JP2011243000A - Printing control program, recording medium, information processor, printing system, and printer - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to accurately predict the replacement time of consumables in a printing apparatus.
Information on the scheduled use of the image forming apparatus for each predetermined period is obtained, information on the actual use frequency of the image forming apparatus is obtained, and information on the remaining amount of an ink cartridge included in the image forming apparatus. Ink out prediction unit 202 that calculates the timing at which the ink cartridge 167 should be replaced based on the usage frequency information and the remaining amount information, and a prediction result output unit that outputs display information for displaying the calculation result 206, the ink out predicting unit 202 determines the ink cartridge 167 based on the use schedule information and the remaining amount information when the use amount in the use schedule information is larger than the use amount in the information on the actual use frequency. It is characterized by calculating the timing to be exchanged.
[Selection] Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a print control program, a recording medium, an information processing apparatus, a printing system, and a printing apparatus, and more particularly, to a replacement time prediction of consumables included in the printing apparatus.

  In recent years, there has been a tendency to digitize information, and image processing apparatuses such as printers and facsimiles used for outputting digitized information and scanners used for digitizing documents have become indispensable devices. Such an image processing apparatus is often configured as an MFP (Multi Function Peripheral) that can be used as a printer, a facsimile, a scanner, and a copier by providing an imaging function, an image forming function, a communication function, and the like. .

  Among such image processing apparatuses, in a printing apparatus used for outputting an electronic document, a method for predicting the replacement time of ink, toner, or the like (hereinafter referred to as a developer) for forming an image Has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the printing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, based on the tendency of the remaining amount of ink to decrease, the timing at which the remaining amount of ink becomes zero is calculated using linear approximation.

  However, the developer consumption is not always uniform. For example, the month when printing seasonal greetings such as New Year's cards has a sharp increase in developer consumption compared to other months. Is expected to. In addition, since the printing frequency may be different for each user, it is more difficult to predict the replacement time of the developer in the case of a home printing apparatus or the like. That is, in the replacement time prediction based on a uniform consumption tendency such as linear approximation, the replacement time of the developer cannot be predicted with high accuracy, and the replacement time comes before the replacement parts are prepared. Such a thing can be considered. The target of the replacement time prediction is not limited to the developer described above, but can be applied in the same manner as long as it is a component that is consumed according to the print output.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it is possible to predict the replacement time of consumables in a printing apparatus with high accuracy.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, one aspect of the present invention is a print control program that causes a print command to a printing apparatus to be output to an information processing apparatus, and obtains information related to the usage amount prediction of the printing apparatus for each predetermined period. A step of acquiring information relating to an actual usage frequency of the printing apparatus, a step of obtaining information relating to a consumption state of a consumable included in the printing apparatus, information relating to the use frequency, and information relating to the consumption state And calculating the timing for replacing the consumables, and when the usage amount in the information regarding the usage amount prediction is larger than the usage amount in the information regarding the actual usage frequency, the information regarding the usage amount prediction. And a step for calculating a timing at which the consumable is to be replaced based on the information on the consumable state. When, characterized in that and a step of outputting the display information for displaying the timing for replacing the calculated the consumable to the information processing apparatus.

  Another aspect of the present invention is a recording medium, wherein the print control program is recorded in a format readable by an information processing apparatus.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus that transmits a printing command to a printing apparatus, and acquires usage amount prediction information that is information related to the usage amount prediction of the printing apparatus for each predetermined period. A usage amount prediction information acquisition unit, a usage frequency information acquisition unit that acquires usage frequency information that is information about the actual usage frequency of the printing apparatus, and a consumption state that is information about the consumption state of consumables included in the printing apparatus A consumable state information acquiring unit for acquiring information, an exchange timing calculating unit for calculating a timing for exchanging the consumable item based on the information on the use frequency and the information on the consumable state, and exchanging the calculated consumable item Display information output unit for outputting display information for displaying the timing to be performed, the exchange timing calculation unit relates to the usage amount prediction When the usage amount in the report is larger than the usage amount in the information relating to the actual usage frequency, the timing for replacing the consumable item is calculated based on the information relating to the usage amount prediction and the information relating to the consumption state. Features.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing system including the printing control program executable by the information processing apparatus and the printing apparatus.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, a printing apparatus includes a storage medium that stores the print control program.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to predict the replacement time of consumables in the printing apparatus with high accuracy.

