JP2006248176A - Printing system, printing apparatus, control apparatus, printing method, print processing program, and control program - Google Patents

Abstract

There is provided a printing system capable of obtaining a printed material that has no change in color and does not feel strange even when printing is performed using a different printer.
In a printing system including a plurality of printing apparatuses (10a to 10e) and a control device (20) for controlling the printing apparatus, the printing apparatus controls a process cartridge for storing cartridge information regarding the process cartridge, and the cartridge information. The control unit 20 receives the cartridge information from each of the plurality of printing apparatuses, and the reception unit receives each cartridge information received from each of the plurality of printing apparatuses. The apparatus includes a device selection unit that selects a printing device that is to execute the printing process, and a print execution instruction unit that sends a print execution instruction to the printing device selected by the device selection unit.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system, a printing apparatus, a control apparatus, a printing method, a print processing program, and a control program that perform printing in a plurality of printing apparatuses.

  Conventionally, it is possible to perform printing with a desired printer by connecting a PC to a network to which a plurality of printers are connected and issuing an instruction from the PC. In this case, a print job may be instructed to one printer, or one print job may be instructed to a plurality of printers.

  When a single print job is instructed to a plurality of printers, it is possible to increase the processing efficiency by sharing each part of a plurality of copies printed by the print job with each printer.

  In the printer, for example, a printer cartridge formed integrally with the toner storage unit is used (see, for example, “Patent Document 1”). In this way, maintenance and the like can be easily performed by using a part of the apparatus as an integrated cartridge.

JP 2003-131544 A

  In the network as described above, if an error occurs that prevents printing from being continued on a printer that is in use during printing when a specified printer is instructed to print, select another printer from the middle and print. Can be continued. However, since there is a difference in the color to be output for each printer, there has been a problem in that the color of the print result changes from an intermediate page.

  Further, when a plurality of copies are simultaneously printed in a plurality of printers, there is a problem that the color of the print result of each printer changes.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and provides a printing system capable of obtaining a printed material that does not change color and does not feel strange even when printing is performed using a different printer. The purpose is to do.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the invention according to claim 1 is a printing system including a plurality of printing apparatuses and a control device that controls the printing apparatus. A process cartridge that is freely mounted, comprising: a process cartridge that stores cartridge information relating to the process cartridge; and a transmission unit that transmits the cartridge information stored in the process cartridge to the control device, The control device selects a receiving device that receives the cartridge information from each of a plurality of printing devices, and a printing device on which the receiving device is to execute a printing process based on each cartridge information received from each of the plurality of printing devices. With respect to the apparatus selecting means and the printing apparatus selected by the apparatus selecting means, And having a print execution instruction means for sending printing execution instruction.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the first aspect, the device selection unit causes a plurality of printing apparatuses to perform a plurality of copies of printing processing in a predetermined number of copies. The receiving unit selects a plurality of printing apparatuses that are to execute printing processing based on the cartridge information received from each of the plurality of printing apparatuses, and the printing execution instruction unit is configured to select the plurality of printing apparatuses determined by the apparatus determining unit. The printing execution instruction for instructing the predetermined number of copies of the printing process is sent to each of the printing apparatuses.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the first or second aspect, the process cartridge stores, as the cartridge information, information relating to a usage status of toner contained in the process cartridge, and The apparatus selection unit selects the printing apparatus based on information on the usage status of the toner.

  The invention according to claim 4 is the printing system according to claim 3, wherein the process cartridge stores information indicating a use start date and time of the process cartridge as the cartridge information. The printing apparatus is selected based on information indicating the use start date and time.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the third aspect, the process cartridge stores information indicating a cumulative number of printed sheets in the process cartridge as the cartridge information. The printing apparatus is selected based on information indicating the cumulative number of printed sheets.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the first aspect, the process cartridge stores product information of the process cartridge as the cartridge information, and the device selection unit includes the product information. The printing apparatus is selected based on the above.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the second aspect, the process cartridge stores, as the cartridge information, information relating to a usage status of toner contained in the process cartridge, and the device selection is performed. The means selects a plurality of printing apparatuses corresponding to process cartridges having the same usage status of the toner.

  The invention according to claim 8 is the printing system according to claim 2, wherein the process cartridge stores product information of the process cartridge as the cartridge information, and the device selection unit includes the process cartridge. A plurality of printing apparatuses corresponding to process cartridges having the same product information are selected.

