JP7119344B2 - Printing device and printing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and printing method.

A printer receives a print job from an external PC (personal computer) or the like, temporarily accumulates the received print job, and sequentially prints a document based on the accumulated print job.

As a related technology, an image forming system has been disclosed that prints a plurality of files in an order that matches the order relationship indicated by the file names, regardless of the order in which a plurality of print jobs related to batch printing are generated and sent (Patent Document 1). reference).

JP 2013-191177 A

When the printer receives a plurality of print jobs from the outside and prints a plurality of documents based on each print job, the documents as the plurality of print results are in a predetermined order (for example, if the document 1 is a file It is expected to be printed in an order that matches the order relationship such as "first half" and "second half" indicated by the name). In such a situation, when the printer externally receives print jobs for other documents unrelated to the plurality of documents expected to be printed in the predetermined order, timing of reception between print jobs In some cases, the other document has been mixed in among the multiple documents that are expected to be printed in the predetermined order.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of at least the above problems, and provides a printing apparatus and printing method that prints documents in the expected order and prevents unnecessary mixing of documents.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a printing apparatus includes an order specifying the order of identification information of first document data and identification information of second document data to be printed next to the first document data. a storage unit for storing information; a job receiving unit for externally receiving a print job for printing document data; an accumulation unit for accumulating the received print job; After receiving and before receiving the print job of the second document data, if a print job of third document data not having identification information specified in the order information is received, according to the order information, A job order control unit that rearranges the order of the stored print jobs, and a print processing unit that sequentially executes printing based on the print jobs in accordance with the order of the print jobs after the rearrangement.

According to this configuration, after receiving the print job for the first document data, the printing device prints the print job for the third document data before receiving the print job for the second document data. Even if it is received, the print jobs are rearranged according to the order information so that the print job of the second document data is next to the print job of the first document data. Therefore, the printing based on the print job of the first document data and the printing based on the print job of the second document data can be continuously executed, and the first document and the second document as printed results can be printed. It is possible to avoid mixing an irrelevant third document with the document.

In one aspect of the present invention, the print processing unit performs printing based on the print job of the first document data and printing based on the print job of the second document data in order, and then performs printing based on the print job of the second document data. Printing may be performed based on a print job of document data.
Alternatively, conversely, the print processing unit may execute printing based on the print job of the third document data before printing based on the print job of the first document data.
According to these configurations, in any case, the first document and the second document are printed continuously, and it is possible to avoid the third document from being mixed between the first document and the second document. .

According to one aspect of the present invention, if the print processing unit has already started printing based on the print job of the first document data when the print job of the third document data is received, the After sequentially executing printing based on the print job of the first document data and printing based on the print job of the second document data, printing based on the print job of the third document data is executed, and When the print job of the document data is received, if it is before the start of printing based on the print job of the first document data, before the printing based on the print job of the first document data, the third printing based on the document data print job.
According to this configuration, it is possible to efficiently print all these documents while preventing the third document from being mixed between the first document and the second document.

In one aspect of the present invention, the printing apparatus notifies an error to the outside when the print job of the second document data is not received within a predetermined time after receiving the print job of the first document data. may be provided with an error processing unit that executes predetermined error processing including
According to this configuration, it is possible to notify the outside that the print job of the second document data cannot be received, or to stop waiting for the print job of the second document data.

In one aspect of the present invention, the identification information includes first identification information for identifying a first attribute of document data and second identification information for identifying a second attribute of document data. wherein the order information defines the order between the first identification information and defines the order between the second identification information of document data having the same first identification information; The control unit may rearrange the order of the accumulated print jobs according to the order information.
According to this configuration, the printing device can process a plurality of document data (document data having identification information defined in the order information) including the first document data and the second document data as the first identification information. document data having the same first identification information are further rearranged in accordance with the order of the second identification information to be printed, and the printouts corresponding to these are sorted according to the order of the second identification information. 3 documents can be prevented from being mixed.

In one aspect of the invention, the first attribute may be a username.
According to this configuration, the printing device can print a plurality of documents for each user in a predetermined order between users and a plurality of documents for the same user in order between the second identification information. As a result, it is possible to prevent the documents of other users from being mixed among the documents of a certain user in the print result, and to print the documents of each user in the same order for any user. . Also, it is possible to prevent the third document from being mixed between the documents of each user.

