Industrial printing system, print server, and variable print method

Abstract

To provide an industrial printing system capable of securing a print quality when requesting a variable print of a production print in peer-to-peer.SOLUTION: An industrial printing system X comprises: a plurality of print servers 1a, 1b, and 1c; print devices 2a, 2b, and 2c; and inspection devices 3a, 3b, and 3c, and performs a variable print of print data 200 of a production print. Each of the plurality of print servers 1a, 1b, and 1c, comprises an inspection master generation part 100 and a processing management part 110. The inspection master generation part 100 generates master data 210 for inspection processing and an inspection to which a fair quality reference is set for the print data 200. The processing management part 110 transmits the print data 200 and the master data 210 generated by the inspection master generation part 100 to the other print server, and performs a processing request. Each of the inspection devices 3a, 3b, and 3c performs an inspection of a print material by the print data 200 on the basis of the master data 210.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention particularly relates to an industrial printing system, a print server, and a variable printing method for performing variable printing in industrial printing (production printing).

Background Art

[0002] In a typical printing system including a plurality of printers, referring to Patent Document 1, there is a printing system that performs so-called ubiquitous printing. In this system, in a printing system including a plurality of printers (MFPs), when a first MFP receives a job from a PC that has issued a ubiquitous job, if the print settings can be processed by its own printing function, it saves the job in memory, and if it cannot be processed, it transfers the job to the next MFP. This process is performed in the order from the first MFP to the Nth MFP defined in advance. As a result, the ubiquitous job is saved in the memory of the MFP that can process it. As a result, in the printing system, the waiting time until the user obtains a printed matter can be suppressed.

[0003] Also, referring to Patent Document 2, there is a variable printing inspection apparatus for inspecting a printed matter of variable printing, which includes an image synthesis unit that synthesizes an object in a fixed area and a variable area of variable printing to generate a synthesized image, a printing unit that prints the synthesized image on paper to create a printed matter, an image reading unit that reads the printed matter and outputs a scanned image, and an inspection unit that determines the quality of the printed matter based on the result of comparing the synthesized image and the scanned image. The inspection unit uses the object synthesized in the fixed area as a comparison target and compares the fixed area according to a first determination criterion. Thereby, a variable printing inspection apparatus and a variable printing inspection method capable of appropriately performing the inspection of variable printing can be provided.

[0004] On the other hand, in industrial printing called production printing using a commercial (industrial) printing device, the constituent members of the final product are manufactured by dividing the work among multiple processes. For example, in the case of bookbinding, the cover, the body (color), the body (black and white), promotional materials, bands, shipping envelopes, etc. are each processed as different jobs. And in the middle process, while combining each job, it is finished as the final product book.

[0005] Furthermore, in recent years, in digital printing of production printing, industrial printing called variable printing, where the output changes for each record, has been carried out. Variable printing is used for personalized printed materials, etc. Variable printing is one of the purposes for printing companies to introduce digital production printing devices.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0007] Here, when performing distributed printing on a plurality of printers, the printing from the printers at the distribution destination may not result in the expected result due to reasons such as printer settings and status. On the contrary, in the case of higher quality than expected, if printed materials that do not meet that high quality are generated, they become waste paper. For this reason, it has been required to guarantee that the printing result at the distribution destination is as expected by the requester. However, the conventional technology as described in Patent Document 1 could not cope with such problems.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object thereof is to provide an industrial printing system that solves the above-mentioned problems.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0009] The industrial printing system of the present invention includes a plurality of print servers, printing devices, and inspection devices, and is an industrial printing system that variably prints print data for production printing. Each of the plurality of print servers includes an inspection master generation unit that generates master data for inspection for which inspection processing and quality standard are set for the print data, and a processing management unit that transmits the print data and the master data generated by the inspection master generation unit to other print servers to request processing. The inspection device is characterized by inspecting printed matter of the print data based on the master data. The print server of the present invention is a print server of an industrial printing system that variably prints print data for production printing, and includes an inspection master generation unit that generates master data for inspection for which inspection processing and quality standard are set for the print data, and a processing management unit that transmits the print data and the master data generated by the inspection master generation unit to other print servers to request processing. The variable printing method of the present invention is a variable printing method executed by an industrial printing system that includes a plurality of print servers including a self-print server and other print servers and performs variable printing of production printing. The self-print server generates master data for inspection for which inspection processing and quality standard are set for the print data, the self-print server transmits the print data and the generated master data to other print servers to request processing, and an inspection device of the other print server inspects printed matter of the print data based on the master data.

Advantages of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, inspection master data for which inspection processing and good product standards are set for print data is generated, the print data and the generated master data are transmitted to another print server, and the other print server inspects the printed matter by the print data based on the master data, thereby providing an industrial printing system capable of ensuring that the printing result at the distribution destination is as expected by the requester.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0011]

Figure 1

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Figure 8

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0012] <Embodiment> 〔Configuration of Industrial Printing System X〕 First, with reference to FIG. 1, an example of the overall system configuration of the industrial printing system X according to the present embodiment will be described. Industrial printing system X is a system that variably prints the print data 200 (Fig. 3) for industrial printing (production printing). In this embodiment, industrial printing system X executes the output by the printing process and the post-processing process (hereinafter also simply referred to as "printing") in production printing, and the inspection of the printed matter output (hereinafter also simply referred to as "product inspection").