It is a figure which shows the operation | use form of the printing system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating hardware configurations of an image forming apparatus and a client terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a print engine according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the carriage which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the client terminal which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of GUI at the time of memorize | storing information in the setting memory | storage part which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the information memorize | stored in the use plan memory | storage part which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the exchange time prediction operation | movement which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the information of the parameter for calculation memorize | stored in the ink shortage estimation part which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of GUI of the prediction result display screen which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of GUI at the time of memorize | storing information in the use plan memory | storage part which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the state which graphed the information memorize | stored in the usage condition memory | storage part which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the exchange time prediction operation | movement which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of GUI of the prediction result display screen which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation | use form of the printing system which concerns on other embodiment of this invention.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the ink cartridge replacement timing is predicted based on the monthly ink consumption prediction in the ink jet type image forming apparatus. Thereby, it is possible to predict the replacement time of the consumables with high accuracy.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an operation mode of an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment, that is, a printing system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is operated by being directly connected to a client terminal 2 such as a PC (Personal Computer) via a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface or the like.

  The image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is a multifunction machine that can be used as a printer, a facsimile, a scanner, and a copying machine by including an imaging function, an image forming function, a communication function, and the like. The client terminal 2 is an information processing terminal operated by a user, and a printer driver program for using the image forming apparatus 1 is installed.

  Next, the hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 1 and the client terminal 2 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. The image forming apparatus 1 includes an engine for realizing a scanner, a printer, and the like in addition to the hardware configuration shown in FIG. In the following description, the hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described as an example, but the same applies to the client terminal 2.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a configuration similar to that of a general server or PC. That is, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 10, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 20, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 30, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 40, and an I / F 50. 80 is connected. Further, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 60 and an operation unit 70 are connected to the I / F 50.

  The CPU 10 is a calculation means and controls the operation of the entire information processing terminal. The RAM 20 is a volatile storage medium capable of reading and writing information at high speed, and is used as a work area when the CPU 10 processes information. The ROM 30 is a read-only nonvolatile storage medium and stores a program such as firmware. The HDD 40 is a non-volatile storage medium that can read and write information, and stores an OS (Operating System), various control programs, application programs, and the like.

  The I / F 50 connects and controls the bus 80 and various hardware and networks. The LCD 60 is a visual user interface for the user to check the state of the image forming apparatus 1. The operation unit 70 is a user interface such as a keyboard and a mouse for the user to input information to the image forming apparatus 1.

  In such a hardware configuration, a program stored in a storage medium such as the ROM 30, the HDD 40, or an optical disk (not shown) is read into the RAM 20, and operates according to the control of the CPU 10, thereby configuring a software control unit. A functional block for realizing the functions of the image forming apparatus 1 and the client terminal 2 according to the present embodiment is configured by a combination of the software control unit configured in this way and hardware.

  Next, the functional configuration of the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a controller 100, an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) 101, a scanner unit 102, a paper discharge tray 103, a display panel 104, and a paper feed table. 105, a print engine 106, a paper discharge tray 107, and a network I / F 108.

  The controller 100 includes a main control unit 110, an engine control unit 120, an image processing unit 130, an operation display control unit 140, and an input / output control unit 150. As shown in FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is configured as a multifunction machine having a scanner unit 102 and a print engine 106. In FIG. 3, the electrical connection is indicated by a solid arrow, and the flow of a sheet or a document bundle is indicated by a broken arrow.

  The display panel 104 is an output interface that visually displays the state of the image forming apparatus 1, and as a touch panel, when the user directly operates the image forming apparatus 1 or inputs information to the image forming apparatus 1. It is also an input interface (operation unit). The display panel 104 is realized by the LCD 60 and the operation unit 70 shown in FIG.

  The network I / F 108 is an interface for the image forming apparatus 1 to communicate with other devices such as the client terminal 2 and the workflow server 3 via the network, and an Ethernet (registered trademark) or a USB interface is used. The network I / F 108 is realized by the I / F 50 shown in FIG.

  The controller 100 is configured by a combination of software and hardware. Specifically, a program stored in a nonvolatile storage medium such as the ROM 30 and the nonvolatile memory and the HDD 40 and the optical disk is loaded into a volatile memory (hereinafter referred to as a memory) such as the RAM 20 and operates according to the control of the CPU 10. The controller 100 is configured by a software control unit configured by and hardware such as an integrated circuit. The controller 100 functions as a control unit that controls the entire image forming apparatus 1.

