JPH11129584A - Printing system and method for managing the printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing system for improving an operator's handling convenience at the time of instructing a print and a method for managing its printer. SOLUTION: By referring to an MIB built in a network interface of a printer to be instructed for a print in a PC, information of the printer is acquired (S4). And, if the residual number of set sheets is '0' (S5), a print process is stopped, and no print is displayed on a display unit. And, if the residual number of printing sheets set in an organization unit ID is less than the designated number of the sheets (S6), if the printer does not have a function of executing the print command (S8), if the processing capacity of the printer is not an allowable range (S10), if the printer is not in a printable state (S12), or if an error of the printer occurs (S14), a predetermined message to a user is displayed on the display unit, and any unit selects its dealing (S7, S9, S11, S13, S15).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing system comprising a network in which a plurality of client computers connected to a network and a printing apparatus for performing printing in accordance with a print instruction from the client computer are connected, and a management of the printing apparatus. About the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a printing system including a network in which a plurality of client computers connected to a network and a printing apparatus that performs printing in accordance with a print instruction from the client computer are connected, the printing apparatus is set. Keys associated with missing functions are often configured to be difficult to see. For example,
When setting the print mode, if the printer is set to disable the duplex mode, the key buttons used in the duplex mode, such as the duplex setting key, are reversed so that they cannot be seen on the display. Or grayed out. That is, when the operator inputs an operation instruction of the printing apparatus on the operation display unit of the printing apparatus, the function that the operator cannot use is not erroneously set.

[0003]

However, in a printing apparatus in which the paper on which printing on only one side has been completed remains in the duplex unit, it is not possible to newly perform printing in the duplex mode. The setting of the duplex mode and the print instruction itself were possible. Also,
When printing is completed in the staple sort mode and the operator does not remove the printed paper from the sorter, the staple sort mode setting itself is not possible even though print output in the staple sort mode is not possible. It was possible to do.

Accordingly, when a print instruction is sent from a client computer to a printing apparatus via a network, the operator notices that printing cannot be started unless the paper is removed from the duplex unit or the sorter. In some cases, a print instruction may be sent without receiving a print instruction, and it may be noticed that the print apparatus is not executing a print process until the print apparatus is approached in order to collect the printed paper. In such a case, after the operator notices, the paper remaining on the duplex unit or the sorter must be removed, and in some cases, a print instruction must be sent again from the client computer side. This is a waste of time, and is inconvenient for the operator.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and has as its object to provide a printing system and a printing apparatus management method thereof that can improve the usability of an operator at the time of a printing instruction.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, in the printing system according to the first aspect, a client computer is connected to a printing apparatus that receives a print instruction from the client computer and performs a printing process. In a printing system including a network, the client computer includes: an obtaining unit that obtains information about the printing device; an input unit that inputs a print instruction; and a print instruction input from the input unit. Judging means for judging whether or not the printing device can execute the input printing process by comparing the acquired information on the printing device with the printing device. Display means for performing a predetermined display when it is determined that the processing cannot be executed; And it features.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printing system according to the first aspect.
In the printing system described above, the information about the printing device obtained by the obtaining unit is function information and operation information of the printing device.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printing system according to the first aspect.
In the printing system described above, the display unit performs a display indicating that the printing apparatus has a function capable of executing the input print instruction but is inoperable.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printing system according to the first aspect.
The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the display unit is configured to operate the printing apparatus when the printing apparatus has a function capable of executing the input print instruction but is inoperable. Is displayed.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printing system according to the first aspect.
In the printing system described above, the printing apparatus has a storage unit that stores information about the printing apparatus.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus management method for a printing system, comprising: a client computer; and a printing apparatus configured to receive a print instruction from the client computer and perform a printing process. In the device management method, the client computer acquires information on the printing device, compares a printing instruction input by an operator with the acquired information on the printing device, and as a result of the comparison, the printing Determining whether the apparatus can execute the input print processing; and performing a predetermined display when the print apparatus determines that the input print processing cannot be executed by the determination. Features.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printing apparatus management method according to the sixth aspect, further comprising:
The acquired information on the printing device is function information and operation information of the printing device.

[0013] A printing apparatus management method for a printing system according to claim 8 is the printing apparatus management method according to claim 6, wherein
The printing apparatus has a function capable of executing the input printing instruction, but performs a display indicating that the printing apparatus cannot operate.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printing apparatus management method according to the sixth aspect, wherein
When the printing apparatus has a function capable of executing the input print instruction but is inoperable, display is provided for an operation for enabling the printing apparatus to operate.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the printing device management method according to the sixth aspect, information on the printing device is stored in advance in a storage unit provided in the printing device. Features.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printing system according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure,
The printing system includes a printing apparatus and a client computer connected to a network.

