Printing system, printing control method, and program

Abstract

To provide a printing system that can appropriately set printing start timing for each printer even when a host device and a plurality of printers are connected to a same network.SOLUTION: A printing system is provided where a host device 10 and a plurality of printers 50a, 50b... 50n are connected via a same network 60. The host device includes: a transfer rate acquisition unit 111 that acquires a data transfer rate between each of the printers; a printing speed calculation unit 112 that calculates printing speed of each printer; a printing timing calculation unit 113 that calculates, on the basis of the data transfer rate and the print speed of each printer, printing start timing for each printer, so that data transfer from the host device is in time for printing in each printer; and a printing control unit 114 that controls each printer to start printing according to each of the calculated printing start timing.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention is used in a printing system in which at least one upper device and a plurality of printers are connected via the same network, and is capable of suppressing an event in which printing is interrupted during printing, that is, an occurrence of so-called underrun, which is caused by the transfer of printing data from the upper device to each printer being too slow. The present invention relates to a printing system and the like.

Background Art

[0002] When a printer starts printing while an upper device (host) such as a PC (personal computer) is transmitting printing data to the printer, an event (underrun) occurs in which printing is interrupted during printing because the transfer of printing data to the reception buffer on the printer side is too slow. In this case, not only is there a wasteful waiting for printing, but there is also a concern about deterioration of the output image quality due to changes in the drying / curing time of the ink for each printing location.

[0003] In order to suppress the occurrence of such underrun, for example, in paragraphs

[0045] and

[0069] of Patent Document 1, dummy data is transmitted from an upper device (host) to a printer, and based on the data transfer speed of the dummy data at that time, a printing start time is calculated such that data transfer will not be too slow during printing. That is, a technique has been proposed to find and set a transfer time at which underrun does not occur.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, for example, when a host device and a plurality of printers are connected to the same network, the data transfer speed between the host device and the printers and the printing speed of each printer may vary from printer to printer. In such an environment, it has been difficult to appropriately set the time to delay the start of printing so that data transfer from the host device to each printer can keep up with printing.

[0006] One object of the present invention is to provide a printing system or the like that can appropriately set the printing start timing for each printer even when a host device and a plurality of printers are connected to the same network. Other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art by referring to the aspects and best mode exemplified below, and the accompanying drawings.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] Hereinafter, aspects according to the present invention will be exemplified to facilitate understanding of the outline of the present invention.

[0008] An aspect according to the present invention is a printing system in which at least one host device and a plurality of printers are connected via the same network, the host device including: a transfer speed acquisition unit that acquires a data transfer speed between the host device and each of the printers; a printing speed calculation unit that calculates a printing speed of each of the printers; a printing timing calculation unit that calculates a printing start timing for printing in each of the printers based on the data transfer speed and the printing speed of each of the printers so that data transfer from the host device can keep up with printing; and a printing control unit that controls each of the printers to start printing according to the printing start timing calculated by the printing timing calculation unit, and each of the printers starts each printing at the respective printing start timing according to the control by the printing control unit.

[0009] In an aspect according to the present invention, a print timing calculation unit of a host device calculates the print start timing of each printer so that data transfer from the host device can keep up with printing on each printer based on the data transfer speed and the print speed of each printer connected to the same network, and a print control unit performs control to start printing on each printer according to the respective print start timings calculated by the print timing calculation unit. Therefore, in an environment where the host device and a plurality of printers are connected to the same network, even when the data transfer speed between the host device and the printers and the print speed of the printers differ for each printer, the print start timing can be appropriately set for each printer. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of so-called underrun, in which the transfer of print data from the host device cannot keep up and printing is interrupted midway. Further, it is possible to prevent deterioration of the output image quality due to a change in the drying / curing time of ink for each printed portion, which occurs when the operation of the printer temporarily stops during printing for each printer. Further, it is possible to perform printing so that wasteful print waiting time does not occur while preventing image quality deterioration.

[0010] Those skilled in the art will readily understand that the exemplified aspect according to the present invention can be further modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0011]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6A

Figure 6B

Figure 6C

Figure 6D

Figure 6E

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] The best mode described below is used to easily understand the present invention. Therefore, those skilled in the art should note that the present invention is not unduly limited by the embodiments described below.

[0013] (Configuration of Printer 50) FIG. 1(A) shows an application example of a printer used in a printing system according to the present invention. The printer 50 in FIG. 1(A) is typically an inkjet printer. As an example, an ink-type large printer capable of generating the medium 100 as a printed matter such as a large signboard or poster by applying ink onto the medium 100 is illustrated. Here, the medium 100 may be paper such as plain paper, may be resins such as polyvinyl chloride or polyester, or may be metals such as aluminum materials or iron materials, and can be composed of various materials. The medium 100 is typically a sheet material as illustrated, and specifically, a roll medium wound around a roll.

[0014] Note that the printer 50 is not limited to an inkjet printer, and may be other printers such as an electrophotographic printer, a binder jet printer, etc.

[0015] The printer 50 in FIG. 1(A) generally includes an inkjet head 58 (broadly, a print head) that outputs printing ink and is typically movable on a rail (broadly, a guide) in the horizontal or left - right direction. Further, the printer 50 generally further includes an ink cartridge 54 that stores the ink supplied to the inkjet head 58. Further, the printer 50 can generally further include an operation panel 59 having operation buttons such as a power button and a setting button.

