Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program

Abstract

To improve the productivity of a printing job.MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEM: An information processing apparatus includes a job receiving unit that receives a print job, a spool unit that causes the print job received by the job receiving unit to wait in an execution order, and an execution order determination unit that determines an execution order when the received print job is caused to wait in the spool unit and an execution order of a print job waiting in the spool unit according to the execution order based on a print condition included in the print job received by the job receiving unit and a print condition included in the print job waiting in the spool unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a technique is known in which print jobs having attributes that match preset attributes are accumulated, and a batch print process of the accumulated print jobs is executed in response to the generation of a print execution instruction. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] In the conventional technology described above, in order to perform batch printing, attributes must be set in advance for the print job, and print jobs for which attributes are not set cannot be batch printed. For this reason, the conventional technology described above places a heavy burden on batch printing operations, making it difficult to improve the productivity of printing work.

[0004] The disclosed technology has been developed in light of the above circumstances, and aims to improve the productivity of printing operations. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The disclosed technology is an information processing device having a job receiving unit that receives print jobs, a spooling unit that queues the print jobs received by the job receiving unit in order of execution, and an execution order determination unit that determines the execution order when queueing the received print jobs in the spooling unit and the execution order of the queued print jobs according to the execution order, based on the printing conditions included in the print jobs received by the job receiving unit and the printing conditions included in the print jobs waiting in the spooling unit. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] This can improve the productivity of printing operations. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a system configuration of a printing system. [Figure 2A] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus. [Figure 2B] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another example of the hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an outline of the functions of each device in the printing system. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a function of a print order management unit. [Figure 5] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of job information stored in a job information recording unit. [Figure 6] 1 is a first flowchart illustrating the operation of the image forming apparatus. [Figure 7] 10 is a second flowchart illustrating the operation of the image forming apparatus. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a first diagram specifically illustrating the operation of the image forming apparatus. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a second diagram specifically illustrating the operation of the image forming apparatus. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another example of the system configuration of the printing system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The present embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings: Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the system configuration of a printing system.

[0009] The printing system 100 of this embodiment includes an image forming apparatus 200 and terminal devices 300-1, 300-2, ..., 300-N. In the following description, when there is no need to distinguish between the terminal devices 300-1, 300-2, ..., 300-N, they will be referred to as terminal devices 300. In the printing system 100 of this embodiment, the image forming apparatus 200 and the terminal devices 300 are connected via a communication network.

[0010] In this embodiment, the terminal device 300 transmits, for example, a print job created by a user operation to the image forming device 200. The terminal device 300 includes a display unit such as a liquid crystal display, and input devices such as a mouse, a keyboard, and a touch panel.

[0011] Here, a print job is a set of electronic files related to a print request sent by the terminal device 300 to the image forming device 200. For example, a print job includes content data (electronic data) to be printed and print setting information (hereinafter referred to as printing conditions) indicating the printing conditions of the content data.

[0012] The print job may also include print data obtained by converting content data into a PDL (Page Description Language) format that can be printed by the image forming apparatus 200 according to printing conditions.

[0013] The content data may be document data or image data. The image data serving as content data may be image data representing a form image. The printing conditions may include, for example, paper size, paper type, paper feed tray, and so on, and include various information related to printing.

[0014] Image forming apparatus 200 spools and sequentially executes print jobs received from each terminal apparatus 300 in the order in which they should be executed. Furthermore, when image forming apparatus 200 receives a print job from terminal apparatus 300, it determines the execution order for spooling the received print job based on the printing conditions included in the received print job and the printing conditions included in print jobs (waiting print jobs) spooled in image forming apparatus 200. Image forming apparatus 200 then rearranges the execution order of the spooled print jobs so that the received print jobs are executed in the determined execution order.

[0015] Here, a description will be given of an example of a usage scene of the printing system 100 of this embodiment. The printing system 100 of this embodiment may be used for printing forms, for example.

[0016] Generally, the size and type of paper on which a form is printed are determined for each issuer of the form. For this reason, for example, when terminal device 300 instructs image forming device 200 to print a form, an operation is performed on terminal device 300 to set printing conditions such as paper size, paper type, and paper feed tray.

[0017] In this embodiment, focusing on this point, among multiple print jobs for printing a form, print jobs with matching printing conditions are considered to be print jobs for forms issued by the same issuer. Then, in this embodiment, the image forming device 200 is caused to continuously execute print jobs for forms that are considered to be issued by the same issuer. In this way, in this embodiment, forms can be printed in batches by issuer.

[0018] More specifically, when image forming apparatus 200 receives a print job from terminal apparatus 300, it compares the printing conditions included in each spooled (waiting) print job with the printing conditions included in the received print job. If there is a spooled print job whose printing conditions match the printing conditions included in the received print job, image forming apparatus 200 assigns the received print job an execution order next to the latest print job among the spooled print jobs with matching printing conditions.