[0013] Here, in industrial printing system X of this embodiment, the final product such as a book to be output is regarded as an "order", the print data 200 (Fig. 3) is printed as an order, and the printed matter is inspected.

[0014] Industrial printing system X is such that bases (printing lines) such as printing companies and printing factories equipped with a print server 1 and a component device (group) are connected and coordinated via a network 5. In this embodiment, the component device is a printing-related device including a printing device 2, an inspection device 3, etc.

[0015] In Fig. 1, as an example of the cooperation between these bases, an example is shown in which the print servers 1a, 1b, 1c,... of the printing lines A, B, C,... are connected via the network 5. Further, in this example, in the printing lines A, B, C,..., the printing devices 2a, 2b, 2c,... and the inspection devices 3a, 3b, 3c,... are connected to the print servers 1a, 1b, 1c,....

[0016] Hereinafter, any one of these print servers 1a, 1b, 1c,... is simply referred to as print server 1. Similarly, any one of the printing devices 2a, 2b, 2c,... is simply referred to as printing device 2. Similarly, any one of the inspection devices 3a, 3b, 3c,... is simply referred to as inspection device 3.

[0017] Specifically, the print server 1 is an information processing device that serves as a print controller and a DFE (Digital Front End) for managing and controlling printing-related devices (hereinafter referred to as "component devices"). The print server 1 is composed of a PC (Personal Computer) server, a dedicated machine, a general-purpose machine, etc. In this embodiment, the print server 1 performs distributed processing of print data 200 (Figure 3) in peer-to-peer production printing by executing dedicated print management (order output management) application software (hereinafter simply referred to as "app"). This print management app (hereinafter referred to as the "dedicated app") may execute a common platform for print design creation, user management, tenant management, security management, maintenance notification services, prepress processing management, storage management of each document, management of the printing device 2, inspection of printed materials, etc.

[0018] In this embodiment, the print server 1 transmits and receives various instructions and information to and from the printing device 2 and the inspection device 3 in production printing. Thereby, the print server 1 makes requests for processing print data 200, inspects printed materials, and manages the status of each device.

[0019] In this embodiment, the print server 1 that is the processing request source (the side that requests processing) is hereinafter referred to as the "self-print server". On the other hand, the print server 1 that is the side that receives the processing request is hereinafter referred to as the "other print server". That is, in this embodiment, this self-print server makes a request for processing print data 200, and the other print server transmits inspection results and reports "defects" (hereinafter simply referred to as "defect reports") where quality cannot be guaranteed based on the inspection results.

[0020] The printing device 2 is an industrial printer including an image forming device, an automated offset printing device, etc. The printing device 2 is capable of executing processes of printing operations such as small-lot printing or large-volume (multi-lot) offset printing. In the present embodiment, the printing device 2 may include a post-processing device (post-treatment device) for executing processes of post-treatment steps such as folding, collating, binding, cutting, and binding of the printed recording paper.

[0021] The inspection device 3 is a device for inspecting printed matter. The inspection device includes, for example, an imaging device such as a scanner or a camera for scanning or imaging the printed matter, a paper feed mechanism, a controller (information processing device) capable of OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and image recognition, etc.

[0022] In the present embodiment, the inspection device 3 images the printed matter and performs inspection based on the master data 210 (FIG. 3). This printed matter may be printed by the printing device 2 at the same site based on the printing data 200. At the time of this inspection, the inspection device 3 can also identify one-dimensional and two-dimensional barcodes in addition to characters. In addition, the inspection device 3 can perform inspection after printing, before or after post-treatment.

[0023] The network 5 is a LAN (Local Area Network), a wireless LAN (Wi-Fi), a mobile phone network, other WANs (Wide Area Networks), an industrial network, a voice telephone network, other dedicated lines, etc. The network 5 can transmit and receive various commands and data to and from each device. Further, the print server 1 and each component device may also be connected by the LAN or USB (Universal Serial Bus) etc. among the network 5. In addition, a VPN (Virtual Private Network) etc. may be set in the network 5.

[0024] In addition, as the component device(s) according to this embodiment, in the industrial printing system X, a design device for performing designs such as variable printing, a management device for managing the status of each device and requesting processing, a terminal used by an administrator or other users, a shipping server for managing the shipping of orders sent after the printing process or post-processing process is completed at each site, etc. may be provided.

[0025] Note that there may be a plurality of these devices according to the application, printing scale, etc. Each device can be connected to the print server 1 via various protocols through a network 5 or the like. Alternatively, the print server 1 and each device may be directly connected by wire using various interfaces. In addition, at each site, other types of component devices managed by the print server 1 may be provided.

[0026] 〔Control Configuration of Print Server 1〕 Next, with reference to FIG. 2, the control configuration of the print server 1 will be described. The print server 1 includes a control unit 10, a network transmission / reception unit 15, a storage unit 19, etc. Each unit is connected to the control unit 10 and is operationally controlled by the control unit 10.

[0027] The control unit 10 is an information processing unit such as a GPP (General Purpose Processor), CPU (Central Processing Unit), MPU (Micro Processing Unit), DSP (Digital Signal Processor), GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, processor for specific applications). The control unit 10 reads out the control program stored in the ROM or HDD of the storage unit 19, expands this control program in the RAM, and executes it, thereby operating as each part of the functional blocks described later. Also, the control unit 10 controls the entire apparatus according to the instruction information input from the administrator terminal or the general terminal.

