JP5220166B2 - Printing system, server apparatus, printing method, and computer program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system, a server device, a printing method, a computer program, and a recording medium that notify a client device of information relating to a usable printing device.

  Conventionally, when printing manuscript data created using a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) capable of creating manuscript data such as a document or a picture, it is created by a printer driver installed in the PC in advance. Print data that can be printed by a printer is generated based on the original data that has been generated, and the generated print data is output to the printer.

  In recent years, a printing system including a PC having a printer driver, a plurality of printers, and a server has been widely used. In this printing system, a server receives a print job from a PC, selects a usable printer from printers that can communicate with the server, and executes the print job. Thereby, when printing, for example, it is possible to avoid using the printer in an abnormal state such as busy, paper jam, or out of toner, and to select an optimal printer for a print job.

  Further, as the demand for multifunctional printers increases, the generated document data such as PDF, Word, Excel, and Tiff is not converted into print data without installing a printer driver in a terminal device such as a PC. A printing system has been developed that can be directly sent to a printer for printing. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a printing system called “Direct Print” in which original data is transmitted from a portable terminal to a printer capable of analyzing original data, and a printing application is opened on the printer side to perform printing. 1 is disclosed. In such a printing system, it is not necessary to install a printer driver, and it is possible to save time for converting original data into print data by the printer driver. Even a device that does not support a printer driver can be printed by preparing a mechanism for sending document data to the printer using a memory card or communication means such as infrared communication, LAN, or USB. Applies to printing manuscript data from telephone.

JP 2007-164601 A

  However, the printing system based on the “direct printing” has a problem that it takes time to select a printer because the mobile terminal selects a printer to be used by communicating with each printer.

  In addition, in such a printing system, how to avoid using the printer in an abnormal state such as busy, paper jam, or out of toner becomes a problem. In response to this problem, a means for using a server in a printing system including a printer driver has been proposed. However, in the printing system based on the “direct printing”, a printer driver is not provided. Even if the server applied to the printer driver is used, the problem cannot be solved.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to easily and quickly select a printing apparatus that is optimal for a printing process to be executed even by a client apparatus that does not include a printer driver. An object of the present invention is to provide a printing system, a server device, a printing method, a computer program, and a recording medium capable of executing processing and preventing excessive concentration of jobs on the printing device.

A printing system according to the present invention includes a client device that transmits document data, a plurality of printing devices that directly print document data transmitted from the client device, and a server that is connected to the client device and the plurality of printing devices. And the client device includes a billing unit that transmits user information to the server device and requests information related to the printing device, and each of the plurality of printing devices receives document data at the client device. An identification unit for identifying the user who transmitted, and a storage unit for storing the number of printed sheets for each user identified by the identification unit, wherein the server device identifies the user according to the request by the client device And information relating to each of the plurality of printing apparatuses, and the number of sheets printed by each user and the printing apparatus Acquisition means for acquiring the number of people has been printed at predetermined time intervals, the billing based on the plurality of printing apparatuses each in accordance with information acquired by the acquisition unit to the time that has received, to the billing When the number of printed sheets by the user is small (or large), a determination unit that determines a printing apparatus with a large (or small) number of printed sheets as a printing apparatus usable by the user , and according to a request from the client apparatus And notification means for notifying the client apparatus of information relating to the usable printing apparatus determined by the determining means, wherein the client apparatus uses the information relating to the usable printing apparatus received from the server apparatus. On the basis of this, it is characterized by comprising a transmission means for transmitting the document data to any one of the usable printing apparatuses.

In the present invention, the printing system includes a client device that transmits document data, a plurality of printing devices that directly print document data transmitted from the client device, and a server connected to the client device and the plurality of printing devices. Device. In the client device, the billing unit transmits the user information to the server device and charges the information related to the printing device. The plurality of printing apparatuses are printing apparatuses capable of “direct printing” that directly print document data without going through a printer driver. In each of the plurality of printing apparatuses, the identification unit identifies the user who transmitted the original data by the client apparatus, and the storage unit stores the number of printed sheets for each user identified by the identification unit. In the server device, the identification unit identifies a user who is billed by the client device, and the acquisition unit obtains a predetermined number of sheets printed by each user and a number printed by each printing device as information relating to each of the plurality of printing devices. The determination unit obtains the number of sheets printed by the user according to the request based on the information related to each of the plurality of printing apparatuses acquired by the acquisition unit at the time when the request was received (or If it is large, the printing device having a large number (or a small number) of printed sheets is determined as a printing device usable by the user. In the server device, the notifying unit notifies the client device of information relating to the usable printing device determined by the determining unit in response to a request from the client device. In the client apparatus, the transmission unit transmits the document data to any one of the usable printing apparatuses based on the information related to the usable printing apparatus received from the server apparatus.

