JP7542432B2 - Code image generating device, code image generating method, code image generating program, and printing system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a code image generating device, a code image generating method, a code image generating program, and a printing system that generate a code image based on print setting conditions of a printing device.

Conventionally, a printing device has been proposed that copies an original image by printing a code image, which encodes the printing settings of the printing device, on a printing sheet together with the original image, and then reading the printed original image and the code image with a scanner of the printing device (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

In this type of printing device, the print settings are restored by reading the code image, and the printing process is carried out using the restored print settings and the print data obtained by reading the original image.

JP 2019-80213 A

However, when encoding print settings to generate a code image as described above, if the amount of information in the print settings increases, it may not fit into a single code image.

For example, there may be cases where a large number of print setting conditions (e.g. 150 conditions) are set, each of which has a different combination of conditions such as the number of pages to be printed and the number of copies. In such a case, it is necessary to include 150 print setting conditions when generating a code image, but this may not all fit into a single code image, resulting in failure to generate the code image and the inability to properly restore the print setting conditions.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention aims to provide a code image generating device, a code image generating method, a code image generating program, and a printing system that can appropriately generate a code image even when the amount of information in the print setting conditions is large.

The code image generating device of the present invention includes a print setting condition receiving unit that receives print setting conditions required by a printing device during printing processing, and a code image generating unit that compares the amount of information related to the print setting conditions received by the print setting condition receiving unit with the amount of information that can be stored in one pre-defined code image, and if the amount of information related to the print setting conditions exceeds the amount of information that can be stored in one code image, encodes the information related to the print setting conditions to generate multiple code images.

According to the code image generating device of the present invention, the printing device receives the print setting conditions required for the printing process, compares the amount of information related to the received print setting conditions with the amount of information that can be stored in one pre-defined code image, and if the amount of information related to the print setting conditions exceeds the amount of information that can be stored in one code image, encodes the information related to the print setting conditions to generate multiple code images, so that an appropriate code image can be generated even when the amount of information related to the print setting conditions is large.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a job ticket generation system according to a first embodiment of the present invention, which uses a code image generation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. A diagram showing an example of a job ticket 1 is a flowchart illustrating a job ticket generation process in the job ticket generation system shown in FIG. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an initial screen. A diagram showing an example of a job ticket creation screen. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a confirmation screen for print setting conditions. A diagram showing an example of a preview image of a job ticket and an input screen for setting output conditions of the job ticket. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for inputting work instruction information. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a confirmation screen for work instruction information. A diagram showing an example of a preview image of a job ticket and an input screen for setting output conditions of the job ticket. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a job ticket generation system according to a second embodiment of the present invention, which uses an embodiment of a coat image generation device according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a QR code generating unit. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of four QR codes being generated from 150 print setting conditions; FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of how 150 print setting conditions are restored from four QR codes;

The following describes in detail a first embodiment of a job ticket generation system using an embodiment of a code image generation device of the present invention with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a job ticket generation system 1 of this embodiment. In this embodiment, the job ticket generation system 1 corresponds to the printing system of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the job ticket generation system 1 of this embodiment includes a terminal device 10, a job ticket generation device 20, and a printing device 30.

The terminal device 10 and the job ticket generation device 20, and the job ticket generation device 20 and the printing device 30 are connected via a communication line. The communication line may be an Internet line, a LAN (Local Area Network), or a telephone line. The communication line may be either wired or wireless.

First, we will explain the general flow of processing using the job ticket generation system 1 of this embodiment.

First, the teacher who is requesting the printed matter uses the terminal device 10 to set and input user setting information including print setting conditions and work instructions for the school support staff. The print setting conditions are the setting conditions required by the printing device 30 for the printing process.

The user setting information input by the teacher is then output from the terminal device 10 to the job ticket generation device 20, and the job ticket generation device 20 generates a job ticket based on the input user setting information and transmits the job ticket to the teacher's terminal device 10.

The teacher prints the job ticket received by the terminal device 10 and hands the job ticket to the school support staff. The school support staff reads the QR code (registered trademark) included in the job ticket received from the teacher using the printing device 30, and the printing device 30 performs printing processing based on the read information. The information included in the QR code will be described in detail later.

The printed material that has been printed by the printing device 30 is then acquired by the school support staff, who then works on the printed material based on the work instructions written in the job ticket.

The above is a general flow of processing using the job ticket generation system 1 of this embodiment. Next, we will explain the details of each device that makes up the job ticket generation system 1 of this embodiment.