  The invention according to a ninth aspect is the printing system according to the first or second aspect, wherein the process cartridge stores, as the cartridge information, information relating to a usage state of toner contained in the process cartridge, and The control device further includes an error monitoring unit that monitors the occurrence of an error in each printing device, and the device selection unit is based on the cartridge information when the error monitoring unit detects an error in a predetermined printing device. The printing apparatus corresponding to the process cartridge having the same toner usage status is selected, and the printing execution instructing unit sends a printing execution instruction to the printing apparatus selected by the apparatus selecting unit.

  The invention according to a tenth aspect is the printing system according to the first or second aspect, wherein the process cartridge stores product information of the process cartridge as the cartridge information, and the control device includes each printing An error monitoring means for monitoring the occurrence of an error in the apparatus; and the apparatus selecting means of the control device, when the error monitoring means detects an error in a predetermined printing apparatus, based on the cartridge information, The printing apparatus corresponding to the process cartridge having the same product information is selected, and the printing execution instruction unit sends a printing execution instruction to the printing apparatus selected by the apparatus selection unit.

  According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus, which is a process cartridge that is detachably mounted, a process cartridge that stores cartridge information relating to the process cartridge, and the process cartridge that is stored in the process cartridge. The image forming apparatus includes a transmission unit that transmits cartridge information to a control device that controls the printing apparatus.

  According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control device for controlling a plurality of printing apparatuses, wherein the receiving means receives the cartridge information from each of the plurality of printing apparatuses, and the receiving means receives from each of the plurality of printing apparatuses. An apparatus selection unit that selects a printing apparatus that is to execute a printing process based on each cartridge information, and a print execution instruction unit that sends a print execution instruction to the printing apparatus selected by the apparatus selection unit. It is characterized by that.

  According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing method in a printing system comprising a plurality of printing devices and a control device for controlling the printing device, wherein the process cartridge is detachably attached to the printing device. A step of transmitting the cartridge information stored in a process cartridge that stores cartridge information relating to the process cartridge to the control device, and a receiving step in which the control device receives the cartridge information from each of a plurality of printing devices. A device selection step in which the control device selects a printing device on which printing processing is to be performed based on cartridge information received from each of the plurality of printing devices in the reception step; and the control device includes a device selection step. For the printing device selected in And having a print execution instruction step of sending an instruction to execute.

  According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print processing program for causing a computer to execute a print process, wherein the process cartridge is detachably mounted and stored in a process cartridge for storing cartridge information relating to the process cartridge. The cartridge information is transmitted to a control device that controls the printing apparatus.

  According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control program for causing a computer to execute a control process for controlling a plurality of printing apparatuses, wherein the cartridge information is received from each of the plurality of printing apparatuses; Based on the cartridge information received from each of the plurality of printing apparatuses, a device selection step for selecting a printing apparatus to execute printing processing, and a print execution instruction is sent to the printing apparatus selected in the device selection step. And a print execution instruction step.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the process cartridge of the printing apparatus is a process cartridge that is detachably mounted, stores cartridge information relating to the process cartridge, and the transmission means is stored in the process cartridge. The cartridge information is transmitted to the control device, the receiving unit of the control device receives the cartridge information from each of the plurality of printing devices, and the device selection unit is based on each cartridge information received by the receiving unit from each of the plurality of printing devices. The print execution instruction means sends a print execution instruction to the printing apparatus selected by the apparatus selection means, so that the color tone or the like changes based on the cartridge information. There is an effect that it is possible to select a printer with less.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the device selection unit causes a plurality of printing apparatuses to perform a predetermined number of copies of the printing process, the receiving unit receives each of the plurality of printing devices. Based on each cartridge information, a plurality of printing apparatuses to be subjected to the printing process are selected, and the print execution instruction unit prints a predetermined number of copies of the printing process to each of the plurality of printing apparatuses determined by the apparatus determination unit. Since a print execution instruction for instructing processing is sent, it is possible to select a printer with little change in color or the like based on cartridge information.

  According to the invention of claim 3, the process cartridge stores information on the usage status of the toner contained in the process cartridge as cartridge information, and the device selection means is based on the information on the usage status of the toner. Since the printing apparatus is selected, there is an effect that it is possible to select a printer with little change in color or the like based on the usage status of the toner.

