or may be applied to an apparatus that includes a single device.

  As described above, as described in the above embodiment, the usage status of paper is aggregated for each of a plurality of printing devices for each user without the user performing operations such as building a print management server on the network. be able to.

  In addition, when printing is performed from the computer, other device information used by the user is transmitted and set to the device to be printed, and aggregation is performed based on that information. Even if the number increases, it is not necessary for the administrator to set information about the printing device.

  Furthermore, since communication is performed only with printing devices that may be used by the user, it is possible to reduce the network load.

1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the hardware applicable to the client terminal which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of schematic structure of the hardware of the controller unit which the printing device which concerns on embodiment of this invention has. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a login screen displayed on the client terminal 100 or the printing device 200 in the present invention. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the screen which can select the usage condition of the paper in the printing device displayed on the client terminal or printing device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the screen showing the tabulated result about the usage condition of the paper of the printing device displayed on the client terminal or printing device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of a print job and a device information list created by a printer driver of a client terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing for creating a print job at a client terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process which produces a device information list with the client terminal which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of a job information database, a device information database, and a department database stored in an external memory of a printing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing for executing a print job by the printing device according to the embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing for updating a job information database in the printing device according to the embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing for updating a device information database in the printing device according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the process which totals the usage condition of paper in the printing system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process of counting paper usage statuses in the printing device according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the screen for confirming whether device information is deleted from the device information database which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

100 Client terminal 200 Printing device 201 CPU
202 ROM
203 RAM
204 System Bus 205 Input Controller 206 Video Controller 207 Memory Controller 208 Communication I / F Controller 209 Keyboard 210 CRT
211 External memory 300 Network 301 CPU
302 RAM
303 ROM
304 Hard Disk Drive 305 Network Interface 306 Modem 307 Operation Unit I / F
308 Operation unit 309 System bus 310 Raster image processor 311 Printer interface 312 Printer unit 313 Scanner interface 314 Scanner 315 Image bus 316 Controller unit 317 Image processing unit 318 External interface 319 Card reader 320 Image bus interface

Claims (7)

In a printing system in which a client terminal for performing a print instruction and a plurality of print devices that perform print output according to a print instruction from the client terminal are connected via a network,
The client terminal is
An input means for inputting user identification information for identifying a user;
Device information storage means for storing device information including printing device information for identifying a printing device that can be printed by the user and communication information for performing communication with the printing device;
A client terminal transmission unit that forms a print job including user identification information input by the input unit in response to a print instruction and transmits device information stored in the device information storage unit to the printing device;
With
The printing device is
Printing device information receiving means for receiving the print job and device information transmitted by the client terminal transmitting means;
Device information storage means for storing device information received by the printing device information receiving means in association with user identification information;
Print job storage means for storing a print execution result based on the print job received by the printing device information receiving means;
Print job requesting means for requesting a print execution result corresponding to the user information to another device according to the device information stored in the device information storage means;
A totaling unit that totalizes the print execution result requested and acquired by the print job request unit and the print execution result stored in the print job storage unit;
Display means for displaying the print execution results aggregated by the aggregation means;
A printing system comprising: The printing device is
An execution result transmitting unit that transmits the print execution result totaled by the totaling unit to the client terminal;
The client terminal is
Print execution result receiving means for receiving the print execution result transmitted by the execution result transmitting means;
Client terminal display means for displaying a print execution result received by the print result receiving means;
The printing system according to claim 1, further comprising:   The print job request unit requests a print execution result corresponding to the user information from another device according to the device information stored in the device information storage unit, and corresponds to a print device that cannot obtain the print execution result. 3. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the device information in the device information storage unit is deleted.   When the print job request unit requests a print execution result corresponding to the user information from another device according to the device information stored in the device information storage unit, and there is a print device from which the print execution result cannot be obtained 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising selection means capable of selecting whether or not to delete device information in the device information storage means corresponding to a printing device for which a print execution result cannot be obtained. Printing system. In a control method of a printing system in which a client terminal for performing a print instruction and a plurality of print devices that perform print output according to a print instruction from the client terminal are connected via a network,
The client terminal is
An input step for inputting user identification information for identifying the user;
A device information storage step for storing device information including printing device information for identifying a printing device that can be printed by the user and communication information for performing communication with the printing device;
A client terminal transmission step of forming a print job including the user identification information input in the input step in response to a print instruction and transmitting the device information stored in the device information storage step to the printing device;
With
The printing device is
A print device information receiving step for receiving the print job and device information transmitted in the client terminal transmission step;
A device information storing step for storing the device information received in the printing device information receiving step in correspondence with the user identification information;
A print job storage step for storing a print execution result based on the print job received in the print device information reception step;
In accordance with the device information stored in the device information storage step, a print job request step for requesting a print execution result corresponding to the user information to another device;
A tabulation step of tabulating the print execution results requested and acquired by the print job request step and the print execution results stored in the print job storage step;
A display step for displaying the print execution results tabulated in the tabulation step;
A control method for a printing system, comprising:   A computer-readable program for causing a computer to execute the method according to claim 5.   A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to claim 6 is recorded.