As described above, the terminal device 10 is used by a teacher who is the requester of a printing job that is requested by the school support staff.

The terminal device 10 is composed of a computer and includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), semiconductor memory such as ROM (Read Only Memory) and RAM (Random Access Memory), storage such as a hard disk, and a communication I/F (Interface).

A printer 11 is connected to the terminal device 10, and a printer driver for the printer 11 is installed in the storage of the terminal device 10.

When generating a job ticket, the teacher uses the terminal device 10 to access the job ticket generation device 20, and inputs and sets the print data to be printed on the site provided by the job ticket generation device 20, as well as the above-mentioned user setting information required for generating the job ticket.

The print data to be printed and user setting information input on the terminal device 10 are output to the job ticket generation device 20 via a communication line, and the job ticket generation device 20 accepts the print data and user setting information. The job ticket generation device 20 then generates a job ticket based on the input user setting information and outputs the job ticket to the terminal device 10.

The terminal device 10 receives the job ticket output from the job ticket generation device 20, and outputs the job ticket to the printer 11 in response to an instruction from the terminal device 10, and the job ticket is printed by the printer 11. The job ticket printed by the printer 11 is then handed over by the teacher to the school support staff.

The job ticket generation device 20 generates a job ticket as described above and outputs it to the terminal device 10.

The job ticket generation device 20 is composed of a computer and includes a CPU, semiconductor memory such as ROM and RAM, storage such as a hard disk, and a communication I/F.

The job ticket generating device 20 includes a user setting information receiving unit 21, a discrimination unit 22, a job ticket generating unit 23, and a print job management unit 24. In this embodiment, the job ticket generating device 20 corresponds to the code image generating device of the present invention, the user setting information receiving unit 21 corresponds to the print setting condition receiving unit of the present invention, and the job ticket generating unit 23 corresponds to the code image generating unit of the present invention.

A job ticket generation program including one embodiment of the code image generation program of the present invention is installed in the storage of the job ticket generation device 20, and the above-mentioned units function when the job ticket generation program is executed by the CPU.

In addition, in this embodiment, the CPU executes the job ticket generation program to cause the above-mentioned sections of the job ticket generation device 20 to function, but some or all of the functions executed by the job ticket generation program (code image generation program) may be configured using hardware such as an ASCI (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or other electrical circuits.

The user setting information receiving unit 21 receives user setting information output from the terminal device 10. As described above, the user setting information includes print setting conditions required by the printing device 30 during printing processing in the printing device 30 and work instruction information for the worker who performs printing work using the printing device 30.

Print setting conditions include, for example, the number of prints, the number of copies, the type of paper, the size of the paper, color or monochrome printing information, single-sided or double-sided printing information, post-processing information such as sorting, stapling and folding, and information on the model of printing device that can print.

The model information of the printing device capable of printing is compared with model information pre-stored in the printing device 30, for example, and printing processing is enabled in the printing device 30 only if the model information in the print setting conditions matches the pre-stored model information; if they differ, printing processing in the printing device 30 is prohibited or a message indicating that the model information differs is displayed on the printing device 30.

As described above, the work instruction information is instruction information for the school support staff, and can be set and input by teachers at their own discretion. Examples of work instruction information include "details and supplements of the work content" and "where to store after printing". For "details and supplements of the work content", a comment such as "After printing, please staple the top left corner in one place" is set and input, and for "where to store after printing", a comment such as "on my desk" is set and input. Note that the work instruction information is not limited to the above-mentioned "details and supplements of the work content" and "where to store after printing", and may include other information as long as it is work instruction information for the worker.

The discrimination unit 22 discriminates between information to be encoded, information to be converted to text, and information to be encoded and converted to text, based on the user setting information received by the user setting information receiving unit 21. Specifically, the discrimination unit 22 discriminates the information of the work instructions included in the user setting information as information to be converted to text, discriminates the information of the print setting conditions as information to be encoded, and discriminates some of the print setting conditions as information to be encoded and converted to text. That is, the discrimination unit 22 discriminates all of the print setting conditions as information to be encoded, but some of the print setting conditions are discriminated as information to be not only encoded but also converted to text. Note that in this embodiment, the information to be encoded is information to be converted to a QR code.

Whether the print setting conditions are to be determined as information to be encoded or information to be encoded and converted to text is set in advance for each print setting condition. However, the user may be able to select, for example, by using a pull-down menu, whether to determine as information to be encoded or information to be encoded and converted to text.