[0028] The network transmission / reception unit 15 is a network connection unit including a LAN board for connecting to the network 5, a wireless transceiver, and the like. The network transmission / reception unit 15 transmits and receives data over the data communication line, and transmits and receives voice signals over the voice telephone line.

[0029] The storage unit 19 is a non-temporary recording medium including semiconductor memories such as ROM (Read Only Memory) and RAM (Random Access Memory), and magnetic storage such as HDD (Hard Disk Drive). A control program for controlling the operation of the print server 1 is stored in the ROM or HDD of the storage unit 19. This control program includes an OS (Operating System), middleware on the OS, services (daemons), various applications, data in the database, and the like. Among these, the various applications include the dedicated applications described above.

[0030] In the present embodiment, the storage unit 19 stores a program and data for rasterization process (hereinafter abbreviated as "rasterize" or "RIP") for converting the image data of the vector (line drawing) into the image data for printing (raster data). This program and data for rasterization process also include commercial libraries, fonts, and the like. For each print server 1, the commercial libraries, fonts, and the like may be different, and due to this difference or other reasons, the output results of the print data 200 (FIG. 3) may be different. However, if this difference exceeds the allowable range, it may be reported as a defect. In addition, the storage unit 19 also stores information on each component device connected to the same printing line, control programs, and the like. This control program includes device drivers, middleware, etc. for issuing instructions to the printing device 2 and the inspection device 3. Furthermore, the storage unit 19 may also store a distribution destination setting indicating another print server as the distribution destination for requesting processing, an account setting for a user of the industrial printing system X, and other data.

[0031] Note that in the print server 1, the control unit 10 may be integrally formed, such as a GPU - built - in CPU, a chip - on - module package, a SOC (System On a Chip), etc. Also, the control unit 10 may incorporate a RAM, a ROM, a flash memory, etc.

[0032] 〔Functional Configuration of Print Server 1〕 Here, referring to FIG. 3, the functional configuration of the print server 1 will be described. The control unit 10 of the print server 1 includes an inspection master generation unit 100 and a process management unit 110. The storage unit 19 stores print data 200 and master data 210.

[0033] The inspection master generation unit 100 generates master data 210 for inspection in which inspection processing and good product criteria are set for the print data 200.

[0034] When it comes to its own printing server, the processing management unit 110 sends the print data 200 and the master data 210 generated by the inspection master generation unit 100 to another printing server and requests processing. At this time, the processing management unit 110 may select and determine another printing server based on the distribution destination settings stored in the storage unit 19. The processing management unit 110 can also send a job ticket including the print data 200 to another printing server to request printing and post-processing. Here, when there is a defect report from another printing server, the processing management unit 110 sets a different printing server 1 from the other printing server with the defect report as the new other printing server. Then, the processing management unit 110 sends the corresponding print data 200 to the newly set other printing server and requests processing.

[0035] In the case of another printing server, the processing management unit 110 generates a job ticket and causes the printing device 2 in the printing process of the component device to perform printing. After printing, this printed matter may be post-processed by a post-processing device. The processing management unit 110 makes a determination when the printed matter is inspected as defective by the inspection device 3. At this time, the processing management unit 110 selects whether to print again or send a defect report to the printing server (its own printing server) that is the processing request source based on the master data 210.

[0036] In addition, in this embodiment, the inspection device 3 inspects the printed matter on which the print data 200 is printed based on the master data 210. In this embodiment, the inspection device 3 performs inspection for each record. In this embodiment, the inspection device 3 reads the ID printed by the ID data 320 to identify the record. At this time, the processing management unit 110 of another printing server causes the inspection device 3 to perform inspection in units of records according to the received master data 210.

[0037] The print data 200 is data of a variable job (hereinafter referred to as "variable job") that summarizes a variable document used in variable printing and various data related thereto. Specifically, the print data 200 is data of a print manuscript whose design is set according to an order. The print data 200 may be described in JDF (Job Description Format) and / or JMF (Job Messaging Format). This JDF and / or JMF may include, for example, PDF (Portable Document Format), PS (Post Script) data, other vector data, data in a format for submission, other raster image data, and the like. Details of the print data 200 will be described later.

[0038] The master data 210 is data of an image or characters of an inspection master that is a comparison target for inspection, and data in which how to inspect the inspected product with the inspection device 3 and the like are set. In the present embodiment, by comparing the master data 210 with various inspection processing methods, it is possible to guarantee the quality when the output is performed at each processing destination. Details of the master data 210 will also be described later.

[0039] (Details of the print data 200) Next, details of the print data 200 will be described. In the present embodiment, the print data 200 includes form data 300, variable data 310, and ID data 320. These data may be included as attribute data in the print data 200.

[0040] The form data 300 is data including a common form or the like for performing variable printing. This common form is a portion that basically does not change (is fixed) during printing. Specifically, the form data 300 may be, for example, data such as PDF, PS, PDL (Page Description Language), XML (Extensible Markup Language), PPML (Personalized Print Markup Language), etc. Among these, the PDF may be PDF / X which is a subset of the standard PDF defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO15930), or a simpler PDF, etc.

[0041] Furthermore, the form data 300 may include, for example, image data such as jpg, gif, BMP, PNG, TIFF, etc., other document data, or other data. In addition, the form data 300 may include layout information that defines the layout on the page, etc. This layout information may include format information such as the position (coordinates) on the form page, size, font size of the variable data 310, left alignment, center alignment, right alignment, etc. Furthermore, in addition, the form data 300 may also include the definition of the elements of the variable data 310, data that explains the items of the elements, data that indicates the target of the attributes, etc.

