JP2006240029A - Printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing system capable of providing a different printing setting on each user while a burden of printing processing of a printing indicating apparatus being a host is reduced. <P>SOLUTION: The printing system is characterized by that the printing apparatus manages information of the printing setting on each user, and has a means for generating a printing job based on the printing setting determined. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system that receives data to be printed from a print instruction apparatus, and more particularly to a printing apparatus and a printing system that identify a user for each received print data and adapt different print settings.

  Some conventional similar printing systems have means for registering the operating environment of the printing apparatus in the printing apparatus together with user identification information (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  A conventional printing system will be described below (see FIG. 8). The user identification device 32 included in the printing device (printer 3) acquires identification information for identifying the user of the data processing device (host computer 1) from the printer driver 11, and the user-specific registration device 34 includes the data processing device. In response to the setting instruction of the operating environment of the printing apparatus by the user, the operating environment of the printing apparatus is registered in the setting storage area 33 in correspondence with the acquired identification information. The registered operating environment is managed for each user who uses it.

  The printing apparatus sets an operating environment corresponding to the acquired identification information in the operation setting area 31 and notifies the user data processing apparatus in response to a call instruction of the operating environment by a user of the data processing apparatus. To set the operating environment.

As a result, it is possible to set the desired operating environment in the operation setting area 31 and the setting storage area 13 and determine the operations of the printer 3 and the printer driver 11 simply by selecting the operating environment registered by the user.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-050684 (FIG. 1)

  A printing apparatus that adapts print settings for each user in a conventional printing system determines the print settings without repeating complicated operations by setting the selected print setting information in the printer driver of the print instruction apparatus. It was possible. However, since it is the print instruction apparatus that generates the print job according to the determined print settings, the printer driver needs to be installed, and the processing burden on the host side has not been reduced. Further, in order to feed back the registered print setting information to the printer driver, it is a necessary condition that the print instruction apparatus and the printing apparatus are connected so as to be capable of bidirectional communication.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the printing apparatus manages the print setting information for each user and has a means for generating a print job based on the determined print setting, so that printing as a host is performed. It is a first object of the present invention to provide a printing system that performs different print settings for each user while reducing the printing processing burden on the instruction device.

  In addition, it has a judgment when information for changing all or a part of the registered print setting information determined by the identification information is further added to the print data, so that the connection can be made particularly in bidirectional communication. A second object of the present invention is to provide a printing system that can easily operate the contents of print setting information during printing.

  In order to achieve the above object, a first invention according to the present invention is a printing system that identifies a user for each piece of print data to be printed by a printing apparatus and performs print processing using corresponding print settings. The print instructing device includes an ID adding unit that adds an identification ID to the print data and a transmission unit for transmitting the data, and the printing device performs printing associated with each identification ID for identifying the user. Storage means for storing and managing a plurality of setting information, receiving means for receiving data from an external device, and whether the received data is data for rewriting the identification ID and print setting information managed by the storage means, or printing A discriminating unit for discriminating whether the print data is to be executed; an identification ID managed by the storage unit; a rewriting unit for rewriting print setting information; and an identification ID from the print data A search unit that acquires the corresponding print setting information from the management unit, and a print job generation unit that generates a print job based on the print data and the print setting information searched by the search unit. Features.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the print instruction device is a data for rewriting the identification ID and print setting information managed by the storage unit of the printing device. It further has rewrite data generation means for generating.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the print setting information managed by the storage means includes at least one print setting information having no identification ID. The search means identifies from the storage means when the identification ID added to the print data cannot be obtained, or when the obtained identification ID does not match the identification ID managed by the storage means. The print setting information having no ID is searched.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the search means is configured to add all or part of print settings to the print data. The print setting information retrieved from the management unit is replaced with the added information.

  According to the printing system of the present invention, the printing apparatus has a unit for managing print setting information for each user and generating a print job based on the determined print setting, so that the print instruction apparatus serving as a host can perform printing processing. It is possible to provide different print settings for each user while reducing the burden. In addition, since the printing apparatus has a judgment when information for changing all or part of the registered print setting information determined by the identification information is further added to the print data, two-way communication is possible. Even if it is not connected, there is an effect that the contents of the print setting information can be easily operated at the time of printing.

  Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a preferred printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. A mobile information processing terminal (hereinafter referred to as PDA) 100 and an ink jet printer (hereinafter referred to as printer) 101 that issue a printing instruction are, for example, infrared rays. The communication interfaces 102 are connected to each other. Infrared communication is one-way communication from a PDA to a printer.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a basic hardware configuration example of the PDA 100 and the printer 101.

  In FIG. 2, a PDA 100 includes a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as CPU) 201, an operating system (hereinafter referred to as OS), and other controls for performing data processing, device control, and the like by performing calculations and determinations according to instructions. A storage device such as RAM 202 and ROM 203 for storing programs and data; a communication interface 204 for performing bidirectional data communication such as USB and SCSI; and a communication interface 205 for performing one-way data communication such as infrared rays; A user interface 206 such as buttons and an LCD display device, and a system bus 207 are included.