In this embodiment, of the print setting conditions included in the user setting information, the following print setting conditions are determined to be the information to be encoded and converted to text: number of prints (xx copies), number of copies to print (xx copies), type of print paper (recycled paper), size of print paper (same as the original), and information on the model of the printing device that can print (model name such as A1234, B5678, etc.).

Then, the discrimination unit 22 determines that information on work instructions, such as "storage location after printing" and "details and supplementary information on work content" included in the user setting information, is information to be converted into text.

The print job management unit 24 then manages and stores the print data output from the terminal device 10 and the print setting conditions among the user setting conditions accepted by the user setting information accepting unit 21 for each print job. Specifically, the print data management unit 24 of this embodiment assigns job identification information to the combination of the print data and the print setting conditions output from the terminal device 10, and stores the print data and the print setting conditions in association with the job identification information. The job identification information assigned to the print data and the print setting conditions is output to the job ticket generation unit 23.

The job ticket generation unit 23 encodes the job identification information associated with the print setting conditions based on the determination result by the determination unit 22, converts the work instruction information into text, and further converts some of the print setting conditions determined as information to be encoded and converted into text into text, and generates a job ticket including the encoding information and the text conversion information. Note that in this embodiment, the job identification information corresponds to the information related to the print setting conditions of the present invention. The job ticket generation unit 23 encodes the job identification information, which is information related to the print setting conditions, according to the determination result of the information to be encoded for the print setting conditions.

Figure 2 is a diagram showing an example of a job ticket generated by the job ticket generation unit 23. As shown in Figure 2, in addition to the print setting conditions and work instruction information described above, the job ticket includes information on the "request date" when the teacher requests the school support staff to perform the printing work, information on the "requester," and information on the "delivery date" of the printing work.

In this embodiment, the print settings conditions, which are determined to be the information to be encoded and converted into text, such as the number of prints (xx copies), the number of copies to be printed (xx copies), the type of printing paper (recycled paper), the size of printing paper (same as the original), and information on the model of the printing device capable of printing (model name such as A1235, B4567), are converted into text and shown in the job ticket. Also, as described above, the job identification information associated with the print settings conditions is encoded and converted into a QR code (QR code 1 and QR code 2 shown in Figure 2) and included in the job ticket.

As described above, by converting some of the print setting conditions included in the user setting information into text, the worker can quickly understand the setting contents of those conditions by looking at the job ticket. In particular, the worker can check the information about the model of the printing device by looking at the job ticket, so that he or she can immediately access printing devices that are capable of printing.

When the job ticket generation unit 23 encodes the job identification number to generate a QR code as described above, it compares the amount of information in the job identification number with a preset amount of information that can be stored in one QR code, and if the amount of information in the job identification number exceeds the amount of information that can be stored in one QR code, it encodes the job identification number to generate multiple QR codes. The generation of this QR code will be described in detail later.

In addition, for the work instruction information "Where to store after printing" and "Details and supplementary information on work content" shown in Figure 2, the comments "After printing, please staple the top left corner in one place" and "On my desk" entered by the teacher are converted to text and shown in the job ticket.

The job ticket generation unit 23 outputs the generated job ticket to the terminal device 10 as shown in FIG. 2.

As described above, the printing device 30 is used by the school support staff to perform printing tasks requested by teachers. As shown in FIG. 1, the printing device 30 includes a QR code reading unit 31, a print data acquisition unit 32, a print setting condition acquisition unit 33, and a print processing unit 34. In this embodiment, the QR code reading unit 31 corresponds to the code image reading unit of the present invention.

The QR code reading unit 31 reads the QR code shown in the job ticket described above, and decodes it to obtain job identification information. The job identification information obtained by the QR code reading unit 31 is output from the printing device 30 to the job ticket generation device 20 via a communication line. The job identification information output from the printing device 30 is input to the print job management unit 24 of the job ticket generation device 20, and the print job management unit 24 reads out the print data and print setting conditions linked to the input job identification information and outputs them to the printing device 30. Note that in this embodiment, the print job management unit 24 outputs the print data and print setting conditions to the printing device 30, but this is not limited to the above. The job ticket generation device 20 may be provided with a printer driver for the printing device 30, and the print data and print setting conditions may be output to the printing device 30 via the printer driver.

The print data acquisition unit 32 acquires the print data output from the print job management unit 24 of the job ticket generation device 20 as described above.

The print setting condition acquisition unit 33 acquires the print setting conditions output from the print job management unit 24 of the job ticket generation device 20 as described above.