The printing apparatus reads a document image and generates image data of the document image as a reader unit 1, an image input / output control unit 3 described later, and image data or image input / output of the reader unit 1. A printer unit 2 for recording an image corresponding to the image data input from the control unit 3 on a recording sheet
It is mainly composed of

The image data generated by the reader unit 1 is output to the printer unit 2 or the image input / output control unit 3.

The image input / output control unit 3 has a core unit 10 connected to the reader unit 1. The core unit 10 includes a facsimile unit 4, a file unit 5, a computer interface unit 7, a LIPS formatter unit 8, a PS
The formatter unit 9 is connected.

The facsimile unit 4 expands the compressed image data received via the telephone line, transfers the expanded image data to the core unit 10, and compresses the image data transferred from the core unit 10. Then, the compressed compressed image data is transmitted via a telephone line.

The file unit 5 is connected to a magneto-optical disk drive unit 6. The file unit 5 compresses the image data transferred from the core unit 10, and compresses the compressed image data together with the search keyword for the magneto-optical disk.・
The data is stored on a magneto-optical disk (not shown) set in the drive unit 6. The file unit 5 includes a core unit 10
The compressed image data stored in the magneto-optical disk is searched based on the keyword transferred via the CPU, the searched compressed image data is read and expanded, and the expanded image data is transferred to the core unit 10.

The computer interface unit 7 is an interface that mediates between a client computer (hereinafter, referred to as a PC) 11 that is a personal computer or a workstation (PC / WS) 11 on a network and the core unit 10 and stores information on a printing apparatus. This constitutes a storage means. On the network, there is a network server 12 which is the center of the network control.
Is provided.

The LIPS formatter unit 8 and the PS formatter unit 9 perform expansion processing for expanding code data such as PDL data transferred from the PC 11 into image data recordable by the printer unit 2.

The core unit 10 has a function of controlling the flow of data among the blocks of the reader unit 1, facsimile unit 4, file unit 5, computer interface unit 7, formatter unit 8, and image memory unit 9. I have.

The PC 11 includes a keyboard 11a as input means for inputting a print instruction to the printing apparatus by the operator and an obtaining means for obtaining various information about the printing apparatus according to a procedure described later when the print instruction is input; Based on the acquired information, for example, the main body 11b serving as a determination unit that determines whether the printing apparatus is in a state where the print instruction cannot be immediately executed, and in a state where the print instruction cannot be immediately executed. In some cases, it has a display 11c as a display means for displaying the fact.

Next, the configurations of the reader unit 1 and the printer unit 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the configuration of the reader unit 1 and the printer unit 2 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the reader unit 1 has a document feeder 101. The document feeder 101 performs a document feeding operation of feeding a document one by one sequentially from the last page onto the platen glass 102 and discharging the document on the platen glass 102 after the reading operation of the document is completed.

When the original is conveyed onto the platen glass 102, the lamp 103 is turned on and the scanner unit 1 is turned on.
The movement of the document 04 is started, and the document is exposed and scanned by the movement of the scanner unit 104. The reflected light from the document obtained by this exposure scanning is reflected by each of the mirrors 105, 10
The light is guided to a CCD image sensor (hereinafter, referred to as a CCD) 109 by 6, 107 and a lens 108. In this way, the scanned image of the document is read by the CCD 109 and converted into image data by photoelectric conversion.
The image data output from the CCD 109 is subjected to predetermined processing and then transferred to the printer unit 2 and the core unit 10 of the image input / output control unit 3.

The laser driver 221 of the printer unit 2
It drives the laser light emitting unit 201, and the reader unit 1
Alternatively, the laser light emitting unit 201 emits laser light corresponding to the image data output from the core unit 10.

The laser beam is applied to the photosensitive drum 202, whereby a latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 202 by the laser beam. A developer is attached to a portion of the latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 202 by a developing device 203. Then, the recording paper is fed from the cassette 204 or the cassette 205 in synchronization with the laser beam irradiation start timing, and is transferred to the transfer unit 206. The developer adhered on the photosensitive drum 202 is transferred to the recording paper transferred to the transfer unit 206, and the recording paper on which the developer is transferred is fixed to the fixing unit 2.
07.

