Print control device and program
The print control device optimizes the use of continuous paper by reprinting failed prints on the same paper and reallocating jobs, reducing waste by efficiently managing paper resources in digital printing systems.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- JP2020155537
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Patents
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2020-09-16
- Publication Date
- 2025-01-17
- Estimated Expiration
- 2040-09-16
AI Technical Summary
In continuous feed type digital printing, unprinted portions of continuous paper are often discarded due to incomplete jobs, leading to wastage.
A print control device that manages the execution and reprinting of jobs on continuous paper by optimizing the use of remaining paper capacity, ensuring that failed prints are reprinted on the same paper when possible, and reallocating jobs to new paper when necessary.
Reduces the amount of discarded continuous paper by effectively utilizing the remaining capacity for reprinting and reallocating jobs, minimizing waste.
Smart Images

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Abstract
Description
[Technical field]
[0001] The present invention relates to a print control device and a program. [Background technology]
[0002] In the digital printing market, the function of verifying print results is utilized to guarantee the quality of printed materials. Continuous feed digital printing machines that print on continuous paper such as roll paper record information showing the inspection results for each page by embedding it in the margin of the corresponding page.
[0003] It is a known practice for prints that fail inspection to be reprinted and replaced in post-processing with prints that pass inspection. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]
[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2008-087386 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]
[0005] Incidentally, a printed material is formed on a continuous sheet of paper by executing one or more jobs, but the unprinted portions of the continuous sheet of paper become leftover paper and are usually discarded.
[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide a print control device that reduces the amount of continuous paper that is discarded, compared to a case in which reprinting is not uniformly performed on the continuous paper on which a job has been executed. [Means for solving the problem]
[0007] The print control device according to the present invention includes a processor, and the processor is configured to: and obtaining a result of the inspection performed on the plurality of printed products formed on the continuous paper as the above-mentioned, and if there is at least one printed product among the plurality of printed products that has failed the inspection and therefore needs to be reprinted, Remaining continuous paper capacity andThe amount of the printed matter requiring reprinting is acquired, and if the remaining amount of the continuous paper is equal to or greater than the amount of the printed matter requiring reprinting, the reprinting of the printed matter requiring reprinting is performed. The same as that used to form the plurality of printed matter Control to perform the above on the continuous paper death , when the remaining capacity of the continuous paper is less than the capacity of the printed matter requiring reprinting, control is performed so that the reprinting of the printed matter requiring reprinting is performed on the same continuous paper as that used to form the plurality of printed matters, to the extent that the reprinting capacity fits within the remaining capacity of the continuous paper. It is characterized by:
[0008] The processor also At the end The total volume of all the printed materials that need to be reprinted is obtained, and At the end When the remaining capacity of the continuous paper is equal to or greater than the total capacity of the printed matter requiring reprinting, the reprinting of the printed matter requiring reprinting is The same as that used to form the plurality of printed matter The present invention is characterized in that the control is performed on the continuous paper.
[0009] The processor also Obtaining a total volume of all the printed materials that need to be reprinted at the end of the job; The job Before the end If the remaining capacity of the continuous paper is less than the total volume of the printed matter requiring reprinting, the amount of the printed matter requiring reprinting that fits within the remaining capacity of the continuous paper is reprinted. The same as that used to form the plurality of printed matter The present invention is characterized in that the control is performed on the continuous paper.
[0010] The processor also One of the above on the continuous paper Every time a print is created a result of an inspection performed on the printed matter, and if the printed matter needs to be reprinted because it has failed the inspection, a remaining capacity of the continuous paper after the printed matter is formed, and Get the volume of the printed matter and when the remaining capacity of the continuous paper is equal to or greater than the capacity of the printed matter, control is performed so that the printed matter is reprinted on the same continuous paper that was used to form the printed matter. It is characterized by:
[0011] Furthermore, when it is planned that execution results of a plurality of jobs are printed on the continuous paper, the processor a print job for printing a printout of the continuous paper by executing a first job included in the plurality of jobs; and if there is at least one print job that has failed the inspection and needs to be reprinted among the print jobs formed on the continuous paper by executing the first job, the remaining capacity of the continuous paper after the print job is formed by executing the first job and Obtain the volume of the printed matter that needs to be reprinted; calculating a planned remaining capacity of the continuous paper at a time when the printed matter requiring reprinting is to be reprinted by subtracting a volume of the printed matter to be formed by executing a job subsequent to the first job from the obtained remaining capacity of the continuous paper; When the expected remaining capacity of the continuous paper is equal to or larger than the capacity of the printed matter that needs to be reprinted in the first job, reprinting the printed matter that needs to be reprinted in the first job is performed. The same as the print formed by executing the first job. The present invention is characterized in that the control is performed on the continuous paper.
[0012] The processor may also control the reprinting of the printed matter requiring reprinting in the first job so that the reprinting is performed immediately after the job currently being printed is completed.