The print processing unit 34 performs print processing based on the print data acquired by the print data acquisition unit 32 and the print setting conditions acquired by the print setting condition acquisition unit 33. The printing methods used by the print processing unit 34 include an inkjet printing method, a laser method, and a stencil printing method.

Next, the job ticket generation process in the job ticket generation system 1 of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 3.

First, the teacher uses the terminal device 10 to access the site provided by the job ticket generation device 20 and inputs the settings of the print data to be printed (S10). Specifically, the terminal device 10 displays the initial screen shown in FIG. 4. On the initial screen shown in FIG. 4, it is possible to select between generating a job ticket for the above-mentioned printing work (printing task) and generating a job ticket other than the printing work (printing task). When generating a job ticket for the printing task, the print data to be printed is dragged and dropped into the dotted square frame shown in FIG. 4, which displays the message "If you want to print with PDF data, drag and drop it here." When generating a job ticket for the printing task using a manuscript on which the print data has already been printed, the "Create printed job ticket" button is clicked. Note that the "Create printed job ticket" is a button that is selected in the job ticket generation system 2 of the offline second embodiment described later. When generating a job ticket other than the printing task (printing task), the "Other task" button is clicked. Here, the explanation will be given for the case where a job ticket for the printing task is generated and the print data to be printed is dragged and dropped.

As described above, the print data to be printed is dragged and dropped onto the initial setting screen, whereby the print data stored in the terminal device 10 is uploaded to the job ticket generation device 20. The print data uploaded to the job ticket generation device 20 is input to the print job management unit 24 as described above.

Next, user setting information is input in the terminal device 10 (S12). Specifically, the job ticket creation screen shown in FIG. 5 is displayed in the terminal device 10, and the user setting information is input in this job ticket creation screen. In the job ticket creation screen shown in FIG. 5, the requester and delivery date are displayed so that they can be entered as text, and the type of printing paper (paper type) and the size of printing paper (paper size) are displayed so that they can be selected using a pull-down menu. In addition, information on the work instructions, such as "storage location after printing" and "details and supplementary information", are displayed so that they can be entered as text.

The job ticket creation screen shown in Figure 5 also displays print settings such as the model of printing device that can be used for printing (printer selection), monochrome or color printing (color mode), single-sided or double-sided printing (double-sided/single-sided), number of copies to be printed, and magnification, allowing the user to set and input the print settings.

In addition, a thumbnail of the print data that has been entered is displayed on the left side of the job ticket creation screen shown in Figure 5.

After completing the above-mentioned input of the user setting information, clicking the "Next" button displays a print setting conditions confirmation screen as shown in FIG. 6, and some of the input print setting conditions are displayed. Next, clicking the "Print" button shown in FIG. 6 starts the job ticket generation process in the job ticket generation device 20.

Specifically, the user setting information entered and set on the terminal device 10 is accepted by the user setting information acceptance unit 21, the print setting conditions included in the user setting information are input to the print job management unit 24, and the combination of the print setting conditions and the print data uploaded in S10 is associated with the job identification information and stored in the print job management unit 24.

Then, the discrimination unit 22 discriminates information to be encoded (information to be converted into a QR code), information to be converted into text, and information to be encoded and converted into text based on the received user setting information. That is, among the user setting information, work instruction information (S14, work instruction information) is discriminated as information to be converted into text (S16). Also, among the user setting information, print setting conditions (S14, print setting conditions) are discriminated as information to be encoded (S20) if the print setting conditions are not set to be converted into text (S18, NO). Also, among the print setting conditions (S14, print setting conditions), are discriminated as information to be encoded and converted into text (S22) if the print setting conditions are set to be converted into text (S18, YES).

Then, for the print setting conditions that are determined to be information to be encoded or information to be encoded and converted to text based on the determination result by the determination unit 22, the job ticket generation unit 23 obtains job identification information linked to the print setting conditions from the print job management unit 24, encodes the identification information, and generates a QR code. The job ticket generation unit 23 also converts the work instruction information that is determined to be information to be converted to text into text, and converts the print setting conditions that are determined to be information to be encoded and converted to text into text. Then, a job ticket is generated that includes the QR code generated as described above and the converted information (S24).

Then, as shown in FIG. 7, a preview image of the job ticket generated by the job ticket generation unit 23 and a setting input screen for the output conditions of the job ticket are displayed on the terminal device 10. The output conditions of the job ticket include the destination, the number of pages to be output, and the layout.

