JP5246368B2 - Printing system and printing system management method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and an information management system.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a printing apparatus, a process of adding a sub color by OPOS that also operates on an OS to single color print data created by a POS application program that operates on the OS of a host apparatus configured by a computer system. There has been proposed one that outputs to a printer for receipt printing (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2003-260819 A

  In general, in a printing apparatus, it is desired to manage information related to a printer error. In this case, it is desirable to be able to manage such information without changing an already installed POS application program. .

  The printing apparatus and information management system of the present invention can manage information related to information exchanged between the application and the printing unit without changing the application already incorporated in the application layer. The main purpose.

  The printing apparatus and information management system of the present invention employ the following means in order to achieve the main object described above.

The printing system of the present invention includes: a printing unit that performs printing; a first application that outputs print data to the printing unit and inputs information about the state of the printing unit from the printing unit; A device driver that acquires print data output to the print unit and information related to the status of the print unit that is input from the print unit to the first application; and a status of the print unit that is acquired by the device driver A gist is provided with a filter driver that acquires and outputs information, and a control unit that operates a second application to which information about the state of the printing unit output from the filter driver is input .
Here, it is preferable that an input unit for inputting data is provided, and the first application creates the print data based on the data input by the input unit.
In addition, it is preferable that the computer has a computer connected to the control unit, and the second application outputs information regarding the state of the input printing unit to the computer.
Further, it is preferable that the printing unit is an ink jet printer, and the information on the state of the printing unit acquired by the filter driver is data on an error of the printing unit or data on an ink consumption amount.

  In the printing apparatus according to the present invention, the operating system and the device driver are incorporated in the operating system layer, and the first application for exchanging information with the printing unit via the device driver is incorporated in an application layer different from the operating system layer. In the operating system layer, a transmission information acquisition module that acquires transmission information that is information related to information exchanged between the first application and the printing unit via the device driver is installed in the operating system layer. And a second application that outputs processing information, which is information related to the input transmission information, is incorporated in the application layer. That is, the transmission information acquisition module is incorporated in an operating system layer different from the application layer in which the first application is incorporated. Thereby, it is possible to output the processing information related to the transmission information without changing the first application. Then, the control unit outputs the processing information by the second application so that the processing information can be managed by, for example, outputting the processing information to an external computer or storing it in a storage unit (for example, a hard disk). be able to. Here, the “transmission information” may be all or a part of information exchanged between the first application and the printing unit, or information based on such information, for example, the first application And the number of times predetermined information is exchanged between the printer and the printing unit. Further, the “processing information” may be the transmission information itself, may be a part of the transmission information, or may be information based on the transmission information, for example, the number of times predetermined information is input. There may be.

  In such a printing apparatus of the present invention, the printing unit is a printing unit that outputs status information, which is information related to the status of the printing unit, to the first application, and the transmission information is information including the status information. There can be. In this way, it is possible to manage the status information and related information. Here, the “status information” includes information regarding errors in the printing unit, the amount of consumption of consumables (such as ink when the printing unit is an inkjet system), and the like.

  In the printing apparatus of the present invention, the first application is an application that outputs print information, which is information related to printing, to the printing unit, and the transmission information is information including the print information. You can also In this way, it is possible to manage print information and related information. Here, “print information” includes print data.

The management method of the printing system of the present invention outputs print data from a first application to a printing unit via a device driver, and the printing unit to which the printing data is input receives information on the state of the printing unit, Output to the device driver, the filter driver acquires information about the state of the printing unit output to the device driver, and outputs information about the state of the printing unit acquired by the filter driver to a second application This is the gist.
Further, it is preferable that the second application to which the information about the state of the printing unit is output outputs information about the state of the printing unit to a connected computer.

  Since the information management system of the present invention includes the printing apparatus of the present invention according to any one of the above-described aspects, the effect provided by the above-described print processing system, for example, related to transmission information without changing the first application. The effect similar to the effect etc. which can output the process information to perform can be show | played. By providing the computer, the processing information output from each of the plurality of printing apparatuses can be centrally managed by the computer.

1 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of the configuration of an information management system 10. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of the configuration of an information management system 10. FIG. The flowchart which shows an example of a process at the time of error occurrence.