[0016] FIG. 1(B) shows a schematic configuration example of the printer 50 in FIG. 1(A). As shown in FIG. 1(B), the ink cartridge 54 stores color ink so that the medium 100 can form, for example, a color image, and has ink cartridges 54C, 54M, 54Y, and 54K for color ink that store cyan ink, magenta ink, yellow ink, and black ink respectively.

[0017] Note that the ink cartridge 54 may further have an ink cartridge (not shown) for specific ink that stores specific ink other than color ink, such as white ink, silver ink (metallic ink), etc.

[0018] Also, the ink cartridges 54C, 54M, 54Y, and 54K for color ink may further have, for example, an ink cartridge for light cyan (not shown), and, for example, an ink cartridge for light magenta (not shown). In other words, the color ink is not limited to the common four colors of cyan ink, magenta ink, yellow ink, and black ink, and may be composed of ink of a number of colors other than four, such as six - color ink, or seven - color ink, or three - color ink, etc.

[0019] In the example of FIG. 1(B), the ink head 58 has ink heads 58C, 58M, 58Y, and 58K corresponding to the ink cartridges 54C, 54M, 54Y, and 54K, respectively. Further, an ink tube 56 is provided between the ink cartridges 54C, 54M, 54Y, and 54K and the ink heads 58C, 58M, 58Y, and 58K, so that the ink head 58 can output a desired ink or color.

[0020] In the example of FIG. 1(B), the printer 50 generally further includes a processing unit 51, a storage unit 52, and a communication unit 53 (all of which are shown in FIG. 2 described later), and can control the ink head 58 (ink heads 58C, 58M, 58Y, and 58K) based on print data. The processing unit 51, the storage unit 52, and the communication unit 53 are composed of, for example, a microcomputer or a microcontroller, and can include, for example, a CPU (or MPU or MCU), a ROM, a RAM, an input / output interface, and the like. For example, the ROM stores a program for causing the CPU to execute a predetermined operation, and the RAM can form a work area for the CPU. The processing unit 51, the storage unit 52, and the communication unit 53 may be composed of an ASIC (Application Specific IC), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or the like.

[0021] Since the specific configuration of the printer 50 is well-known, its description is omitted. However, the printer 50 may be configured as, for example, a printer with a cutting head that further includes a cutting head as disclosed in FIGS. 1 to 3 of JP-A-2012-091386.

[0022] (Network connection configuration of the printing system 200) Figure 2 shows an example of the network connection configuration of the printing system according to the present invention. As shown in Figure 2, in the printing system 200 according to the present invention, at least one host device 10 and a plurality of printers 50a, 50b,... 50n are connected via the same network 60. Note that the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n all have the same configuration as the printer 50 shown in FIGS. 1(A) and 1(B). Note that a plurality of host devices 10 and a plurality of printers 50a, 50b,... 50n may be connected via the same network 60.

[0023] The network 60 is a LAN (Local Area Network), WAN (Wide Area Network), the Internet, etc. to which the host device 10 and the plurality of printers 50a, 50b,... 50n are connected by wire or wirelessly. Here, it is assumed that data communication is performed between the host device 10 and the plurality of printers 50a, 50b,... 50n in accordance with TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol).

[0024] As shown in Figure 2, the host device 10 is typically a RIP (Raster Image Processor) device. The input part of the host device 10 is connected to, for example, two folders 42 and 44 (alternatively, it may be one folder, or three or more folders), while the output part of the host device 10 is connected to the plurality of printers 50a, 50b,... 50n via the network 60. The folders 42, 44, the host device 10, and the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n are network-connected. Print data (for example, digital data in EPS format) generated by, for example, a PC (Personal Computer) (not shown) is input to the host device 10, but the host device 10 is typically composed of a server (alternatively, it may be a PC), and digital data in EPS format may be generated, for example.

[0025] The host device 10 converts the input digital data in, for example, EPS format into raster format digital data (raster image or bitmap image). Next, the host device 10 can convert the raster format digital data into native format digital data (native data) that can be interpreted by the printers 50 and output it. The host device 10 can handle multiple types of print data (EPS format digital data, raster format digital data, native format digital data).

[0026] In this specification, the EPS format digital data can be referred to as initial print data or print data, and the host device 10 can add respective printing conditions for the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n to the print data. The print data without added printing conditions can be referred to as a print job in a broad sense, while the print data with added printing conditions can be referred to as a print job in a narrow sense. The host device 10 can perform RIP processing on the print data (print job) with added printing conditions to generate raster format digital data (intermediate print data), and then generate native format digital data (final print data).

[0027] The host device 10 in FIG. 2 functions as a RIP device, typically a RIP server (alternatively, it may be a RIP personal computer). The host device 10 is further connected to a display unit 20, typically a display, and an operation unit, typically a keyboard 32 and a mouse 34. The user of the host device 10 inputs multiple EPS format digital data into, for example, two folders 42 and 44, sets or adds printing conditions to each of the multiple EPS format digital data in folder units via the keyboard 32 and the mouse 34, and generates multiple EPS format digital data (multiple print jobs) with added printing conditions for each as a print job list.