  The printer 101 includes a CPU 208 that calculates, determines, and controls data and instructions, a RAM 209 that is used as a temporary storage area for various data and a print buffer, a ROM 210 that stores an OS and other control programs, and a storage area for print engine information and the like. EEPROM 211, user interface 212 including various buttons and switches, controller 213 including image processing ASIC, printer engine 214 including motor, print head and various sensors, and one-way data such as infrared communication A communication interface 215 for performing communication and a system bus 216 are included.

  In this embodiment, the printer 101 and the information processing apparatus including the PDA 100 are not shown to be connected by bidirectional communication. However, the printer 101 may of course include a communication interface for this purpose.

  FIG. 3 is a functional configuration diagram of a printing module in the printer 101 shown in FIG. All blocks called “means” used in the configuration diagram are realized by the CPU 208 executing predetermined programs stored in the RAM 209, the ROM 210, or the EEPROM 211.

  The storage unit 301 stores and manages a plurality of identification IDs for identifying users and print setting information in a one-to-one correspondence on the storage area. The identification ID is unique information for identifying the print data transmission source. In this embodiment, it is defined as a three-digit number, but other information may of course be used. The print setting information is various setting information necessary for printing processing such as paper size, paper type, layout, and number of copies. Information managed by the storage unit 301 is set in advance prior to reception of print data to be printed by the printer 101.

  The receiving unit 302 receives data for rewriting the identification ID and print setting information managed by the storage unit 301 or print data to be printed from the PDA 100 connected via the communication interface 215 shown in FIG.

  The determination unit 303 determines whether the data received by the reception unit 302 is data for rewriting information managed by the storage unit 301 or print data to be printed. The rewrite data includes at least an identification ID to be rewritten, a new identification ID, and new print setting information, and the determination unit 303 determines that the received data includes rewrite data when these data are included. Otherwise, it is determined as print data.

  When the determination unit 303 determines that the received data is rewrite data, the rewriting unit 304 acquires the identification ID and print setting information to be rewritten from the plurality of identification IDs managed by the storage unit 301, and the new identification ID. And the new print setting information are stored in the storage unit 301.

  When the determination unit 303 determines that the received data is print data, the search unit 305 acquires an identification ID from the print data, and selects a matching identification ID from a plurality of identification IDs managed by the storage unit 301. Search and acquire the target print setting information. The processing of the search unit 305 will be described in detail later.

  Based on the print setting information searched by the search unit 305, the print image generation unit 306 performs yellow (Y), magenta (M) on the print data by scaling processing, halftone processing, complementary color conversion, binarization processing, and the like. ), Cyan (C), and black (K) binary raster format bitmap data, and a printer command is generated from the bitmap data.

  The printing unit 307 executes a desired print process according to the printer command generated by the print image generation unit 306.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of a data structure managed by the storage unit 301 shown in FIG.

  One print setting information is associated with one identification ID, and is stored in a table. The table includes at least one print setting information having no identification ID, and the print setting information not having the identification ID is not rewritten by the rewriting unit 304.

  FIG. 5 is a functional configuration diagram of the print data and print setting information rewrite data generation module in the PDA shown in FIG. All blocks called “means” used in the configuration diagram are realized by the CPU 201 executing a predetermined program stored in the RAM 202 or the ROM 203.

  The print data storage unit 501 stores digital still image data such as JPEG or TIFF or document data in a storage area.

  The setting information input unit 502 inputs print setting information and an identification ID via the user interface 206 in accordance with a user instruction. When the input data is data for rewriting the data shown in FIG. 4 according to the user's instruction, it is essential to input the print setting information and the identification ID (the identification ID here is a new identification ID to be rewritten). In the case of print setting information to be added to print data, all or part of the print setting information may be used.

  The identification ID adding unit 503 adds an identification ID for identifying the user to the print data stored by the print data storage unit 501. Further, when there is an additional input of print setting information from the user via the setting information input means 502, the print setting information is further added to the print data. When print setting information rewrite data is input from the user via the setting information input unit 502, an identification ID for identifying the user is added to the rewritten data (the identification ID here is rewritten). Power identification ID).

  The transmission unit 504 transmits the data generated by the identification ID adding unit 503 to the printer 101 via the interface 204.

  In the present embodiment, the setting information input unit 502 and the identification ID adding unit 503 shown in FIG. 5 are downloaded in advance from a Web site on the Internet connected via the communication interface 204 shown in FIG. This is a software program installed in the PDA 100.

  The functional configuration for illustrating the configuration and operation of the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above. Next, details of the print processing procedure in the printing apparatus in the printing system of the present embodiment described above will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the entire printing process in the printing apparatus of the present invention. In addition, S101-S110 show each step.

  When print data or print setting information rewrite data is transmitted from the PDA 100, the reception unit 302 receives it in step S101.

