JP2007220024A - Printing apparatus and history management method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing apparatus and a history management method that can reflect in a past history the use of similar data just after the erasure of data. <P>SOLUTION: When a print job is sent from a new user, a job control part 26 executes the print job and checks whether or not there is a free space in a management table formed in a nonvolatile history storage part 40, and if there is no free space, a history information management part 36 deletes a given user from the management table and stores the user in a temporary table formed in a volatile history storage part 38. If a print job is sent later from the user deleted from the management table, after the execution of the print job, the history information management part 36 moves the user's history information from the temporary table to the management table and updates the history information stored in the management table according to the content of the print job printed out. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an improvement in a printing apparatus having a history management function for managing a job history for each user and a history management method.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed a printing apparatus that secures a storage capacity of a memory by erasing a part of the data as the amount of data stored in the memory increases.

For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses a printer that compresses or deletes data with an old usage history when the amount of data stored in a memory exceeds a predetermined amount.
JP-A-5-212917

  However, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, when data with an old usage history is deleted, the history information accumulated until then is lost, and when the same kind of data is used immediately after deletion, it is reflected in the past history. There was a problem that it could not be made.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus and history management that can be reflected in a past history when the same kind of data is used immediately after erasing the data. It is to provide a method.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a printing apparatus having a history management function for managing a job history for each user, and stores the number of sheets used as history information for each user and for each sheet size. Storage means, history erasure means for erasing at least part of the history information stored in the first storage means, second storage means for storing history information erased by the history erasure means, And rewriting means for rewriting at least part of the history information stored in the second storage means into the first storage means.

  Here, the history erasing means executes an erasing operation when there is no free capacity in the storage capacity of the first storage means and history information of a new user cannot be stored.

  In addition, when the history erasing unit erases at least a part of the history information and then executes a print job from the user whose history information is erased, the rewriting unit erases the history information deleted by the user. Is written again in the first storage means.

  The present invention is also a printing apparatus having a history management function for managing a job history for each user, the first storage means for storing the number of sheets used for each user and for each sheet size as history information, Second storage means for storing all the contents of history information stored in the first storage means, and at least a part of the history information stored in the second storage means in the first storage means And rewriting means for rewriting.

  Here, the rewriting means stores at least a part of the history information erased based on the instruction to cancel the erase operation in the first storage means after the history erasing means erases at least a part of the history information. It is characterized by writing again.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a history management method for managing a job history for each user, the step of storing the number of sheets used for each user and each sheet size as history information in a first storage unit; Deleting at least a part of the history information stored in the storage means, storing the deleted history information in the second storage means, and at least of the history information stored in the second storage means Writing a part again into the first storage means.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a history management method for managing a job history for each user, the step of storing the number of sheets used for each user and each sheet size as history information in a first storage unit; Storing all the contents of the history information stored in the storage means in the second storage means and storing at least part of the history information stored in the second storage means in the first storage means And writing again.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as an embodiment) will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a configuration of a printing apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, the printing apparatus includes a communication interface 10, a ROM (read only memory) 12, a RAM (random access memory) 14, a nonvolatile memory 16, an image forming apparatus 18, an operation panel 20, and a processor 22. Yes.

  The communication interface 10 is connected to communication means constituted by a network such as Ethernet (registered trademark) or local connection means such as IEEE1284, and performs transmission / reception processing of data such as a print job with a client device such as a personal computer (not shown).

  The ROM 12 is a read-only nonvolatile memory, and stores programs, data, and the like executed by the processor 22 and the like.

  The RAM 14 is a readable / writable volatile memory that functions as a working memory (main storage device) for the processor 22, and stores data received via the communication interface 10, image data developed by the processor 22, and the like.

  The non-volatile memory 16 is a readable / writable non-volatile memory, and includes an EEPROM, a flash memory, and the like, and stores print job history information and the like.

  The image forming apparatus 18 includes a printer engine and the like, and prints out image data received from the client apparatus via the communication interface 10.