[0028] The host device 10 in FIG. 2 further obtains the data transfer speed between itself and each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n connected to the network 60, obtains the printing speed of each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n, and based on the data transfer speed and printing speed of each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n, calculates the printing start timing for each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n so that data transfer from the host device 10 can keep up with printing at each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n. Subsequently, the host device 10 also performs printing control to start printing on each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n according to the calculated printing start timing for each.

[0029] (Operation Sequence of Printing System 200) Here, with reference to the operation sequence diagram of the printing system 200 according to the present invention shown in FIG. 3, an overview of the printing control executed by the above-described host device 10 will be described.

[0030] According to the example in FIG. 3, first, the host device 10 sequentially transmits test data, which is, for example, a 10 MB packet, to the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n connected to the network (steps S1, S3, ··· S5). In response to this, each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n returns a response to the host device 10 (steps S2, S4, ··· S6), and the host device 10 calculates and obtains the data transfer speed between itself and each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n (step S7).

[0031] When executing step S7, the host device 10 measures, for example, the reception time required for each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n to receive the transmitted test data, and calculates the data transfer speed for each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n from the data amount of the test data (10 MB) and the measured reception time.

[0032] Incidentally, as described above, the user of the host device 10 inputs a plurality of EPS format digital data into, for example, two folders 42 and 44, and sets or adds print conditions to each of the plurality of EPS format digital data in units of folders via the keyboard 32 and the mouse 34. At this time, as the print conditions, for example, the type of the medium 100, the print resolution, the moving speed of the ink head 58, the conveyance speed of the medium 100, the drying time of the ink, etc. are set.

[0033] The host device 10 estimates and acquires the printing speed for each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n according to the set print conditions (step S9). Subsequently, the host device 10 calculates the print start timing (waiting time) (step S10). In executing step S10, the host device 10 calculates an appropriate print start timing (waiting time) for each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n so that the data transfer from the host device 10 can keep up with the printing in each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n based on the data transfer speed and the printing speed of each of the network-connected printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n. The method for calculating this print start timing (waiting time) will be described later.

[0034] After calculating the print start timing (waiting time) for each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n, the host device 10 issues a print start instruction by adding the information of the calculated print start timing (waiting time) to the respective print data for each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n and transmitting the data, and performs control to start printing (steps S11, S12, S13). As a result, each of the network-connected printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n starts a printing process for controlling the ink head 58 (see the ink jet heads 58C, 58M, 58Y, and 58K in FIGS. 1(A) and 1(B)) based on the print data after the elapse of the waiting time (steps S14, S15, S16).

[0035] (Configuration of the host device 10) The host device 10 generally includes a processing unit 11, a storage unit 12, and a communication unit 13, as shown in FIG. 4, for example. The processing unit 11, the storage unit 12, and the communication unit 13 are configured by, for example, a server (broadly, a computer). The processing unit 11 corresponds to, for example, a CPU (or a processor MPU or MCU) of the server. The storage unit 12 corresponds to, for example, a ROM and a RAM of the server, and, for example, an HDD. The communication unit 13 corresponds to, for example, a network connection module (e.g., a LAN board) of the server. For example, the ROM stores a program for causing the CPU to execute a predetermined operation, and the RAM can form a work area for the CPU. The HDD (alternatively, it may be an SSD) forms, for example, two folders 42 and 44 and can store a plurality of print data (EPS format digital data, raster format digital data, native format digital data), and further, a reception buffer 120.

[0036] The processing unit 11 includes and is configured with a main processing unit 110, a transfer speed acquisition unit 111, a printing speed calculation unit 112, a printing timing calculation unit 113, and a printing control unit 114. The configuration of the processing unit 11 shown here is a block expansion of the processing executed by the processing unit 11 according to each function executed by each process. Specifically, a CPU (or a processor MPU or MCU) corresponding to the processing unit 11 sequentially reads out a program recorded in the ROM and executes it using the RAM as a work area, thereby realizing the functions of each block.

[0037] The main processing unit 110 performs RIP processing on print data with added printing conditions to generate raster format digital data (intermediate print data), and then generates native format digital data (final print data). In addition to this, the main processing unit 110 is also in charge of storage control for attaching printing conditions to the input job and storing it in the storage unit 12 as a job list. The main processing unit 110 is also in charge of display control for controlling the display unit 20.

[0038] In addition, the main processing unit 110 acquires the data transfer speed between itself and each of the printers 50a to 50n connected to the network 60, also acquires the printing speed of each of the printers 50a to 50n, and based on the data transfer speed and the printing speed of each of the printers 50a to 50n, calculates the printing start timing for each of the printers 50a to 50n so that data transfer from the host device 10 can keep up with printing on each of the printers 50a to 50n, and serves as a control center for performing print control to start printing on each of the printers 50a to 50n according to the calculated printing start timing for each. Also, at this time, it controls the processing sequences of the transfer speed acquisition unit 111, the printing speed calculation unit 112, the printing timing calculation unit 113, and the print control unit 114.