Server device according to the present invention includes identification means for identifying a user according to the acquired billing information relating to the printing apparatus that receives, as the information relating to people printing apparatus each of multiple, the number and the printing apparatus each printed by s user respectively There based on acquisition means and the request acquisition of the plurality of printing apparatuses each in accordance with information acquired by the acquisition unit to the time it receives the to obtain the number of sheets printed at predetermined time intervals, said mounting obtain billing And determining means for determining a printing apparatus with a large (or small) number of printed sheets as a printing apparatus usable by the user when the number of printed sheets is small (or large) .

In the present invention, the identification means identifies the user according to the acquired billing information relating to the printing apparatus that has received, acquiring means, as the information relating to people printing apparatus each of multiple, the number and the printing device printed by s user respectively The number of sheets printed by each is acquired at predetermined time intervals . Determining means, based on information relating to each of the plurality of printing apparatuses each being acquired by acquisition means on the time which has received the request acquisition, a small number that is printed by the user according to said mounting obtained according (or greater) when Then, a printing apparatus having a large number (or a small number) of printed sheets is determined as a printing apparatus usable by the user .

A printing method according to the present invention includes a client device that transmits document data, a plurality of printing devices that directly print document data transmitted from the client device, and a server that is connected to the client device and the plurality of printing devices. in the printing method in a printing system and a device, and wherein the step of billing the acquisition of information relating to the printing device transmits the user information to the server device from the client device, the plurality of printing apparatuses each have, document data A storage step of storing the number of printed sheets for each user who has transmitted a message, and the server apparatus determines, as information relating to each of the plurality of printing apparatuses, the number of sheets printed by each user and the number of sheets printed by each printing apparatus an acquisition step of acquiring each time, the time the server apparatus, receiving the claimed Based on the acquired and the plurality of printing apparatuses each in accordance with the information and in the acquisition step, the number printed by the user according to the claims is small (or large), the many printed sheets (or less) printing A determination step of determining a device as a printing device usable by the user, and information relating to the usable printing device determined in the determination step in response to a request from the client device from the server device. A notification step of notifying the apparatus, and a transmission step of transmitting document data to any one of the usable printing apparatuses from the client apparatus based on information on the usable printing apparatus received from the server apparatus. It is characterized by having.

In the present invention, user information is transmitted from the client device to the server device, and acquisition of information related to the printing device is requested, and each of the plurality of printing devices stores the number of printed sheets for each user who transmitted the document data. Server apparatus as the information relating to each of the plurality of printing apparatuses husband, and a number of people the user each number and the printing device printed by husband printed acquired every predetermined time, in acquiring step to the time receiving the billing When the number of printed sheets is small (or large) by the user according to the request based on information about each of the plurality of acquired printing apparatuses, the user uses a printing apparatus with a large (or small) number of printed sheets. Determine as a possible printing device. In response to a request from the client device, the server device notifies the client device of information related to the usable printing device determined in the determination step, and the client device notifies the usable printing device received from the server device. Based on such information, the document data is transmitted to any one of the usable printing apparatuses.

A computer program according to the present invention, printing the computer, identifying means for identifying a user according to the acquired billing information relating to the printing apparatus that receives, as the information relating to people printing apparatus each of multiple, and number of sheets printed by s user respectively obtaining means for obtaining a number of devices each was printed at predetermined time intervals, and based on the plurality of printing apparatuses each in accordance with information acquired by the acquisition unit to the time that has received the request for acquisition, the When the number of sheets printed by the user according to the acquisition request is small (or large), the printing apparatus having a large (or small) number of printed sheets is made to function as a determination unit that determines the printing apparatus usable by the user. To do.

In the present invention, to identify the user according to the acquired billing information relating to the printing apparatus that receives, as the information relating to people printing apparatus each of multiple, predetermined and number of sheets and the printing apparatus respectively printed by s user husband printed obtained for each of time, the request for acquisition based on the obtained and that information relating to each of the plurality of printing apparatuses each at obtaining unit at the time you receive, a small number that is printed by the user according to said mounting obtain billing (or If it is large, the printing device having a large number (or a small number) of printed sheets is determined as a printing device usable by the user .