When the printer 11 is selected as the destination on the output condition setting input screen shown in FIG. 7 and the "Print" button (not shown) is clicked, the job ticket output by the job ticket generation unit 23 is sent to the terminal device 10, and then printed and output by the printer 11 (S26). Also, when the "Save to PDF" is selected as the destination on the output condition setting input screen shown in FIG. 7 and the "Save" button is clicked, the job ticket output by the job ticket generation unit 23 is sent to the terminal device 10, and then saved in the terminal device 10.

On the other hand, in S10, when the "Other tasks" button on the initial screen shown in FIG. 4 is clicked, a setting input screen for work instruction information shown in FIG. 8 is displayed. The teacher then sets and inputs information on work instructions other than printing work (tasks) on the setting input screen shown in FIG. 8 (S12). The setting input screen shown in FIG. 8 displays radio buttons for selecting the type of work (task), such as "Sorting task," "Posting task," and "XX task," as well as items such as "Title," "Requester," "Deadline," "Requested task," and "Memo," and the teacher inputs text for each item.

When the "Next" button shown in FIG. 8 is clicked, a confirmation screen for work instruction information as shown in FIG. 9 is displayed. Next, when the "Print" button shown in FIG. 9 is clicked, the job ticket generation process in the job ticket generation device 20 is started.

Specifically, the work instruction information entered and set on the terminal device 10 is accepted by the user setting information acceptance unit 21, and is judged by the discrimination unit 22 as information to be converted into text (S14, work instruction information, S16).

Then, in the job ticket generation unit 23, the work instruction information is converted to text based on the discrimination result by the discrimination unit 22, and a job ticket including the converted text information is generated (S24).

Then, as shown in FIG. 10, a preview image of the job ticket generated by the job ticket generation unit 23 and a setting input screen for the output conditions of the job ticket are displayed on the terminal device 10. The output conditions of the job ticket include the destination, the number of pages to be output, and the layout.

When the printer 11 is selected as the destination on the output condition setting input screen shown in FIG. 10 and the "Print" button (not shown) is clicked, the job ticket output by the job ticket generation unit 23 is sent to the terminal device 10, and then printed and output by the printer 11 (S26). Also, when the "Save to PDF" is selected as the destination on the output condition setting input screen shown in FIG. 10 and the "Save" button is clicked, the job ticket output by the job ticket generation unit 23 is sent to the terminal device 10, and then saved in the terminal device 10.

According to the job ticket generation system 1 of the first embodiment described above, user setting information including print setting conditions of the printing device 30 and information on work instructions for the worker is accepted, and from the user setting information, the print setting conditions are determined as information to be converted into a QR code, and the work instruction information is determined as information to be converted into text. Based on the determination result, job identification information linked to the print setting conditions is converted into a QR code, and the work instruction information is converted into text, and a job ticket including the QR code and text is generated.

Therefore, by handing over the generated job ticket to the worker, the worker can easily and quickly obtain the print setting conditions desired by the client using the QR code, and by checking the text, can easily and quickly understand the work instructions given to the worker.

This concludes the description of the job ticket generation system 1 of the first embodiment.

In the job ticket generation system 1 of the first embodiment described above, the job ticket generation device 20 stores the combination of print data to be printed and print setting conditions in association with job identification information, and the printing device 30 reads the QR code to restore the job identification information and obtains the print data and print setting conditions from the job ticket generation device 20 based on the job identification information. However, it is also possible to link only the print data to the job identification information and store it in the job ticket generation device 20, and include the job identification number and the print setting conditions themselves in the QR code.

Then, the printing device 30 may read the QR code to restore the print setting conditions and job identification information, and based on the job identification information, obtain print data corresponding to the identification information from the job ticket generation device 20 and perform the print process.

Next, a job ticket generation system according to a second embodiment using an embodiment of the code image generation device of the present invention will be described in detail. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a job ticket generation system 2 according to this embodiment. In this embodiment, the job ticket generation system 2 corresponds to the printing system of the present invention.

The job ticket generation system 1 of the first embodiment described above is configured so that the printing device 30 acquires print data and print setting conditions online from the job ticket generation device 20.

In contrast, in the job ticket generation system 2 of the second embodiment, the printing device 30 acquires print data by reading a document. In addition, the job ticket generation device 60 converts the print setting conditions themselves into a QR code and includes it in the job ticket, and the printing device 30 acquires the print setting conditions by reading the QR code of the job ticket.

As shown in FIG. 11, the job ticket generation system 2 of the second embodiment includes a terminal device 40, a printing device 50, and a job ticket generation device 60.

Then, in the job ticket generation system 2 of the second embodiment, the teacher uses the terminal device 40 to print the job ticket and print the print data to be printed to create a manuscript.