The fixing unit 207 fixes the toner image on the recording paper by hot pressing the developer on the recording paper. As a result, an image is formed on the recording paper. The recording paper on which the image is formed is discharged to the bin of the sorter 220 via the flapper 209 and the discharge roller 208.

When the sorting mode by the sorter 220 is set, the recording paper is sorted by sequentially loading the recording paper on the corresponding bin. When the sorting mode by the sorter 220 is not set, the recording paper is sequentially stacked on the uppermost bin.

The flapper 209 is a conveyance path switching member for changing the conveyance path of the recording paper. When the multiplex recording mode is set, the recording paper is transferred to the re-feed conveyance path 210 before the discharge roller 208. The conveyance path switching operation is performed so as to guide the conveyance. The recording paper guided to the re-feeding conveyance path 210 is conveyed again to the transfer unit 206 at the timing described above.

When double-sided recording is set,
After the recording paper is conveyed to the discharge roller 208, the rotation direction of the discharge roller 208 is reversed, and the recording paper is guided to the re-feed conveyance path 210 by the flapper 209. The recording paper guided to the re-feeding conveyance path 210 is conveyed again to the transfer unit 206 at the timing described above.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the reader unit 1 shown in FIG.

The image data generated in the CCD 109 is input to an A / D / SH unit 110, and the A / D · S
After being converted into digital information by analog-to-digital conversion in the H section 110, shading correction is performed.

The image data processed by the A / D / SH unit 110 is transferred to the printer unit 2 via the image processing unit 111 and input to the image via an interface (hereinafter referred to as I / F) unit 113. Core unit 10 of output control unit 3
Transferred to

The image processing unit 111 and the I / F unit 113
It is connected to the PU 114 and is controlled by the CPU 114 in accordance with the content set by the operator on the operation unit 115. For example, when a copy mode in which a trimming process is performed and a copy is performed by the operation unit 115 is set, the CP
U114 causes the image processing unit 111 to perform trimming processing of the image data, and transfers the trimmed image data to the printer unit 2. When the facsimile transmission mode is set on the operation unit 115, the CPU 114
Controls the I / F unit 113 to transfer a control command corresponding to the set mode to the core unit 10 together with the image data.

The control by the CPU 114 is performed based on a control program, and the control program is stored in the memory 116. The CPU 114 performs control while referring to the memory 116. In the memory 116,
An area for storing a control program, a work area used for arithmetic processing of the CPU 114, and an area for storing a user processing request described later are provided.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the core unit 10 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the core unit 10 has an I / F unit 122 connected to the reader unit 1. I / F part 1
Reference numeral 22 transfers the image data input from the reader unit 1 to the data processing unit 121 and the control command input from the reader unit 1 to the CPU 123. The data processing unit 121 performs image processing such as image rotation processing and scaling processing. The image data processed by the data processing unit 121 is
In response to a control command from the reader unit 1, the I / F unit 12
0, it is transferred to any one of the facsimile unit 4, the file unit 5, and the computer interface unit 7.

Code data input from the PC 11 via the computer interface unit 7 is transmitted to the I / F unit 1
20 to the data processing unit 121. In the data processing unit 121, the code data (PDL)
It is determined whether it is PS or PostScript, and the code data is transferred again to either the LIPS formatter 8 or the PS formatter 9 via the I / F 120 according to the result of the determination. The LIPS formatter unit 8 and the PS formatter unit 9 expand the input code data into image data. The expanded image data is transferred to the data processing unit 121 via the I / F unit 120, and then transferred to the facsimile unit 4 and the printer unit 2.

The image data received by the facsimile unit 4 by facsimile is transferred to the data processing unit 121 and then to the printer unit 2, the file unit 5, and the network interface unit 7. The image data of the file unit 5 is
After being transferred to the data processing unit 121 via the I / F unit 120, the data is transferred to the printer unit 2, the facsimile unit 4, and the computer interface unit 7.

The image data transfer control and the like are performed by the CPU 1 based on a control program stored in the memory 124 or a control command input from the reader unit 1.
23. The memory 124 is provided with an area for storing a control program, a work area used for arithmetic processing of the CPU 123, and the like.

The network interface unit 7
Has a database called MIB (Management Information Base), which communicates with computers on a network via the SNMP protocol.
It is possible to manage the printing device. In addition,
This database is configured so that various settings such as the number of prints that can be set for each department ID can be set and managed from an operation unit (not shown) on the printing apparatus or a computer on a network.

As described above, in the printing apparatus, the core unit 10
Processing centered on, a process combining functions such as reading of a document image, printing of an image, transmission and reception of an image, storage of an image, and input and output of data from the PC 11 are performed.