[0039] The transfer speed acquisition unit 111 acquires the data transfer speed between itself and each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n connected to the network. The transfer speed acquisition unit 111 transmits test data, which is, for example, a 10 MB packet, to each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n connected to the network, measures the reception time required for each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n to receive this test data, and can calculate the data transfer speed in each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n from the data volume of the test data and the reception time.

[0040] Therefore, the transfer speed control unit 111 includes a test data transmission unit 111a that transmits test data, a reception time measurement unit 111b that measures the reception time required for each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n to receive the test data, and a transfer speed calculation unit 11c that calculates the data transfer speed in each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n from the data volume of the test data and the reception time.

[0041] The printing speed calculation unit 112 acquires the printing speeds of the printers 50a, 50b, ···, 50n connected to the network. The printing speed calculation unit 112 can calculate the printing speed of each printer based on the printing conditions set for each printer 50a, 50b, ···, 50n. For this reason, the printing speed calculation unit 112 includes a printing condition acquisition unit 112a that acquires printing conditions set by the user, such as the type of the medium 100, the printing resolution, the moving speed of the ink head 58, the conveyance speed of the medium 100, and the drying time of the ink.

[0042] The printing timing calculation unit 113 calculates the printing start timing (waiting time) for each printer 50a, 50b, ···, 50n so that the data transfer from the host device 10 can keep up with the printing for each printer 50a, 50b, ···, 50n, based on the data transfer speed (acquired by the transfer speed acquisition unit 111 and output to the printing timing calculation unit 113) and the printing speed (calculated by the printing speed calculation unit 112 and output to the printing timing calculation unit 113) of each printer 50a, 50b, ···, 50n connected to the network. The method for calculating the printing start timing (waiting time) by the printing timing calculation unit 113 will be described in detail using FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, and 5E, which will be described later.

[0043] The printing control unit 114 controls to start printing for each printer 50a, 50b, ···, 50n according to the respective printing start timings calculated by the printing timing calculation unit 113. The printing control unit 114 can transmit the print data including the information on the printing start timing for each printer 50a, 50b, ···, 50n calculated by the printing timing calculation unit 113 to each printer 50a, 50b, ···, 50n. For this reason, the printing control unit 114 includes a printing timing transmission unit 114a that adds the information on the respective printing start timings to the respective print data and transmits them to each printer 50a, 50b, ···, 50n.

[0044] Printers 50a, 50b, ···, 50n each have a printing control unit a, a printing control unit b, ···, a printing control unit n that controls the ink heads 58 (ink heads 58C, 58M, 58Y, and 58K) based on the print data generated and transmitted by the host device 10. The printing control units a, b, ···, n are all composed of, for example, a microcomputer or a microcontroller, and can include, for example, a CPU (or MPU or MCU), a ROM, a RAM, an input / output interface, etc. For example, the ROM stores a program for causing the CPU to execute a predetermined operation, and the RAM can form a work area for the CPU. Note that the printing control units a, b, ···, n are not limited to microcomputers or microcontrollers, and may be composed of an ASIC (Application Specific IC), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or the like.

[0045] (Operation of the host device 10) Hereinafter, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5, the operation of the host device 10 of the printing system 200 according to the present invention shown in FIG. 4 will be described.

[0046] First, under the sequence control by the main processing unit 110, the transfer speed acquisition unit 111 (test data transmission unit 111a) of the host device 10 sequentially transmits test data, which is, for example, 10 MB of dummy data, to each of the printers 50a, 50b, ···, 50n (see step ST01). When the transfer speed acquisition unit 111 receives a response from the printers 50a, 50b, ···, 50n (see step ST02), the reception time measurement unit 111b measures the reception time required for each of the printers 50a, 50b, ···, 50n to receive the test data (step ST03), and the transfer speed calculation unit 111c calculates the data transfer speed in each of the printers 50a, 50b, ···, 50n from the data amount of the test data and the reception time, and acquires and outputs it to the print timing calculation unit 113 (step ST04).

[0047] Next, under the sequence control by the main processing unit 110, the printing speed calculation unit 112 checks whether the printing condition acquisition unit 112a has set the printing conditions (see step ST05). If there is a setting of the printing conditions (see "YES" in step ST05), it acquires the printing speeds of the respective printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n according to the printing conditions and outputs them to the printing timing calculation unit 113 (see step ST06).

[0048] Subsequently, based on the data transfer speed between each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n acquired by the transfer speed acquisition unit 111 and the printing speed of each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n calculated by the printing speed calculation unit 112, the printing timing calculation unit 113 calculates the optimal printing start timing (waiting time) for each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n so that the data transfer from the host device 10 for printing at each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n is in time.

[0049] Specifically, for each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n, the printing timing calculation unit 113 compares the supply data amount of the printing data from the host device 10 at the start of printing (stored in the printer buffer built in for each printer) with the data consumption amount by the printing process (read from the printer buffer) (see step ST07). Note that the printer buffer is not shown in the figure. And so that the consumed data amount from the start to the end of printing does not exceed the supply data amount. In other words, if there is a timing when the consumed data amount exceeds the supply data amount (see "YES" in step ST07), for each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n, it estimates how much the printing start timing should be delayed with respect to the data supply start timing from the host device 10 so that there is no timing when the supply data amount from the host device 10 is exceeded (see step ST08), and outputs the printing start timing (waiting time) to the printing control unit 114 to wait for the calculated time as the waiting time before printing.