[0019] By doing this, in this embodiment, even if the user of the terminal device 300 performs an operation to print reports from different issuers without being aware of the issuer of the report, the print job will be automatically executed for each issuer.

[0020] Therefore, according to this embodiment, special settings and operations for printing forms for each issuer are not required, and the productivity of printing operations can be improved.

[0021] In this embodiment, a match of printing conditions refers to a case where the setting items included in the printing conditions completely match the values ​​of each setting item.

[0022] The hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 200 included in the printing system 100 of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B.

[0023] 2A is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus 200. In FIG. 2A, the hardware configuration is shown when the image forming apparatus 200 is an inkjet machine (liquid ejection apparatus) 200A.

[0024] 2A, the liquid ejection device 200A includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 301, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 302, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 303, an NVRAM (Non-Volatile Random Access Memory) 304, an external device connection I / F 308, a network I / F 309, and a bus line 310. The liquid ejection device 200A also includes a paper transport unit 311, a sub-scanning driver 312, a main-scanning driver 313, a carriage 320, and an operation panel 330. The carriage 320 further includes a liquid ejection head 321 and a liquid ejection head driver 322.

[0025] Of these, CPU 301 controls the overall operation of liquid ejection apparatus 200A. ROM 302 stores programs used to drive CPU 301, such as IPL. RAM 303 is used as a work area for CPU 301. NVRAM 304 stores various data such as programs, and retains the various data even when power to liquid ejection apparatus 200A is cut off.

[0026] The CPU 301 and storage devices such as the ROM 302, RAM 303, and NVRAM 304 may be mounted on the liquid ejection apparatus 200A as an information processing device that controls the liquid ejection apparatus 200A. In other words, the CPU 301 and storage devices such as the ROM 302, RAM 303, and NVRAM 304 are an example of an information processing device included in the image forming apparatus 200.

[0027] The external device connection I / F 308 is connected to a PC (Personal Computer) via a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable or the like, and communicates control signals and data to be printed with the PC. The network I / F 309 is an interface for communicating data using a communication network such as the Internet. The bus line 310 is an address bus, data bus, or the like for electrically connecting each component such as the CPU 301.

[0028] The paper transport unit 311 is, for example, a roller and a motor that drives the roller, and transports printing paper in the sub-scanning direction along a transport path within the liquid ejection device 200A. The sub-scanning driver 312 controls the movement of the paper transport unit 311 in the sub-scanning direction. The main scanning driver 313 controls the movement of the carriage 320 in the main scanning direction.

[0029] The liquid ejection head 321 of the carriage 320 has a plurality of nozzles for ejecting liquid such as ink, and is mounted on the carriage 320 with its ejection surface (nozzle surface) facing the print paper. The liquid ejection head 321 ejects liquid onto the print paper, which is transported intermittently in the sub-scanning direction, while moving in the main scanning direction, thereby ejecting liquid at predetermined positions on the print paper and forming an image. The liquid ejection head driver 322 is a driver for controlling the driving of the liquid ejection head 321.

[0030] The operation panel 330 displays current setting values, selection screens, etc., and is configured with a touch panel that receives input from the operator, an alarm lamp, etc.

[0031] The liquid ejection head driver 322 may be configured not to be mounted on the carriage 320 but to be connected to a bus line outside the carriage 320. Furthermore, the main scanning driver 313, the sub-scanning driver 312, and the liquid ejection head driver 322 may each be a function realized by an instruction from the CPU 301 according to a program.

[0032] 2B is a diagram showing another example of the hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 200. In FIG. 2B, the hardware configuration is shown when the image forming apparatus 200 is an electrophotographic apparatus 200B.

[0033] As shown in FIG. 2B, the electrophotographic apparatus 200B includes a controller 910, a short-range communication circuit 920, an engine control unit 930, an operation panel 940, and a network I / F 950.

[0034] Of these, the controller 910 is an example of an information processing device that controls the electrophotographic apparatus 200 B. In other words, the controller 910 is an example of an information processing device that the image forming apparatus 200 has.

[0035] The controller 910 has a CPU 901, which is the main part of the computer, a system memory (MEM-P) 902, a north bridge (NB) 903, a south bridge (SB) 904, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 906, a local memory (MEM-C) 907, which is a storage unit, an HDD controller 908, and an HD 909, which is also a storage unit, and is configured such that the NB 903 and the ASIC 906 are connected by an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) bus 921.

[0036] Of these, the CPU 901 is a control unit that performs overall control of the electrophotographic apparatus 200B. The NB 903 is a bridge that connects the CPU 901 with the MEM-P 902, the SB 904, and the AGP bus 921, and includes a memory controller that controls reading and writing to the MEM-P 902, a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) master, and an AGP target.