FIG. 5 shows a PC which is a client computer of a network to which the above-described printing apparatus is connected.
11 is a flowchart illustrating a print control procedure in the PC when an operator who uses the print apparatus issues a document print instruction to the printing apparatus.

Keyboard 11 as input means of PC 11
When a print instruction of a document or the like input by the operator is input from a (step S1), software called a print driver is activated in the PC 11 (step S2). The conventional print driver uses P according to the printing device.
Although only DL data is created, in the present embodiment, the activated print driver creates PDL data and activates application software for performing the operation described below (step S3). ). Then, by the activated application software, the M configured in the network interface unit 7 of the printing apparatus that is the target of the print instruction is set.
Referring to the IB, information on the printing device is collected (step S4).

Specifically, first, the number of prints for each department ID is referred to. That is, the IP address of the PC 11
A department ID in which the same IP address as that of the PC 11 is managed is referred to from a plurality of department IDs managing a predetermined range of IP addresses. Then, the PDL data created by the printer driver is compared with various information such as the number of prints and the print mode such as a duplex mode, a sort mode, and a staple mode.

Then, it is determined whether or not the remaining number of prints set in the department ID is "0", that is, whether or not the upper limit of the usable number of prints has already been exceeded (step S5). If the answer to this determination is affirmative (YES), that is, if the remaining number of printed sheets is "0", the printing process is immediately stopped, a message indicating that printing is not possible is displayed on the display unit, and this procedure is terminated. I do.

If the answer to step S5 is negative (NO), it is determined whether or not the remaining number of prints set in the department ID is smaller than the designated number of prints (step S6). Is affirmative (YES), the number of prints that can be used exceeds the upper limit of the number of prints that can be used in the course of the designated printing. Therefore, a predetermined message for the user is displayed on the display unit, and the print instruction is given. Number of prints is second
Print processing is stopped only when the upper limit value is exceeded, otherwise the print processing is executed, the print processing is stopped immediately, or the print mode currently set according to the MIB object is reduced to reduce the number of prints. The user is caused to select one of the modes of changing to a print mode that allows the user to change the mode (for example, changing to the 2-in-1 print mode or the duplex printing mode) (step S7). In the above,
The “second upper limit” is a value that determines how many sheets are permitted to exceed the upper limit set as a usable number of prints when the upper limit is exceeded during a series of printing. . In the above description, a print driver corresponding to a new print mode
DL data is created.

If the answer to step S6 is negative (NO), or if the operator selects a response in step S7, the printing apparatus has a function of executing a print instruction with reference to the MIB. For example, when the duplex mode is designated, it is determined whether the printing apparatus has a duplex printing function (step S8).

If it is determined in step S8 that the printing apparatus does not have a function of executing a print instruction, a message for the user is displayed on the display unit, and the printing process is immediately stopped or the print mode is printed. The user is caused to select one of the modes of changing the mode to an executable mode (for example, changing to a single-sided printing mode when the printing apparatus does not have a double-sided printing function) (step S9).

If the answer to step S8 is affirmative (YES), or if the operator has selected a response in step S9, referring to the MIB, it is determined whether the processing capability of the printing apparatus is within an allowable range. Is determined (step S
10). In other words, if the number of pages processed per minute by the printing apparatus is five and the document instructed to print is 100 pages, it takes a considerable amount of time to complete the processing. Therefore, the upper limit of the desired print request value is prepared in advance in the MIB as an object, and it is determined whether the processing capacity is within the allowable range by comparing the value with the number of pages of the document instructed to print. Is done.

If it is determined in step S10 that the processing capacity of the printing apparatus is not within the allowable range, a warning message is displayed on the display unit to determine whether to change to another printing apparatus or to continue printing processing. Select a response (step S
11).

If the answer to step S10 is affirmative (YES), or if the operator selects a response in step S11, then the state of the printing apparatus is checked, and the printing apparatus is ready for printing. It is determined whether or not (step S12). That is, when the printing apparatus is performing another printing process and performing a large amount of printing processing from the setting based on the setting of the printing apparatus, or when a print instruction is issued in the staple mode, the previous printing process is performed on the sorter tray. If the device cannot execute the print instruction immediately, such as when printing cannot be performed due to the remaining output paper, a message to that effect is displayed on the display unit, and (Step S13).