  According to the invention of claim 4, the process cartridge stores information indicating the use start date and time of the process cartridge as cartridge information, and the device selection unit is configured to print based on the information indicating the use start date and time. Therefore, there is an effect that it is possible to select a printer with little change in color or the like based on the use start date and time.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the process cartridge stores information indicating the cumulative number of printed sheets in the process cartridge as cartridge information, and the apparatus selection unit prints the printing apparatus based on the information indicating the cumulative number of printed sheets. Therefore, there is an effect that it is possible to select a printer with little change in color or the like based on the cumulative number of printed sheets.

  According to the invention of claim 6, the process cartridge stores the product information of the process cartridge as cartridge information, and the device selection means selects the printing device based on the product information. Based on this, it is possible to select a printer with little change in color and the like.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the process cartridge stores, as cartridge information, information relating to the usage status of the toner contained in the process cartridge, and the device selection means provides a process cartridge having the same level of toner usage status. Since a plurality of printing apparatuses corresponding to the above are selected, it is possible to select a printer with little change in color and the like.

  According to the invention of claim 8, the process cartridge stores the product information of the process cartridge as a cartridge, and the apparatus selection means has a plurality of printing apparatuses corresponding to the process cartridge having the same product information of the process cartridge. Therefore, there is an effect that it is possible to select a printer with little change in color and the like.

  According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the process cartridge stores information on the usage status of the toner contained in the process cartridge as cartridge information, and the error monitoring unit of the control device detects an error occurrence in each printing device. Monitoring, and when the error monitoring means detects an error in a predetermined printing apparatus, the apparatus selection means selects a printing apparatus corresponding to a process cartridge having the same toner usage status based on the cartridge information, and performs printing. Since the execution instructing unit sends a print execution instruction to the printing apparatus selected by the apparatus selecting unit, it is possible to select a printer with little change in color or the like based on the cartridge information.

  According to the invention of claim 10, the process cartridge stores the product information of the process cartridge as cartridge information, and the error monitoring means of the control device monitors the error occurrence of each printing device, and The apparatus selection unit selects a printing apparatus corresponding to the process cartridge having the same product information based on the cartridge information when the error monitoring unit detects an error in the predetermined printing apparatus. Since the print execution instruction is sent to the printing apparatus selected by the selection unit, it is possible to select a printer with little change in color or the like based on the cartridge information.

  According to the invention of claim 11, the process cartridge stores cartridge information related to the process cartridge, and the transmission unit transmits the cartridge information stored in the process cartridge to the control device that controls the printing apparatus. Since the transmission is performed, the control device can select a printer with little change in color or the like based on the cartridge information.

  According to the invention of claim 12, the receiving means receives cartridge information from each of the plurality of printing apparatuses, and the apparatus selecting means is based on each cartridge information received by the receiving means from each of the plurality of printing apparatuses. Since the printing apparatus to execute the printing process is selected and the print execution instruction unit sends the print execution instruction to the printing apparatus selected by the apparatus selection unit, there is little change in color and the like based on the cartridge information. There is an effect that a printer can be selected.

  According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the transmission step, the cartridge information stored in the process cartridge that stores the cartridge information related to the process cartridge is detachably attached to the printing apparatus. In the reception step, the control device receives cartridge information from each of the plurality of printing devices. In the device selection step, the control device receives the cartridge information received from each of the plurality of printing devices in the reception step. In the print execution instruction step, the control apparatus sends a print execution instruction to the printing apparatus selected in the apparatus selection step. Therefore, based on the cartridge information, the color is selected. Pre with little change in taste An effect that it is possible to select the data.

  According to the fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the transmission step, the cartridge information stored in the process cartridge that stores the cartridge information related to the process cartridge is attached to the print cartridge. Since the data is transmitted to the control device that controls the device, the control device has an effect that it is possible to select a printer with little change in color or the like based on the cartridge information.

  According to the fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the reception step, cartridge information is received from each of the plurality of printing apparatuses, and in the apparatus selection step, based on each cartridge information received from each of the plurality of printing apparatuses in the reception step. In the print execution instruction step, a print execution instruction is sent to the printing apparatus selected in the apparatus selection step, so that the color tone or the like changes based on the cartridge information. There is an effect that a small number of printers can be selected.