[0037] The MEM-P 902 comprises a ROM 902a, which is memory for storing programs and data that realize the functions of the controller 910, and a RAM 902b, which is used for expanding the programs and data and as a drawing memory during memory printing. The programs stored in the RAM 902b may be provided by being recorded in an installable or executable file format on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, CD-R, or DVD.

[0038] The SB 904 is a bridge for connecting the NB 903 with PCI devices and peripheral devices. The ASIC 906 is an integrated circuit (IC) for image processing applications that has hardware elements for image processing and serves as a bridge connecting the AGP bus 921, PCI bus 922, HDD controller 908, and MEM-C 907. The ASIC 906 includes a PCI target and AGP master, an arbiter (ARB) that forms the core of the ASIC 906, a memory controller that controls the MEM-C 907, multiple direct memory access controllers (DMACs) that perform image data rotation using hardware logic, and a PCI unit that transfers data between the scanner unit 931 and printer unit 932 via the PCI bus 922. A USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface or an IEEE 1394 (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) interface may also be connected to the ASIC 906.

[0039] The MEM-C907 is a local memory used as a print image buffer and code buffer. The HD909 is a storage for storing image data, font data used during printing, and forms. The HD909 controls the reading and writing of data from and to the HD909 under the control of the CPU901. The AGP bus 921 is a bus interface for a graphics accelerator card proposed to speed up graphics processing, and direct high-throughput access to the MEM-P902 enables the graphics accelerator card to operate at high speed.

[0040] The short-range communication circuit 920 is also provided with an antenna 920a. The short-range communication circuit 920 is a communication circuit such as NFC or Bluetooth.

[0041] Furthermore, the engine control unit 930 is configured with a printer unit 932. It may also have a scanner unit 931. The operation panel 940 is equipped with a panel display unit 940a such as a touch panel that displays current setting values, selection screens, etc. and accepts inputs from the operator, and an operation panel 940b that includes a numeric keypad that accepts setting values ​​for image formation conditions such as density setting conditions, a start key that accepts a copy start instruction, etc.

[0042] The controller 910 controls the entire electrophotographic apparatus 200B, for example, controlling drawing, communication, and input from the operation panel 940. The printer unit 932 or the scanner unit 931 includes an image processing unit such as error diffusion and gamma conversion.

[0043] In addition, the electrophotographic apparatus 200B may switch between various functions, such as settings, color adjustment, and print and maintenance schedule management, in addition to the printer function, using an application switching key on the operation panel 940. The document box function, copy function, facsimile function, etc. may be sequentially switched and selected. The network I / F 950 is an interface for data communication using a communication network. The short-range communication circuit 920 and the network I / F 950 are electrically connected to the ASIC 906 via a PCI bus 922.

[0044] Next, an overview of the functions of each device included in the printing system 100 of this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating an overview of the functions of each device included in the printing system.

[0045] The terminal device 300 of this embodiment has a print application 350. The print application 350 is, for example, software that performs the control necessary to connect to the image forming device 200 and print. Specifically, the print application 350 may be a printer driver that corresponds to the image forming device 200.

[0046] The print application 350 transmits a print job created by a user of the terminal device 300 to the image forming device 200. The print conditions included in the print job may be created by the print application 350.

[0047] The image forming apparatus 200 of this embodiment includes a print order management unit 210 and a print queue holding unit 220. The print order management unit 210 may be realized by reading and executing a program stored in a storage device in an information processing device included in the image forming apparatus 200. The print queue holding unit 220 may be realized by a storage device or the like of the information processing device included in the image forming apparatus 200.

[0048] The print order management unit 210 of this embodiment compares the printing conditions of the print jobs received from the terminal device 300 with the printing conditions of the spooled print jobs, and determines the execution order when spooling the received print jobs based on the comparison result. Furthermore, once the execution order of the received print jobs has been determined, the print order management unit 210 changes the execution order of the spooled print jobs to match this execution order.

[0049] Furthermore, when the received print jobs are spooled, the print order management unit 210 sequentially transfers the print jobs in the spooled order to the print queue holding unit 220. The processing of the print order management unit 210 will be described in detail later.

[0050] The print queue holding unit 220 stores the print jobs in a queue in the order in which they are received from the print order management unit 210, and causes the image forming device 200 to execute the print jobs in the order in which they were stored in the queue.

[0051] Next, the function of the print order management unit 210 of the image forming apparatus 200 will be further described with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a diagram for explaining the function of the print order management unit.

[0052] The print order management unit 210 of this embodiment includes a job receiving unit 211 , a job analyzing unit 212 , an execution order determining unit 213 , a job input unit 214 , a spooling unit 215 , and a job transmitting unit 216 .

[0053] The job receiving unit 211 receives a print job transmitted from the terminal device 300. The job receiving unit 211 also transmits to the job analyzing unit 212 a notification indicating that the print job has been received.