  The main control unit 110 plays a role of controlling each unit included in the controller 100, and gives a command to each unit of the controller 100. The engine control unit 120 serves as a driving unit that controls or drives the print engine 106, the scanner unit 102, and the like. The image processing unit 130 generates drawing information based on image information to be printed out under the control of the main control unit 110. The drawing information is information for drawing an image to be formed in the image forming operation by the print engine 106 as an image forming unit. The image processing unit 130 processes image data input from the scanner unit 102 to generate image data. The image data is information stored in the storage area of the image forming apparatus 1 as a result of the scanner operation.

  The operation display control unit 140 displays information on the display panel 104 or notifies the main control unit 110 of information input via the display panel 104. The input / output control unit 150 inputs information input via the network I / F 108 to the main control unit 110. The main control unit 110 controls the input / output control unit 150 to access the client terminal 2 via the network I / F 108 and the network.

  When the image forming apparatus 1 operates as a printer, first, the input / output control unit 150 receives a print job via the network I / F 108. The input / output control unit 150 transfers the received print job to the main control unit 110. When receiving a print job, the main control unit 110 controls the image processing unit 130 to generate drawing information based on document information or image information included in the print job.

  When drawing information is generated by the image processing unit 130, the engine control unit 120 controls the print engine 106 to form an image on the paper conveyed from the paper feed table 105 based on the generated drawing information. Let it run. As a specific aspect of the print engine 106, an image forming mechanism using an ink jet method, an image forming mechanism using an electrophotographic method, or the like can be used. A document on which image formation has been performed by the print engine 106 is discharged to a discharge tray 107.

  Further, when the image forming apparatus 1 operates as a copying machine, the image processing unit 130 generates drawing information based on imaging information received by the engine control unit 120 from the scanner unit 102 or image information generated by the image processing unit 130. To do. Based on the drawing information, the engine control unit 120 drives the print engine 106 as in the case of the printer operation. When the information format of the drawing information and the imaging information is the same, the imaging information can be used as the drawing information as it is.

  FIG. 4 is a plan view schematically showing the mechanical configuration of the print engine 106 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the print engine 106 includes a print head (C) 166 a and a print head (K) 166 b that discharge ink of each color of C (Cyan), K (blaK), M (Magenta), and Y (Yellow). , Print head (M) 166c, print head (Y) 166d (hereinafter collectively referred to as print head 166), carriage 160 on which print head 166 is mounted, and guide rod 161a that supports carriage 160 and drives in the main scanning direction. 161b, a conveyance belt 162 for conveying a recording medium, conveyance rollers 163a and 163b for driving the conveyance belt, a waste liquid receiver 164 for receiving ink adhering to the print head 166 after printing is completed, printing A wiper 165 for cleaning the discharge port of the head 166 is included.

  FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing a connection relationship between the carriage 160 and the engine control unit 120. As shown in FIG. 5, in addition to the print head 166 described above, the carriage 160 includes an ink cartridge (C) 167a, an ink cartridge (K) 167b, an ink cartridge (M) 167c for supplying ink to the print heads for each color, Ink cartridge (Y) 167d (hereinafter collectively referred to as ink cartridge 167). The engine control unit 120 also includes an ink remaining amount detection function, and detects the remaining amount of ink in the ink tank based on a signal output from the ink cartridge 167.

  Next, the functional configuration included in the client terminal 2 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, in the client terminal 2, the installed printer driver program is read into the RAM 20, and the printer driver 200 is configured by the CPU 10 operating according to the program. The printer driver program is recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM and traded as a unit with the image forming apparatus 1 and installed in the client terminal 2 via the recording medium. Also, a printer driver program is stored in a storage medium provided in the image forming apparatus 1, and the printer driver program is installed in the client terminal 2 when the client terminal 2 downloads the program from the image forming apparatus 1. It can be done.

  As illustrated in FIG. 6, the printer driver 200 generates a print job and transmits it to the image forming apparatus 1, and in addition to the ink out prediction unit 202, the setting storage unit 203, and the usage status storage unit 204. A use schedule storage unit 205 and a prediction result output unit 206.