  According to the present invention, it is possible to save time for selecting a usable printing device from a plurality of printing devices, and a client device that does not include a printer driver can easily and quickly select a printing device that is optimal for a printing process to be executed. It is possible to execute the printing process by selecting. Further, in the printing system, the use of the printing apparatus in an abnormal state such as busy, paper jam, or out of toner can be easily avoided. Furthermore, excessive concentration of jobs on the printing apparatus can be prevented, and usability in the printing system can be improved.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a printing system according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a main part of a printing system according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence in PC. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of printer information transmission in a server. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printer setting table stored in a server. FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of printer information notified to a PC. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a main part of a printing system according to Embodiment 2. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of printer information acquisition processing in a server. It is a figure which shows an example of the printer information acquired with the server. It is a figure which shows an example of the result which a server processes based on printer information. It is a figure which shows an example of the printer determination table accumulate | stored in the server. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of printer information acquisition processing in the server. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of processing for transmitting own printer information in a printer. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of printer information transmission in the server according to the third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a main part of a printing system according to a fourth embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the web page provided by the server. It is a figure which shows the example of the web page provided by the printer. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a server configuration in a printing system according to a fifth embodiment.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings illustrating a printing system according to an embodiment.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a printing system 1 according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a printing system. The printing system 1 includes a PC 10 and a mobile phone 40 that are client apparatuses, a server 20 that is a server apparatus, and printers 31 to 36 that are printing apparatuses. The PC 10, the server 20, and the printers 31 to 36 are connected by, for example, a wired or wireless LAN network 2. The mobile phone 40 is connected to the network 2 by, for example, a wireless access point 3. Hereinafter, the client device will be described by taking the PC 10 as an example, and the mobile phone 40 is operated in the same manner as the PC 10, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a main part of the printing system 1 according to the first embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the PC 10 includes a CPU 101, a ROM 102, and a RAM 103. The ROM 102 stores a control program executed by the CPU 101. The RAM 103 can temporarily store data generated during execution of the control program. The CPU 101 controls the operation of the entire PC 10 via the bus N by loading a control program stored in advance in the ROM 102 onto the RAM 103 and executing it.

  Further, the PC 10 requests the acquisition of printer information from the document creating unit 104 that creates document data, the printer information requesting unit 105 that receives the printer information from the server 20, and the received printer information. A server that communicates with the server 20, a printer selection unit 106 that selects any one of the printers according to the printer information, a document data transmission unit 107 that transmits document data to the selected printer, and a server 20 It further includes an I / F 108 and a printer I / F 109 that communicates with the printers 31 to 36.

  The document creation unit 104 is an application such as MS-Word, for example, and creates document data in response to an instruction from a PC operation unit (not shown).

  The printer information requesting unit 105 is, for example, an application that runs on the PC 10. The printer information requesting unit 105 transmits an acquisition request for printer information related to the printers 31 to 36 to the server 20 via the server I / F 108, and at the same time, the user logon name User information such as the above information is also transmitted, and information related to the printer usable by the user (see FIG. 6) is received from the server 20.

  The printer selection unit 106 is an application that runs on the PC 10, for example. When the printer selection unit 106 receives information about a printer that can be used by the user from the server 20, for example, a printer selection screen is displayed on a PC display unit (not shown). The printer selection is presented to the user, and the printer to be used is selected from the available printers according to the user's instruction.

  The document data transmission unit 107 is an application that operates on the PC 10, for example, and transmits the document data created by the document creation unit 104 to the printer selected by the printer selection unit 106 via the printer I / F 109. It is.

  The server 20 includes a CPU 201, a ROM 202, and a RAM 203. The ROM 202 stores a control program executed by the CPU 201. The RAM 203 can temporarily store data generated during execution of the control program. The CPU 201 controls the operation of the entire server 20 via the bus N by loading a control program stored in advance in the ROM 202 onto the RAM 203 and executing it.

  The server 20 includes an information storage unit 204 that stores information related to the printer, a printer determination unit 205 that determines a usable printer, and a printer information notification unit 206 that notifies the PC 10 of information related to the determined usable printer. And a PC I / F 207 that communicates with the PC 10.

  The information storage unit 204 is, for example, an HDD, and stores printer information such as a printer setting information table (see FIG. 5) in which printers that can be used by each user are set for each time zone, and IP addresses of the printers 31 to 36. It is to be accumulated.

In response to the printer information acquisition request from the PC 10, the printer determination unit 205 identifies the user related to the acquisition request based on the user information received together with the acquisition request, and the information storage unit 204 based on the reception time. The printers that can be used by the identified user among the printers 31 to 36 are determined in accordance with the printer setting information table stored in the printer.

  The printer information notification unit 206 notifies the PC 10 of information related to the printer usable by the user (see FIG. 6) determined by the printer determination unit 205 via the PC I / F 207 as printer information. is there.

  Each of the printers 31 to 36 is a printer that directly prints (direct prints) document data transmitted from a terminal device such as the PC 10 or the mobile phone 40 without going through a printer driver. The CPU 301, the ROM 302, and the RAM 303 With. The ROM 302 stores a control program executed by the CPU 301. The RAM 303 can temporarily store data generated during execution of the control program. The CPU 301 controls the operation of the entire printer via the bus N by loading a control program stored in advance in the ROM 302 onto the RAM 303 and executing it.