[0042] The variable data 310 is data for variable output that changes the printed content during printing. The variable data 310 may be embedded, for example, in a tabular format including a plurality of records, a database format such as XML, etc. within the print data 200. Alternatively, the variable data 310 may be separately added as a file in a format that is easy to handle as a database. In this case, the variable data 310 may be a database such as a tab-separated or comma-separated file, a file of a spreadsheet application, other types of database files, a list file, etc.

[0043] The ID data 320 is the data of the ID printed for each record. The ID data 320 may be, for example, an image object or character data for drawing characters or numbers of the ID for inspection, one-dimensional or two-dimensional barcodes, etc. This image object or character data may be configured to be printed on the area to be cut and removed in post-processing, the cover, etc.

[0044] In addition to this, the print data 200 may include the type of job, the name of the project (order), various processing attribute information, print resources, etc. This processing attribute information may have the number of copies, presence or absence of collation, presence or absence of recording, cutting mm number, print direction, print status, priority, etc. set. Among these, the type of job includes the job in the printing process (print job) and the job in the post-processing process (post-processing job). The print resources are information on various resources necessary for printing instructions such as ICC profiles. Other resource data necessary for printing is also included in this print resource. Note that at least a part of the print data 200 may be described in a format corresponding to JDF and / or JMF.

[0045] (Details of the master data 210) Next, the details of the master data 210 will be described with reference to FIG. 4. In the present embodiment, the master data 210 includes a processing standard setting 330, a character image master 340, and variable data 311.

[0046] The inspection standard setting 330 is data indicating the inspection processing method and the acceptable product standard in the unit of the object of the print data 200. This inspection processing method indicates how to compare with the master. Specifically, as the inspection processing method, for example, the processing performed during inspection by an inspection device 3 such as OCR check, scan, barcode scan, etc. can be set. For each method, more detailed settings are also possible. For example, in the case of OCR check, the threshold of the matching rate of the recognized characters, exact match, etc. can be set. In the case of scan, "High", "Mid", "Low", etc. can also be set as the resolution (Dot Per Inch). Here, the acceptable product standard can be set according to the inspection processing method. For example, in the case of scan, the threshold of color difference and pixel number difference, etc. can be set. This threshold may vary depending on the above-mentioned resolution. For example, when the resolution is low, a threshold that allows some differences due to scratches or misalignments may be set. On the other hand, when the resolution is high, a threshold that makes the allowance for differences more strict may be set.

[0047] Furthermore, the inspection standard setting 330 can also set the threshold of the reporting standard for whether to reprint on another print server or report the defect to the own print server of the requester. This threshold of the reporting standard may be set based on criteria such as whether reprinting may improve the quality due to dirt, dust, print misalignment, ink or equipment adjustment failure, etc., or whether proper printing is impossible with the printing device 2 of another print server.

[0048] In addition, the inspection standard setting 330 includes the coordinates of the area of the object to be checked by the inspection device 3 within the print data 200, the name and ID of the object, information indicating whether it is fixed data or variable data 310 within the form, and data related to the inspection master. The data related to this inspection master includes the character or image data of the corresponding character image master 340.

[0049] In addition, the processing standard setting 330 may include data indicating the processing capacity when performing rasterization in the print server 1. For example, the processing standard setting 330 includes color profile information including information such as an ICC profile, spot color information including information on a commercial library related to color specification, font information including information on a commercial font, image processing information, and plugin information related to plugin processing. Further, the processing standard setting 330 may include information on the processing capacity in the printing process by the printing device 2 and in the post-processing step.

[0050] The character image master 340 is character data of an object for inspection, image data of the area of the object, etc., which serves as a comparison inspection master. For the character image master 340, for example, it is possible to set whether the inspection master is a fixed image or character string, variable (variable) data obtained from the variable data 310, the data source (position) of the image or character string, etc. Specifically, the inspection master set in the character image master 340 may be the character data or image data itself, or information about the position of the data source of the character data or image data. As the position of this data source, it is possible to set an image, character string, position of the variable data 311 in the print data 200, or an external URL (Uniform Resource Locator), etc.

[0051] The variable data 311 is data for inspecting each record of the print data 200. The variable data 311 may be a subset, reduced data, etc. generated by extracting a part from the variable data 310 of the print data 200 for inspection.

[0052] In addition to this, the storage unit 19 may include data on job tickets and distribution conditions related to job allocation. This job ticket is setting data for requesting a printing or post-processing job. This setting data includes necessary settings including, for example, the pasting position and post-processing. Also, the job ticket may be described in JDF and / or JMF.

[0053] Here, the control unit 10 of the print server 1 functions as an inspection master generation unit 100 and a process management unit 110 by executing the control program stored in the storage unit 19. In addition, each unit of the above-described print server 1 is a hardware resource for executing the variable printing method of the present invention. Note that a part or any combination of the above-described functional configurations may be configured in a hardware or circuit manner by an IC, programmable logic, an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or the like.

[0054] 〔Variable Quality Assurance Process by Industrial Printing System X〕 Next, with reference to FIGS. 4 to 8, a variable quality assurance process for executing the variable printing method by the print server 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the variable quality assurance process of the present embodiment, the print server itself generates inspection master data 210 for which inspection processing and good product criteria are set for the print data 200. Then, the print data 200 and the generated master data 210 are transmitted to another print server and a processing request is made. Here, the other print server causes the inspection device 3 to inspect the printed matter on which the print data 200 is printed based on the master data 210.