  Next, an embodiment embodying the present invention will be described. 1 and 2 are configuration diagrams showing an outline of the configuration of an information management system 10 as an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, the controller 30 shows the software hierarchy. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the information management system 10 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of printing apparatuses 20 configured as POS (Point of Sale) registers used at a cash register disposed in a store, a backyard, and the like. And a computer 70 that communicates with a plurality of printing apparatuses 20 and functions as a server for managing data.

  The printing apparatus 20 includes a printing unit 22 that prints receipts and the like, a controller 30 that is connected to the printing unit 22 via USB and communicates with a computer 70, and an input unit that inputs data to the controller 30 (for example, a barcode reader). Etc.) 60, and a touch panel type display unit (display) 62 for displaying information to be processed by the controller 30 and inputting data to the controller 30.

  The printing unit 22 is configured as an ink jet printer, and inputs print data from a POS application 50 (described later) of the controller 30 via a device driver 42 (described later) to print a receipt and the like. 22, for example, data related to errors (hereinafter referred to as error data), data related to ink consumption (hereinafter referred to as ink consumption data), and the like are output to the POS application 50 via the device driver 42.

  The controller 30 is configured as a computer including a well-known CPU, ROM, RAM, hard disk and the like (not shown), and the software includes a plurality of layers including an operating system layer 34 and an application layer 36. In the operating system layer 34, an operating system 40 that manages the operation of the entire controller 30 and peripheral devices (the printing unit 22, the input unit 60, and the display unit 62) can be used, that is, data of the controller 30 and peripheral devices can be used. A device driver 42 that enables communication and a filter driver 44 that acquires data are incorporated (installed). The application layer 36 incorporates various applications such as a POS application 50 related to printing by the printing unit 22 and a data output application 52 that outputs data to the computer 70. In the embodiment, the function of the operating system layer 34 operates in the kernel mode of the CPU operation mode, and the function of the application layer 36 operates in the user mode of the CPU operation mode. Since the operating system 40 and the device driver 42 do not form the core of the present invention, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The POS application 50 outputs print data created based on data input from the input unit 60 or the display unit 62 to the printing unit 22 via the device driver 42 and data related to the state of the printing unit 22 (for example, error data and ink). This is an application for inputting consumption amount data or the like from the printing unit 22 via the device driver 42.

  The filter driver 44 is incorporated in the operating system layer 34, and data exchanged between the printing unit 22 and the POS application 50 via the device driver 42 (print output from the POS application 50 to the printing unit 22). Data, error data output from the printing unit 22 to the POS application 50, ink consumption data, and the like, and the error data is output to the data output application 52. In this embodiment, since the filter driver 44 is incorporated (installed) in the operating system layer 34, when the filter driver 44 is incorporated in a controller that does not include the filter driver 44, the already installed POS application 50 is used. The filter driver 44 can be incorporated without change.

  The data output application 52 is an application that receives data output from the filter driver 44, outputs the data to the computer 70, and displays the data on the display unit 62. Of course, it is not necessary to change the POS application 50 when the data output application 52 is incorporated into a controller that does not include the data output application 52.

  In the printing apparatus 20 of the present embodiment configured as described above, when data is input to the controller 30 from the input unit 60 or the display unit 62, the controller 30 causes the POS application 50 to print data to the printing unit 22 via the device driver 42. The printing unit 22 that has input the print data prints a receipt or the like. Further, when an error occurs in the printing unit 22, error data is output from the printing unit 22 to the POS application 50 via the device driver 42. At this time, the controller 30 displays when the error illustrated in FIG. Through the processing, the error data is acquired by the filter driver 44 and output to the data output application 52 (S100), and the error data is output to the computer 70 and displayed on the display unit 62 by the data output application 52 that has input the error data. (S110). Accordingly, error data can be collected and managed by the computer 70 and an error occurring in the printing unit 22 can be dealt with. In particular, in the present embodiment, since the information management system 10 including a plurality of printing apparatuses 20 arranged in a store and a computer 70 arranged in a backyard and communicating with the plurality of printing apparatuses 20 is considered, such an information management system 10 is considered. By outputting the error data from each of the plurality of printing apparatuses 20 to the computer 70, the contents of the errors that have occurred in the plurality of printing apparatuses 20 and the date and time thereof can be centrally managed in the computer 70.