The technical idea of the present invention can be realized by means other than a printer. For example, a method (printing method) including processing steps executed by each unit of a printing apparatus and a program for causing a computer to execute the method are also established as inventions. Of course, a computer-readable storage medium storing a program also constitutes an invention.

The figure which shows an apparatus structure simply. FIG. 2 is a block diagram that simply shows the flow of print processing and the relationship between components. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of document names of print jobs sent by each terminal; FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of rearrangement of print jobs; 4 is a flowchart showing an unregistered document control process (step S121); FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another example of rearranging print jobs;

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to each drawing. Note that each drawing is merely an example for describing the present embodiment.

1. A brief description of the device configuration:
FIG. 1 simply shows the configuration of an apparatus according to this embodiment. The printing device 10 includes, for example, a control unit 11, a display unit 15, an operation accepting unit 16, an accumulation unit 17, a printing unit 18, a communication interface (IF) 19, and the like.
The control unit 11 includes one or a plurality of ICs having a CPU 11a, a ROM 11b, a RAM 11c, etc., and other memories as appropriate. In the control unit 11, the CPU 11a controls the behavior of the printer 10 by executing arithmetic processing according to programs stored in the ROM 11b or the like using the RAM 11c or the like as a work area. The control unit 11 is loaded with a program A (also referred to as firmware), and according to the program A implements functions such as a communication control unit 12, a job sequence control unit 13, a print control unit 14, an error processing unit 21, and the like. It can be said that the printing method according to the present invention is realized by the control unit 11 executing processing according to the program A (part of the program A).

The communication IF 19 is a general term for IFs that allow the control unit 11 to communicate with the outside of the printing apparatus 10 in compliance with a predetermined communication standard. In the example of FIG. 1, the communication IF 19 can communicate with a plurality of external terminals 30, 31 . . . The communication network 40 is a wired or wireless communication network, and may include, for example, a local area network (LAN), the Internet, a mobile phone communication line, and the like. The storage unit 17 is a kind of storage means configured by a storage medium such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or flash memory.

The display unit 15 is means for displaying visual information, and is configured by, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic EL display, or the like. The display unit 15 may be configured to include a display and a drive circuit for driving the display. The operation receiving unit 16 is means for receiving user's operations, and is realized by, for example, physical buttons, a touch panel, a mouse, a keyboard, and the like. Of course, the touch panel may be implemented as one function of the display unit 15 . Also, the display unit 15 and the operation reception unit 16 can be collectively referred to as an operation panel or the like.

The printing unit 18 is a mechanism that executes printing based on a print job under the control of the control unit 11 . As is known, there are various printing methods that can be used by the printing unit 18, such as an inkjet method and an electrophotographic method.
The printing apparatus 10 has at least a printing function, and may be a multi-function machine having multiple functions such as a scanner and a facsimile in addition to the printing function.

A plurality of terminals 30 and 31 connected to the communication network 40 can transmit a print job to the printing apparatus 10 via the communication network 40 by being operated by an operator. The terminals 30 and 31 are implemented by, for example, personal computers (PCs), smart phones, mobile phones, tablet terminals, or communication devices having processing power equivalent to them. A configuration including the printing device 10 and one or more of the terminals can be called a printing system 1 .

2. Print processing involving rearrangement of print jobs (first embodiment):
A document to be printed by the printing apparatus 10 assumed in this embodiment will be described with some specific examples. In this embodiment, it is assumed that a set of multiple types of documents printed by the printing apparatus 10 is provided for each user. As an example, for each examinee (user) who has undergone a health checkup, a medical certificate (document) for each examination of multiple items is printed, and the medical certificate for each examination is summarized for each examinee and provided to each examinee. The scene to do is assumed. As another example, it is assumed that a plurality of documents related to salaries, taxes, and contracts are printed for each of a plurality of employees (users), and that the plurality of documents are grouped by employee and provided to each employee. As another example, it is assumed that various documents relating to administration are printed for each of a plurality of citizens (users), and the various documents are compiled for each citizen and provided to each citizen.