  The operation panel 20 includes data input keys and the like and is used for data input by the user. Moreover, it is good also as a structure which provides liquid crystal display (LCD) etc. and alert | reports the information of the history management operation | movement in a printing apparatus.

  The processor 22 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and the like, and controls these operations while exchanging data with the communication interface 10, the ROM 12, the RAM 14, the nonvolatile memory 16, the image forming apparatus 18, and the operation panel 20.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the functions of the printing apparatus shown in FIG. 2, the printing apparatus includes a communication unit 24, a job control unit 26, an image development processing unit 28, an image storage unit 30, a print processing unit 32, an image forming unit 34, a history information management unit 36, and a volatile history storage unit 38. , A non-volatile history storage unit 40, a user interface unit 42, and a menu control unit 44.

  The communication unit 24 is realized by an operation program stored in the communication interface 10, the processor 22, and the ROM 12, and transmits / receives data such as a print job to / from the client device via the communication unit described above. The received data is output to the image development processing unit 28. Further, the input of data is detected and notified to the job control unit 26.

  The job control unit 26 is realized by an operation program stored in the processor 22 and the ROM 12, receives a data reception notification from the communication unit 24, and notifies the image development processing unit 28 of the start of the image development processing. Also, upon receiving an image development end notification from the image development processing unit 28, the print processing unit 32 is notified of the start of the printing process. When the print end notification is received from the print processing unit 32, the history information management unit 36 is notified.

  The image expansion processing unit 28 is realized by an operation program stored in the processor 22 and the ROM 12, receives an image expansion start notification from the job control unit 26, receives a print job from the communication unit 24, performs image expansion processing, and prints Image data that can be processed by the processing unit 32 is generated. The image data after the expansion processing is stored in the image storage unit 30.

  The image storage unit 30 is realized by an operation program stored in the RAM 14, the processor 22, and the ROM 12. The image storage unit 30 stores the developed image data generated by the image development processing unit 28 and outputs the image data to the print processing unit 32. . In addition, after the image processing unit 32 finishes reading the image data, the image data is deleted.

  The print processing unit 32 is realized by an operation program stored in the processor 22 and the ROM 12. The print processing unit 32 reads the image data from the image storage unit 30 in response to a print processing start notification from the job control unit 26 and controls the image forming unit 34. Then, image formation (print output) is performed on the print medium.

  The image forming unit 34 is realized by an operation program stored in the image forming apparatus 18, the processor 22, and the ROM 12, and prints out the image data on a print medium based on the control operation of the print processing unit 32.

  The history information management unit 36 is realized by an operation program stored in the processor 22 and the ROM 12, receives notification from the job control unit 26 and the menu control unit 44, and stores and deletes history information. For storing the history information, the volatile history storage unit 38 and the non-volatile history storage unit 40 are used.

  The volatile history storage unit 38 is a volatile storage unit that is realized by the RAM 14 and stores user history information deleted from the nonvolatile history storage unit 40. This volatile history storage unit 38 is an example of the second storage means of the present invention.

  The non-volatile history storage unit 40 is realized by the non-volatile memory 16 and is a non-volatile memory that stores a job history management table. This non-volatile history storage unit 40 is an example of the first storage means of the present invention.

  The user interface unit 42 is realized by an operation program stored in the operation panel 20, the processor 22, and the ROM 12, and is controlled by the menu control unit 44 to display an operation control menu on a display unit such as an LCD. The information input from the input means is notified to the menu control unit 44.

  The menu control unit 44 exchanges input / output information for displaying the operation control menu and causing the user to operate the user interface unit 42, and notifies the history information management unit 36 of the operation result.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of a job history management table formed in the non-volatile history storage unit 40. In FIG. 3, the job history management table includes “user name”, “total number of printed sheets”, “A3 printed number”, “A4 printed number”, “B4 printed number”, and “B5 printed number” as history information. Data about each item is stored. In this example, data for 100 users is illustrated.