  The ink out prediction unit 202 predicts the ink out time of the ink cartridge 167, that is, the replacement time of the ink cartridge, based on various information described later. The setting storage unit 203 stores the setting of the operation mode of the ink out prediction unit 202. FIG. 7 shows an example of a GUI (Graphical User Interface) of the printer driver 200 when the user stores the setting in the setting storage unit 203. As shown in FIG. 7, in the printer driver 200 according to the present embodiment, either “ink consumption pace” or “print schedule input by the user” is selected by the user, and the result is the setting storage unit 203. Is remembered. Note that the GUI shown in FIG. 7 is displayed on a display unit such as the LCD 60 provided in the client terminal 2, and the user performs the selection by operating the operation unit 70 provided in the client terminal 2.

  As shown in FIG. 7, when the “ink consumption pace” is set, the ink out predicting unit 202 determines the current ink remaining amount of the ink cartridge 166 based on the average ink consumption obtained from the actual print output history. Predicts when will be zero. On the other hand, in the case of “print schedule input by the user”, the timing at which the current ink remaining amount of the ink cartridge 166 becomes zero is predicted based on the print amount schedule input by the user.

  The use schedule storage unit 204 stores the above-described print amount schedule input by the user, that is, use schedule information. FIG. 8 shows an example of information stored in the use schedule storage unit 204 (hereinafter referred to as use schedule information). As shown in “January” in FIG. 8, the use schedule information according to the present embodiment is information on the scheduled use amount for each month. For each “size” such as “A4” and “B5”, “print quality” "," Print contents ", and" number of printed sheets "are stored. That is, “number of printed sheets” is an estimated value of the number of printed sheets for each “size” in each month.

  Conventionally, replacement time prediction has been performed in the case of the above-described “ink consumption pace” setting. Even with this prediction method, it is possible to predict the replacement time with a certain degree of accuracy. However, the frequency of execution of image formation output by the image forming apparatus 1 is not uniform throughout the year. When printing seasonal greeting postcards such as New Year's cards or when printing a particularly large amount of documents, The execution frequency increases rapidly. As a result, the average output frequency in the past is higher than that of the week and lower than that of the special month, so that it is impossible to predict the replacement time with high accuracy.

  If the replacement time is predicted based on a value that is higher than the actual output frequency, the prediction result is the time before the actual replacement time arrives, and the user prepares replacement parts in advance. As a result, there is no significant adverse effect on the user. On the other hand, when the replacement time is predicted based on a value that is lower than the actual output frequency, as in the special month, the prediction result is later than the actual replacement time arrives. It's time. In this case, there is a possibility that the user has not prepared a replacement part even when the replacement time has actually arrived, and as a result, image formation output cannot be performed.

  That is, when printing the postcard of the seasonal greeting mentioned above or when printing a particularly large amount of documents, there is a possibility that image formation output becomes impossible due to running out of ink. Since it is important to predict the replacement time so that the ink runs out, the prediction of the replacement time in the prior art cannot solve the important problem for the user. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, since the replacement time is predicted using the use predicted value for each month, the above-described problems can be solved.

  The usage status storage unit 205 stores information on actual ink usage. The usage status storage unit 205 in the present embodiment stores information on the actual ink usage based on the print job generated by the print job generation unit 201, that is, based on the execution history of image formation output. This information is information used when the above-described “ink consumption pace” is set. As described with reference to FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is operated by being directly connected only to the client terminal 2, and the image forming apparatus 1 is not used from other terminals. The usage status storage unit 205 can grasp all the operation history of the image forming apparatus 1.

The prediction result output unit 206 outputs the prediction result of the replacement time by the ink out prediction unit 202. Thereby, the said prediction result is displayed on the display part of the client terminal 2, and the user can confirm a prediction result.

  Next, the operation for predicting the replacement time by the printer driver 200 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The operation for predicting the replacement time according to the present embodiment is executed at the beginning of every month, for example. As shown in FIG. 9, first, the ink shortage predicting unit 202 acquires information on the current ink remaining amount from the image forming apparatus 1 (S901). That is, the out-of-ink prediction unit 202 functions as a consumption state information acquisition unit that acquires consumption state information that is information related to the consumption state of the consumables included in the image forming apparatus 1 that is a printing device.

  When the ink remaining amount information is acquired, the out-of-ink prediction unit 202 refers to the current month information among the use schedule information stored in the use schedule storage unit 204, and the current ink remaining amount becomes zero. The replacement time is predicted by calculating how many days later (S902). Here, as described above, the out-of-ink prediction unit 202 functions as a usage amount prediction information acquisition unit that acquires usage amount prediction information that is information related to the usage amount prediction of the image forming apparatus 1 from the usage schedule storage unit 204. At the same time, it functions as an exchange timing calculation unit for calculating the timing for exchanging the consumables.