[0050] Then, the print control unit 114 (print timing transmission unit 114a) performs print control to cause each of the printers 50a, 50b, ···, 50n to start printing according to the respective print start timings (standby times) for each of the printers 50a, 50b, ···, 50n calculated by the print timing calculation unit 113. Specifically, the print timing transmission unit 114a issues a print start instruction by transmitting print data including information on the print start timings (standby times) for each of the printers 50a, 50b, ···, 50n calculated by the print timing calculation unit 113 to each of the printers 50a, 50b, ···, 50n (see step ST09).

[0051] After starting data supply from the host device 10, each of the printers 50a, 50b, ···, 50n connected to the network can execute printing processing on the medium 100 (see FIG. 1(A)) based on the print data after the standby time calculated in advance by the host device 10 (print timing calculation unit 113) and set for each of the printers 50a, 50b, ···, 50n has elapsed. That is, the print control units a, b, ···, n of each of the printers 50a, 50b, ···, 50n can control the ink heads 58 (ink heads 58C, 58M, 58Y, and 58K) based on the print data with the standby time generated and transmitted by the host device 10. When the amount of consumed data from the start to the end of printing does not exceed the amount of supplied data (see “NO” in step ST07), the print control unit 114 skips the execution of the standby time estimation process in step ST08 and issues a print instruction by transmitting each piece of print data transmitted by the host device 10 to each of the printers 50a, 50b, ···, 50n (see step ST09).

[0052] In this way, the printing timing calculation unit 113 of the host device 10 calculates the printing start timing (waiting time) of each of the printers 50a, 50b, ···, 50n based on the data transfer speed and the printing speed between the host device 10 and each of the printers 50a, 50b, ···, 50n connected to the same network 60 (see FIG. 2), so that the data transfer from the host device 10 can keep up with the printing at each of the printers 50a, 50b, ···, 50n. Then, the printing control unit 114 controls each of the printers 50a, 50b, ···, 50n to start printing according to the printing start timing (waiting time) calculated by the printing timing calculation unit 113. Therefore, in an environment where the host device 10 and a plurality of printers 50a, 50b, ···, 50n are connected to the same network 60, even if the data transfer speed between the host device 10 and the printers and the printing speed of the printers are different for each of the printers 50a, 50b, ···, 50n, the printing start timing (waiting time) can be appropriately set for each of the printers 50a, 50b, ···, 50n.

[0053] For this reason, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of so-called underrun, in which the transfer of printing data from the host device 10 cannot keep up and the printing is interrupted in the middle. Also, for each of the printers 50a, 50b, ···, 50n, it is possible to prevent the deterioration of the output image quality due to the change in the ink drying / curing time for each printing location, which occurs when the operation of the printer temporarily stops during printing. Further, it is possible to perform printing so that no unnecessary printing waiting time occurs while preventing the deterioration of the output image quality.

[0054] Further, the transfer speed acquisition unit 111 enables the test data transmission unit 111a to transmit test data to each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n connected to the network, and the reception time measurement unit 111b measures the reception time required for each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n to receive the test data. Then, the transfer speed calculation unit 111c calculates the data transfer speed in each of the printers from the data volume of the test data and the reception time, thereby enabling the acquisition of the data transfer speed with the host device 10. In other words, by actually measuring the data transfer speed, the printing timing calculation unit 113 can accurately calculate and set the time (waiting time) to delay the start of printing. Also, when a plurality of host devices 10 (for example, 10a, 10b, ··· 10n) and a plurality of printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n are connected to the same network, for example, while the host device 10a is transmitting data to each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n, the host device 10b may transmit data to each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n. Even in such a case, the transfer speed acquisition unit 111 of the host device 10b can actually measure the data transfer speed taking into account the usage status of the network between the host device 10a and each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n, and the printing timing calculation unit 113 can accurately calculate and set the time (waiting time) to delay the start of printing with respect to the start of data supply from the host device 10.

[0055] Also, the print control unit 114 (print timing transmission unit 114a) transmits print data including information on the print start timing (waiting time) of each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n calculated by the print timing calculation unit 113 to each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n. As a result, the host device 10 can collectively set the print start timing of each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n, and can expand (perform print processing) the print data to each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n, thereby improving the processing efficiency of the entire printing system 200.

[0056] (Supplementary note: Setting of print start timing) Here, in order to deepen the understanding of the operation of the printing system 200 according to the present invention, a method for calculating the printing start timing (waiting time) will be described with reference to FIGS. 6A to 6E. Here, as the printing data generated by the host device 10 and transmitted to each of the network-connected printers 50a, 50b,... 50n, so-called compressed printing data obtained by compressing the printing data will be used for the description.

[0057] In FIGS. 6A to 6E, the ▽ mark indicates the position of the area pointer P corresponding to the area (area divided for each data range) at the time of supplying the compressed printing data from the host device 10 to each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n. A The △ mark indicates the position of the area pointer P corresponding to the area at the time of consuming the compressed printing data by each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n that has received the supply from the host device 10. B That is.