  4 and 5 show a flow of an operation example of the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 2, when the communication unit 24 receives a print job from the client device (S101), the image development processing unit 28 executes image development processing according to an instruction from the job control unit 26, and the print processing unit 32 includes the image forming unit 34. And the image data after the expansion processing is printed out on a print medium (S102).

  The job control unit 26 monitors whether the print output is completed (S103), and when the print output is completed, acquires the name of the user who has transmitted the print job (S104).

  Next, the job control unit 26 refers to the job history management table formed in the non-volatile history storage unit 40 shown in FIG. 3 and searches for a user name (S105). When the user name acquired in S104 is in the management table (S106), the history information management unit 36 updates the history information stored in the management table based on the contents of the print job printed out in S102 (S107). ). For example, in the example of FIG. 3, the number of printed sheets is updated for each paper size.

  On the other hand, in S106, when the user name acquired in S104 is not in the management table, the job control unit 26 confirms whether the management table formed in the non-volatile history storage unit 40 has free space (S108). ). If there is free space, the history information management unit 36 adds the new user history information acquired in S104 to the management table (S109). Thereafter, the process proceeds to S113, and the job control unit 26 monitors reception of the print job.

  If there is no free space in S108, the process moves to FIG. 5 and the job control unit 26 determines a user to be deleted from the management table (S110). As a method of determining the deletion user, for example, there is a method of determining based on the usage frequency. In this case, a generally known LRU (Least Recently Used) algorithm or LFU (Least Frequently Used) algorithm can be used.

  The history information management unit 36 deletes the user history information determined by the job control unit 26 from the management table formed in the nonvolatile history storage unit 40, moves to the volatile history storage unit 38, and stores it in the temporary table. (S111). Thereby, an empty area can be secured in the non-volatile history storage unit 40, and the history information management unit 36 can add the user history information acquired in S104 to the management table (S112). The history information management unit 36 in this case corresponds to the history erasing means of the present invention.

  6A and 6B show examples of a management table formed in the nonvolatile history storage unit 40 and a temporary table formed in the volatile history storage unit 38. FIG. In the management table shown in FIG. 6A, the history information of the user 99 and the user 100 is deleted in the step S111 from the management table shown in FIG. 3, and the history information of the user 101 and the user 102 is deleted in the step S112. Newly added. In the temporary table shown in FIG. 6B, the user 99 and the user 100 deleted from the management table are stored.

  Next, the job control unit 26 monitors whether or not the communication unit 24 has received a print job from the client device (S113). When the print job is received, the image development processing unit 28 is instructed by the job control unit 26. The image development process is executed, and the print processing unit 32 controls the image forming unit 34 to print out the image data after the development process on a print medium (S114).

  The job control unit 26 monitors whether or not the print output is completed (S115), and when the print output is completed, acquires the name of the user who has transmitted the print job (S116).

  Next, the job control unit 26 refers to the user history information stored in the temporary table of the volatile history storage unit 38 and searches for the user name (S117). When the user name acquired in S116 is in the temporary table (S118), the job control unit 26 confirms whether the management table formed in the non-volatile history storage unit 40 has free space (S119). If there is free space, the user history information acquired in S116 is moved from the temporary table to the management table (S120). Thereafter, based on the contents of the print job printed out in S114, the history information management unit 36 updates the history information stored in the management table (S121). Accordingly, when a print job is transmitted from a user who has deleted history information from the management table, the history of the new print job can be reflected in the deleted history information. Note that the history information management unit 36 in this case corresponds to the rewriting means of the present invention. Thereafter, the process proceeds to S113, and the job control unit 26 monitors reception of the print job.

  On the other hand, when there is no free space in the management table in S119, the job control unit 26 determines a user to be deleted from the management table (S122). The history information management unit 36 deletes the user history information determined by the job control unit 26 from the management table, moves to the volatile history storage unit 38, and stores it in the temporary table (S123). Then, the operation | movement from S120 is performed.