[0055] In the variable quality assurance process according to the present embodiment, as a representative example, the print server 1a on the print line A is set as the own print server (the side that requests processing, the request source), and the print servers 1b and 1c on the print lines B and C are set as other print servers (the side that is requested to process, the distribution destination). Here, an example in which the print server 1a first selects the print server 1c as another print server will be described.

[0056] In the variable quality assurance process according to this embodiment, an example will be described in which the control unit 10 of each print server 1 executes a program stored in the storage unit 19 in cooperation with each unit using hardware resources. Hereinafter, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 4, the details of the variable quality assurance process will be described step by step.

[0057] (Step S100) First, the inspection master generation unit 100 performs print data acquisition processing. The inspection master generation unit 100 acquires print data 200 to be subjected to distributed processing from a design device, an administrator terminal, or the like. Alternatively, the inspection master generation unit 100 may generate print data 200 peer-to-peer in cooperation with a design device or an administrator terminal. In this case, a web browser or a dedicated application may be executed on the design device or the administrator terminal, and print data 200 may be created in the GUI (Graphical User Interface) of the screen of the dedicated application from template data. When generating this print data 200, settings for generating master data 210, settings for processing criteria 330, etc. may be performed.

[0058] FIG. 5 shows an example of a printed matter of the generated print data 200 and where to perform inspection. In this example, a four-page booklet is printed. Among these, there is an area of an object that is in the form data 300 and does not change (is fixed) for each record. In this example, the image of "fixed image A" is inspected. Also, there is an area of an object that is printed based on variable data 310 and changes (is variable) for each record. The areas of these variable objects include the image of the two-dimensional barcode "barcode data A", the character strings "variable strings A, B", and the image "variable image A".

[0059] (Step S101) Next, the inspection master generation unit 100 performs master data generation processing. The inspection master generation unit 100 sets the master data 210 for the print data 200 based on a macro language, user specifications using CUI or GUI, etc. The inspection master generation unit 100 generates a processing standard setting 330 in which inspection processing and good product standards are set for the print data 200.

[0060] At this time, the inspection master generation unit 100 identifies the area of each object to be checked in the print data 200, and creates the master data 210 including character information, images at specific locations, etc. As this object, for example, as described above, the "fixed string" which is an object of a fixed string, the "variable string" which is an object of a variable string, the "fixed image" which is an object of a fixed image, the area may be specified in categories such as the "variable image" which is an object of a variable image and the "barcode data". On top of this, the inspection master generation unit 100 sets the inspection processing method and the good product standard in the inspection for each identified area in the processing standard setting 330. Further, the inspection master generation unit 100 can also set whether to include data in the master data 210 as the data source of the characters and images of each object, specify the position on the print data 200, or specify it as a separate file with a URL.

[0061] FIG. 6 shows an example in which the inspection processing method, fixed or variable, data source, and good product standard are set for the area (check area) of each object in FIG. 5 described above.

[0062] Here, regarding the area of the variable object, the inspection master generation unit 100 may extract only the record information of the corresponding area of the print data 200 and also include the master data 210 as the variable data 311.

[0063] In the example of FIG. 7, the inspection master generation unit 100 generates variable data 311 that is only the information used as the data source of the master data 210 from the variable data 310 of the print data 200. Thus, the variable data 311 may be a subset of the variable data 310.

[0064] Furthermore, the inspection master generation unit 100 can include ID data 320 printed for each record in the print data 200. Specifically, for each record to be inspected, objects such as characters or numbers of the inspection ID, one-dimensional or two-dimensional barcodes, etc. are included in an area outside the cutting location or on the cover, etc. that can be recognized by the inspection device 3. This enables the printed matter of each record to be identified.

[0065] (Step S102) Next, the process management unit 110 performs a process request process. The process management unit 110 selects another print server that can process the print data 200. Specifically, the process management unit 110 selects the print server 1 that can accept requests as another print server according to the settings set as the distribution conditions. At this time, the process management unit 110 can determine whether the print data 200 can be processed based on, for example, the schedule information, capacity information, etc. of each print server 1 stored in the storage unit 19.

[0066] An example in which the process management unit 110 first selects the print server 1c on the print line C as another print server will be described with reference to FIG. 8.

[0067] After another print server is selected, the process management unit 110 transmits the print data 200 and the master data 210 generated by the inspection master generation unit 100 to the said another print server and requests processing. That is, when the process management unit 110 transfers the print data 200 to the destination printer, the master data 210 for inspection corresponding to the print data 200 is also transmitted.

[0068] Specifically, the processing management unit 110 may generate a job ticket including print data 200 and master data 210. At this time, the print data 200 and the master data 210 may be encrypted. Then, the processing management unit 110 transmits this job ticket to a selected other print server to request processing. In the example of FIG. 8, the processing management unit 110 transmits a job ticket including print data 200 and master data 210 to the print server 1c.

[0069] (Step S201) Here, the printing process executed by the other print server will be described. Here, the process performed by the print server 1c selected as the other print server will be described. The processing management unit 110 (print server 1c) of the other print server acquires a job ticket from its own print server (print server 1a). Then, the processing management unit 110 performs rasterization processing on each record of the print data 200 to generate rasterized data. The processing management unit 110 stores the rasterized data in the storage unit 19. This rasterized data may be different image data in record units. Then, the processing management unit 110 causes the connected printing device 2 to output based on the generated rasterized data. Thereby, the print data 200 is printed. At this time, the ID data 320 is also printed on each record. Note that the processing management unit 110 can also cause the post-processing device to perform post-processing thereafter.