  When the ink out prediction unit 202 obtains the prediction result of the replacement time, the prediction result output unit 206 generates and outputs display information for displaying the prediction result on the display unit such as the LCD 60 (S903). That is, the prediction result output unit 206 functions as a display information output unit. Thereby, the prediction result of the replacement time is displayed on the display unit, and the process ends.

  Next, a detailed example of replacement time prediction in S902 will be described. FIGS. 10A to 10C are diagrams illustrating numerical values used when calculating the amount of ink used based on the use schedule information, and are stored in the out-of-ink prediction unit 202. FIG. FIG. 10A shows values indicating basic ink consumption values according to printing “size”. FIG. 10B is a value indicating a modification to be added to the ink consumption value in accordance with “print quality”. For example, in the case of “clean”, the ink consumption value is multiplied by 1.3. FIG. 10C is a value indicating a modification to be added to the ink consumption value in accordance with “print contents”. For example, if “character only” is not corrected, the ink consumption value is displayed if “image is included”. It shows that it is multiplied by 1.4.

The set values in FIGS. 10A to 10C may be values corresponding to the actual ink amount such as ml (milliliter), or may be values based on a uniquely set standard, but are acquired at least in step S901. This is a value corresponding to the value of the remaining ink level indicated by the remaining ink level information. Based on such setting values, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, when printing 20 sheets with “postcard” size printing “clean” and “including images”, the ink shortage prediction unit 202 uses the following formula (1 As shown in (2), the calculation result that the ink consumption value for January is “72.8” in “postcard” size printing is obtained, and the “postcard” size is printed as shown in the following equation (2). In printing, a calculation result is obtained that the ink consumption per day in January is about “2.35”.

By performing such calculations in accordance with the set values of all sizes such as “A4” and “B5”, the ink out predicting unit 202 calculates the daily ink consumption for that month. Here, when the value of the remaining ink amount acquired in S901 is “1000” and the calculated daily ink consumption is 40, the ink shortage predicting unit 202 represents the following equation (3). In addition, the calculation result that the remaining amount of the ink cartridge becomes zero after “25” days is obtained.

  The out-of-ink prediction unit 202 performs calculations such as the above formulas (1) to (3) for each of the C, K, M, and Y ink cartridges. Accordingly, use schedule information as shown in FIG. 8 is prepared for each of monochrome printing and full-color printing. In the case of predicting the replacement time of the ink cartridge (K) 167b, the ink out prediction unit 202 performs the above calculation based on the use schedule information for black and white printing and full color printing, and the ink cartridge (C) 167a and ink cartridge (M ) In the case of predicting the replacement time of 167c and the ink cartridge (Y) 167d, the above calculation is performed based on the use schedule information for full-color printing.

  As described above, in the ink cartridge replacement time predicting operation according to the present embodiment, the ink out predicting unit 202 calculates the ink consumption based on the use setting information indicating the print setting and the predicted number of printed sheets for each month. Calculation is performed to obtain a prediction result of the replacement timing of the ink cartridge based on the comparison result with the remaining amount of ink. For this reason, even when the consumption amount of the developer is greatly increased compared to other months, it is possible to provide the user with the time to replace the ink cartridge based on the prediction in advance. It is possible to avoid such a situation that causes a major problem for the user.

  Next, the GUI of the prediction result displayed as a result of the process of S903 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a prediction result GUI (hereinafter referred to as a prediction result screen) displayed as a result of the processing of S903. As shown in FIG. 11, on the prediction result screen according to the present embodiment, the information on the remaining amount of ink acquired in S901 is displayed in the order of C, M, Y, and K, and each ink is calculated in S902. The predicted date and time of the exchange time is displayed. That is, the prediction result output unit 206 generates and outputs display information for displaying a GUI as shown in FIG.

  Next, a method for setting information stored in the use schedule storage unit 204 will be described. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a GUI when the user stores use schedule information in the use schedule storage unit 204. As shown in FIG. 12, when inputting the use schedule information, the user designates “paper size”, “print quality”, “print contents”, and “number of prints” for each month. The input of such information is performed, for example, when the prospect of using the printer for a certain purpose is established.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the use schedule information input by the user via the GUI as shown in FIG. 12 is used has been described as an example. On the other hand, if changes in usage due to seasonal greetings or the like are taken into account, it can be predicted that the same usage will occur every year. Therefore, it is also possible to use the corresponding monthly usage amount in the past usage amount actual value as the usage schedule information. Such an example will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a graph in which the actual values of ink usage are summarized for each month based on information stored in the usage status storage unit 205 as a result of using the image forming apparatus 1 for two years. . In other words, 205 stores information that can draw a graph as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 13, the amount used is similar in both the first year and the second year. Accordingly, the use schedule storage 204 can predict the replacement timing of the ink cartridge in the same manner as described above by acquiring the ink use record value stored in the use status storage unit 205 and using it as the expected use amount of ink. It becomes.