  7A and 7B show examples of the management table and the temporary table updated in S120 and S121. In the example of FIG. 7A, from the state shown in FIG. 6A, the 90-page print job of the user 100 (A3 is 40 pages, A4 is 25 pages, B4 is 17 pages, B5 is 8 pages) ), The history information of the user 100 is moved from the temporary table of the volatile history storage unit 38 to the management table of the nonvolatile history storage unit 40 and written. In this case, history information obtained by accumulating data such as the total number of printed pages before being deleted from the management table once in S111 can be written to the management table again.

  In addition, the history information of the user 100 is deleted from the temporary table in FIG. If there is no free space in the management table in S119, for example, user 1 is determined as a user to be deleted from the management table, and moved to a temporary table as shown in FIG. 7B.

  As described above, the history information of the user once deleted in S111 can be returned to the management table, and when the same kind of data is used immediately after erasing the data, the data can be reflected in the past history. it can.

  If the user name acquired in S116 is not in the management table in S118, the process returns to S105 in FIG. 4 to repeat the management table update or new user addition operation.

  8A and 8B show a modification of the management table formed in the nonvolatile history storage unit 40 and the temporary table formed in the volatile history storage unit 38 of the present invention. Note that the switching between the embodiment of FIGS. 3 to 7 and the present modification is performed by the menu control unit 44 described above based on a user instruction input from the user interface unit 42.

  In FIG. 8A, history information for 10 users is stored in the management table, and each has items of “user name” and “total number of printed sheets”. In FIG. 8B, the temporary table stores history information for 12 users, each of which includes “user name”, “total number of printed sheets”, “presence / absence of storage in management table”, and “history information”. Item is “valid / invalid”. The items in the temporary table include all items in the management table, and the overlapping portion is used as a cache of the nonvolatile history storage unit 40. Here, if the value of the item “whether or not stored in the management table” is “Yes”, the contents of the “user name” and “total number of printed pages” in the temporary table are also reflected in the management table. The history information management unit 36 controls the stored contents of the management table so as not to reflect the case of “No”. Therefore, the temporary table can be used as a cache for the management table when the value of the item “presence / absence of storage in the management table” is “Yes”. Also, when the value of the “history information valid / invalid” item is “valid”, if there is free space in the management table, the history information is written in the management table and is “invalid”. In this case, the history information management unit 36 controls the storage contents of the management table so that the management table is not written even if there is free space in the management table.

  FIG. 9 shows a flow of an example of the operation of the printing apparatus when the modification shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B is used. In FIG. 9, the job control unit 26 monitors whether or not a history information deletion instruction stored in the management table has been input by the administrator (S201). The user history information instructed by the administrator is deleted from the management table of FIG. 8A (S202). In this case, since a free area occurs in the management table, new user history information may be added.

  In S202, when the history information of the instructed user is deleted, the history information management unit 36 changes the contents of the temporary table in FIG. 8B, and the “presence / absence of storage in the management table” is set to “do not”. “Valid / invalid of history information” is set to “invalid” (S203).

  FIG. 10 shows an example of a user interface screen used when the administrator inputs a deletion instruction. This user interface screen is displayed on the LCD provided in the operation panel 20, and a deletion instruction is input by a key operation. The example shown in FIG. 10 shows a state in which the user 2 is selected as history information to be deleted. In this state, the history information of the user 2 is deleted from the management table by pressing the enter key. be able to.

  FIGS. 11A and 11B show examples of the management table and the temporary table after the change. In FIG. 11A, the history information of the user 2 instructed to delete is deleted from the management table. Further, in the temporary table of FIG. 11B, the item “whether or not stored in the management table” of the user 2 is changed to “no”, and the item “valid / invalid of history information” is changed to “invalid”. Yes. In the example of FIG. 11A, the history information of the user 11 is written in a free area generated in the management table. In the temporary table of FIG. 11B, the “presence / absence of storage in management table” item is set to “Yes”.