Such multiple types of documents for each user (for example, patients, employees, citizens) contain personal information and confidential information that should not be known to others, so multiple documents for a certain user Documents for other users should not be mixed in the group. In the present embodiment, print processing involving rearrangement of print jobs suitable for preventing such mixture is executed as follows.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram simply showing the flow of print processing according to the present embodiment and the relation of each configuration when realizing the print processing. In this embodiment, basically, documents as electronic data handled by computers such as the terminals 30 and 31 and the printing device 10 are referred to as document data, and the contents expressed by the document data are printed on a print medium. , that is, the printed result is referred to as a document. However, document data can also be simply referred to as a document as long as there is no problem even if they are not clearly distinguished and explained. In addition, in FIG. 5, which will be described later, document data is abbreviated as document.
The communication control unit 12 accumulates print jobs received from outside via the communication IF 19 in a predetermined storage area (standby buffer 17a) secured in the accumulation unit 17 in order of reception. It can be said that the communication IF 19 and the communication control unit 12 as described above correspond to a job receiving unit that receives a print job for printing document data from the outside. Further, the communication control unit 12 performs a job receiving step (step S100) of receiving a print job from the outside, and a job accumulation step (step S110) of accumulating the received print job in the accumulation unit (standby buffer 17a of the accumulation unit 17). and A print job for printing document data is, for example, a set of data that appropriately includes document data, commands corresponding to a control code system that can be interpreted by the printing apparatus 10, setting information necessary for executing printing, and the like. be. A print job for printing document data may simply be referred to as a document data print job. Also, a print job may be simply understood to mean document data.

Processing on the terminals 30 and 31 side will be described. In each of the terminals 30 and 31, an operator who operates them activates an application for generating document data, and inputs a print instruction for a plurality of document data generated by the application. Each of the terminals 30 and 31 generates a print job for each document data selected as an object to be printed according to the input print instruction, and sequentially transmits the generated print jobs to the printing apparatus 10 via the communication network 40. . As a result, the communication control unit 12 receives the print job via the communication IF 19 on the printing device 10 side.

FIG. 3 shows the names (document names) of print jobs sent from the terminals 30 and 31 to the printer 10, respectively. As in the example described above, a situation is assumed in which medical certificates (documents) are printed for each examination of a plurality of items for each of a plurality of examinees (users) who have undergone a health checkup. In this case, the document name for each print job (document data) includes the name of the medical certificate (any of A, B, or C) and the name of the examinee (any of UN001, UN002, UN003, UN004, and UN005). The name of the medical certificate is a predetermined character string that directly or indirectly indicates the name of the medical certificate of the examination item, such as the diagnosis result of a blood test, the diagnosis result of an audiovisual test, or the like. Also, the name of the examinee is a predetermined character string that directly or indirectly indicates the user, such as the name of the examinee or an ID number for each individual. In other words, the terminals 30 and 31 send a print job having a document name written in a predetermined format to the printing device 10 .

The document name of a print job can be said to be identification information of document data included in the print job. In addition, the name of the medical certificate and the name of the examinee included in such a document name (identification information) are attributes of the document data (inspection items expressed by the document data and contents expressed by the document data). It can be said that it is the identification information for identifying the target person (user). Here, as an example, the patient name (user name) included in the document name is referred to as first identification information for identifying the first attribute of the document data, and the medical certificate name included in the document name is referred to as first identification information. is called second identification information for identifying the second attribute of the document data. Of course, specific examples of the first identification information and the second identification information are not limited to the user name and medical certificate name.

According to the example of FIG. 3, the terminal 30, according to the operation of the operator of the terminal 30, each print job of the document data of the medical certificate name A generated by a certain application was sent to the printing apparatus 10, and each print job of the document data of the medical certificate name B for each of the patient names UN001, UN002, UN003, UN004, and UN005 generated by another application was sent to the printing apparatus 10. FIG. On the other hand, according to the operation of the operator of the terminal 31, the terminal 31 transmits each print job of the document data of the medical certificate name C of each of the examinee names UN001, UN002, UN003, UN004, and UN005 generated by a certain application to the printing apparatus 10. did.

The job sequence control unit 13 rearranges the order of the print jobs stored in the storage unit 17 (standby buffer 17a) according to the order information 20 (FIG. 2) stored in the printing apparatus 10 in advance (job sequence control step , step S120). At this time, the job sequence control unit 13 stores the rearranged print jobs in a predetermined storage area (print queue 17 b ) secured in the storage unit 17 . The order information 20 is information that defines the order (printing order) among pieces of document identification information. or the RAM 11c, or another memory of the control unit 11).

The order information 20 defines the order between the first identification information and defines the order between the second identification information of the document data having the same first identification information. Furthermore, the order information 20 also defines handling of document data (unregistered document data) that does not have identification information (first identification information and second identification information) for which the order information 20 defines the order. Unregistered document data corresponds to the third document data in the claims. More specifically, the order information 20 defines, for example, the following order policies 1-3.