Then, the teacher hands the job ticket printed using the terminal device 40 and the manuscript to the school support staff. The school support staff reads the QR code included in the job ticket received from the teacher using the printing device 30, reads the manuscript, and performs the printing process using the printing device 50.

The printed material that has been printed by the printing device 50 is then acquired by the school support staff, who then works on the printed material based on the work instructions written in the job ticket.

The job ticket generation system 2 of the second embodiment will be described in detail below, focusing on the differences from the job ticket generation system 1 of the first embodiment.

The terminal device 40, like the terminal device 10 of the first embodiment, is configured as a computer and includes a CPU, semiconductor memory such as ROM and RAM, storage such as a hard disk, and a communication I/F.

A printer 41 is connected to the terminal device 40, and a printer driver for the printer 41 is installed in the storage of the terminal device 40.

The job ticket generation device 60 includes a user setting information receiving unit 61, a discrimination unit 62, and a job ticket generation unit 63. In this embodiment, the job ticket generation device 60 corresponds to the code image generation device of the present invention, the user setting information receiving unit 61 corresponds to the print setting condition receiving unit of the present invention, and the job ticket generation unit 63 corresponds to the code image generation unit of the present invention. Also, unlike the first embodiment, the job ticket generation device 60 of this embodiment does not include a configuration equivalent to the print job management unit 24.

A job ticket generation program including one embodiment of the code image generation program of the present invention is installed in the storage of the job ticket generation device 60, and the above-mentioned units function when the job ticket generation program is executed by the CPU.

In addition, in this embodiment, the CPU executes the job ticket generation program to cause the above-mentioned sections of the job ticket generation device 60 to function, but some or all of the functions executed by the job ticket generation program (code image generation program) may be configured using hardware such as ASCI, FPGA, or other electrical circuits.

The processing of the user setting information receiving unit 61 and the discrimination unit 62 of the job ticket generation device 60 is similar to the processing of the user setting information receiving unit 21 and the discrimination unit 22 of the job ticket generation device 20 of the first embodiment.

The job ticket generation unit 63 of this embodiment then encodes the print setting conditions from the user setting information accepted by the user setting information acceptance unit 61 to generate a QR code.

When generating a job ticket, the teacher uses the terminal device 40 to create print data to be printed and prints the document using the printer 41. At the same time, on the initial screen shown in FIG. 4 displayed on the terminal device 40, the teacher clicks the "Generate printed job ticket" button and inputs user setting information in the same manner as in the first embodiment. Note that the screen displayed on the terminal device 40 is the same as the screens shown in FIGS. 4 to 10.

The job ticket generation device 60 generates a job ticket based on the user setting information, similar to the job ticket generation device 20 of the first embodiment, but at this time, it encodes the print setting conditions to generate a QR code as described above. The flow of the job ticket generation process in the job ticket generation device 60 is basically the same as the flow of the job ticket generation process in the job ticket generation device 20 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 3, except for the process of linking the uploaded print data with the print setting conditions and storing them in the print job management unit 24. The job ticket generated by the job ticket generation device 60 is output to the terminal device 40.

Then, the terminal device 40 outputs the job ticket to the printer 41, and the job ticket is printed by the printer 41.

Then, the job ticket and the manuscript printed by printer 41 are handed over by the teacher to the school support staff.

As shown in FIG. 11, the printing device 50 includes a document reading unit 51, a QR code reading unit 52, a print data acquisition unit 53, a print setting condition acquisition unit 54, and a print processing unit 55. In this embodiment, the QR code reading unit 52 corresponds to the code image reading unit of the present invention.

The manuscript reading unit 51 is a scanner that reads the manuscript handed over by the teacher. The print data read by the manuscript reading unit 51 is acquired by the print data acquisition unit 53.

The QR code reading unit 52 reads and decodes the QR code included in the job ticket to generate print setting conditions. The print setting conditions generated by the QR code reading unit 52 are acquired by the print setting condition acquisition unit 54.

The print processing unit 55, like the print processing unit 34 in the first embodiment, performs print processing based on the print data acquired by the print data acquisition unit 32 and the print setting conditions acquired by the print setting condition acquisition unit 33.

This concludes the description of the job ticket generation system 2 of the second embodiment.

Next, the encoding of print setting conditions in the job ticket generation systems 1 and 2 of the first and second embodiments described above will be described in more detail. Note that here, the encoding of print setting conditions in the configuration of the job ticket generation system 2 of the second embodiment will be described.