[0054] Upon receiving a notification from the job receiving unit 211 indicating that a print job has been received, the job analyzing unit 212 extracts the printing conditions included in the print job received by the job receiving unit 211 and passes them to the execution order determining unit 213. When the execution order determination unit 213 receives job information including printing conditions passed from the job analysis unit 212, it inquires of the spool unit 215 about job information including the printing conditions and execution order of print jobs that have already been spooled. The execution order determination unit 213 also obtains job information of the spooled print jobs from the spool unit 215 and stores it in the job information recording unit 230.

[0055] The job information stored in the job information recording unit 230 will be described below with reference to Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of job information stored in the job information recording unit.

[0056] The job information in this embodiment includes the execution order of the print jobs, a job ID for identifying the print jobs, and printing conditions included in the print jobs.

[0057] In the example of Figure 5, it can be seen that the print job to be executed first has job ID "A-001" and the printing conditions are set to paper size "A4," paper type "plain paper," and paper tray "paper tray 1."

[0058] The execution order determination unit 213 compares the job information of the newly received print job with the job information of the print job spooled in the spool unit 215. The job information of the print job spooled in the spool unit 215 is stored in the job information recording unit 230. Then, the execution order determination unit 213 determines the execution order when the new print job received by the job receiving unit 211 is spooled according to the comparison result, and notifies the job input unit 214 that the execution order has been determined. The execution order determination unit 213 also notifies the spool unit 215 of the determined execution order.

[0059] Returning to FIG. 4, when the job submitting unit 214 receives notification of the execution order of the print jobs from the execution order determining unit 213 , it submits the print jobs received by the job receiving unit 211 to the spooling unit 215 .

[0060] A spooling unit 215 changes the execution order of print jobs that have been submitted so far as necessary so that the execution order of a new print job submitted from a job submission unit 214 will be the execution order determined by an execution order determination unit 213.

[0061] That is, execution order determination unit 213 determines the execution order when spooling a newly received print job based on the printing conditions of the newly received print job and the printing conditions of the print jobs spooled in spool unit 215. Furthermore, spool unit 215 changes the execution order of the spooled print jobs as needed, depending on the execution order of the newly received print jobs.

[0062] Furthermore, the spool unit 215 passes the held print jobs to the job sending unit 216 in the execution order determined by the execution order determination unit 213 .

[0063] When the job transmitting unit 216 receives a print job from the spooling unit 215, it passes the received print job to the print queue holding unit 220. Furthermore, when the job transmitting unit 216 passes the print job to the print queue holding unit 220, it sends a notification to that effect to the spooling unit 215. When the spooling unit 215 receives a notification from the job transmitting unit 216 that the print job has been passed to the print queue holding unit 220, it deletes the job information of the print job passed to the print queue holding unit 220 and updates the job information of the spooled print job. The spooling unit 215 then sends the updated job information to the execution order determination unit 213.

[0064] When the execution order determination unit 213 receives the updated job information from the spool unit 215, it updates the job information recorded in the job information recording unit 230.

[0065] In this embodiment, the setting items extracted by the job analysis unit 212 as printing conditions included in the print job may be set in advance in the image forming apparatus 200. In this way, the setting items desired by the user of the printing system 100 can be used as items to be referenced when determining the execution order of the print jobs.

[0066] Furthermore, the setting items extracted as printing conditions may be set on the operation panel 330 of the image forming apparatus 200, or may be set by a management terminal or the like connected to the image forming apparatus 200 by any communication method.

[0067] Furthermore, in the image forming apparatus 200 of the present embodiment, the print order management unit 210 and the print queue holding unit 220 are separately provided, but this is not limiting. The print queue holding unit 220 may be included in the print order management unit 210.

[0068] Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus 200 of this embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 6 and 7. Figure 6 is a first flowchart illustrating the operation of the image forming apparatus. The process shown in Figure 6 is executed every time the image forming apparatus 200 receives a print job from the terminal device 300.

[0069] In the image forming apparatus 200 of this embodiment, the print order management unit 210 receives a print job from the terminal device 300 via the job receiving unit 211 (step S601). At this time, the job receiving unit 211 transmits a notification indicating that the print job has been received to the job analysis unit 212.

[0070] In the print order management unit 210, when the job analysis unit 212 receives a notification indicating that a print job has been received, it extracts job information including the printing conditions contained in the print job and passes it to the execution order determination unit 213 (step S602).

[0071] Next, the execution order determination unit 213 inquires of the spool unit 215 about the latest job information of the print jobs spooled in the spool unit 215, and acquires the latest job information from the spool unit 215 (step S603). Next, the execution order determination unit 213 determines whether the acquired latest job information is 0 (step S604). If the acquired latest job information is 0 in step S604, the execution order determination unit 213 sets the received print job to the top (number 1) in the execution order (step S605), and proceeds to step S611, which will be described later. If the number of pieces of job information acquired is not 0 in step S604, the execution order determination unit 213 stores the job information acquired from the spool unit 215 in the job information recording unit 230 (step S606). Next, the execution order determination unit 213 checks the printing conditions of the print job received in step S601 against the printing conditions included in all the job information recorded in the job information recording unit 230 (step S607).