If the answer to step S12 is affirmative (YES), or if the operator has selected a response in step S13, it is determined whether an error has occurred in the printing apparatus (step S14). Then, for example, when a paper jam has occurred, when the paper has run out, or when it is determined or predicted that the printing process for the number of pages instructed to print cannot be performed because the remaining amount of paper is small. In such a case, the fact is displayed on the display unit (step S15), and this procedure ends. It is also preferable that a message prompting the operator to perform a fail-safe process for the occurring error is displayed at the same time as the display in step S15.

When all the above checks are completed, the data to be printed is transferred, and the printing process is performed (step S16). As soon as the printing process ends, this procedure ends.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, a printing apparatus that receives a print instruction from each client computer and performs a printing process is provided on a network to which a plurality of client computers are connected. Information about the printing device, and when the operator gives a printing instruction, if the printing device targeted by the instruction cannot perform a desired printing process, the operator can be notified of the fact. Therefore, the usability of the operator at the time of giving a print instruction can be improved.

[0061]

As described above, according to the printing apparatus management method of the printing system of the first aspect or the printing system of the sixth aspect, information on the printing apparatus is acquired by the client computer and input by the operator. Comparing the received printing instruction with the acquired information on the printing device, and determining whether or not the printing device can execute the input printing process as a result of the comparison. The predetermined display is performed when it is determined that the printing process cannot be performed, so that it is possible to improve the usability of the operator at the time of giving a print instruction.

According to the printing system management method of the printing system of the second aspect or the printing system of the seventh aspect, the acquired information on the printing apparatus is the function information and the operation information of the printing apparatus. It is possible to know which of the function and the operation state of the apparatus has been determined that the printing apparatus cannot execute the printing process. For example, in such a case, it is possible to improve the usability of the operator. Can be

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the printing apparatus has a function capable of executing the input printing instruction, but cannot operate. Is displayed, the operator can know the reason why printing cannot be performed on the client computer side, and can take measures according to the reason. Therefore, an effect is obtained that the usability of the operator can be greatly improved as compared with the related art.

According to the printing system of the fourth aspect or the printing apparatus management method of the ninth aspect, the printing apparatus has a function capable of executing the input print instruction, but cannot operate. In this case, the display relating to the operation for enabling the printing apparatus is performed, so that the operator can take appropriate measures even when the printing apparatus cannot operate. Therefore, an effect that the usability of the operator is further improved can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a configuration of a reader unit and a printer unit illustrated in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of a reader unit illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a core unit illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a print control procedure of the PC when the PC issues a document print instruction to the printing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Reader part 2 Printer part 7 Computer interface 11 Personal computer / workstation

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A printing system comprising a network in which a client computer and a printing device that receives a print instruction from the client computer and performs a printing process are connected, wherein the client computer transmits information about the printing device. Obtaining means for obtaining, input means for inputting a print instruction, and comparing the print instruction input from the input means with information on the printing apparatus obtained by the obtaining means, whereby the input of the print apparatus is performed by the print apparatus. Determining means for determining whether or not the selected print processing can be executed, and display means for performing a predetermined display when the determination unit determines that the printing apparatus cannot execute the input print processing. A printing system, characterized in that: 2. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the information about the printing device obtained by the obtaining unit is function information and operation information of the printing device. 3. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays a message indicating that the printing apparatus has a function capable of executing the input print instruction but is inoperable. A printing system according to claim 1. 4. The display device according to claim 1, further comprising an operation for enabling the printing apparatus to operate when the printing apparatus has a function capable of executing the input print instruction but is inoperable. The display is performed.
A printing system according to claim 1. 5. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the printing device has a storage unit that stores information about the printing device. 6. A printing apparatus management method for a printing system comprising a network in which a client computer and a printing apparatus that receives a print instruction from the client computer and performs a printing process are connected. Acquiring information on the printing device, comparing a printing instruction input by an operator with the obtained information on the printing device, and as a result of the comparison, the printing device can execute the input printing process. Determining whether or not the printing apparatus cannot execute the input printing process by performing the predetermined display. 7. The printing apparatus management method according to claim 6, wherein the acquired information on the printing apparatus is function information and operation information of the printing apparatus. 8. The printing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the printing apparatus has a function capable of executing the input print instruction, but performs a display indicating that the printing apparatus cannot operate. Management method. 9. When the printing apparatus has a function capable of executing the input print instruction but is inoperable, displaying an operation relating to an operation for enabling the printing apparatus is performed. The printing device management method according to claim 6, wherein 10. The printing apparatus management method according to claim 6, wherein information related to the printing apparatus is stored in a storage unit provided in the printing apparatus in advance.