Order policy 1: Print jobs are arranged in a predetermined order (the order of UN001, UN002, UN003, UN004, and UN005) of the patient's name (first identification information).
Order policy 2: Print jobs having the same first identification information are arranged in a predetermined order (order of A, B, and C) of the name of the medical certificate (second identification information).
Order policy 3: Print jobs of non-registered document data are prioritized over all print jobs of document data (registered document data) having identification information (first identification information and second identification information) for which the order information 20 defines the order. line up later.

FIG. 4 shows an example of rearrangement of print jobs in step S120 according to such order information 20 (order policies 1 to 3). The left side of FIG. 4 shows document names of a plurality of print jobs stored in the standby buffer 17a in the order in which they were stored in the standby buffer 17a. The order of arrangement (accumulation order) on the standby buffer 17a side is affected by various factors such as the timing of generation and transmission of print jobs in each of the print job transmission sources (for example, the terminals 30 and 31) and communication control in the communication network 40. This is just the way it is as a result. The document name "XXX" shown in FIG. 4 is transmitted to the printer 10 from one of the terminals (one of the terminals 30 and 31, or a terminal not shown other than the terminals 30 and 31) connected to the communication network 40. This is an example of a print job of non-registered document data stored in the standby buffer 17a.

The right side of FIG. 4 shows the document names of the plurality of print jobs after rearrangement in the print queue 17b in the order in which they are arranged. In other words, by following the order information 20, each print job with a document name containing the name of the patient (first identification information) and the name of the medical certificate (second identification information), that is, each print job of the registered document data, is printed with the document name " A-UN001", "B-UN001", "C-UN001", "A-UN002", "B-UN002", "C-UN002", "A-UN003", "B-UN003", "C- UN003", "A-UN004", "B-UN004", "C-UN004", "A-UN005", "B-UN005", and "C-UN005" are arranged in the print queue 17b in this order. Also, the print job with the document name "XXX" is arranged after the print jobs of all registered document data in the print queue 17b.

The order information 20 includes such document names "A-UN001", "B-UN001", "C-UN001", "A-UN002", "B-UN002", "C-UN002", "A-UN003". ", "B-UN003", "C-UN003", "A-UN004", "B-UN004", "C-UN004", "A-UN005", "B-UN005", "C-UN005" It can be said that the order is defined in advance. The order information 20 may define the order among such pieces of identification information (document names) in a simple list format, instead of using the multiple order policies described above.

The print control unit 14 sequentially executes printing based on the print jobs according to the sorted order of the print jobs. Specifically, printing based on the print jobs is sequentially executed according to the order in which the print jobs are arranged in the storage unit 17 (print queue 17b) (print processing step, step S130). That is, the print control unit 14 reads the print jobs in order from the print job in the print queue 17b in order of the earliest order, transfers the read print jobs to the printing unit 18, and causes the printing unit 18 to execute printing based on the print jobs. repeat. The print control unit 14 executes such processing when one or more print jobs are queued in the print queue 17b. Of course, the print control unit 14 performs appropriate necessary processing, such as converting the document data included in the print job into data in a format that the print unit 18 can interpret, and then transfers the print job to the print unit 18. be able to. It can be said that the print control unit 14 (and the print unit 18) corresponds to the print processing unit.

In the printing apparatus 10, the job reception process (step S100) and the job accumulation process (step S110) by the communication control unit 12, the job order control process (step S120) by the job order control unit 13, and the print control unit 14 A part of each printing process (step S130) can be executed in parallel. In other words, the job queue control unit 13 monitors the identification information (document name) of each print job sequentially accumulated in the standby buffer 17a, and according to the order information 20, at each timing when it becomes possible to queue the print jobs in the print queue 17b. Each print job is arranged in the print queue 17b.

For example, it is assumed that, at this time, print jobs up to the document name "B-UN001", which is eighth in the accumulation order shown on the left side of FIG. 4, are accumulated in the standby buffer 17a. Up to this point, the job queue control unit 13 has already queued the print job with the document name "A-UN001", which is the first in the order of accumulation, in the print queue 17b. However, all of the six print jobs (see the left side of FIG. 4) whose accumulation order is second to seventh are higher than "B-UN001" which should be arranged next to "A-UN001" according to the order information 20. Since it is arranged later, it remains accumulated (standby) in the standby buffer 17a and is not arranged in the print queue 17b. When the print job with the document name “B-UN001” is accumulated in the waiting buffer 17a, the job sequence control unit 13 transfers the print job with the document name “B-UN001” to the print queue 17b at the current time in accordance with the order information 20. , then the print job with the document name "C-UN001", which is the sixth in the order of accumulation, is arranged at the end of the print queue 17b at the present time, and further, the print job with the document name "A- The print job UN002'' is arranged at the end of the current print queue 17b.