  Each of the printers 31 to 36 further includes a PC I / F 304 that communicates with the PC 10, a document data receiving unit 305 that receives document data from the PC 10, and a printing unit 306 that prints based on the received document data. Prepare.

  The document data receiving unit 305 is configured to receive document data from the PC 10 via the PC I / F 304. The printing unit 306 prints based on the document data received by the document data receiving unit 305.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure in the PC 10. As shown in FIG. 3, in the PC 10, the document creation unit 104 creates document data in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 101 (step S31).

  The CPU 101 determines whether a print instruction has been received from the user (step S32). When it is determined that the print instruction has not been received from the user (step S32: NO), the CPU 101 repeats such determination until the print instruction is received.

  If the CPU 101 determines that a print instruction has been received from the user (step S32: YES), it instructs the printer information requesting unit 105 to request acquisition of printer information. The printer information request unit 105 transmits a printer information acquisition request to the server 20 via the server I / F 108 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 101, and simultaneously transmits the user name of the user as user information (step S33). .

  The CPU 101 determines whether or not the printer information has been received from the server 20 (step S34). If the CPU 101 determines that the printer information has not been received from the server 20 (step S34: NO), the CPU 101 does not receive the printer information. Repeat this determination.

  When it is determined that the printer information has been received from the server 20 (step S34: YES), the CPU 101 performs a test communication with the printer related to the printer information received from the server 20 (step S35). For example, when the printer IP address is received from the server 20 as printer information, the CPU 101 transmits a PING command to each IP address.

  The CPU 101 determines whether or not communication is possible for each printer, and generates, for example, a list as printers that can use the printer that is determined to be able to communicate (step S36).

  The CPU 101 instructs the printer selection unit 106 to select a printer. The printer selection unit 106 presents a printer selection screen to the user on the display unit of the PC according to the instruction of the CPU 101, displays a list of available printers based on the list generated in step S36, for example, and the user's instruction Accordingly, one of a plurality of usable printers is selected (step S37).

  CPU 101 instructs document data transmission unit 107 to transmit document data. In accordance with an instruction from the CPU 101, the document data transmission unit 107 transmits document data to the printer selected in step S37 (step S38), and ends the process.

  Here, an example has been described in which communication with the usable printer determined by the server 20 is performed on a trial basis, printers that can actually communicate with the PC 10 are determined from these printers, and displayed to the user. The present invention is not limited to this, and usable printers determined by the server 20 may be displayed to the user without performing such communication.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of printer information transmission in the server 20. As shown in FIG. 4, in the server 20, the CPU 201 determines whether a printer information acquisition request has been received from the PC 10 (step S <b> 41), and determines that no printer information acquisition request has been received from the PC 10. If so (step S41: NO), such determination is repeated until a printer information acquisition request is received from the PC 10.

  If the CPU 201 determines that the printer information acquisition request has been received from the PC 10 (step S41: YES), the CPU 201 checks the time when the printer information acquisition request has been received from the PC 10 (step S42), and can be used for the printer determination unit 205. To determine the correct printer.

  The printer determination unit 205 identifies the user related to the acquisition request based on the user name received together with the acquisition request according to the instruction of the CPU 201, and the user name and the user name in step S <b> 42 according to the printer setting table stored in the information storage unit 204. Based on the confirmed reception time, a printer that can be used by the identified user is determined (step S43).

  The CPU 201 instructs the printer information notification unit 206 to notify the printer information. In accordance with an instruction from the CPU 201, the printer information notification unit 206 notifies the PC 10 of information relating to a printer that can be used by the user via the PC IF 207 (step S44), and ends the process.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printer setting table stored in the server 20. Such a printer setting table is stored in the information storage unit 204. As shown in FIG. 5, printers that can be used by each user are set in the printer setting table for each time period. Specifically, the printer setting table includes five times of 8:00 to 10:00, 10: 0 to 12:00, 12: 0 to 14:00, 14: 0 to 17:00, and after 17:00. For each band, printer names of printers that can be used by the users A, B, C, and D are written.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of printer information notified to the PC 10. As shown in FIG. 6, the printer information notification unit 206 notifies the PC 10 of the printer name and IP address of the printer that can be used by the user as printer information.