  Exemplary embodiments of a printing system, a printing apparatus, a control apparatus, a printing method, a print processing program, and a control program according to the present invention will be explained below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a printing system 1 according to the first embodiment. The printing system 1 includes a plurality of printers 10a to 10e and a personal computer (PC) 20 equipped with a printer driver. The printers 10a to 10e according to the present embodiment are laser printers. The printers 10a to 10d are the same model, but the printer 10e is a different model from the other printers 10a to 10d.

  The printer 10 and the PC 20 are connected via a network 50. The network 50 is a LAN within the same subnet. Another example is a WAN via the Internet. In this way, multiple models and a plurality of printers 10 a to 10 e are connected on the network 50. By issuing a print instruction from the PC 20 on the network 50, it is possible to cause the desired printers 10a to 10e to execute printing.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the printer 10. The printer 10 includes a process cartridge 100 having a cartridge information holding unit 102, a cartridge information reading unit 110, a cartridge information transmission unit 112, a cartridge information transmission instruction acquisition unit 114, a print execution instruction acquisition unit 120, and a print control unit. 122, an error monitoring unit 124, an error information transmitting unit 126, and a cartridge information writing unit 130.

  The cartridge information holding unit 102 of the process cartridge 100 holds cartridge information that is information about the process cartridge 100. Specifically, information on the usage status of toner contained in the cartridge, such as product information such as the product name of the process cartridge 100, the start date and time of use of the process cartridge 100, and the total number of prints required for printing using the process cartridge 100 Holding. The process cartridge 100 is a nonvolatile memory. More specifically, EEPROM (Electronically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory) is preferable.

  The cartridge information transmission instruction acquisition unit 114 acquires a cartridge information transmission instruction from the PC 20 via the network 50. The cartridge information reading unit 110 reads cartridge information held in the cartridge information holding unit 102. The cartridge information transmission unit 112 sends the cartridge information read by the cartridge information reading unit 110 to the PC 20 via the network 50.

  The print execution instruction acquisition unit 120 acquires a print instruction from the PC 20 via the network 50. When the print execution instruction acquisition unit 120 receives the print instruction, the print control unit 122 starts print processing based on the print instruction. The error monitoring unit 124 monitors the occurrence of errors in the printing process. When the error monitoring unit 124 detects the occurrence of an error, the error information transmission unit 126 sends a notification that an error has occurred to the PC 20 via the network 50.

  When the print control unit 122 executes the printing process, the cartridge information writing unit 130 updates the cartridge information held by the cartridge information holding unit 102 according to the execution content. For example, the cumulative number of printed sheets is updated.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the PC 20. The PC 20 includes a print instruction acquisition unit 200, a cartridge information transmission instruction unit 202, a cartridge information acquisition unit 210, an error information acquisition unit 212, a printer selection unit 214, and a print execution instruction unit 220.

  The print instruction acquisition unit 200 acquires a print instruction from the user via a user interface such as a mouse. When the print instruction acquisition unit 200 acquires a print instruction, the cartridge information transmission instruction unit 202 instructs to acquire cartridge information from each of the printers 10a to 10e. Specifically, a cartridge information transmission instruction indicating that cartridge information is to be transmitted is sent to all the printers 10a to 10e connected to the network 50 via the network 50.

  The cartridge information acquisition unit 210 acquires cartridge information from the printers 10 a to 10 e via the network 50. Specifically, the cartridge information transmitted by the cartridge information transmitting unit 112 of each of the printers 10a to 10e is acquired. The error information acquisition unit 212 acquires error information from the printers 10 a to 10 e via the network 50. Specifically, the error information transmitted by the error information transmission unit 126 of the printers 10a to 10e is acquired.

  The printer selection unit 214 selects, from the printers 10a to 10e, printers to be printed based on the print instruction acquired by the print instruction acquisition unit 200 and the cartridge information acquired by the cartridge information acquisition unit 210. The printer selection unit 214 may select one printer or a plurality of printers. The print execution instruction unit 220 transmits a print execution instruction indicating that printing should be executed to the printers 10a to 10e selected by the printer selection unit 214.

  FIG. 4 shows a list of cartridge information acquired from each printer by the cartridge information acquisition unit 210. In this way, cartridge information is acquired from each printer 10a-e. The cartridge information includes the printer name, model name, cartridge use start date, and number of prints of each printer 10a-e.

  The printer selection unit 214 selects a printer to execute printing based on the cartridge information of each printer 10a to 10e. Therefore, for example, one print job can be assigned to a model having the same function or the same model among the printers 10a to 10e. For example, if the model is the same, there is a high possibility that the colors are close. Therefore, by distributing one print job to the same model or the like, it is possible to obtain an uncomfortable result in which the color tone is unified.