Further, according to the order information 20, the document name "C-UN005" is the registered document data that should be arranged last. Therefore, according to the example on the left side of FIG. 4, when the print job with the document name "C-UN005" which is the 16th in the accumulation order is accumulated in the waiting buffer 17a, the job sequence control unit 13 ” is arranged at the current end of the print queue 17b, and subsequently, the print job with the document name “XXX”, which is the unregistered document data whose accumulation order is 5th, is arranged at the current end of the print queue 17b. It will happen.
As a result of such rearrangement by the job arrangement control unit 13, the printing unit 18 prints a plurality of print jobs (16 print jobs in the example of FIG. 4) in the order in which they are arranged in the print queue 17b.

Thus, according to this embodiment, the printing apparatus 10 defines the order of the identification information of the first document data and the identification information of the second document data to be printed next to the first document data. Order information 20 is stored. The expressions "first document data" and "second document data" refer to a combination of two pieces of registered document data having identification information defined in the order information 20 and to be printed consecutively. It's just pointing. For example, when the document data (print job) with the document name "A-UN001" is called the first document data, the document data (print job) with the document name "B-UN001" corresponds to the second document data. . Also, for example, when the document data (print job) with the document name "C-UN001" is called the first document data, the document data (print job) with the document name "A-UN002" corresponds to the second document data. do. That is, each registered document data corresponds to the first document data or the second document data depending on the relationship with other registered document data.

Then, the job sequence control unit 13 rearranges the order of the accumulated print jobs according to the sequence information 20 . In this case, the job sequence control unit 13 refers to the order information 20, and after receiving the print job of the first document data, before receiving the print job of the second document, the non-registered document data (third document data), the print jobs are rearranged according to the order information 20 so that the print job of the first document data is followed by the print job of the second document data ( step S120). For example, as shown on the left side of FIG. 4, a print job with document name "A-UN001" is received (first in the order of accumulation) and a print job with document name "B-UN001" is received (eighth in order of accumulation). Even if a print job of unregistered document data with the document name “XXX” is received during this period (fifth in the order of accumulation), the job sequence control unit 13 follows the sequence information 20 to the right side of FIG. As shown, the rearrangement is executed so that the print job with the document name "A-UN001" is next to the print job with the document name "B-UN001", and the print job of the unregistered document data with the document name "XXX" is arranged. are arranged after the print job of the registered document data.

As a result, printing based on the print job of the first document data and printing based on the print job of the second document data can be continuously executed, and after these printing operations, printing of the third document data can be performed. Job-based printing can be performed. In other words, the registered document data can be printed in a predetermined order defined in the order information 20 regardless of their reception order (accumulation order), and the registered document (printed product corresponding to the registered document data) can be printed. ) can be reliably prevented from being mixed with non-registered documents (printed products corresponding to non-registered document data).

According to this embodiment, the document name (identification information) included in the print job received by the printing apparatus 10 includes the first identification information for identifying the first attribute of the document data and the second attribute of the document data. and second identification information for identifying the attribute. The order information 20 defines the order between the first identification information and defines the order between the second identification information of the document data having the same first identification information.

Therefore, the job order control unit 13 rearranges the print jobs in the storage unit 17 according to the order information 20 to obtain, for example, the patient name (any of UN001, UN002, UN003, UN004, and UN005) as described above. and each print job with a document name including a medical certificate name (any of A, B, or C), with document names "A-UN001", "B-UN001", "C-UN001", "A-UN002", "B-UN002", "C-UN002", "A-UN003", "B-UN003", "C-UN003", "A-UN004", "B-UN004", "C-UN004", "A -UN005”, “B-UN005”, and “C-UN005” can be arranged in the print queue 17b. As a result, in the print result of the printing unit 18, between a plurality of documents (three types of documents with medical certificate names A, B, and C) of a certain user (eg, patient name UN001) UN002) can be prevented from being mixed, and a plurality of documents for each user (three types of documents with medical certificate names A, B, and C) can be output in the same order for any user. Therefore, a plurality of printed documents for each user (three types of documents with medical certificate names A, B, and C) can be stapled as they are for each user, thereby making it extremely efficient for each user to get the printed matter together. can be distributed without The printed result corresponding to the first document data is the first document, the printed result corresponding to the second document data is the second document, and the printed result corresponding to the third document data is the third document. documents, respectively.