  As described above, the aspect of using the past ink usage record as the usage schedule information can be realized as one aspect of the setting information stored in the setting storage unit 203. For example, in addition to “ink consumption pace” and “print schedule input by the user”, a setting such as “past ink consumption results for the past year” is added, and “past ink consumption results for the past year” is selected. In addition, it is conceivable to perform such exchange time prediction.

  Further, by displaying the graph as shown in FIG. 13 together with the use schedule information input screen described with reference to FIG. 12, the user can refer to the past use status when inputting the use schedule for each month. Thus, convenience for the user can be improved.

  Here, as described above, since the amount of ink used is stored in the usage status storage unit 205, the expression (1) is omitted from the expressions (1) to (3) described above. It is possible to calculate from In addition, information similar to the use schedule information as shown in FIG. 8 may be stored in the use status storage unit 205.

  In the above description, as described in S902 of FIG. 9, when the setting information stored in the setting storage unit 203 is “print schedule input by the user”, the equation (1) is satisfied. The case where the replacement time is predicted using the use schedule information has been described as an example. In addition, it is possible to further reduce the possibility of sudden ink exhaustion by using the “print schedule input by the user” and the “ink consumption pace” method in combination. Such an aspect is applied, for example, by selecting a setting such as “ink consumption pace + print schedule input by user” on the setting screen described with reference to FIG. 7. Such an example will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the operation of predicting the replacement time when “ink consumption pace + print schedule input by user” is set, and corresponds to FIG. As shown in FIG. 14, the ink shortage predicting unit 202 first acquires information on the remaining amount of ink as in S901 of FIG. 9 (S1401).

  Next, the out-of-ink prediction unit 202 obtains use schedule information for the current month from the use schedule storage unit 204 and sets the average usage amount information, ie, “ink consumption pace”, from the use status storage unit 205. (S1402) and the two are compared (S1403). As a result of the comparison in S1403, if the ink usage amount for the current month is greater than the average usage amount (S1403 / YES), the out-of-ink prediction unit 202 uses the usage schedule information in the same manner as in S902 of FIG. Based on this, the replacement time is predicted (S1404), and the prediction result is output (S1405).

  On the other hand, if the average usage amount is larger as a result of the comparison in S1405 (S1403 / NO), the out-of-ink prediction unit 202 does not use the use schedule information, but uses the same as in the case of “ink consumption pace”. Based on the average ink consumption obtained from the actual value of the ink consumption stored in the status storage unit 205, the replacement time is predicted (S1406), and the prediction result is output (S1407).

  Here, the difference in the display mode of the prediction result in S1405 and S1407 is shown in FIG. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the output prediction result is displayed on the display unit of the client terminal 2 in the case of S1405. As shown in FIG. 15, since a month that is higher than the average usage is a month in which a large amount of usage is predicted, a message such as “This month is expected to be used in large quantities” is displayed. And displayed together with the prediction result of the replacement time. That is, in the case of S1405, the prediction result output unit 206 generates and outputs display information for displaying a GUI as shown in FIG. On the other hand, in the case of S1407, a GUI similar to that described in FIG. 11 is displayed.

  As described above, in the case of the example in FIG. 14, the replacement is performed using the use schedule information only when the planned ink use amount in the use schedule information input by the user is larger than the average ink use amount of the past actual values. Make timing predictions. As a result, when the ink consumption pace is faster than the scheduled usage amount input by the user, the replacement time is predicted according to the consumption pace, so that sudden ink shortage can be avoided.

  14 has been described as the setting of “ink consumption pace + print schedule input by the user”. However, as described in FIG. 13, when past ink use results are used as use schedule information. , A setting item such as “ink consumption pace + ink consumption record of the past year” may be provided separately. Furthermore, in addition to the average ink use amount, it is also possible to use the use schedule information input by the user and the past ink use results having a large use amount. In such a case, a setting item such as “ink consumption pace + print schedule input by the user + ink consumption results for the past year” may be provided separately.