  On the other hand, even with the same model, the exact same output result is not obtained depending on the number of days used, the total number of printed sheets, and the like. This is because there is a difference in color depending on the aging of the process cartridge and the toner used.

  In this case, when one job is distributed to a plurality of printers and printed, the printing results of the respective printers are different. As a result, even if the printing results are the same job, the color changes in the middle. A sense of incongruity will occur.

  If the use start date and time and the cumulative number of printed sheets are close, there is a high possibility that the output colors will be close. By referring to information on the aging of cartridges and toner such as the start date and time of cartridge use and the total number of prints, you can select one printer that has a relatively close use start date and time and the total number of prints, etc. Even in the case of assignment, it is possible to obtain an uncomfortable result with a unified color and the like.

  FIG. 5 is a communication sequence diagram between the printer 10 and the PC 20. First, when the print instruction acquisition unit 200 of the PC 20 acquires a print instruction from the user (step S100, Yes), the cartridge information transmission instruction unit 202 transmits a cartridge information transmission instruction to each of the printers 10a to 10e (step S102). . When the cartridge information transmission instruction acquisition unit 114 of each of the printers 10a to 10e acquires the cartridge information transmission instruction (Yes in step S110), the cartridge information reading unit 110 reads the cartridge information from the cartridge information holding unit 102 (step S110). S112). Next, the cartridge information transmitting unit 112 transmits the cartridge information to the PC 20 (step S114).

  When the cartridge information acquisition unit 210 of the PC 20 receives the cartridge information, the printer selection unit 214 selects a printer that performs printing based on the cartridge information received by the cartridge information acquisition unit 210 (step S120). Next, the print execution instruction unit 220 transmits a print execution instruction to the printer selected by the printer selection unit 214 (step S122).

  Of the printers 10a to 10e, the printer that has received the print execution instruction (step S130, Yes) executes printing in accordance with the print execution instruction (step S130).

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a print execution instruction. Assume that three printers 10a to 10c are selected as printers that execute one job for printing a 30-page document. In this case, the printer 10a is instructed to print pages 1 to 10. Further, the printer 10b is instructed to print from the 11th page to the 20th page. In addition, the printer 10c is instructed to print pages 21 to 30. In this way, a job for printing over a plurality of pages can be shared by a plurality of printers.

  Further, in this case, the same model can be selected by referring to the cartridge information of each printer 10a to 10e. Furthermore, it is possible to select a printer having a use start date and a number of printed sheets that are close to each other among the same model. Thereby, the difference in the output result between printers can be reduced.

  The description returns to FIG. 5 again. When the printing process is executed in the printer 10, the cartridge information writing unit 130 updates the cartridge information stored in the cartridge information holding unit 102 in accordance with the execution (step S134). Further, when the error monitoring unit 124 detects an error (step S136, Yes), the error information transmission unit 126 transmits error information to the PC 20 (step S138).

  When the error information acquisition unit 212 of the PC 20 receives the error information (step S140, Yes), the process returns to step S120 again to select a printer (step S120). At this time, the printer of the same model as the printer that received the error information is selected. Furthermore, it is preferable to select a printer having a use start date and a number of printed sheets close to each other.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining printer selection processing when error information is received. It is assumed that printing is interrupted during printing execution in the printer 10c and an error is detected. In this case, the printer selection unit 214 of the PC 20 again selects a printer that instructs execution of printing. Thereby, for example, the printer 10d is selected. It should be noted that the printer 10d may be instructed to execute printing of pages after the already printed page, and as another example, it may be instructed to print again from page 21.

  8 and 9 are diagrams illustrating a hardware configuration of the printer 10 according to the first embodiment. The printer 10 has, as a hardware configuration, a ROM 52 that stores a print processing program of the printer 10, a CPU 51 that controls each part of the printer 10 according to the program in the ROM 52, and various data necessary for controlling the printer 10. A RAM 53 for storing, a communication I / F 57 for performing communication by connecting to a network, and a bus 62 for connecting each unit are provided.

  The print processing program in the printer 10 described above is recorded in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, floppy (R) disk (FD), DVD, etc. in an installable or executable format file. May be provided.

  In this case, the print processing program is loaded on the main storage device by being read from the recording medium and executed by the printer 10, and each unit described in the software configuration is generated on the main storage device. ing.