This embodiment is not limited to the aspects described above and may include various aspects. For the sake of convenience, the embodiment described so far will also be referred to as the first embodiment. Each embodiment other than the first embodiment will be described below mainly with respect to the points different from the first embodiment.

3. Second embodiment:
In the description so far, the job sequence control unit 13 rearranges the print jobs so that the non-registered document is printed after the registered document. Conversely, however, the job sequence control unit 13 can also rearrange the print jobs so that non-registered documents are printed before registered documents. That is, the print control unit 14 may execute printing based on the print job of the third document data before printing based on the print job of the first document data. With such a configuration as well, the registered document data can be printed in the predetermined order specified in the order information 20 regardless of the order in which they are received (the order in which they are stored). It is possible to reliably avoid the mixture of unregistered documents in

Here, if it is known in advance that the unregistered document data will be transmitted from the outside when attempting to print the unregistered document before the registered document, the job sequence control unit 13 already 12 and stored in the standby buffer 17a in the print queue 17b. In practice, however, it is difficult to recognize in advance that unregistered document data will be sent from the outside before receiving it. Therefore, the job sequence control unit 13 causes the non-registered document data to be printed before the registered document data according to the printing start status of the registered document data when the print job of the non-registered document data is received. A branch may be made to determine whether to print after the registered document data.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the unregistered document control process (step S121) executed by the job sequence control unit 13 in the second embodiment. The job sequence control unit 13 executes the unregistered document control step (step S121) in parallel with the job sequence control step (step S120) described in the first embodiment.

In the unregistered document control step (step S121), the job sequence control unit 13 repeatedly determines whether unregistered document data has been received (step S121a). Specifically, the job sequence control unit 13 monitors the identification information (document name) of each print job sequentially accumulated in the standby buffer 17a, and the print job whose document name corresponds to non-registered document data (for example, document XXX print job) is accumulated in the standby buffer 17a, it is determined that unregistered document data has been received ("Yes" in step S121a), and the process proceeds to step S121b.

In step S121b, the job sequence control unit 13 determines whether printing of the first registered document data in the sequence defined by the sequence information 20 has already started. The first registered document data in the order defined by the order information 20 naturally corresponds to one of the first document data, and in the above-described specific example, the print job with the document name "A-UN001" corresponds. . Therefore, the job sequence control unit 13, at this point in time, even after the print job with the document name "A-UN001" has been read out from the print queue 17b by the print control unit 14 and transferred to the printing unit 18 has started. For example, it is determined that printing of the first registered document data in the order defined by the order information 20 has already started ("Yes" in step S121b), and the unregistered document control step (step S121) ends.

On the other hand, the job queue control unit 13 has not queued the print job with the document name "A-UN001" in the print queue 17b at the present time, or has queued the print job with the document name "A-UN001" in the print queue 17b. Even if it is later, if the print job is before being processed by the print control unit 14, it is determined that it is before the start of printing of the first registered document data in the order defined by the order information 20 (in step S121b). "No"), the process proceeds to step S121c.

If the determination in step S121b is "Yes" and the non-registered document control step (step S121) is completed, the job sequence control unit 13 will result in the non-registered document The processing as described in the first embodiment is performed without being affected by the control step (step S121). That is, the job sequence control unit 13 puts the print job of the unregistered document data whose reception has been detected (for example, the print job with the document name “XXX”) in the print queue after all the print jobs of the registered document data. 17b (see FIG. 4).

On the other hand, in step S121c, the job sequence control unit 13 interrupts the print job of the non-registered document data detected to be received in step S121a to the head of the print queue 17b. That is, the print job of the non-registered document data is arranged in the first position in the print queue 17b regardless of whether or not the print job of the registered document data is arranged in the current print queue 17b.