[0072] Next, the execution order determination unit 213 determines from the matching result whether or not there is a print job among the spooled print jobs whose printing conditions match those of the print job received in step S601 (step S608). In other words, the execution order determination unit 213 determines whether or not there is a print job spooled in the spooling unit 215 whose setting items all match the values ​​of the setting items included in the printing conditions of the print job received in step S601.

[0073] In step S608, if the corresponding print job is found among the spooled print jobs, If no job exists, the execution order determination unit 213 determines the execution order of the print job received in step S601 to be next to the latest print job in the execution order among the spooled print jobs (step S609), and proceeds to step S611, which will be described later.

[0074] In step S608, if a corresponding print job exists among the spooled print jobs, the execution order determination unit 213 determines the execution order of the print job received in step S601 to be next to the print job with the latest execution order among the print jobs with matching printing conditions among the spooled print jobs (step S610).

[0075] Next, the execution order determination unit 213 notifies the job submission unit 214 of information indicating the determined execution order, and further notifies the spooling unit 215 of the execution order of the newly received print jobs and the execution order of the print jobs being spooled (step S611).

[0076] Next, the job submitting unit 214 submits the newly received print job to the spooling unit 215 in accordance with the notification received from the execution order determining unit 213 in step S611 (step S612).

[0077] When a print job is submitted, the spool unit 215 changes the execution order as necessary so that the execution order of the newly received print jobs and the execution order of the spooled print jobs match the order notified in step S611 (step S613).

[0078] 7 is a second flowchart illustrating the operation of the image forming apparatus 200. The process shown in FIG. 7 is performed when the image forming apparatus 200 executes a print job.

[0079] In the image forming apparatus 200 of this embodiment, the print order management unit 210 causes the job sending unit 216 to send the first print job, i.e., the print job with the earliest execution order, of the print jobs spooled in the spool unit 215 to the print queue holding unit 220 (step S701). At this time, when the job sending unit 216 has completed sending the print job to the print queue holding unit 220, it notifies the spool unit 215 of this fact (step S702).

[0080] Next, when the spooling unit 215 completes sending the print job to the print queue holding unit 220, it deletes the sent print job and the job information of the sent print job, and passes the job information of the print job spooled in the spooling unit 215 after the deletion to the execution order determination unit 213 (step S703). In step S703, when the execution order determination unit 213 receives job information from the spool unit 215, it updates the job information stored in the job information recording unit 230 to job information in which the job information of the print job that has been sent to the print queue holding unit 220 has been deleted (step S704).

[0081] The operation of the image forming apparatus 200 of this embodiment will be specifically described below with reference to FIGS.

[0082] FIG. 8 is a first diagram specifically explaining the operation of the image forming apparatus, and FIG. 9 is a second diagram specifically explaining the operation of the image forming apparatus.

[0083] 8 and 9 show an example in which form A issued by company A, form B issued by company B, and form C issued by company C are printed by image forming apparatus 200. In the examples of Fig. 8 and Fig. 9, the printing conditions set for form A are paper size "A4", paper type "plain paper", and paper feed tray "paper feed tray 1", the printing conditions set for form B are paper size "B4", paper type "plain paper", and paper feed tray "paper feed tray 2", and the printing conditions set for form C are paper size "A4", paper type "cardboard", and paper feed tray "paper feed tray 3".

[0084] Also, in the example of Figure 8, when there are no spooled print jobs, the image forming device 200 sequentially receives a print job identified by job ID "A-001," a print job identified by job ID "A-002," a print job identified by job ID "B-001," a print job identified by job ID "A-003," a print job identified by job ID "C-001," and a print job identified by job ID "B-002."

[0085] In the image forming apparatus 200, the print order management unit 210 receives the print job identified by the job ID "A-001" via the job receiving unit 211. The print order management unit 210 also analyzes the print job identified by the job ID "A-001" via the job analysis unit 212, extracts the printing conditions included in the print job, and passes the extracted printing conditions to the execution order determination unit 213. The extracted printing conditions are set as the printing conditions set in form A. The execution order determination unit 213 acquires all job information spooled in the spool unit 215. At this time, there are no print jobs spooled in the spool unit 215, and there is no job information that the execution order determination unit 213 acquires from the spool unit 215. Therefore, the execution order determination unit 213 assigns the print job identified by the job ID "A-001" as first in the execution order. Then, the execution order determination unit 213 spools the print job identified by the job ID "A-001" in the spool unit 215 via the job submission unit 214.