In the second embodiment, the job ticket generation unit 63 encodes the print setting conditions to generate a QR code. Specifically, the job ticket generation unit 63 includes a QR code generation unit 63a as shown in FIG. 12.

The QR code generation unit 63a encodes the print settings entered by the teacher to generate a QR code.

Here, program print settings are a method for setting print setting conditions that are set and input by the teacher. Program print settings are a method for setting multiple print setting conditions that have different conditions from each other. Specifically, multiple print setting conditions are set in which at least one of the conditions, for example, number of sheets to be printed, number of copies to be printed, color or monochrome printing, and single-sided or double-sided printing, is different from each other. Note that here, one group consisting of multiple conditions such as number of sheets to be printed and number of copies to be printed, is treated as one print setting condition.

When configuring such program print settings, if the number of print setting conditions increases, the amount of information also increases, and when encoded, it may not fit into a single QR code.

Therefore, in this embodiment, when the QR code generating unit 63a encodes all the print setting conditions accepted by the user setting information accepting unit 61 to generate a QR code, it changes the number of QR codes depending on the amount of information of all the print setting conditions.

Specifically, the QR code generating unit 63a compares the amount of information of all the print setting conditions with the amount of information that can be stored in one QR code, and generates multiple QR codes from all the print setting conditions if the amount of information of all the print setting conditions exceeds the amount of information that can be stored in one QR code. On the other hand, if the amount of information of all the print setting conditions is equal to or less than the amount of information that can be stored in one QR code, one QR code is generated. Figure 13 is a diagram that shows a schematic diagram of how four QR codes are generated from 150 print setting conditions. Also, an example is shown in which two QR codes are generated for the job ticket shown in Figure 2. Note that, although an example of generating multiple QR codes in the case of program print settings has been described here, this is not limited to program print settings.

When multiple QR codes are generated by the QR code generation unit 63a as described above, the multiple QR codes are printed on the job ticket as shown in FIG. 2.

When the school support staff performs printing work, the QR code reading unit 52 reads the multiple QR codes printed on the job ticket in order. The QR code reading unit 52 then restores all of the print setting conditions by decoding the multiple QR codes. FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing how 150 print setting conditions are restored from the four QR codes shown in FIG. 13. As shown in FIG. 14, 150 print setting conditions are restored by reading all four QR codes. In other words, if even one of the four QR codes is missing, it is impossible to restore all of the print setting conditions.

The multiple print settings restored by the QR code reading unit 52 are then acquired by the print settings acquisition unit 54 and used for the print processing in the print processing unit 55.

As described above, the QR code generation unit 63a compares the amount of information of all the print setting conditions with the amount of information that can be stored in one QR code, and if the amount of information of all the print setting conditions exceeds the amount of information that can be stored in one QR code, multiple QR codes are generated from all the print setting conditions, so that even if the amount of information of the print setting conditions, such as program print settings, is large, it is possible to appropriately convert it into a QR code.

In the above embodiment, the print settings are encoded to generate a QR code, but the invention is not limited to QR codes and other codes, such as bar codes, may be generated.

In the above embodiment, a QR code is generated from multiple print setting conditions when setting up a program print setting. However, instead of generating a QR code from the print setting conditions themselves in this manner, it is also possible to assign print setting identification numbers such as index numbers to the multiple print setting conditions used in the program print setting and store them in advance in the printing device 50, and when generating a job ticket, to generate a QR code by encoding the multiple print setting identification numbers corresponding to the multiple print setting conditions used in the program print setting.

Even in this case, the QR code generating unit 63a may compare the amount of information of all the print setting identification numbers with the amount of information that can be stored in one QR code, and if the amount of information of all the print setting identification numbers exceeds the amount of information that can be stored in one QR code, multiple QR codes may be generated from all the print setting identification numbers. Note that the information related to the print setting conditions of the present invention includes not only the print setting conditions themselves, but also print setting identification information that is previously set in association with the print setting conditions as described above.

The print setting identification number may then be restored by the QR code reading unit 52 of the printing device 50, and the print setting condition acquisition unit 54 may read and acquire multiple print setting conditions corresponding to the multiple restored print setting identification numbers.

In addition, the above description is an example in which the identification number is stored in advance in the printing device 50, but as described in the job ticket generation system 1 of the first embodiment, even if the job ticket generation device 20 stores the print data and print setting conditions in association with the job identification number and generates a job ticket by converting the job identification number into a QR code, the job ticket generation unit 23 may compare the amount of information in the job identification number with the amount of information that can be stored in one QR code, and if the amount of information in the job identification number exceeds the amount of information that can be stored in one QR code, generate multiple QR codes from the job identification number.