  In the printing system 1 according to the present embodiment, when a printing instruction is received from a user, the printer information requesting unit 105 of the PC 10 transmits the printer information acquisition request and user information such as a user name to the server 20. When the server 20 receives a request for acquisition of printer information from the PC 10, the reception time of the acquisition request is confirmed, and the printer determination unit 205 identifies the user related to the acquisition request based on the received user information and stores it in advance. The printer corresponding to the confirmed reception time and received user name is determined as a printer that can be used by the identified user in accordance with the determined printer setting table, and the printer of the printer determined by the printer information notification unit 206 is determined. The name and IP address are notified to the PC 10 as printer information. When the printer information is received from the server 20 in the PC 10, the printer selection unit 106 selects one of the notified usable printers according to the instruction from the user, and the document data transmission unit 107 selects the selected printer. The original data is transmitted to the designated printer.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the printing system 1 according to the first embodiment will be described in detail by taking the case of the user A as an example. When the PC 10 accepts a print instruction from the user A, a request for obtaining printer information and the user name A are transmitted to the server 20. In the server 20, for example, the printer information acquisition request is received from the PC 10 at 9:00, the reception time is confirmed to be 9:00, and the user according to the acquisition request is identified as the user A based on the received user name A. Then, according to the printer setting table shown in FIG. 5, the printers 31 to 33 corresponding to the time period 8:00 to 10:00 and the user name A to which the reception time belongs are determined as the printers that can be used by the user A, and FIG. The printer names and IP addresses of the printers 31 to 33 shown in FIG. In the PC 10, any one of the printer 31, the printer 32, and the printer 33 that can be used by the user A is selected, and the document data is transmitted to the printer selected by the user A.

  In the first embodiment, based on the time when the printer information request is received from the PC 10 and the user name, the printer that can be used by the user can be easily and quickly selected and printed according to the printer setting table stored in the server 20. Processing can be performed.

(Embodiment 2)
In the second embodiment, the server 20 in the first embodiment updates the printer setting table every predetermined time. In the following description, for the same configuration as in the first embodiment, the first embodiment is referred to, and the description thereof is omitted. Note that components similar to those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a main part of the printing system 1 according to the second embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 7, in the printing system 1 according to the second embodiment, the server 20 includes a printer information acquisition unit 208 that acquires information on each of the printers 31 to 36 at predetermined time intervals, and a printer 31 to 36. The printer 31 further includes a printer I / F 209 that performs communication. Each of the printers 31 to 36 transmits a user identification unit 307 that identifies a user, an information storage unit 308 that stores its own printer information, and the printer information to the server 20. A printer information transmission unit 309 and a server I / F 310 are provided.

  In the server 20, the printer information acquisition unit 208 transmits a printer information acquisition request to each of the printers 31 to 36 via the printer I / F 209 and receives the printer information from the printers 31 to 36. In this case, the printer information is stored in the information storage unit 204.

  In each of the printers 31 to 36, the user identification unit 307 is an application that operates on the printer, and identifies the user who transmitted the original data by the PC 10, and the information storage unit 308 prints the number of sheets printed by itself. Printer information such as the number of sheets printed for each identified user and information relating to the usage status of the user is stored. The printer information transmission unit 309 receives the printer information from the server 20 in response to a request for acquisition of the printer information. The printer information stored in the information storage unit 308 is transmitted via the I / F 310.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the printer information acquisition process in the server 20. As shown in FIG. 8, in the server 20, the CPU 201 determines whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the previous printer information was received (step S81). Here, the predetermined time is arbitrarily set as necessary.

  If the CPU 201 determines that the predetermined time has not elapsed (step S81: NO), the CPU 201 repeats such determination until the predetermined time elapses, and determines that the predetermined time has elapsed (step S81: YES). And instructing the printer information acquisition unit 208 to transmit an acquisition request. The printer information acquisition unit 208 transmits a printer information acquisition request to the printers 31 to 36 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 201 (step S82).

  The CPU 201 determines whether or not printer information has been received from the printers 31 to 36 (step S83). If it is determined that the printer information has not been received from the printers 31 to 36 (step S83: NO), the printers 31 to 36 are determined. Such determination is repeated until printer information is received from 36.

  When determining that the printer information has been received from the printers 31 to 36 (step S83: YES), the CPU 201 stores the received printer information in the information storage unit 204 (step S84).

  The CPU 201 determines whether or not an instruction to stop the process has been received (step S85). If the CPU 201 determines that an instruction to stop the process has not been received (step S85: NO), the process proceeds to step S81. return. If it is determined that an instruction to stop the process has been received (step S85: YES), the process is terminated.