As a result of step S121c, as shown on the right side of FIG. 6, for example, print jobs with the document name "XXX" as unregistered document data are arranged at the head of the print queue 17b. Incidentally, the arrangement order (accumulation order) of the print jobs on the waiting buffer 17a side shown on the left side of FIG. 6 is the same as the contents shown on the left side of FIG. Of course, each print job other than the print job with the document name "XXX" shown on the right side of FIG. They are arranged in the print queue 17b according to the order information 20 as described in the first embodiment. As a result of step S121c, the print job of the non-registered document data (the print job with the document name “XXX”) is executed by the print control unit 14 before the print job of the registered document data (the print job with the document name “A-UN001”). , and printed by the printing unit 18.

After step S121c, the job sequence control unit 13 makes the determination of step S121a again. Therefore, in the second embodiment, depending on the status of the registered document data, each print job of the plurality of non-registered document data is the print job of the first registered document data (document name "A -UN001″) may be queued in the print queue 17b. In the print queue 17b, the job sequence control unit 13 places each print job of a plurality of non-registered document data in the sequence position before the print job of the first registered document data in the sequence order defined by the order information 20. When arranging, the order of arrangement of the plurality of non-registered document data shall comply with the order of reception (order of accumulation). Further, the job sequence control unit 13 determines "No" in step S121b for certain unregistered document data, executes step S121c, and determines "Yes" in step S121b for other unregistered document data received thereafter. If it is determined, certain non-registered document data is printed before all registered document data, and another non-registered document data is printed after printing all registered document data.

According to the second embodiment, when a print job of unregistered document data (third document data) is received, the print processing unit has already started printing based on the print job of the first document data. Then, printing based on the print job of the first document data and printing based on the print job of the second document data (that is, printing of the registered document) are sequentially executed, and then printing based on the print job of the non-registered document data Execute printing. On the other hand, when a print job of non-registered document data is received, if it is before the start of printing based on the print job of the first document data, printing based on the print job of the first document data (printing of the registered document) , the printing based on the print job of the unregistered document data is executed. According to this configuration, the registered document data can be printed in the predetermined order specified in the order information 20 regardless of the order of reception (the order of accumulation) of the registered document data. Mixture of unregistered documents can be reliably avoided. Further, by setting the non-registered document data to be printed before the registered document data, it is possible to avoid making the user who wants the non-registered document as a printed result wait for a long time.

4. Third embodiment:
In the first and second embodiments, the control unit 11 that executes the program A also functions as the error processing unit 21 (FIG. 1). If the print job for the second document data is not received within a predetermined time after receiving the print job for the first document data, the error processing unit 21 executes predetermined error processing including error notification to the outside. . Specifically, the error processing unit 21 refers to the order information 20, and the print job of the first registered document data (the first document data) in the order defined by the order information 20 is processed by the communication control unit 12. After being received (after being accumulated in the standby buffer 17a), after the print job of the first document data is received, the printing of the second document data to be printed next to the print job of the first document data. Before the job is received by the communication control unit 12, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has passed.

For example, referring to the left side of FIGS. 4 and 6, when the print job with the document name "A-UN001" is received, the error processing unit 21 selects the document name "B-UN001" to be printed next. is received within a predetermined period of time. In the examples on the left side of FIGS. 4 and 6, the order of accumulation of the print job "A-UN001" is first, and the order of accumulation of the print job "B-UN001" is eighth. If the elapsed time from the eighth accumulation to the eighth accumulation exceeds a predetermined time, the error processing unit 21 executes error processing when the predetermined time is exceeded.

Similarly, when the print job with the document name "B-UN001" is received, the error processing unit 21 receives the print job with the document name "C-UN001" to be printed next within a predetermined time. determine whether or not In the examples on the left side of FIGS. 4 and 6, the print job "C-UN001" is received earlier than the print job "B-UN001". Therefore, the error processing unit 21 does not determine that "the predetermined time has passed" in the relationship between the print job "B-UN001" and the print job "C-UN001".

Similarly, when the print job with the document name "C-UN001" is received, the error processing unit 21 receives the print job with the document name "A-UN002" to be printed next within a predetermined time. determine whether or not In the examples on the left side of FIGS. 4 and 6, the print job "A-UN002" is received earlier than the print job "C-UN001". Therefore, the error processing unit 21 does not determine that "the predetermined time has passed" in the relationship between the print job "C-UN001" and the print job "A-UN001". The error processing unit 21 basically performs such a determination with reference to the order information 20 for all recognizable combinations of the first document data and the second document data.