  Further, the print processing program of the present embodiment may be provided by being stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and downloaded via the network.

  The printer 10 further includes, as a hardware configuration, a writing unit 11 including an LD unit, a polygon mirror, an fθ lens (all not shown), a photoconductor 12, a main body paper feed tray 13, a bank paper feed tray 14, a manual feed. A tray 15 and a paper feed roller 16 are provided. In addition, a paper feed conveyance system such as a registration roller 17 is provided. The recording paper is transferred from the paper feeding and conveying system through the image forming side of the process cartridge 18, and then discharged to the paper discharge tray 31 through the fixing unit 19 and the paper discharge roller 30.

  Note that the hardware configuration of the PC 20 is the same as the hardware configuration of the printer 10. The control program in the PC 20 is also stored in the ROM 52 like the print processing program in the printer 10.

  As described above, the present invention has been described using the embodiment, but various changes or improvements can be added to the above embodiment.

  As an example of such a change, in the present embodiment, the printer selection unit 214 of the PC 20 selects an appropriate printer based on the cartridge information acquired from each of the printers 10a to 10e. -E cartridge information may be displayed on a monitor, for example, and a desired printer instruction may be received from the user.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a parallel / substitute printer selection screen displayed on the monitor at this time. The user can select the printer to be used with reference to the contents displayed on this screen. Further, on the printer selection screen, printer candidates with the same level as the printer driver may be narrowed down and displayed. Thereby, it is possible to obtain an output result with no sense of incongruity even during parallel / substitute printing.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of the printing system 1 according to the second embodiment. The printing system 1 according to the second embodiment further includes a server 40 in addition to the configuration of the printing system 1 according to the first embodiment.

  The server 40 acquires cartridge information from each of the printers 10a to 10e and stores it. Then, the usage history of all the printers 10a to 10e connected to the network 50 is managed. As a result, the printer driver of the PC 20 can acquire cartridge information of each printer 10a to 10e by inquiring of the server 40. That is, in the second embodiment, the cartridge information transmission instruction unit 202 of the PC 20 transmits a cartridge information transmission instruction to the server 40. Then, the cartridge information acquisition unit 210 receives cartridge information from the server 40. Further, the cartridge information transmission unit 112 of the printer 10 transmits cartridge information to the server 40.

  The remaining configuration and processing of the printing system 1 according to the second embodiment are the same as the configuration and processing of the printing system 1 according to the first embodiment.

1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a printing system 1 according to a first embodiment. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the printer. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a PC 20. FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a list of cartridge information acquired from each printer by a cartridge information acquisition unit 210. FIG. 4 is a communication sequence diagram between the printer 10 and the PC 20. It is a figure for demonstrating a printing execution instruction. It is a figure for demonstrating a printer selection process when error information is received. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a printer 10 according to a first embodiment. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a printer 10 according to a first embodiment. It is a figure which shows the parallel and substitute printer selection screen displayed on a monitor. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a printing system 1 according to a second embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printing system 10 Printer 11 Writing unit 12 Photoconductor 13 Main body paper feed tray 14 Bank paper feed tray 15 Manual feed tray tray 16 Paper feed roller 17 Registration roller 18 Process cartridge 19 Fixing unit 30 Paper discharge roller 31 Paper output tray 40 Server 50 Network 51 CPU
52 ROM
53 RAM
57 Communication I / F
62 Bus 100 Process cartridge 102 Cartridge information holding unit 110 Cartridge information reading unit 112 Cartridge information transmission unit 114 Cartridge information transmission instruction acquisition unit 120 Print execution instruction acquisition unit 122 Print control unit 124 Error monitoring unit 126 Error information transmission unit 130 Cartridge information document Insertion unit 200 Print instruction acquisition unit 202 Cartridge information transmission instruction unit 210 Cartridge information acquisition unit 212 Error information acquisition unit 214 Printer selection unit 220 Print execution instruction unit

Claims (15)