[0058] First, as a comparative example, with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B, the flow of the operation at the start of printing of the printing system 200 when the printing waiting time is not set in advance will be described. FIG. 6A shows an example of the structure of the compressed data, and FIG. 6B shows the area pointers P A , P B at the start of printing when the printing waiting time is not set in advance (comparative example).

[0059] Here, for example, if the capacity of the printing data before compression is 1000 MB and the overall compression ratio is 70%, the capacity of the compressed printing data will be 700 MB. In the example shown in FIG. 6A, for the sake of simplicity of explanation, the data transfer rate of the compressed printing data supplied from the host device 10 is 75 MB / min, and the amount of data consumed for printing is 100 MB / min. At this time, the compressed printing data is divided into four areas based on the data size of the printing data before compression. For example, when the compression ratios are 70% for the first area (area 1), 90% for the subsequent second area (area 2), 50% for the subsequent third area (area 3), and 70% for the last fourth area (area 4), the printing start timing (waiting time) will be estimated.

[0060] In the comparative example of FIG. 6B, in (a), the area pointers P A and P B indicate positions on the areas of (here, both P A , P B point to the start position of the first area with a compression ratio of 70%, i.e., area 1). In (b), the area pointers P A and P B indicate positions on the areas at about 2.3 minutes after the start of printing when data supply reaches area 2 (the second area with a compression ratio of 90%). In (c), the area pointers P A and P B indicate positions on the areas at about 2.5 minutes after the start of printing when data consumption reaches area 2. In (d), the area pointers P A and P B indicate positions on the areas at about 4 minutes after the start of printing when data consumption catches up with data supply, respectively.

[0061] As described above, in the comparative example of FIG. 6B, in area 1 (the first area), the amount of compressed print data that can be transmitted per unit time (1 minute) is 75 / compression ratio 0.7 = 107 MB, and since the amount of data consumed in printing does not exceed the amount of data received from the upper device 10, no printing waiting time occurs (see (a) - (c) of FIG. 6B). On the other hand, in area 2 (the second area), the amount of compressed print data transmitted per unit time is 75 / compression ratio 0.9 = 83 MB, and the data consumption speed in printing is higher than the supply speed of the compressed print data received from the upper device 10. As a result, during the printing of the compressed print data in area 2 (the second area), the amount of data consumed in printing exceeds the amount of data received from the upper device 10. Therefore, printing temporarily stops due to data waiting as data consumption catches up with data supply. In the comparative example shown in FIG. 6B, printing temporarily stops after about 4 minutes from the start of printing (see (d) of FIG. 6B).

[0062] Figures 6C to 6E show the movement of area pointers P A , P B from step 1 to step 3, respectively, when the printing standby time is set in advance, that is, from the start of printing to the completion of printing in the printing system 200 according to the present invention.

[0063] In the examples (step 1 to step 3) of FIGS. 6C to 6E, similar to the comparative example (FIG. 6B) described above, when the pre-compression print data is 1000 MB and the overall compression rate is 70%, the compressed print data 300 becomes 700 MB. Here, for the sake of simplifying the explanation, when the data transfer rate from the host device 10 is 75 MB / min and the data amount consumed by printing is 100 MB / min, the compressed print data is divided into four areas based on the data size of the print data before compression. For example, when the compression rates are 70% for the first area, 90% for the second area, 50% for the third area, and 70% for the last fourth area, the printing start timing (standby time) is calculated.

[0064] In FIG. 6C, (a) shows the positions indicating the areas of area pointers P A and P B at the start of data supply (both P A , P B indicate the start positions of the first area with a compression rate of 70%). (b) shows the positions indicating the areas of area pointers P A and P B at the start of printing, about 0.4 minutes after the start of data supply. (c) shows the positions indicating the areas of area pointers P A and P B about 2.3 minutes after the start of data supply when the data supply reaches area 2. (d) shows the positions indicating the areas of area pointers P A and P B about 2.5 minutes after the start of printing (about 2.9 minutes after the start of data supply) when the data consumption reaches area 2 (the second area with a compression rate of 90%).

[0065] Continuing, in FIG. 6D, at (e), the positions of area pointers P A and P B indicating on the area where data supply reaches area 3 (the third area) about 5.35 minutes after the start of data supply are, at (f), the positions of area pointers P A and P B indicating on the area where data consumption reaches area 3 (the area with a compression ratio of 50% for the third time) about 5 minutes after the start of printing (= about 5.4 minutes after the start of data supply). At (g), the positions of area pointers P A and P B on the area where data supply reaches area 4 (the last area with a compression ratio of 70% for the fourth time) about 7.0 minutes after the start of data supply are, at (h), the positions of area pointers P A and P B indicating on the area where data consumption reaches area 4 about 7.5 minutes after the start of printing (= about 7.9 minutes after the start of data supply), respectively, are shown.

[0066] Continuing, in the example of FIG. 6E, at (i), the positions of area pointers P A and P B indicating on the area where data supply is completed about 9.3 minutes after the start of data supply are, at (j), the positions of area pointers P A and P B indicating on the area where printing is completed about 10 minutes after the start of printing (= about 10.4 minutes after the start of data supply). (P A , P B both indicating the final positions in the last area 4) are shown, respectively.