As described above, instead of converting the print setting conditions themselves into QR codes, by converting the print setting identification number and job identification number that are pre-set in association with the print setting conditions into QR codes, the number of QR codes can be reduced, and the effort required to read the QR codes can be reduced.

In the above embodiment, multiple QR codes are read to restore multiple print setting conditions used in the program print settings, and printing is performed based on the multiple print setting conditions. However, some of the restored multiple print setting conditions may be selectable, and only the selected some of the print setting conditions may be executed. For example, a selection screen may be displayed on an operation panel provided on the printing device 30, 50, and the school support staff may select the some of the print setting conditions.

The present invention further discloses the following supplementary notes.
(Additional Note)

In the code image generating device of the present invention, the information related to the print setting conditions can be identification information that is set in advance in correspondence with the print setting conditions, and the code image generating unit can generate a code image by encoding the identification information.

The code image generation program of the present invention causes a computer to execute the steps of accepting print setting conditions required by a printing device during printing processing, comparing the amount of information related to the accepted print setting conditions with the amount of information that can be stored in one pre-defined code image, and, if the amount of information related to the print setting conditions exceeds the amount of information that can be stored in one code image, encoding the information related to the print setting conditions to generate multiple code images.

The printing system of the present invention includes the code image generating device of the present invention described above, and a printing device having a code image reading unit that reads the code image generated by the code image generating device to obtain information regarding print setting conditions, and a print processing unit that performs print processing based on the information regarding the print setting conditions read by the code image reading unit and the print data to be printed.

The code image generation method of the present invention accepts print setting conditions required by a printing device during printing processing, compares the amount of information related to the accepted print setting conditions with the amount of information that can be stored in one pre-defined code image, and if the amount of information related to the print setting conditions exceeds the amount of information that can be stored in one code image, encodes the information related to the print setting conditions to generate multiple code images.

1, 2 Job ticket generation system 10 Terminal device 11 Printer 20 Job ticket generation device 21 User setting information acceptance unit 22 Discrimination unit 23 Job ticket generation unit 24 Print data management unit 30 Printing device 31 QR code reading unit 32 Print data acquisition unit 33 Print setting condition acquisition unit 34 Print processing unit 40 Terminal device 41 Printer 50 Printing device 51 Document reading unit 52 QR code reading unit 53 Print data acquisition unit 54 Print setting condition acquisition unit 55 Print processing unit 60 Job ticket generation device 61 User setting information acceptance unit 62 Discrimination unit 63 Job ticket generation unit 63a QR code generation unit

Claims (5)

a print setting condition receiving unit that receives a plurality of print setting conditions, each of which is different from the other, that are print setting conditions required for the printing device during printing processing;
and a code image generation unit that compares an amount of information of all print setting conditions received by the print setting condition receiving unit with an amount of information that can be stored in one predetermined code image, and if the amount of information of all print setting conditions exceeds the amount of information that can be stored in one code image , encodes all print setting conditions to generate code images whose number corresponds to the amount of information of all print setting conditions but is less than the number of print setting conditions. The code image generating device according to claim 1, wherein the code image generating unit generates a code image such that, when all code images generated by encoding information of all of the print setting conditions are read, all of the print setting conditions are restored, and when at least one code image among all of the code images is not read, all of the print setting conditions cannot be restored. receiving a plurality of print setting conditions, each of which is different from the other, that are print setting conditions required for the printing device during printing processing;
a step of comparing the amount of information of all the received print setting conditions with the amount of information that can be stored in one predetermined code image, and if the amount of information of all the print setting conditions exceeds the amount of information that can be stored in one code image , encoding all the print setting conditions to generate code images in a number that corresponds to the amount of information of all the print setting conditions but is less than the number of the print setting conditions . The code image generating device according to claim 1 or 2,
A printing system comprising a printing device having a code image reading unit that reads the code image generated by the code image generating device and acquires the print setting conditions, and a print processing unit that performs printing processing based on the print setting conditions read by the code image reading unit and the print data to be printed. A printing device receives a plurality of print setting conditions required for printing processing, the print setting conditions being different from one another ;
The code image generation method compares the amount of information of all the received print setting conditions with the amount of information that can be stored in one predetermined code image, and if the amount of information of all the print setting conditions exceeds the amount of information that can be stored in one code image , encodes all the print setting conditions and generates code images in a number that corresponds to the amount of information of all the print setting conditions, but is less than the number of the print setting conditions .