[0070] (Step S202) Next, the processing management unit 110 performs an inspection process. The processing management unit 110 transmits an instruction to the inspection device 3 to cause inspection based on the master data 210. The processing management unit 110 transmits the master data 210 included in the job ticket to the connected inspection device 3. The inspection device 3 inspects the printed matter on which the print data 200 is output based on the settings of the master data 210. At this time, the inspection device 3 reads the printed ID to identify the record, compares it with the master data 210 for each object to perform inspection, and outputs the inspection result. The inspection device 3 transmits the ID of this record and the inspection result to the processing management unit 110. This inspection result also includes information on the printed matter that is judged as good or defective in the inspection.

[0071] (Step S203) Next, the processing management unit 110 determines whether a defect report is necessary. The processing management unit 110 determines Yes when the information of the object whose inspection result exceeds the threshold of the reporting standard is included. In the above example, the processing management unit 110 may determine Yes when the possibility of improving the print quality of "Fixed Image A" is low and printing is impossible with the printing device 2 of another print server. Or, the processing management unit 110 may determine Yes when "Barcode Data A" results in an error in barcode scanning. Or, the processing management unit 110 may determine Yes when "Variable Character Strings A, B" do not exactly match the character string of the corresponding record of the variable data 311 of the master data 210 in the OCR check due to character garbling, font differences, etc. Or, the processing management unit 110 may determine Yes when the color difference and the pixel number threshold of the variable image A exceed a specific ratio. The processing management unit 110 determines No when there is a possibility that the quality can be improved by printing again in other cases. If Yes, the processing management unit 110 advances the process to step S204. If No, the processing management unit 110 changes the settings based on the inspection result, causes the printing device 2 to print the defective record again, and causes the inspection device 3 to inspect it again.

[0072] (Step S204) When a defect report is necessary, the processing management unit 110 performs defect report processing. Another print server transmits, as a defect report, that the print quality is defective and does not meet the good product standard to the own print server of the requester. Furthermore, after printing all records, the processing management unit 110 may transmit the inspection result of the printed matter together with the printing result to the self-print server of the requester.

[0073] FIG. 8 shows an example of transmitting this defect report and inspection result to the print server 1a which is the self-print server.

[0074] (Step S103) Here, the processing of the self-print server will be described again. The processing management unit 110 of the self-print server (print server 1a) determines whether a defect report has been received. If the processing management unit 110 receives a defect report, it determines Yes. If the processing management unit 110 does not receive a defect report, it determines No. In the case of Yes, the processing management unit 110 proceeds with the processing to step S104. In the case of No, the processing management unit 110 ends the variable quality assurance process.

[0075] (Step S104) When a defect report is received, the processing management unit 110 performs the processing request process again. The processing management unit 110 of the self-print server newly selects another print server 1 according to the distribution conditions as a new other print server.

[0076] In the example of FIG. 8, the print server 1b of the printing line B is selected as the new other print server. Then, the processing management unit 110 transmits the print data 200 to the newly selected other print server at the distribution destination. In this embodiment, the print data 200 is transmitted to the print server 1b. At this time, the processing management unit 110 may transmit the entire print data 200 as it is. Or only the defective records may be extracted and transmitted to the other print server.

[0077] (Step S301) Here, the printing process executed by the new other print server will be described. In the example of FIG. 8, the print server 1b newly selected as another print server performs a printing process. This process may be the same as the process in step S201. Also, in the process management unit 110 of the print server 1b, if a defect report is required again, a defect report process may be performed. In this case, the print data 200 may be printed not only on other printing lines but also on the printing line of the own print server. Thus, the variable quality assurance process according to the embodiment of the present invention ends.

[0078] By configuring as described above, the following effects can be obtained. In a typical production printing industrial printing system, for the purpose of efficiently processing a large number of print jobs, printing may be performed in a distributed manner by a plurality of printing devices. In such distributed processing, when printing is performed by a printing device at the distribution destination, there is a possibility that the expected print quality may not be achieved due to factors such as the settings and status of the printing device.

[0079] Also, variable printing is the most characteristic digital printing job and is one of the purposes for printing companies to introduce digital production printing devices. Since variable printing is used for personalized printed materials etc., it often involves a large amount of printing. For this reason, there has been a technical need for printing at the distribution destination in distributed processing. However, as described above, there has been a problem that the printing by the printing device at the distribution destination may not achieve the expected print quality. Also, problems may occur not only when the quality is below the expected level but also when printing can be performed with a higher quality than expected. That is, for example, if the quality is below that high quality at other distribution destinations, a difference may occur and ultimately the paper may be wasted and unusable. For this reason, it has been required to guarantee that the printing result at the distribution destination is as expected by the requester.

[0080] On the other hand, the industrial printing system X according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of print servers 1, printing devices 2, and inspection devices 3, and is an industrial printing system that variably prints print data 200 for production printing. Each of the plurality of print servers 1 includes an inspection master generation unit 100 that generates inspection master data 210 for inspection in which inspection processing and good product criteria are set for the print data 200, and a processing management unit 110 that transmits the print data 200 and the master data 210 generated by the inspection master generation unit 100 to other print servers and requests processing. The inspection device 3 is characterized by inspecting printed matter of the print data 200 based on the master data 210.