As error processing, the error processing unit 21 displays a predetermined error notification screen on the display unit 15 of the printing apparatus 10 or the display unit of the sender (terminal 30, 31) of the print job of the registered document data. On the error notification screen, the printing apparatus 10 displays the document name of the second document data currently waiting for transmission, and prompts transmission of the necessary print job. Alternatively, the error processing unit 21 may cancel printing of the registered document data and display the cancellation on the error notification screen as the error processing. In other words, when a print job of second document data to be printed next to the print job of the first document data is not received within a predetermined time after the print job of the first document data is received. , the error processing unit 21 deletes the print job of the first document data and the print job of the registered document data received before the first document data from the storage unit 17, and notifies the cancellation of the error. It can be displayed on the notification screen.

According to the third embodiment as described above, the printing apparatus 10 notifies the outside that the print job of the second document data cannot be received, or stops waiting for the print job of the second document data ( By canceling the printing of the registered document data, it is possible to avoid being occupied for a long time for printing the registered document data.

Reference Signs List 1 printing system 10 printing device 11 control unit 12 communication control unit 13 job sequence control unit 14 print control unit 15 display unit 16 operation reception unit 17 storage unit 17a Waiting buffer 17b Print queue 18 Printing unit 19 Communication IF 20 Order information 21 Error processing unit 30, 31 Terminal 40 Communication network A Program

Claims (9)

a storage unit for pre-storing order information defining the order of the identification information of the first document data and the identification information of the second document data to be printed next to the first document data;
a job receiving unit that externally receives a print job for printing document data;
an accumulation unit for accumulating the received print job;
After receiving the print job of the first document data and before receiving the print job of the second document data, a print job of the third document data not having the identification information specified in the order information is received. a job order control unit that rearranges the order of the stored print jobs according to the order information when the print job is received;
a print processing unit that sequentially executes printing based on the print jobs in accordance with the order of the print jobs after the rearrangement ;
A printing apparatus , wherein the identification information is a document name of a print job . The print processing unit performs printing based on the print job of the first document data and printing based on the print job of the second document data in order, and then performs printing based on the print job of the third document data. 2. The printing device of claim 1, wherein: 2. The printing according to claim 1, wherein the print processing unit executes printing based on the print job of the third document data before printing based on the print job of the first document data. Device. If printing based on the print job of the first document data has been started when the print job of the third document data is received, the print processing unit performs the print job of the first document data. and printing based on the print job of the second document data in sequence, then printing based on the print job of the third document data is performed, and the print job of the third document data is received. When printing based on the print job of the first document data is started, printing based on the print job of the third document data is performed before printing based on the print job of the first document data. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: an error processing unit that executes predetermined error processing including error notification to the outside when the print job of the second document data is not received within a predetermined time after the print job of the first document data is received; 5. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, comprising: a storage unit for pre-storing order information defining the order of the identification information of the first document data and the identification information of the second document data to be printed next to the first document data;
a job receiving unit that externally receives a print job for printing document data;
an accumulation unit for accumulating the received print job;
After receiving the print job of the first document data and before receiving the print job of the second document data, a print job of the third document data not having the identification information specified in the order information is received. a job order control unit that rearranges the order of the stored print jobs according to the order information when the print job is received;
a print processing unit that sequentially executes printing based on the print jobs in accordance with the order of the print jobs after the rearrangement;
The identification information includes first identification information for identifying a first attribute of document data and second identification information for identifying a second attribute of document data, and the order information is , prescribing the order between the first identification information and prescribing the order between the second identification information of document data having the same first identification information;
The job sequence control unit arranges the print jobs stored in the storage unit according to the order between the first identification information specified by the order information, and the print jobs having the common first identification information are selected from the A printing apparatus, wherein rearrangement is performed so that the second identification information is arranged in accordance with the order of the second identification information defined by the order information. 7. The printing device of claim 6, wherein the first attribute is a user name. 8. A printing apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein said identification information is a document name of a print job. a job receiving step of receiving from the outside a print job for printing document data;
a job accumulation step of accumulating the received print job in an accumulation unit;
Order information stored in advance in a storage unit, which defines the order of the identification information of the first document data and the identification information of the second document data to be printed next to the first document data. with reference to information, after receiving the print job of the first document data and before receiving the print job of the second document data, third document data not having identification information defined in the order information; a job order control step of rearranging the order of the stored print jobs according to the order information when it is determined that the print jobs are received;
a print processing step of sequentially executing printing based on the print jobs in accordance with the order of the rearranged print jobs ;
A printing method , wherein the identification information is a document name of a print job .

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