  The printer information acquired by the printer information acquisition unit 208 includes the number of sheets printed by the user and the printer. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of printer information acquired by the server. In the table shown in FIG. 9, the number printed by each user is written for each printer.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a result processed by the server 20 based on the printer information. In FIG. 10, the left figure shows the number of sheets printed by each user and the order of addition according to the number of sheets, and the right figure shows the number of sheets printed by each printer and the order of attachment according to the number of sheets. As shown in FIG. 9, the number of printed sheets by users A, B, C, and D is 3511, 3615, 2619, and 3232, respectively. As a result, the users are ranked in descending order of the number of printed sheets. Are users B, A, D, and C. On the other hand, the number of sheets printed by each of the printers 31 to 36 is 2717, 1868, 2301, 2399, 1698, and 1994. Therefore, the result of ranking the printers in descending order of the number of printed sheets is 31, printer 34, printer 33, printer 36, printer 32, and printer 35.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printer determination table stored in the server. As shown in FIG. 11, in the printer setting table, a user having a high rank in FIG. 10, that is, a large number of printed sheets is set as a printer having a low rank in FIG. For a user with a low ranking in FIG. 10, that is, with a small number of printed sheets, a printer with a high ranking in FIG. As a result, when the server 20 receives a request for obtaining printer information, the printer determination unit 205 determines a printer with a small number of printed sheets for a user with a large number of printed sheets, and a user with a small number of printed sheets. Determine which printer has the most printed pages.

  Further, as the printer information acquired by the printer information acquisition unit 208, information related to power supply interruption of the printer can be cited. FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of printer information acquisition processing in the server 20.

  As shown in FIG. 12, in the server 20, the CPU 201 determines whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the previous reception of the printer information (step S121), and determines that the predetermined time has not elapsed. (Step S121: NO), such determination is repeated until a predetermined time elapses.

  If the CPU 201 determines that a predetermined time has elapsed (step S121: YES), the CPU 201 instructs the printer information acquisition unit 208 to transmit an acquisition request. The printer information acquisition unit 208 transmits a printer information acquisition request to the printers 31 to 36 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 201 (step S122).

  The CPU 201 waits for the reception of printer information (step S123), and the waiting time is arbitrarily set as necessary.

  The CPU 201 determines whether or not each printer is powered on (step S124). For example, among the printers 31 to 36, a printer that has not received the printer information is determined to be turned off, and a printer that has received the printer information is determined to be turned on.

  The CPU 201 stores in the information storage unit 204 the information relating to the determined power-off of each printer (step S125).

  The CPU 201 determines whether or not an instruction to stop the process has been received (step S126). If the CPU 201 determines that an instruction to stop the process has not been received (step S126: NO), the process proceeds to step S121. return. If it is determined that an instruction to stop the process has been received (step S126: YES), the process ends.

  As a result, the information storage unit 204 stores printer information related to the power supply of each printer. When the server 20 receives a printer information acquisition request from the PC 10, the printer determination unit 205 determines a part of the printer to be turned on as a printer that can be used by the printer determination unit 205. Notice. In the PC 10, based on the notified printer information, one of the printers that can be used by the user is selected, and the document data is transmitted to the printer selected by the user. Further, when the number of printers that are turned on is small, all printers that are turned on may be determined as printers that can be used by the printer determination unit 205.

  In the second embodiment, the server 20 acquires information related to the printer at predetermined time intervals, updates the accumulated printer information, acquires reliable printer information, and selects an optimum printer easily and quickly. Thus, the printing process can be performed. Also, by determining the printers that can be used based on the number of printed sheets, it is possible to prevent excessive concentration of jobs on the printing apparatus. Furthermore, by determining a printer that can be used based on the use state of the printer, it is possible to reliably avoid using the printer in an abnormal state.

  Further, in the present embodiment, a case has been described in which the server 20 transmits a request for acquiring printer information to the printers 31 to 36 at predetermined time intervals. Each time, the printer information may be transmitted to the server 20.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing for transmitting the printer information of the printer 31 to 36 itself. As shown in FIG. 13, in each of the printers 31 to 36, the CPU 301 determines whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the previous transmission of printer information (step S131), and determines that the predetermined time has elapsed. In the case (step S131: YES), the server 20 is notified of its own status by, for example, HTTP (step S133).

  If the CPU 301 determines that the predetermined time has not elapsed (step S131: NO), the CPU 301 determines whether the status of the printer itself has changed (step S132), and determines that the status of the printer itself has not changed. If so (step S132: NO), the process returns to step S131.

  When the CPU 301 determines that the status of the printer itself has changed (step S132: YES), the CPU 301 notifies the server 20 of the status of the printer, for example, by HTTP (step S133).

  The CPU 301 determines whether or not an instruction to stop the process has been received (step S134). If the CPU 301 determines that an instruction to stop the process has not been received (step S134: NO), the process proceeds to step S131. return. If it is determined that an instruction to stop the process has been received (step S134: YES), the process ends.

  When the server 20 receives information related to the printer transmitted from the printers 31 to 36, the server 20 updates the accumulated printer information. Thereby, even if the server 20 is outside the firewall, the printer status can be managed.