  Further, in the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, as an example of a case where the user inputs information on the print setting for each size and the information on the number of prints as the information related to the prediction of the usage amount of the image forming apparatus 1 every month. As explained. Such an aspect is preferable because it is possible to input a predicted value of the usage amount by designating an item that is easy for the user to judge rather than designating the ink amount directly. In addition, for example, even if the user directly specifies the ink consumption, the same effects as described above can be obtained.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In the first embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the case where the image forming apparatus 1 is directly connected to the client terminal 2 and used only via the client terminal 2 has been described as an example. In addition, the image forming apparatus 1 may be used by a plurality of terminals by being connected to a network. In this embodiment, such a case will be described. In addition, about the structure which attaches | subjects the code | symbol similar to Embodiment 1, it shall show the part which is the same as that of Embodiment 1, or an equivalent part, and abbreviate | omits description.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an operation mode of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 15, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is connected to and operated by a plurality of client terminals 2 via a network line such as Ethernet (registered trademark).

  In the first embodiment, since only one client terminal 2 uses the image forming apparatus 1, as described with reference to FIG. 6, the execution history of the image forming output by the print job generating unit 201 is managed. Thus, it was possible to manage the actual ink consumption on the client terminal 2 side. However, as shown in FIG. 1, when the image forming apparatus 1 is shared by a plurality of client terminals 2, it is necessary to manage the execution history of image forming output by other client terminals 2 as in the first embodiment. This method cannot be used.

  For this reason, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a function of storing the history of the input print job (hereinafter referred to as a log management function). This log management function is realized by the controller 100, and collected log information is stored in a storage medium such as the HDD 40 in the image forming apparatus 1. Each client terminal 2 connected via the network acquires the history of the print job managed by the log management function of the image forming apparatus 1 via the network, whereby the usage status storage unit according to the first embodiment is used. Information corresponding to the information stored in 205 is acquired. Thereby, even the image forming apparatus 1 connected to the network as shown in FIG. 15 can obtain the same effects as those of the first embodiment.

  Here, in the present embodiment, when the user inputs the usage schedule information to the usage schedule storage unit 204, not only one client terminal 2 but all the client terminals 2 connected to the image forming apparatus 1 via the network. It is necessary to input in consideration of the print output by. It is difficult for the user who uses each client terminal 2 to input such use schedule information, and it is considered that the prediction result varies depending on each user. Therefore, in the present embodiment, as described with reference to FIG. 13, it is preferable to use the corresponding monthly usage amount in the ink usage record value as the predicted value of the current month usage amount.

  Further, the administrator of the network shown in FIG. 15 can generate the use schedule information in consideration of the print output by all the client terminals 2 connected to the image forming apparatus 1. In this case, the use schedule information generated by the administrator can be managed by the controller 100 of the image forming apparatus 1 and stored in a storage medium such as the HDD 40 in the image forming apparatus 1. Each client terminal 2 predicts the replacement time by downloading the use schedule information from the image forming apparatus 1 and performing the same process as in the first embodiment when the ink cartridge replacement time is predicted. Thereby, even the image forming apparatus 1 connected to the network as shown in FIG. 15 can obtain the same effects as those of the first embodiment.

  In both the first and second embodiments, the ink out prediction unit 202, the setting storage unit 203, the usage status storage unit 204, and the usage schedule storage unit that are realized in the printer driver 200 that is installed and operates in the client terminal 2. The case where the function according to the gist of the present embodiment is realized by the 205 and the prediction result output unit 206 has been described as an example. This is because the prediction result is finally displayed on a display unit provided in the client terminal 2, and in the client terminal 2, the printer driver 200 constitutes a user interface of functions related to the image forming apparatus 1. Because it is reasonable.

  In addition, the controller 100 of the image forming apparatus 1 can also realize the functions of the ink out prediction unit 202, the setting storage unit 203, the usage status storage unit 204, the usage schedule storage unit 205, and the prediction result output unit 206 described above. is there. In this case, each client terminal 2 displays the GUI shown in FIGS. 11 and 15 on the LCD 60 or the like, which is the display unit of each client terminal 2, by downloading the prediction result information from the image forming apparatus 1 via the network. . In addition to the confirmation of the replacement time prediction result via the client terminal 2, the user inputs the use schedule information as well as the above embodiment, and the replacement time prediction result via the display panel 104 of the image forming apparatus 1. Or use schedule information can be entered.