  In the above state, the job control unit 26 monitors whether or not a cancel instruction for canceling the delete instruction executed immediately before is input from the administrator (S204). When a cancel instruction is input, the job control unit 26 instructs the history information management unit 36 to acquire the history information deleted from the management table in S202 from the temporary table and restore it to the management table (S205). In this case, if there is a new user to which history information is added in S202, the history information is deleted from the management table.

  Further, the history information management unit 36 restores the contents of the temporary table changed in S203 (S206).

  FIG. 12 shows an example of a user interface screen used when the administrator inputs a deletion instruction cancellation instruction. This user interface screen is also displayed on the LCD provided in the operation panel 20, and a cancel instruction is input by a key operation. That is, by selecting “YES” in response to the inquiry “Do you want to cancel the previous operation?”, The previous deletion instruction is canceled. As a result, the management table and the temporary table are restored from the state shown in FIGS. 11 (a) and 11 (b) to the state shown in FIGS. 8 (a) and 8 (b).

  With the above operation, it is possible to realize a printing apparatus and a history management method that can be reflected in the past history when the same kind of data is used immediately after erasing the data.

1 is a block diagram of a configuration of a printing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating functions of the printing apparatus according to the present invention. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a job history management table. FIG. It is a flowchart of the operation example of the printing apparatus concerning this invention. It is a flowchart of the operation example of the printing apparatus concerning this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a management table and a temporary table. It is a figure which shows the example of a management table and a temporary table. It is a figure which shows the modification of a management table and a temporary table. It is a flowchart of the operation example of the printing apparatus concerning this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a user interface screen. It is a figure which shows the modification of a management table and a temporary table. It is a figure which shows the example of a user interface screen.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Communication interface, 12 ROM, 14 RAM, 16 Non-volatile memory, 18 Image forming apparatus, 20 Operation panel, 22 Processor, 24 Communication part, 26 Job control part, 28 Image expansion process part, 30 Image storage part, 32 Print processing 34, image forming unit, 36 history information management unit, 38 volatile history storage unit, 40 non-volatile history storage unit, 42 user interface unit, 44 menu control unit.

Claims (7)

A printing apparatus having a history management function for managing a job history for each user,
First storage means for storing, as history information, the number of sheets used for each user and for each sheet size;
History erasure means for erasing at least part of the history information stored in the first storage means;
Second storage means for storing history information erased by the history erasure means;
Rewriting means for rewriting at least part of the history information stored in the second storage means to the first storage means;
A printing apparatus comprising:   2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the history erasing unit executes an erasing operation when the storage capacity of the first storage unit is not free and history information of a new user cannot be stored. Printing device.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rewriting unit executes a print job from a user whose history information is erased after the history erasing unit erases at least a part of the history information. A printing apparatus, wherein the history information erased by the user is rewritten in the first storage means. A printing apparatus having a history management function for managing a job history for each user,
First storage means for storing, as history information, the number of sheets used for each user and for each sheet size;
Second storage means for storing all the contents of the history information stored in the first storage means;
Rewriting means for rewriting at least part of the history information stored in the second storage means to the first storage means;
A printing apparatus comprising:   5. The printing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the rewriting unit erases at least a part of the history information erased based on an instruction to cancel the erase operation after the history erasing unit erases at least a part of the history information. A printing apparatus, wherein data is written again in the first storage means. A history management method for managing job history for each user,
Storing the number of sheets used for each user and for each sheet size in the first storage means as history information;
Erasing at least part of the history information stored in the first storage means;
Storing the erased history information in a second storage means;
Rewriting at least part of the history information stored in the second storage means to the first storage means;
A history management method comprising: A history management method for managing job history for each user,
Storing the number of sheets used for each user and for each sheet size in the first storage means as history information;
Storing all the contents of the history information stored in the first storage means and storing them in the second storage means;
Rewriting at least a part of the history information stored in the second storage unit into the first storage unit;
A history management method comprising:

Images