(Embodiment 3)
In the third embodiment, the server 20 in the first embodiment determines a printer that can be used based on information related to the position of the PC 10. In the following description, for the same configuration as in the first embodiment, the first embodiment is referred to, and the description thereof is omitted. Note that components similar to those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of printer information transmission in the server 20 according to the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 14, in the server 20, the CPU 201 determines whether or not a printer information acquisition request has been received from the PC 10 (step S <b> 141), and determines that no printer information acquisition request has been received from the PC 10. In such a case (step S141: NO), such determination is repeated until a printer information acquisition request is received from the PC 10.

  When the CPU 201 determines that the printer information acquisition request has been received from the PC 10 (step S141: YES), the CPU 201 detects the IP address of the PC 10 that has transmitted the printer information acquisition request (step S142), and uses it for the printer determination unit 205. Instruct the determination of possible printers.

  In accordance with an instruction from the CPU 201, the printer determination unit 205 determines a printer that can be used by the user based on the printer IP address stored in the information storage unit 204 and the IP address of the PC 10 detected in step S42B (step S143). ). For example, a printer having the same IP address as that of the PC 10 is determined as a printer usable by the user.

  The CPU 201 instructs the printer information notification unit 206 to notify the printer information. In accordance with an instruction from the CPU 201, the printer information notification unit 206 notifies the PC 10 of information related to a printer that can be used by the user via the PC IF 207 (step S144), and ends the process.

  In the present embodiment, by setting a printer having the same IP address as that of the client device as a printer that can be used by the user, a printer closest to the user can be selected. Here, not only the printer is determined based on the IP address, but the actual position of each printer is stored in the information storage unit 204 in advance, and the printer is determined based on the information relating to the actual position of the PC 10 and each printer. You may do that.

(Embodiment 4)
In the fourth embodiment, the PC 10 transmits the document data to the printer 31 among the printers 31 to 36 by the web page in the first embodiment. In the following description, for the same configuration as in the first embodiment, the first embodiment is referred to, and the description thereof is omitted. Note that components similar to those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a main part of the printing system 1 according to the fourth embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 15, in the printing system 1 according to the fourth embodiment, the PC 10 has a web browser 110 and can implement a web browser function, and the server 20 includes a web server 210 that can provide a web page. The printers 31 to 36 each include a web server 311 that can provide web pages.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the server 20 acquires printer information at predetermined time intervals. Here, the server 20 searches for a printer capable of direct printing with a searchable printer in the network 2 and has a web server. For example, an IP address or URL corresponding to a function such as a color function or a post-processing function is obtained. Get printer information. In step S84, the server 20 stores the acquired IP address or URL corresponding to the printer function in the information storage unit 204 as printer information.

  When the server 20 receives a request for obtaining printer information from the PC 10, the server 20 notifies the PC 10 of an IP address or URL corresponding to the printer function stored in advance.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a web page provided by the server 20. In the PC 10, when the IP address or URL notified from the server 20, for example, “http: directprintsearch / index” is input to the web browser 110, the search result web page shown in FIG. 16 is received from the web server 210 of the server 20.

  The PC 10 selects a printer by operating the web page shown in FIG. Here, an example in which the printer 31 is selected will be described. FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a web page provided by the printer 31. When the user selects the printer 31, the IP address “192.168.1.10” of the printer 31 is input to the web browser of the PC 10 by the link, and the web page shown in FIG. 17 is displayed by the web server 311 of the printer 31. The provided web browser of the PC 10 jumps to the web page shown in FIG. 17 provided by the web server 311. The user can operate the web page on the PC 10 and transmit a file to be printed to the printer 31.

  In this embodiment, by manipulating a web page provided by a printer, document data can be transmitted by a familiar web browser, and operability can be improved.

(Embodiment 5)
The printing system 1 may be configured such that each computer program for performing the operation can be provided on a portable recording medium such as a CD-ROM. You may comprise so that it can also download from an external device.

  For example, FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the server 20 in the printing system according to the fifth embodiment, and the server 20 further includes a recording medium reading device 211 as illustrated in FIG. The server 20 acquires information related to a plurality of printers at a predetermined time, and records a program for determining a usable printer among the plurality of printers based on the acquired information related to the plurality of printers. The portable recording medium A is inserted into the recording medium reader 211, and the CPU 201 installs the program in the ROM 202, for example. Such a program is loaded into the RAM 203 and executed. Thereby, it functions as a server device of the present invention.

  The recording medium may be a so-called program medium, a tape system such as a magnetic tape and a cassette tape, a magnetic disk such as a flexible disk and a hard disk, and a disk system of an optical disk such as a CD-ROM / MO / MD / DVD, It may be a medium carrying a fixed program code including a card system such as an IC card (including a memory card) / optical card or a semiconductor memory such as a mask ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash ROM or the like.

