Print system

Abstract

To provide a print system which can reduce a burden of a distributor of a printed matter.SOLUTION: A kind setting unit 22 sets a kind of a printed matter necessary for each of registered students. When a batch print of letters for all students in a class taken charge of by a teacher who is logging in a print apparatus 2 is instructed, a print control unit 24 controls a print unit 12 so that it should successively carry out printing based on print data designating printed matters of kinds set as necessary for each of the students taken charge of by the teacher.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a printing system. [Background technology]

[0002] Some schools distribute printed letters and digital letters together as a method of distributing information to students (and their families). Many schools distribute all letters digitally and some letters in paper form. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-172454 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The types of printed letters that are needed vary depending on the student (family). Printing out the required number of copies of each type of letter and distributing them only to the students who need them is a very time-consuming task for teachers who distribute them.

[0005] Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that accumulates and saves print data for documents for each user, and prints based on the saved print data in response to a print instruction from the user. This technology can reduce the chance of a user's printed materials being mixed with those of other users, but it cannot reduce the work required by the distributor as described above.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above, and has as its object to provide a printing system that can reduce the work required by distributors of printed materials. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, the printing system of the present invention comprises a printing device and an information processing device that transmits print data to the printing device, wherein the printing device comprises a printing unit, a user registration unit that registers users, a type setting unit that sets the type of printed material required for each user, a print data storage unit that stores print data received from the information processing device, and a print control unit that controls the printing unit to print, when instructed to print based on the print data stored in the print data storage unit, sequentially for each user, based on print data that specifies the type of printed material set as required for each user, and the information processing device comprises a print data generation unit that generates print data by specifying the type of printed material, and a transmission unit that transmits the print data generated by the print data generation unit to the printing device. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the printing system of the present invention, the burden on the distributor of the printed material can be reduced. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a class table. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a print necessity table. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the terminal device. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a print setting field. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the printing device. [Figure 7] This is a diagram showing the results of printing the necessary letters for each student. [Figure 8] This figure shows the results of printing each type of letter for all students in the class. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the same or equivalent parts or components are designated by the same or equivalent reference numerals throughout the drawings, and their description will be omitted or simplified.

[0011] Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, the printing system 1 according to this embodiment includes a printing device 2 and a terminal device (corresponding to an information processing device) 3. The printing device 2 and the terminal device 3 are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate with each other via a network 4 such as a LAN. In this embodiment, the printing device 2 and the terminal device 3 are installed in a school.

[0012] The printing device 2 performs printing based on print data transmitted from the terminal device 3. The printing device 2 includes a control unit 11, a printing unit 12, an operation panel unit 13, a memory unit (corresponding to a print data storage unit) 14, and a communication unit 15.

[0013] The control unit 11 controls the overall operation of the printing device 2. The control unit 11 is configured to include a CPU and the like. The control unit 11 includes a user registration unit 21, a type setting unit 22, a login processing unit 23, and a print control unit 24. Each unit of the control unit 11 is configured by the CPU executing a program stored in the storage unit 14.

[0014] The user registration unit 21 registers users of the printing device 2. Specifically, in response to an operation performed on the operation panel unit 13 to register a student attending school, the user registration unit 21 associates the student's name with the student number and stores them in a student table (not shown), thereby registering the student as a user.

[0015] The user registration unit 21 also registers the homeroom teacher of a class at the school in association with each student in the class. Specifically, in response to an operation performed on the operation panel unit 13 to register the teacher and students in association with each other, the user registration unit 21 associates the teacher's name with the student names of the students in the class that the teacher is in charge of, and stores them in the class table 26 shown in FIG. 2.

[0016] The type setting unit 22 sets the type of printed material required for each registered student. Specifically, the type setting unit 22 associates the student name with information on whether or not various printed materials are required in accordance with an operation performed on the operation panel unit 13 to set the type of printed material required, and stores the information in a printed material requirement table 27 shown in FIG.

[0017] In this embodiment, the printed matter is a printed letter distributed by the school to students (homes), and the types of printed matter include school lunch menus, test topics, grade news, class news, and the like.

[0018] The login processing unit 23 performs login processing to authenticate access to the printing device 2 by teachers and the like.

[0019] The print control unit 24 controls the print unit 12 to execute printing. When an instruction is given to print letters for all students in a class that is the responsibility of a teacher currently logged in to the printer 2, the print control unit 24 controls the print unit 12 to print, in order, for each student in the class that the teacher is in charge of, based on print data that specifies the type of letter (printed material) that is set as required for each student.

[0020] Here, the instruction to print in bulk by a teacher who is logged in instructs printing based on the printing data of various letters that have been sent to the printing device 2 in response to the teacher's operation to instruct printing on the terminal device 3 and stored in the memory unit 14.