In a printing system comprising a plurality of printing devices and a control device for controlling the printing devices,
The printing apparatus includes:
A process cartridge that is detachably mounted, the process cartridge storing cartridge information relating to the process cartridge;
Transmission means for transmitting the cartridge information stored in the process cartridge to the control device,
The controller is
Receiving means for receiving the cartridge information from each of a plurality of printing devices;
Device selection means for selecting a printing device to be subjected to print processing based on each cartridge information received from each of a plurality of printing devices by the receiving means;
A printing system comprising: a print execution instruction means for sending a print execution instruction to the printing apparatus selected by the apparatus selection means. The device selection unit is configured to perform printing processing based on cartridge information received from the plurality of printing devices by the receiving unit when the plurality of printing devices perform printing processing of a plurality of copies in a predetermined number of copies. Select multiple printing devices to run
The print execution instructing unit sends the print execution instruction instructing the predetermined number of copies of the printing process to each of the plurality of printing apparatuses determined by the apparatus determining unit. The printing system according to 1. The process cartridge stores, as the cartridge information, information relating to the usage status of toner contained in the process cartridge,
3. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the device selection unit selects the printing device based on information on a usage state of the toner. The process cartridge stores information indicating the use start date and time of the process cartridge as the cartridge information,
The printing system according to claim 3, wherein the device selection unit selects the printing device based on information indicating the use start date and time. The process cartridge stores information indicating the cumulative number of prints in the process cartridge as the cartridge information,
The printing system according to claim 3, wherein the device selection unit selects the printing device based on information indicating the cumulative number of printed sheets. The process cartridge stores product information of the process cartridge as the cartridge information,
The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the device selection unit selects the printing device based on the product information. The process cartridge stores, as the cartridge information, information relating to the usage status of toner contained in the process cartridge,
The printing system according to claim 2, wherein the device selection unit selects a plurality of printing devices corresponding to process cartridges having the same usage status of the toner. The process cartridge stores product information of the process cartridge as the cartridge information,
The printing system according to claim 2, wherein the device selection unit selects a plurality of printing devices corresponding to process cartridges having the same product information of the process cartridge. The process cartridge stores, as the cartridge information, information relating to the usage status of toner contained in the process cartridge,
The control device further includes error monitoring means for monitoring the occurrence of errors in each printing device,
The apparatus selecting means selects a printing apparatus corresponding to a process cartridge having the same toner usage status based on the cartridge information when the error monitoring means detects an error in a predetermined printing apparatus.
The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the print execution instruction unit sends a print execution instruction to the printing apparatus selected by the apparatus selection unit. The process cartridge stores product information of the process cartridge as the cartridge information,
The control device further includes an error monitoring unit that monitors an error occurrence of each printing device,
The device selection unit of the control device selects a printing device corresponding to a process cartridge having the same product information based on the cartridge information when the error monitoring unit detects an error in a predetermined printing device. And
The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the print execution instruction unit sends a print execution instruction to the printing apparatus selected by the apparatus selection unit. A process cartridge that is detachably mounted, the process cartridge storing cartridge information relating to the process cartridge;
A printing apparatus comprising: transmission means for transmitting the cartridge information stored in the process cartridge to a control device that controls the printing apparatus. A control device for controlling a plurality of printing devices,
Receiving means for receiving the cartridge information from each of a plurality of printing devices;
Device selection means for selecting a printing device to be subjected to printing processing based on each cartridge information received from each of a plurality of printing devices by the receiving means;
A control apparatus comprising: a print execution instruction means for sending a print execution instruction to the printing apparatus selected by the apparatus selection means. A printing method in a printing system comprising a plurality of printing devices and a control device for controlling the printing devices,
A process cartridge detachably attached to the printing apparatus, the cartridge information stored in the process cartridge storing cartridge information relating to the process cartridge being transmitted to the control device;
A receiving step in which the control device receives the cartridge information from each of a plurality of printing devices;
A device selection step for selecting a printing device on which the control process is to be performed based on each cartridge information received from each of the plurality of printing devices in the reception step;
A printing method comprising: a printing execution instruction step for sending a printing execution instruction to the printing apparatus selected in the apparatus selection step by the control device. A print processing program for causing a computer to execute print processing,
A process cartridge that is detachably mounted, and has a transmission step of transmitting the cartridge information stored in the process cartridge that stores cartridge information related to the process cartridge to a control device that controls the printing apparatus; Characteristic print processing program. A control program for causing a computer to execute control processing for controlling a plurality of printing apparatuses,
Receiving the cartridge information from each of a plurality of printing devices;
A device selection step of selecting a printing device on which printing processing should be executed based on each cartridge information received from each of the plurality of printing devices in the receiving step;
A print execution instruction step for sending a print execution instruction to the printing apparatus selected in the apparatus selection step.

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