[0081] By configuring in this way, it is possible to guarantee that the printing results at the distribution destination are as expected. That is, in the peer-to-peer type distributed processing, the print quality of the output by the printing device 2 at the distribution destination can be guaranteed. As a result, in variable printing, even when distributed printing is performed at multiple sites, it is possible to make it difficult to cause quality problems. That is, the print quality can be guaranteed with appropriate criteria. Furthermore, it is possible to prevent variations in print quality due to manual checking, overwork due to print quality more than necessary, material consumption, etc.

[0082] Also, in typical production printing, a management server for transmitting and managing print data to a plurality of printing devices has been required. That is, in typical technologies, it has been necessary to construct a distributed processing system centered around a management server.

[0083] On the other hand, the industrial printing system X according to the present embodiment does not require a management server for distributed processing, and enables flexible distributed processing in a peer-to-peer manner between the print servers 1, enabling efficient distributed printing. That is, in the industrial printing system X according to the present embodiment, there is no need to separately prepare a special management server for distributed processing of the print data 200.

[0084] Also, in the industrial printing system X according to the present embodiment, the master data 210 includes variable data 311 for inspecting each record of the printing data 200, and the inspection device 3 is characterized by performing inspection for each record.

[0085] By configuring in this way, even when variable printing is performed at the distribution destination, inspection can be performed for each record. Also, by including the variable data 311 in the master data 210 for inspection, troubles such as the variable data 310 not being readable from the printing data 200 due to problems such as the capabilities, compatibility, settings, etc. of the inspection device 3 can be prevented.

[0086] In the industrial printing system X according to the present embodiment, the printing data 200 includes ID data 320 printed for each record, and the inspection device 3 is characterized by reading the printed ID to identify the record.

[0087] By configuring in this way, records can be identified at the time of inspection, and inspection can be surely performed for each record. Furthermore, the labor of manually associating the variable data 310 with the records at the time of inspection can be saved.

[0088] In the industrial printing system X according to the present embodiment, the inspection process and the acceptable product standard are characterized by being set in units of objects of the printing data 200.

[0089] By configuring in this way, inspection by the inspection device 3 can be performed with different inspection processes and acceptable product standards in units of object areas. Therefore, inspection can be performed based on different standards such as the quality of the image and the printing quality of the characters.

[0090] In the industrial printing system X according to the present embodiment, when the inspection device 3 determines that a printed matter is defective, another print server selects whether to reprint based on the master data 210 or report the defect to the own print server of the requester, and the own print server of the requester transmits the print data 200 corresponding to the printed matter with the defect report to a print server 1 different from the other print servers.

[0091] By configuring in this way, when reprinting may improve the quality, the burden on the requester can be suppressed by reprinting. Also, in that printing line, when improvement in quality cannot be expected even by reprinting, the requester can be informed of the defect and the printing can be performed again on another printing line. Thereby, it becomes possible to surely perform printing while ensuring the quality. Also, the overall printing can be made more efficient.

[0092] 〔Other Embodiments〕 In the above-described embodiment, an example of selecting another print server by the distribution destination setting has been described. However, another print server may be dynamically selected based on the content of the print data 200, the processing standard setting 330, etc. In this case, the other print server as the distribution destination may be selected in record units and a job ticket may be generated. At that time, the print data 200 itself may or may not be changed. Furthermore, the job ticket to the selected other print server may include only the variable data 311 for the record of the selected other print server. That is, the print data 200 and / or the master data 210 may be variable for each other print server.

[0093] Furthermore, it is also possible to configure such that the content of the print data 200 and the processing criteria setting 330 are transmitted to and inquired of a plurality of print servers 1 other than the self-print server, and a corresponding print server 1 is selected as another print server. In this case, a command for inquiring of the plurality of print servers 1 whether the processing criteria setting 330 can be processed by broadcast may be transmitted, and the print server 1 that has replied meeting the conditions may be selected as another print server. By configuring in this way, it becomes possible to determine and select an appropriate other print server.

[0094] Also, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which variable data 311 is included in the master data 210 in the job ticket and a processing request is made to another print server has been described. However, it is also possible to directly transmit the variable data 311 itself to another print server and make a processing request together with the print data 200. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, although an example in which a URL or the like is set in the master data 210 has been described, it is also possible to specify an address on another network or to specify another acquired print file. By configuring in this way, a more flexible configuration becomes possible. Also, a more appropriate determination of another print server becomes possible. As a result, the labor of manual adjustment can be reduced, the processing can be made efficient, and the running cost can be reduced.

[0095] Also, the processing management unit 110 does not necessarily have to select one print server 1 as the other print server for distribution destination. That is, it is also possible to select a plurality of appropriate other print servers. In this case, it may be possible to set, according to the priority order, which print server 1 is to be selected as another print server, or to select randomly, etc., from the plurality of selected print servers 1. By configuring in this way, even variable data 310 that requires a large amount of processing can be appropriately distributed for processing.

[0096] In addition, in the above-described embodiment, an example mainly performing inspection after variable printing has been described. However, inspection after post-processing may also be performed. Further, regarding the inspection after post-processing, it is also possible to select another print server at the distribution destination and distribute the jobs. Also, it may be possible to select inspection after printing and inspection after post-processing in units of records. With this configuration, it becomes possible to perform more efficient distributed processing of print jobs and post-processing jobs.