[0086] Next, the job receiving unit 211 of the printing order management unit 210 receives the print job identified by the job ID "A-002" from the terminal device 300. The printing order management unit 210 also analyzes the print job identified by the job ID "A-002" using the job analysis unit 212, extracts the printing conditions included in the print job, and passes the extracted printing conditions to the execution order determination unit 213. The printing conditions extracted here are set as the printing conditions set in form A.

[0087] The execution order determination unit 213 acquires all job information spooled in the spool unit 215 and stores it in the job information recording unit 230. At this time, the print job identified by the job ID "A-001" is already spooled in the spool unit 215. Therefore, the execution order determination unit 213 checks all printing conditions included in the job information stored in the job information recording unit 230 against the printing conditions extracted from the print job identified by the job ID "A-002".

[0088] In this case, the printing conditions of the print job spooled in the spool unit 215 are the printing conditions of form A, which match the printing conditions extracted from the print job identified by job ID "A-002." Therefore, the execution order determination unit 213 determines that the execution order of the print job identified by job ID "A-002" will be next after the print job identified by job ID "A-001."

[0089] Next, the job receiving unit 211 of the printing order management unit 210 receives the print job identified by the job ID "B-001" from the terminal device 300. The printing order management unit 210 also analyzes the print job identified by the job ID "B-001" using the job analysis unit 212, extracts the printing conditions included in the print job, and passes the extracted printing conditions to the execution order determination unit 213. The printing conditions extracted here are set as the printing conditions set in form B.

[0090] The execution order determination unit 213 acquires job information of all print jobs spooled in the spool unit 215, stores it in the job information recording unit 230, and compares all printing conditions included in the job information stored in the job information recording unit 230 with the printing conditions of form B.

[0091] In this case, there is no print job that includes the printing conditions for form B among the print jobs spooled in spool unit 215. Therefore, execution order determination unit 213 places the print job identified by job ID "B-001" at the end of the print jobs spooled in spool unit 215, and makes it the last in the execution order.

[0092] Next, the job receiving unit 211 of the printing order management unit 210 receives the print job identified by the job ID "A-003" from the terminal device 300. The printing order management unit 210 also analyzes the print job identified by the job ID "A-003" using the job analysis unit 212, extracts the printing conditions included in the print job, and passes the extracted printing conditions to the execution order determination unit 213. The printing conditions extracted here are set as the printing conditions set in form A.

[0093] The execution order determination unit 213 acquires job information of all print jobs spooled in the spool unit 215, stores it in the job information recording unit 230, and checks all printing conditions included in the job information stored in the job information recording unit 230 against the printing conditions of form A.

[0094] In this case, among the print jobs spooled in the spool unit 215, print jobs that include the printing conditions for form A include print jobs identified by job IDs "A-001" and "A-002".

[0095] Therefore, the execution order determination unit 213 determines the execution order of the print job identified by the job ID "A-003" to be next to the print job identified by the job IDs "A-001" and "A-002" that has the later execution order.

[0096] 8, of the print jobs identified by the job IDs "A-001" and "A-002," the print job identified by the job ID "A-002" is the latest in the order of execution. Therefore, the print job identified by the job ID "A-003" will be executed next in the order of execution after the print job identified by the job ID "A-002," and the print job identified by the job ID "B-001" will be moved down in the order of execution.

[0097] Next, the job receiving unit 211 of the printing order management unit 210 receives the print job identified by the job ID "C-001" from the terminal device 300. The printing order management unit 210 also analyzes the print job identified by the job ID "C-001" using the job analysis unit 212, extracts the printing conditions included in the print job, and passes the extracted printing conditions to the execution order determination unit 213. The printing conditions extracted here are set as the printing conditions set in form C.

[0098] The execution order determination unit 213 acquires job information of all print jobs spooled in the spool unit 215, stores it in the job information recording unit 230, and compares all printing conditions included in the job information stored in the job information recording unit 230 with the printing conditions of the form C.

[0099] In this case, there is no print job that includes the printing conditions for form C among the print jobs spooled in spool unit 215. Therefore, execution order determination unit 213 places the print job identified by job ID "C-001" at the end of the print jobs spooled in spool unit 215, and makes it the last in the execution order.

[0100] Next, the job receiving unit 211 of the printing order management unit 210 receives the print job identified by the job ID "B-002" from the terminal device 300. In this case, five print jobs have already been spooled in the spooling unit 215. Therefore, the printing order management unit 210 causes the job analysis unit 212 to analyze the print job identified by the job ID "B-002", extract the printing conditions included in the print job, and pass the extracted printing conditions to the execution order determination unit 213. The extracted printing conditions are set as the printing conditions set in form B.

[0101] Next, the execution order determination unit 213 acquires all job information spooled in the spool unit 215, stores it in the job information recording unit 230, and compares all printing conditions included in the job information stored in the job information recording unit 230 with the printing conditions of form B. In this case, among the printing jobs spooled in the spool unit 215, there is a printing job identified by job ID "B-001" that includes the printing conditions of form B.