[0067] In FIGS. 6C to 6E, before starting printing of the compressed print data, the time required to receive the compressed print data (print waiting time) is calculated and set in advance so that the amount of data consumed by printing does not exceed the amount of data received from the host device 10. In the example of FIGS. 6C to 6E, in area 2 where the data supply speed is faster than the data consumption speed of printing, if the amount of data consumed by printing does not exceed the amount of data received from the host device 10, then throughout the entire printing (areas 1 to 4), the amount of data consumed by printing does not exceed the amount of data received from the host device 10. Therefore, if 0.35 minutes or more, which is the difference between the time it takes for data supply to reach area 3 and the time it takes for data consumption to reach area 3 (5.35 minutes - 5.00 minutes = 0.35 minutes, refer to the start of printing (about 0.4 minutes from the start of printing) shown in FIG. 6B (b)), is set in advance as the print waiting time with respect to the start of data supply from the host device 10, the amount of data consumed by printing will not exceed the amount of data received by the host device 10, and as a result, the occurrence of underrun can be suppressed. The above calculation of the print start timing (waiting time) is performed for each printer 50a, 50b,... 50n.

[0068] (Appendix) As described above, the printing system 200 according to the present invention is, for example, a printing system 200 in which at least one host device 10 and a plurality of printers 50a, 50b,... 50n are connected via the same network 60 as shown in FIG. 2. And, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, the printing system 200 includes a transfer speed acquisition unit 111 that acquires the data transfer speed between the host device 10 and each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n, a printing speed calculation unit 112 that calculates the printing speed of each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n, and a printing timing calculation unit 113 that calculates the printing start timing of each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n so that data transfer from the host device 10 can keep up with printing at each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n based on the data transfer speed and the printing speed of each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n, and a printing control unit 114 that controls each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n to start printing according to the printing start timing calculated by the printing timing calculation unit 113. And each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n starts each printing at its respective printing start timing according to the control by the printing control unit 114.

[0069] According to the printing system 200 of the present invention, the printing timing calculation unit 113 of the host device 10 calculates the printing start timing of each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n so that data transfer from the host device 10 can keep up with printing at each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n based on the data transfer speed and the printing speed of each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n connected to the same network 60, and the printing control unit 114 controls each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n to start printing according to the printing start timing calculated by the printing timing calculation unit 113.

[0070] Thus, in an environment where the host device 10 and the plurality of printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n are connected to the same network 60, even if the data transfer speed between the host device 10 and the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n and the printing speeds of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n are different for each printer 50a, 50b, ··· 50n, it is possible to appropriately set the printing start timing for each printer 50a, 50b, ··· 50n. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of so-called underrun, in which the transfer of print data from the host device 10 is not in time and printing is interrupted in the middle. In addition, it is possible to prevent deterioration of the output image quality due to changes in the drying / curing time of the ink for each printing location, which occurs when the operation of the printer temporarily stops during printing for each printer 50a, 50b, ··· 50n. Further, printing can be performed so that no wasted printing waiting time occurs while preventing image quality deterioration.

[0071] Also, in the printing system 200 according to the present invention, the transfer speed acquisition unit 111 can transmit test data to each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n (for example, the test data transmission unit 111a), measure the reception time required for each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n to receive the test data (for example, the reception time measurement unit 111b), and calculate the data transfer speed in each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n from the data amount and reception time of the test data (for example, the transfer speed calculation unit 111c).

[0072] According to the printing system 200 according to the present invention, the transfer speed acquisition unit 111 actually measures the data transfer speed and supplies it to the printing timing calculation unit 113, so that the printing timing calculation unit 113 can accurately calculate and set the time (waiting time) to delay the printing start with respect to the start of data supply from the host device 10.

[0073] Also, in the printing system 200 according to the present invention, the printing speed calculation unit 112 calculates the printing speed of each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n based on the printing conditions set for each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n. Therefore, the printing speed of each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n can be easily calculated based on the printing conditions set by the user.

[0074] Also, in the printing system 200 according to the present invention, the printing control unit 114 transmits the print data including the information on the printing start timing of each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n calculated by the printing timing calculation unit 113 to each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n. Therefore, the host device 10 can collectively set the printing start timing of each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n and can expand (print process) the print data to each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n, and as a result, the processing efficiency of the entire printing system 200 can be improved.

[0075] Also, the printing control method according to the present invention is, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, a printing control method for controlling a plurality of printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n by at least one host device 10 connected via the same network 60. And the method includes, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, a step of acquiring the data transfer speed between each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n (see steps S1 to S7), a step of calculating the printing speed of each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n (see steps S8 and S9), a step of calculating the printing start timing of each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n based on the data transfer speed and the printing speed of each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n so that the data transfer from the host device 10 in time for printing at each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n (see step S10), and a step of performing control to start printing on each of the printers 50a, 50b, ··· 50n according to the calculated printing start timing of each (see steps S11 to S16).