  In both the first and second embodiments, the ink jet type image forming apparatus is taken as an example of the printing apparatus, and the ink cartridge 167 is taken as an example of the consumable to be determined for replacement. In addition, in the case of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the consumables can be toner, drums, and the like.

1 image forming apparatus,
2 client terminals,
10 CPU,
20 RAM,
30 ROM,
40 HDD,
50 I / F,
60 LCD,
70 operation unit,
80 bus,
100 controller,
101 ADF,
102 scanner unit,
103 Output tray,
104 display panel,
105 paper feed table,
106 print engine,
107 Output tray,
108 Network I / F,
110 Main control unit,
120 engine control unit,
130 image processing unit,
140 operation display controller,
150 I / O control unit,
160 carriage,
161, 161a, 161b guide rollers,
162 conveyor belt,
163a, 163b conveying rollers,
164 Waste liquid receiver,
165 wiper,
166 print head,
166a Print head (C)
166b Print head (K)
166c Print head (M)
166d Print head (Y)
167 ink cartridge,
167a Ink cartridge (C)
167b Ink cartridge (K)
167c Ink cartridge (M)
167d Ink cartridge (Y)
200 printer driver,
201 a print job generation unit;
202 Ink out prediction unit,
203 setting storage unit,
204 Use schedule storage unit,
205 usage status storage unit,
206 Prediction result output unit

JP 2002-011928 A

Claims (10)

A print control program for causing an information processing device to output a print command to a printing device,
Acquiring information relating to the usage amount prediction of the printing apparatus for each predetermined period;
Obtaining information on the actual frequency of use of the printing device;
Obtaining information about a consumption state of a consumable included in the printing apparatus;
Calculating a timing for exchanging the consumables based on the information on the use frequency and the information on the consumption state;
When the usage amount in the information on the usage amount prediction is larger than the usage amount in the information on the actual usage frequency, the timing for exchanging the consumables based on the information on the usage amount prediction and the information on the consumption state A step of calculating
A print control program for causing the information processing apparatus to execute a step of outputting display information for displaying the calculated timing for replacing the consumables. Information relating to the usage amount prediction of the printing apparatus for each predetermined period is information input by the user,
The print control program according to claim 1, further causing the information processing apparatus to execute a step of generating and outputting display information for displaying an interface for a user to input information relating to the usage amount prediction.   The print control program according to claim 2, wherein the information on the usage amount prediction includes information on a print output amount and output setting. Generating and outputting display information for displaying an interface for a user to input setting information as to whether or not to calculate timing for replacing the consumable using the information on the usage amount prediction;
The information processing apparatus is further caused to execute the step of acquiring the setting information and determining whether or not to use the information regarding the usage amount prediction in the calculation of the timing to replace the consumables. Or the printing control program of 3.   The information related to the prediction of the usage amount of the printing apparatus for each predetermined period is information related to the prediction of the usage amount of the printing apparatus for each month and the information on the actual usage amount of the printing apparatus in the corresponding month in the past. The printing control program according to claim 1. Generating and outputting a print command for the printing apparatus;
Storing information on the history of the generated print command in a storage medium;
The print control program according to claim 1, further causing the information processing apparatus to execute a step of acquiring information on the actual usage frequency based on the stored information on the history.   7. A recording medium in which the print control program according to claim 1 is recorded in a format readable by an information processing apparatus. An information processing apparatus that transmits a print command to a printing apparatus,
A usage amount prediction information acquisition unit that acquires usage amount prediction information that is information related to the usage amount prediction of the printing apparatus for each predetermined period;
A usage frequency information acquisition unit that acquires usage frequency information, which is information relating to the actual usage frequency of the printing apparatus;
A consumption state information acquisition unit that acquires consumption state information that is information related to a consumption state of the consumables included in the printing apparatus;
An exchange timing calculation unit for calculating a timing for exchanging the consumables based on the information on the use frequency and the information on the consumption state;
A display information output unit for outputting display information for displaying the calculated timing for replacing the consumables,
When the usage amount in the information on the usage amount prediction is larger than the usage amount in the information on the actual usage frequency, the replacement timing calculation unit, based on the information on the usage amount prediction and the information on the consumption state, An information processing apparatus that calculates a timing for exchanging consumables. A print control program according to any one of claims 1 to 6, executable by an information processing device;
A printing system comprising: a printing device.   A printing apparatus comprising a storage medium for storing the print control program according to claim 1.

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