  Here, the correspondence between the components of the present embodiment and the components of the present invention will be clarified. The printing unit 22 of this embodiment corresponds to a “printing unit”, and the controller 30 corresponds to a “control unit”.

  According to the printing apparatus 20 included in the information management system 10 of the present embodiment described in detail above, the POS application 50 is incorporated in the application layer 36 different from the operating system layer 34 in which the operating system 40 and the device driver 42 are incorporated. In this case, the filter driver 44 is incorporated into the operating system layer 34 and the data output application 52 is incorporated into the application layer 36, so that the filter driver 44 and the data output application 52 are not changed without changing the already installed POS application 50. Can be incorporated into the controller 30. When an error occurs in the printing unit 22, the controller 30 can manage the error data with the computer 70 by acquiring the error data with the filter driver 44 and outputting the error data to the computer 70 with the data output application 52. . In particular, when a plurality of printing apparatuses 20 are provided, error data output from each of the plurality of printing apparatuses 20 can be centrally managed by the computer 70.

  It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented in various modes as long as it belongs to the technical scope of the present invention.

  In the present embodiment, the filter driver 44 receives error data among data (print data, error data, ink consumption data, etc.) exchanged between the printing unit 22 and the POS application 50 via the device driver 42. The data is acquired and output to the data output application 52. However, instead of or in addition to the error data, print data, ink consumption data, and other data may be acquired and output to the data output application 52. Good. Here, the other data includes, for example, the number of times that predetermined data (for example, error data) is exchanged between the POS application 50 and the printing unit 22.

  In this embodiment, the data output application 52 outputs the data input from the filter driver 44 to the computer 70 as it is. However, a part of the data input from the filter driver 44 (for example, a predetermined error among error data) Only the data regarding the number of times that predetermined information (for example, error data) is input from the filter driver 44, for example, may be output to the computer 70. It is good also as what outputs to 70.

  In the present embodiment, the data output application 52 outputs the data input from the filter driver 44 to the computer 70. However, instead of or in addition to this, the data output application 52 may store the data in the hard disk of the controller 30.

  In this embodiment, the printing unit 22 is an inkjet type, but an electrophotographic type, a thermal transfer type, or a dot impact type may be used.

  Although the present embodiment has been described as the form of the information management system 10 including the plurality of printing apparatuses 20 and the computer 70, it may be used as the form of the printing apparatus 20.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. Of course, it can be implemented in the form.

  The present invention can be used in the manufacturing industry of printing apparatuses and information management systems.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Information management system, 20 Printing apparatus, 22 Printing part, 30 Controller, 34 Operating system layer, 36 Application layer, 40 Operating system, 42 Device driver, 44 Filter driver, 50 POS application, 52 Data output application, 60 Input part, 62 display part, 70 computer.

Claims (6)

A printing section for performing printing;
A first application that outputs print data to the print unit and inputs information about the state of the print unit from the print unit, print data output from the first application to the print unit, and the print unit A device driver that acquires information on the status of the printing unit that is input to the first application, separately from the device driver that acquires and outputs information on the status of the printing unit acquired by the device driver A control unit that operates an installed filter driver and a second application to which information on the state of the printing unit output from the filter driver is input; and
A printing system comprising: It has an input part for inputting data,
The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the first application creates the print data based on the data input by the input unit. A computer connected to the control unit;
The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the second application outputs information regarding the state of the input printing unit to the computer. The printing unit is an ink jet printer,
4. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the information regarding the state of the printing unit acquired by the filter driver is data regarding an error of the printing unit or data regarding an ink consumption amount. 5. Output print data from the first application to the print section via the device driver,
The printing unit to which the print data is input outputs information on the state of the printing unit to the device driver,
Information regarding the status of the printing unit output to the device driver is acquired by a filter driver installed separately from the device driver ,
A printing system management method, comprising: outputting to the second application information related to the state of the printing unit acquired by the filter driver.   The printing system management method according to claim 5, wherein the second application to which information on the state of the printing unit is output outputs information on the state of the printing unit to a connected computer.

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