[0102] Therefore, the execution order determination unit 213 determines that the print job identified by the job ID "B-002" will be executed next after the print job identified by the job ID "B-001".

[0103] Therefore, the execution order of the print job identified by job ID "B-002" will be next to the execution order of the print job identified by job ID "B-001", and the execution order of the print job identified by job ID "C-001" will be moved down.

[0104] In this embodiment, by doing this, even if print jobs for forms from different issuers are received randomly, the forms can be printed consecutively for each issuer.

[0105] 9 indicates the order in which print jobs are received by image forming apparatus 200, and execution order 92 indicates the order in which print jobs are executed in image forming apparatus 200. Specifically, in FIG. 9, image forming apparatus 200 indicates that the job ID of the first print job received is "A-001," the job ID of the second print job received is "A-002," the job ID of the third print job received is "A-003," the job ID of the fourth print job received is "B-001," the job ID of the fifth print job received is "A-004," the job ID of the sixth print job received is "C-001," the job ID of the seventh print job received is "A-005," the job ID of the eighth print job received is "B-002," the job ID of the ninth print job received is "C-002," and the job ID of the tenth print job received is "B-003."

[0106] In the image forming apparatus 200 of this embodiment, the print order management unit 210 performs processing to rearrange the print jobs received in the order indicated by the reception order 91 into the order indicated by the execution order 92.

[0107] In the example of Fig. 9, the printing conditions of the fifth and seventh print jobs received match the printing conditions of the first through third print jobs received. Therefore, in the execution order 92, the fifth and seventh print jobs received are moved up to fourth and fifth, respectively. Also, in the example of Fig. 9, the printing conditions of the eighth and tenth print jobs received match the printing conditions of the fourth print job received. Therefore, in the execution order 92, the eighth and tenth print jobs received are moved up to seventh and eighth, respectively.

[0108] In this embodiment, by managing the execution order of print jobs in this way, the form for Company A is printed first, then the form for Company B, and finally the form for Company C.

[0109] Therefore, in this embodiment, no special settings are required to output reports in batches by issuer, eliminating the burden associated with batch printing operations and improving the productivity of printing operations.

[0110] In the present embodiment, the printing order management unit 210 is implemented by the image forming apparatus 200, but is not limited to this. Some of the functions of the printing order management unit 210 may be implemented by an information processing device such as a server device connected to the image forming apparatus 200, for example, as shown in FIG.

[0111] Fig. 10 is a diagram illustrating another example of the system configuration of a printing system. The printing system 100A shown in Fig. 10 includes an image forming apparatus 200 and an information processing apparatus 400 that controls the image forming apparatus 200, and a terminal apparatus 300 is connected to the image forming apparatus 200 via a communication network and the information processing apparatus 400.

[0112] The image forming apparatus 200 in the printing system 100A may be, for example, an image forming apparatus for commercial printing. Commercial printing refers to a business field in which a printing company, printing shop, or the like receives an order and payment from a client, prints printed materials as merchandise, and provides them. Examples of printed materials as merchandise include advertisements, direct mail, posters, booklets, and books.

[0113] 10, the printing order management unit 210 may be provided in the information processing device 400, or part of the functions of the printing order management unit 210 may be provided in the information processing device 400. In this way, the processing load on the image forming device 200 can be reduced, and printing efficiency can be improved.

[0114] In this embodiment, an example has been described in which the printing system 100 is used to print forms, but the printing system 100 may be used to print printed materials other than forms.

[0115] Furthermore, each function of the above-described embodiments can be realized by one or more processing circuits. Here, the term "processing circuit" in this specification includes a processor programmed to perform each function by software, such as a processor implemented by an electronic circuit, as well as devices such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), and conventional circuit modules designed to perform each of the above-described functions.

[0116] Additionally, the devices described in each embodiment represent only one of multiple computing environments for implementing the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0117] In one embodiment, the information processing device (CPU 301, controller 910, information processing device 400) includes multiple computing devices, such as a server cluster, configured to communicate with each other via any type of communication link, including a network, shared memory, etc., to perform the processes disclosed herein. Similarly, the information processing device may include multiple computing devices configured to communicate with each other.

[0118] Furthermore, the information processing device can be configured to share the disclosed processing steps in various combinations. For example, the process performed by a specific unit can be executed by the information processing device. Similarly, the function of a specific unit can be executed by the information processing device. Furthermore, in the information processing device, each element may be integrated into a single server device or may be separated into multiple devices.

[0119] 10 may be any device equipped with a communication function. Information processing device 400 may be, for example, a PJ (Projector), an output device such as digital signage, a HUD (Head Up Display) device, industrial machinery, an imaging device, a sound collection device, medical equipment, a network home appliance, an automobile (Connected Car), a notebook PC (Personal Computer), a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a game console, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a digital camera, a wearable PC, a desktop PC, or the like.