[0021] The printing unit 12 prints on paper and has, for example, an inkjet printing mechanism.

[0022] The operation panel unit 13 displays various input screens and receives input operations from the operator. The operation panel unit 13 includes a display unit such as a liquid crystal display panel, and an input unit such as operation buttons and a touch panel (neither of which is shown).

[0023] The memory unit 14 stores various programs. The memory unit 14 also stores the aforementioned student table, class table 26, and printed matter requirement table 27. The memory unit 14 also associates print data, which the printer 2 receives from the terminal device 3 and specifies the type of letter (printed matter), with the name of the teacher who instructed the printer 2 to send the print data, and stores the data until a print instruction is received. The memory unit 14 is composed of a hard disk or the like.

[0024] The communication unit 15 performs communication processing with the terminal device 3 via the network 4 .

[0025] The terminal device 3 generates print data and transmits the generated print data to the printing device 2. The terminal device 3 is configured by a computer equipped with a CPU, ROM, RAM, a hard disk, and the like.

[0026] The terminal device 3 includes a control unit 31, a display unit 32, an input unit 33, a storage unit 34, and a communication unit (corresponding to a transmission unit) 35.

[0027] The control unit 31 controls the overall operation of the terminal device 3. The control unit 31 is configured to include a CPU and the like. The control unit 31 includes an application unit 41 and a printer driver unit (corresponding to a print data generating unit) 42. Each unit of the control unit 31 is configured by the CPU executing a program stored in the storage unit 34.

[0028] The application unit 41 generates manuscript data for the letter manuscript.

[0029] The printer driver unit 42 generates print data for causing the printing device 2 to print the document based on the print setting information, which includes the settings for various print setting items, and the document data. Here, the print setting items include the type of letter. Therefore, the print data specifies the type of letter.

[0030] The display unit 32 displays various screens, etc. The display unit 32 is configured with a liquid crystal display panel, etc.

[0031] The input unit 33 receives input operations from an operator and includes a keyboard, a mouse, and the like.

[0032] Various programs are stored in the storage unit 34. The storage unit 34 is configured with a hard disk or the like.

[0033] The communication unit 35 performs communication processing with the printing device 2 via the network 4 .

[0034] Next, the operation of the terminal device 3 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0035] In step S1 of FIG. 4, the application unit 41 opens a manuscript of a letter of the type designated by the teacher's operation and displays it on the display unit 32.

[0036] Next, in step S2, the printer driver unit 42 displays the printer driver screen on the display unit 32 in response to the teacher's operation.

[0037] The printer driver screen displays a print setting field 51 as shown in Figure 5. The print setting field 51 displays setting input fields for various print setting items, including a type input field 52. The teacher inputs the settings for the various print setting items in the print setting field 51. The type input field 52 displays a pull-down list of types of letters that each student has set as necessary or not in the printing device 2, and the type of letter is selected from the list. After the settings for the various print setting items have been input in the print setting field 51, an operation to instruct printing is performed.

[0038] When a print instruction is issued, in step S3 of Fig. 4, the printer driver unit 42 generates print data based on the print setting information, including the settings of various print setting items, and the letter manuscript data. This print data specifies the letter type selected in the type input field 52.

[0039] Next, in step S4, the printer driver unit 42 transmits the generated print data to the printing device 2 via the communication unit 35 together with the teacher's name.

[0040] The print data sent to the printing device 2 is received by the communication unit 15 in the printing device 2, and stored in the storage unit 14 in association with the teacher's name.

[0041] Next, in step S5, the application unit 41 closes the letter manuscript in response to the teacher's operation, thereby completing the operation of instructing printing of one type of letter.

[0042] When printing of multiple types of letters is instructed, the process of the flowchart in FIG. 4 described above is carried out for each type of letter.

[0043] Next, the operation of the printing device 2 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0044] In step S11 of FIG. 6, the login processing unit 23 performs login processing for the teacher in response to the teacher's operation to log in to the printing device 2.

[0045] Next, in step S12, the print control unit 24 determines whether or not a command has been issued to batch print letters for all students in the class taught by the teacher currently logged in to the printing device 2. If it is determined that batch printing has not been issued (step S12: NO), the print control unit 24 repeats step S12.

[0046] If it is determined that batch printing has been instructed (step S12: YES), then in step S13, the print control unit 24 executes printing of letters for all students in the class that the currently logged-in teacher is in charge of.

[0047] Specifically, the printing control unit 24 refers to the student table, class table 26, and printed matter requirement table 27, and controls the printing unit 12 to print, in order of student number, based on the printing data associated with the teacher's name for each student in the class taught by the currently logged-in teacher, specifying the type of letter (printed matter) required for each student.