[0076] According to the printing control method of the present invention, the host device 10 calculates the printing start timing of each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n based on the data transfer speed and the printing speed of each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n connected to the same network 60, so that the data transfer from the host device 10 can keep up with the printing at each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n, and controls to start printing on each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n according to the calculated printing start timing. Thus, in an environment where the host device 10 and a plurality of printers 50a, 50b,... 50n are connected to the same network 60, even when the data transfer speed between the host device 10 and the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n and the printing speed of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n are different for each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n, the printing start timing can be appropriately set for each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of so-called underrun, in which the transfer of printing data from the host device 10 cannot keep up and the printing is interrupted in the middle. Also, for each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n, it is possible to prevent the deterioration of the output image quality due to the change in the drying / curing time of the ink for each printing location, which occurs when the operation of the printer temporarily stops during printing. In addition, it is possible to perform printing so that no unnecessary printing waiting time occurs while preventing image quality deterioration.

[0077] Also, a program according to the present invention is, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, a program for a host device 10 that controls a plurality of printers 50a, 50b,... 50n via the same network 60 as the plurality of printers 50a, 50b,... 50n. And the program causes, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, a processor included in the host device 10 to execute a process of obtaining a data transfer speed between each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n (see ST01 to ST04), a process of calculating a printing speed of each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n (see ST05, ST06), a process of calculating a printing start timing for each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n so that data transfer from the host device 10 can catch up with printing on each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n based on the data transfer speed and the printing speed of each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n (see ST07, ST08), and a process of performing control to start printing on each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n according to the calculated printing start timing for each (see ST09).

[0078] According to the program according to the present invention, for example, a processor (or MPU, MCU) of the host device 10 calculates the print start timings of the respective printers 50a, 50b,... 50n connected to the same network 60 based on the data transfer speed and the print speed of each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n according to a program recorded in a ROM, and controls each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n to start printing according to the calculated respective print start timings. In this way, in an environment where the host device 10 and the plurality of printers 50a, 50b,... 50n are connected to the same network 60, even if the data transfer speed between the host device 10 and the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n and the print speeds of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n are different for each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n, the print start timings can be appropriately set for each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of so-called underrun in which the transfer of print data from the host device 10 is not in time and printing is interrupted halfway. Also, it is possible to prevent deterioration of the output image quality due to a change in the ink drying / curing time for each printed portion, which occurs when the operation of the printer temporarily stops during printing for each of the printers 50a, 50b,... 50n. Further, it is possible to perform printing so that no unnecessary printing waiting time occurs while preventing image quality deterioration.

[0079] The present invention is not limited to the above-described exemplary embodiments, and those skilled in the art will be able to easily modify the above-described exemplary embodiments to the extent included in the scope of the claims.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0080] 10... upper device, 11... processing unit, 12... memory unit, 13... communication unit, 20... display unit, 42, 44... folders, 51... processing unit, 52... memory unit, 53... communication unit, 50a, 50b, 50n... printers, 54... ink cartridge, 58... ink head, 59... operation panel, 60... network, 100... medium, 110... main processing unit, 111... transfer speed acquisition unit, 111a... test data transmission unit, 111b... reception time measurement unit, 111c... transfer speed calculation unit, 112... printing speed calculation unit, 112a... printing condition acquisition unit, 113... printing timing calculation unit, 114... printing control unit, 114a... printing timing transmission unit, 200... printing system.

Claims

1. A printing system in which at least one host device and a plurality of printers are connected via the same network, The higher-level device is a transfer rate acquisition unit that acquires a data transfer rate between each of the printers; a print speed calculation unit for calculating a print speed of each of the printers; a print timing calculation unit that calculates a print start timing for each of the printers based on the data transfer rate and the print rate of each of the printers so that the data transfer from the host device is in time for printing in each of the printers; a print control unit that controls each of the printers to start printing in accordance with the print start timing calculated by the print timing calculation unit; Each of the printers is The printing system starts each printing at each print start timing according to control by the print control unit.

2. The transfer rate acquisition unit 2. The printing system according to claim 1, further comprising: a printer controller for controlling a data transfer speed of each of said printers based on a data amount of said test data and said reception time; a printer controller for controlling a data transfer speed of each of said printers based on a data amount of said test data and said reception time;

3. The printing speed calculation unit 2. The printing system according to claim 1, further comprising: a printing speed of each of said printers calculated based on printing conditions set in each of said printers.

4. The print control unit 2. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein print data including information on the print start timing of each of the printers calculated by the timing calculation unit is transmitted to each of the printers.

5. A print control method for controlling a plurality of printers by at least one host device connected to the plurality of printers via the same network, comprising: obtaining a data transfer rate to and from each of said printers; calculating a print speed of each of the printers; calculating a print start timing for each of the printers based on the data transfer rate and the print rate of each of the printers so that the data transfer from the host device is in time for printing by each of the printers; and controlling each of the printers to start printing in accordance with the calculated print start timings.

6. A program for controlling a plurality of printers by at least one host device connected to the plurality of printers via the same network, comprising: A processor of the higher-level device includes: obtaining a data transfer rate between each of the printers; calculating a printing speed of each of the printers; A process of calculating a print start timing for each of the printers based on the data transfer rate and the print rate of each of the printers so that the data transfer from the host device is in time for printing by each of the printers; a program for executing a process of controlling the respective printers to start printing in accordance with the respective calculated print start timings;

Images