[0097] In addition, in the above-described embodiment, an example of performing inspection and reporting defects for each record has been described. However, another acceptable quality standard may be further set such that in trial prints of printing or the first record etc., the quality is unacceptable and defects are reported immediately as an error. In this case, for example, in the case where the color tone or gradation etc. of a fixed object cannot be improved by reprinting, in the case of character garbling, in the case where there is no set printing paper or ink etc., it is possible to configure them as acceptable quality standards. In this case, the threshold value of this configuration can also be set. In addition, it is also possible to specify thresholds and settings in the processing standard setting 330 that have nothing to do with whether or not to improve by adjusting reprinting. With this configuration, when the quality cannot be guaranteed in printing, it is possible to report a defect to the local print server and cause printing to be performed on a more appropriate printing line.

[0098] In addition, in the above-described embodiment, an example of determining the match of character recognition by OCR check for variable character strings A and B has been described. However, for variable character strings, a threshold value may be separately set so that cases where the font is different or there is a blur can be inspected. That is, a threshold value at the level of "it should be readable at least" by OCR and a threshold value at the level of detecting font character garbling may be set separately. Similarly, in scanning or barcode scanning, a plurality of threshold values may be set. These values may be set in the inspection result and transmitted to the local print server. By configuring in this way, while ensuring a certain quality, a more appropriate printing line can be selected, and an appropriate print server 1 can be selected.

[0099] In addition, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the same processing standard setting 330 is uniformly used for the print data 200 has been described. However, it is also possible to select the processing standard setting 330 for each printing line, for each customer group, for each print data 200, and for each group of records of the print data 200. Thereby, a difference may be made regarding how much the print quality guarantee can be tolerated. By configuring in this way, it becomes possible to guarantee an appropriate print quality according to customer demands and cost requirements.

[0100] In addition, it goes without saying that the configuration and operation of the above-described embodiment are examples, and can be appropriately changed and executed without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0101] In addition, in the terms used in this specification, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" include the plural form as well, unless otherwise clearly indicated in the context.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0102] 1, 1a, 1b, 1c Print server 2, 2a, 2b, 2c Printing device 3, 3a, 3b, 3c Inspection device 5 Network 10 Control unit 15 Network transmission / reception unit 19 Storage unit 100 Inspection master generation unit 110 Processing management unit 200 Print data 210 Master data 300 Form data 310, 311 Variable data 320 ID data 330 Processing standard setting 340 Character Image Master X Industrial Printing System

Claims

1. An industrial printing system that includes a plurality of print servers, a printing device, and an inspection device, and performs variable printing of print data for production printing, Each of the plurality of print servers an inspection master generating unit that generates inspection master data in which an inspection process and a quality standard are set for the print data; a processing management unit that transmits the print data and the master data generated by the inspection master generation unit to another print server and requests the other print server to process the print data, The inspection device includes: Inspecting the printout of the print data based on the master data.

1. An industrial printing system comprising:

2. the master data includes variable data for inspecting each record of the print data, The inspection device inspects each of the records.

2. The industrial printing system according to claim 1.

3. the print data includes ID data to be printed for each record, The inspection device reads the ID and identifies the record.

3. The industrial printing system according to claim 2.

4. The inspection process and the quality standard are set for each object of the print data.

2. The industrial printing system according to claim 1.

5. When the inspection device judges the print to be defective, the other print server selects whether to print again based on the master data or to report the defect to the print server that requested the processing, The print server that is the processing request source transmits print data corresponding to the print product for which a defect has been reported to a print server different from the other print server.

2. The industrial printing system according to claim 1.

6. A print server for an industrial printing system that performs variable printing of production printing print data, comprising: an inspection master generating unit that generates inspection master data in which an inspection process and a quality standard are set for the print data; a processing management unit that transmits the print data and the master data generated by the inspection master generation unit to another print server and requests the other server to process the print data. A print server comprising:

7. The master data includes variable data for inspecting each record of the print data.

7. The print server of claim 6.

8. The print data includes ID data to be printed for each record.

8. The print server according to claim 7.

9. The inspection process and the quality standard are set for each object of the print data.

7. The print server of claim 6.

10. When the inspection device judges the print to be defective, the other print server selects whether to print again based on the master data or to report the defect to the print server that requested the processing, The print server that is the processing request source transmits print data corresponding to the print product for which a defect has been reported to a print server different from the other print server.

7. The print server of claim 6.

11. A variable printing method executed by an industrial printing system that includes a plurality of print servers, including a local print server and other print servers, and performs variable printing of print data for production printing, comprising: The print server generates master data for inspection, in which inspection processing and quality standards are set for the print data; The print server transmits the print data and the generated master data to the other print server, and requests the other print server to process the print data and the generated master data. The inspection device of the other print server inspects the printout of the print data based on the master data. A variable printing method comprising:

12. the master data includes variable data for inspecting each record of the print data, The inspection device inspects each of the records. The variable printing method according to claim 11 .

13. the print data includes ID data to be printed for each record, The inspection device reads the ID and identifies the record. The variable printing method according to claim 12 .

14. The inspection process and the quality standard are set for each object of the print data. The variable printing method according to claim 11 .

15. When the inspection device of the other print server judges the print to be defective, the other print server selects whether to print again based on the master data or to report the defect to the print server that requested the processing; The print server transmits print data corresponding to the print product for which a defect has been reported to a print server different from the other print server. The variable printing method according to claim 11 .

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