  In step S102, the determination unit 303 determines whether the data acquired in step S101 is print data. If it is determined that the data is print data (Yes), the process proceeds to step S103.

  In step S103, the search unit 305 acquires the identification ID added from the print data received in step S101. Subsequently, in step S104, the search unit 305 searches for print setting information that matches the identification ID managed by the storage unit 301. get.

  In step S105, the print image generation unit 306 generates a print image from the print data received in step S101 according to the print setting information uniquely determined in step S104.

  In step S106, the printing unit 307 executes printing based on the print image generated in step S105, and ends the process.

  If it is determined in step S102 that the data acquired in step S101 is print setting information rewrite data (No), the process proceeds to step S107.

  In step S107, the rewrite unit 304 acquires the rewrite target identification ID added from the rewrite data received in step S101, and in step S108, print setting information that matches the identification ID managed by the storage unit 301 and An identification ID is acquired. Further, in step S109, the acquired print setting information and identification ID are rewritten to the data received in step S101, stored in step S110 by the storage unit 301, and the process ends.

  Next, detailed processing steps of the print setting information determination processing (steps S103 and S104 in FIG. 6) in the overall processing shown in FIG. 6 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart of print setting information determination processing in the printing apparatus of the present invention, which is processing performed by the search unit 305 shown in FIG. Note that S201 to S208 indicate each step.

  In step S201, the search unit 305 acquires the identification ID added to identify the user from the print data received by the reception unit 302.

  In step S202, it is determined whether or not the identification ID has been acquired in step S201. If the identification ID has been acquired (Yes), the process of step S203 is performed.

  In step S203, print setting information having an identification ID that matches the identification ID acquired in step S201 is retrieved from the storage unit 301 and acquired.

  Subsequently, in step S204, it is determined whether or not the target print setting information has been searched in step S203, that is, whether or not the identification ID acquired in step S201 matches the identification ID managed by the storage unit 301. If it can be obtained (Yes), the process proceeds to step S206.

  If it is determined in step S202 that the identification ID cannot be acquired (No), or if it is determined in step S204 that print setting information cannot be acquired (No), the process of step S205 is executed. The process proceeds to step S206.

  In step S205, print setting information that does not have an identification ID among the print setting information managed by the storage unit 301 is retrieved and acquired as target information.

  In step S206, print setting information added for changing the setting only for printing of the target print data is acquired from the print data received by the receiving unit 302.

  Subsequently, in step S207, it is determined whether or not the additional print setting information has been acquired in step S206. If it is determined that the additional print setting information has been acquired (Yes), the process of step S208 is executed and cannot be acquired (No ) Is determined as the print setting information to be executed this time, the print setting information acquired in step S203 or S205.

  In step S208, the print setting information acquired in step S203 or S205 replaced with the print setting information acquired in step S206 is determined as the print setting information to be executed this time.

  Through the above steps, desired data is uniquely determined from the print setting information for each user managed by the storage unit 301, and the print settings can be temporarily changed.

  In the above, the example for showing composition and operation of a suitable embodiment of the present invention was explained.

1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a preferred printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a basic hardware configuration in a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration diagram of a printing module executed in the printing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2. It is a figure which shows an example of the print setting information management data in the printing apparatus of this invention. FIG. 4 is a functional configuration diagram of a print data and print setting information rewrite data generation module in the print instruction apparatus of the present invention. 3 is a flowchart of the entire printing process in the printing apparatus of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart of print setting information determination processing in the printing apparatus of the present invention. It is a figure which shows a prior art example (patent document 1).

Explanation of symbols

100 PDA
101 Printer 102 Infrared communication interface

Claims (4)

A printing system that identifies a user for each piece of print data to be printed by a printing apparatus and performs print processing using corresponding print settings,
The print instruction apparatus includes an ID adding unit that adds an identification ID to print data, and a transmission unit that transmits data.
The printing apparatus includes: a storage unit that stores and manages a plurality of pieces of print setting information associated with each identification ID for identifying a user; a receiving unit that receives data from an external device; and the received data includes the storage A discrimination means for discriminating whether the identification ID managed by the means and data for rewriting print setting information or print data for print execution; and a rewriting means for rewriting the identification ID and print setting information managed by the storage means A search unit that obtains an identification ID from the print data and retrieves the corresponding print setting information from the management unit; and a print job that generates a print job based on the print data and the print setting information retrieved by the search unit Generating means;
A printing system comprising:   The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the print instruction apparatus further includes a rewrite data generation unit that generates data for rewriting an identification ID and print setting information managed by a storage unit of the printing apparatus.   The print setting information managed by the storage unit includes at least one print setting information having no identification ID, and the search unit cannot acquire the identification ID added to the print data or has acquired the identification ID. 3. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the print setting information having no identification ID is searched from the storage unit when the ID does not match the identification ID managed by the storage unit.   The search means replaces all or a part of the print setting information searched from the management means with the added information when all or part of the print setting is added to the print data. The printing system according to claim 1 or 2.