  It may be a medium that carries program code in a fluid manner so as to download the program code from a network. When the program is downloaded from the communication network in this way, the download program may be stored in the main device in advance or may be installed from another recording medium. The present invention can also be realized in the form of a computer data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program code is embodied by electronic transmission.

  In the printing system 1 according to the present invention, the client device only needs to have a communication function, and may be another client device such as a digital camera or a portable terminal.

  In the printing system 1 according to the present invention, the printers 31 to 36 need only have a printing function and a communication function, and may further include other functions such as a copying function, a facsimile function, and a scanner function.

  In this embodiment, a case has been described in which one printer is selected from a plurality of printers for printing. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a print job can be divided into a plurality of printers as necessary. May be selected for printing.

  The above embodiments are merely examples and should not be considered as limiting. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the meanings described above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

1 Printing system 10 PC (client device)
20 servers (server equipment)
31-36 Printer (Printer)
101, 201, 301 CPU
105 Printer information request section
106 Printer selection unit 107 Document data transmission unit (transmission means)
110 Web browser 204 Information storage unit 205 Printer determination unit (identification unit, determination unit)
206 Printer information notification unit (notification means)
208 Printer information acquisition unit (acquisition means)
210, 311 Web server 305 Document data receiving unit 306 Printing unit 307 User identification unit (identification means)
308 Information storage unit (storage means)
309 Printer information transmission unit

Claims (4)

A client device that transmits document data;
A plurality of printing apparatuses that directly print document data transmitted from the client apparatus;
A server device connected to the client device and the plurality of printing devices,
The client device includes a billing unit that transmits user information to the server device and requests information related to a printing device;
Each of the plurality of printing devices includes:
Identification means for identifying a user who has transmitted the document data in the client device;
Storage means for storing the number of printed sheets for each user identified by the identification means;
With
The server device
Identifying means for identifying a user according to the claim by the client device;
Acquisition means for acquiring, as information relating to each of the plurality of printing apparatuses, the number of sheets printed by each user and the number of sheets printed by each printing apparatus at a predetermined time;
The claims based on the plurality of printing apparatuses each in accordance with information acquired by the acquisition unit to the time it receives a number of sheets printed by the user according to the claims is small (or large), the printed sheets Determining means for determining a printing device having more (or fewer) printing devices as a printing device usable by the user ;
Notification means for notifying the client apparatus of information relating to the usable printing apparatus determined by the determination means in response to a request from the client apparatus;
The client apparatus includes a transmission unit configured to transmit document data to any one of the usable printing apparatuses based on information on the usable printing apparatuses received from the server apparatus. system. Identification means for identifying a user related to an acquisition request for information relating to the received printing apparatus;
As the information relating to people multiple printing devices husband, an acquisition unit for number printing device respectively printed by s user husband and acquires the number of sheets printed at predetermined time intervals,
When the number of sheets printed by the user according to the acquisition request is small (or large) based on the information regarding each of the plurality of printing apparatuses acquired by the acquisition unit at the time when the acquisition request is received , printing is performed Determining means for determining a printing device having a large number (or a small number) of printing devices as a printing device usable by the user . Printing in a printing system including a client device that transmits document data, a plurality of printing devices that directly print document data transmitted from the client device, and a server device connected to the client device and the plurality of printing devices In the method
From the client device, and wherein the step of billing the acquisition of information relating to with the printing device transmits the user information to the server apparatus,
A storage step in which each of the plurality of printing apparatuses stores the number of printed sheets for each user who has transmitted the document data;
The server device obtains, as information relating to each of the plurality of printing devices, the number of sheets printed by each user and the number of sheets printed by each printing device every predetermined time;
The number of sheets printed by the user according to the claim is small (or large) based on the information relating to each of the plurality of printing apparatuses acquired in the acquisition step at the time when the server receives the claim. A determination step of determining a printing device having a large (or small) number of printed sheets as a printing device usable by the user ;
A notification step of notifying the client device of information related to the usable printing device determined in the determination step in response to a request from the client device from the server device;
And a transmission step of transmitting document data to any one of the usable printing devices based on information on the usable printing devices received from the server device from the client device. Printing method. Computer
An identification means for identifying a user related to an acquisition request for information relating to the received printing apparatus;
As the information relating to people multiple printing devices husband acquisition means number and the printing apparatus respectively printed by s user husband and acquires the number of sheets printed at predetermined time intervals, and
When the number of sheets printed by the user according to the acquisition request is small (or large) based on the information regarding each of the plurality of printing apparatuses acquired by the acquisition unit at the time when the acquisition request is received , printing is performed A computer program that causes a printing apparatus having a large number (or a small number) of printed sheets to function as a determination unit that determines a printing apparatus usable by the user .

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