[0048] As shown in Figure 7, the batch printing described above prints the school lunch menu, test topics, grade newsletter, and class newsletter needed by student Sa1 for teacher T1's class first. Next, the test topics and class newsletter needed by student Sa2 are printed. Next, the grade newsletter and class newsletter needed by student Sa3 are printed. In the same manner, various newsletters needed by each student are printed one by one.

[0049] Once all the letters for the class have been printed, the process is complete.

[0050] As described above, in printing system 1, type setting unit 22 of printing device 2 sets the type of letter (printed material) required for each student. When a command is issued to print letters for all students in a class taught by a teacher currently logged in to printing device 2, print control unit 24 controls printing unit 12 to print, in order, for each student in the teacher's class based on print data specifying the type of letter required for each student. This allows printed materials for all students to be obtained in a group containing only the type of printed material required for each student, reducing the workload of teachers who distribute the printed materials.

[0051] Unlike the present embodiment, if each type of letter is printed for all students in the class, unnecessary types of letters will be printed for some students, as shown in Figure 8. This results in wasted printed materials. In contrast, the present embodiment prints only the types of letters necessary for each student, thereby reducing wasted printed materials.

[0052] In addition, in the printing system 1, when a teacher instructs the printing of letters from the terminal device 3, there is no need to set multiple students, and it is only necessary to set the type of letter, so complicated instructions are not required and the burden on the teacher is reduced.

[0053] Furthermore, with the printing system 1, the teacher operates the printing device 2 to issue printing instructions, eliminating the need for each student to access the printing device 2, shortening the time required for printing. It also does not increase the burden on students. It also prevents students from forgetting to print, ensuring that printed materials are delivered to students.

[0054] In the above-described batch printing, sorting sheets may be inserted to separate the printed materials by student. Student information (user information) such as student name and student number may be printed on the sorting sheets. Also, the printed materials may be sorted by stapling or offset discharge. By sorting the printed materials by student in this way, distribution of the printed materials becomes easier.

[0055] Furthermore, the printed matter of the letter may include student information (user information) of the students to whom the printed matter is to be distributed. In this case, the student information may be printed in the header, footer, etc. of the printed matter.

[0056] In the above-described embodiment, in the case of printing and distributing school newsletters, an example was described in which a teacher instructs a batch printing of various newsletters to be distributed to students in each class, and printing is performed for each student in turn based on print data specifying the type of newsletter set as required for each student. However, this is not limited to this, and it is also acceptable if, when printing based on print data stored in the print data storage unit is instructed, printing is performed for each user in turn based on print data specifying the type of printed material set as required for each user.

[0057] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the components can be modified and embodied in practice without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, various inventions can be created by appropriately combining multiple components disclosed in the above-described embodiments. For example, some components may be omitted from all the components shown in the embodiments.

[0058] [Note] The present application discloses the following inventions.

[0059] (Appendix 1) a printing device; and an information processing device that transmits print data to the printing device; The printing device A printing department; a user registration unit for registering users; a type setting unit for setting the type of print required for each user; a print data storage unit for storing print data received from the information processing device; a print control unit that controls the printing unit to print, when an instruction is given to print based on the print data stored in the print data storage unit, sequentially for each user, the print unit to print based on the print data that specifies the type of printout set as required for each user; The information processing device includes: a print data generation unit that generates print data by specifying the type of print; a transmission unit that transmits the print data generated by the print data generation unit to the printing device; A printing system comprising: [Explanation of symbols]

[0060] 1 Printing System 2 Printing device 3 Terminal Devices 11 Control section 12 Printing Department 13 Operation panel 14 Storage section 15 Communications Department 21 User Registration Section 22 Type setting section 23 Login processing section 24 Printing control unit 26 Class Table 27 Printing necessity table 31 Control Unit 32 Display section 33 Input section 34 Storage section 35 Communications Department 41 Application Section 42 Printer driver section 51 Print settings field 52 Type input field

Claims

[Claim 1] a printing device; and an information processing device that transmits print data to the printing device; The printing device A printing department; a user registration unit for registering users; a type setting unit for setting the type of print required for each user; a print data storage unit for storing print data received from the information processing device; a print control unit that controls the printing unit to print, when an instruction is given to print based on the print data stored in the print data storage unit, sequentially for each user, the printing unit to print based on the print data that specifies the type of printout set as required for each user; The information processing device includes: a print data generation unit that generates print data by specifying the type of print; a transmission unit that transmits the print data generated by the print data generation unit to the printing device; A printing system comprising:

Images