[0120] The aspects of the present invention are, for example, as follows. <1> a job receiving unit that receives a print job; a spooling unit that holds print jobs received by the job receiving unit in order of execution; An information processing device having an execution order determination unit that determines the execution order when the received print jobs are placed on hold in the spool unit, and the execution order of the waiting print jobs according to the execution order, based on the printing conditions contained in the print jobs received by the job receiving unit and the printing conditions contained in the waiting print jobs waiting in the spool unit. <2> The execution order determination unit the job receiving unit compares the printing conditions included in the received print job with the printing conditions included in all of the waiting print jobs, and determines, according to the result of the comparison by the job analyzing unit, the execution order of the received print jobs when they are made to wait in the spool unit, and the execution order of the waiting print jobs according to the execution order; <1> The information processing device described. <3> The execution order determination unit If there is a print job among the waiting print jobs whose printing conditions match those included in the received print job, the execution order of the received print job is set to be next to the print job that is latest in the execution order among the waiting print jobs whose printing conditions match those included in the received print job. <2> The information processing device described. <4> The execution order determination unit If there is no print job among the waiting print jobs whose printing conditions match those included in the received print job, the execution order of the received print job is set to be next to the last print job among the waiting print jobs. <2> or <3> The information processing device described. <5> The execution order determination unit If there is a print job on standby, the job receiving unit compares the print conditions included in the print job received with the print conditions included in all of the print jobs on standby. <1> ~ <4> 10. The information processing device according to claim 9, wherein: <6> <1> ~ <5> 10. An image forming apparatus including the information processing apparatus according to claim 19. <7> An information processing method by an information processing device, Receives print jobs and An information processing method for determining the execution order when the received print jobs are queued in the spool unit and the execution order of the queued print jobs according to the execution order, based on the printing conditions included in the received print jobs and the printing conditions included in the waiting print jobs that are queued in a spool unit that queues the received print jobs in order of execution. <8> Receives print jobs and A program that causes an information processing device to execute a process that determines the execution order when the received print job is queued in a spool unit and the execution order of the queued print jobs according to the execution order, based on the printing conditions included in the received print job and the printing conditions included in the waiting print jobs that are waiting in a spool unit that queues the received print jobs in order of execution.

[0121] Although the present invention has been described above based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the requirements shown in the above embodiments. These requirements can be changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and can be appropriately determined depending on the application form. [Explanation of symbols]

[0122] 100, 100A Printing System 200 Image forming device 210 Print order management department 211 Job Receiving Unit 212 Job Analysis Unit 213 Execution Order Determination Unit 214 Job submission unit 215 Spool section 216 Job sending unit 220 Print queue holder 300 Terminal Device [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0123] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-244232

Claims

1. a job receiving unit that receives a print job; a spooling unit that holds print jobs received by the job receiving unit in order of execution; An information processing device having an execution order determination unit that determines the execution order when the received print jobs are placed on hold in the spool unit, and the execution order of the waiting print jobs according to the execution order, based on the printing conditions included in the print jobs received by the job receiving unit and the printing conditions included in the waiting print jobs waiting in the spool unit.

2. The execution order determination unit 2. An information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the job receiving unit compares the printing conditions contained in the received print job with the printing conditions contained in all of the waiting print jobs, and, depending on the results of the comparison, determines the execution order when the received print job is placed on hold in the spool unit, and the execution order of the waiting print jobs according to the execution order.

3. The execution order determination unit 3. An information processing device as described in claim 2, wherein, if there is a print job among the waiting print jobs whose printing conditions match those included in the received print job, the execution order of the received print job is set to next to the print job that is latest to be executed among the waiting print jobs whose printing conditions match those included in the received print job.

4. The execution order determination unit 3. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein if there is no print job among the waiting print jobs whose printing conditions match those included in the received print job, the execution order of the received print job is set to be next after the last print job among the waiting print jobs.

5. The execution order determination unit 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, when there is a print job on hold, the printing conditions included in the print job received by the job receiving unit are compared with the printing conditions included in all of the print jobs on hold.

6. 10. An image forming apparatus comprising the information processing apparatus according to claim 1.

7. An information processing method by an information processing device, Receives print jobs and An information processing method for determining the execution order when the received print jobs are queued in the spool unit and the execution order of the queued print jobs according to the execution order, based on the printing conditions included in the received print jobs and the printing conditions included in the waiting print jobs that are queued in a spool unit that queues the received print jobs in order of execution.

8. Receives print jobs and A program that causes an information processing device to execute a process that determines the execution order when the received print job is queued in a spool unit and the execution order of the queued print jobs according to the execution order, based on the printing conditions included in the received print job and the printing conditions included in the waiting print jobs that are waiting in a spool unit that queues the received print jobs in order of execution.

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