[0013] Further, the processor determines whether or not a volume of the printed matter requiring reprinting in the first job is to be reprinted when a planned remaining volume of the continuous paper is less than a volume of the printed matter requiring reprinting in the first job. The same as the print formed by executing the first job. The method is characterized in that the plan is reviewed so that the execution results of one or more unexecuted jobs other than the first job among the plurality of jobs are printed on another continuous sheet while the execution results of one or more unexecuted jobs other than the first job are printed on another continuous sheet.
[0014] The program according to the present invention causes a computer to execute a job. Multiple The function of obtaining the results of the inspection performed on the printed matter, Multiple If there is even one printed matter that needs to be reprinted because it has failed the inspection, Multiple The system realises a function for acquiring the remaining capacity of the continuous paper after forming a printed matter and the volume of the printed matter that requires reprinting, a function for controlling the reprinting of the printed matter that requires reprinting to be performed on the same continuous paper used to form the multiple printed matters when the remaining capacity of the continuous paper is equal to or greater than the volume of the printed matter that requires reprinting, and a function for controlling the reprinting of the printed matter that requires reprinting to be performed on the same continuous paper used to form the multiple printed matters when the remaining capacity of the continuous paper is less than the volume of the printed matter that requires reprinting, up to the amount that fits within the remaining capacity of the continuous paper. Effect of the Invention
[0015] According to the invention recited in claim 1, it is possible to provide a print control device that reduces the amount of continuous paper that is discarded, compared to a case in which reprinting is not performed uniformly on the continuous paper on which a job has been executed.
[0016] According to the invention as recited in claim 2, all printed materials of a job can be formed from the same continuous paper.
[0017] According to the invention as recited in claim 3, the amount of the continuous paper that is discarded can be minimized.
[0018] According to the invention as recited in claim 4, each time a printed matter requiring reprinting is detected, the reprinting of the printed matter requiring reprinting can be assigned to the same continuous paper as the printed matter that passed the inspection.
[0019] According to the invention as recited in claim 5, even when a plurality of jobs are assigned to the continuous paper, the portion of the continuous paper that would otherwise be discarded can be effectively utilized.
[0020] According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to give priority to reprinting of printed matter that requires reprinting in the first job.
[0021] According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to give priority to forming all printed materials of the first job from the same continuous paper.
[0022] According to the invention recited in claim 8, it is possible to provide a print control device that reduces the amount of continuous paper that is discarded, compared to a case in which reprinting is not performed uniformly on the continuous paper on which a job has been executed. [Brief description of the drawings]
[0023] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram of a printing system according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] 5 is a flowchart showing a job execution control process when a single job is executed in the first embodiment. [Diagram 3] 13 is a flowchart showing another job execution control process when a single job is executed in the second embodiment. [Figure 4] 13 is a flowchart showing a job execution control process when a plurality of jobs are executed in the third embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram showing the order of a plurality of jobs including a reprint job in the third and fourth embodiments. [Figure 6] 13 is a flowchart showing another job execution control process when a plurality of jobs are executed in the fourth embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0024] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0025] Embodiment 1 Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a printing system according to the present embodiment, which shows a printing device 20 that executes printing, and a print control device 10 that controls the execution of printing in the printing device 20.
[0026] The printing device 20 in this embodiment is a continuous-feed digital printing machine that prints on continuous paper such as roll paper. The printing device 20 has a print execution unit 21 that performs printing, and a print inspection unit 22 that inspects the printed matter output by the print execution unit 21.
[0027] The print execution unit 21 prints on the continuous paper by executing one or more jobs according to instructions from the print control device 10. The print execution unit 21 basically forms multiple pages on the continuous paper by executing jobs, so the printed matter formed by the print execution unit 21 corresponds to a page. The print inspection unit 22 performs inspection on a page-by-page basis. The print execution unit 21 has a function to detect the capacity of the continuous paper set in the printing device 20, and also has a function to detect the consumption of the continuous paper, in other words, the remaining capacity of the continuous paper, by forming printed matter.
[0028] "Capacity" refers to the amount of paper that can be used for printing. "Capacity of printed matter" refers to the amount of paper required to print that printed matter. "Remaining capacity" refers to the amount of material that has not been printed on after a print process has been executed. If the printed matter generated by printing on continuous paper is all the same size (for example, all pages are A4 size), the capacity can be expressed in terms of the number of pages or the length of the roll paper. On the other hand, if the printed matter sizes are different, for example, if there is a mixture of A4, B5, etc. sizes, the amount of continuous paper consumed will differ depending on the size of the printed matter, and so the capacity can be expressed in terms of cm, for example. 2In the present embodiment described below, the capacity and remaining capacity are expressed as areas.
[0029] As described above, the print control device 10 in this embodiment controls the execution of printing in the printer 20. The print control device 10 can be realized with the hardware configuration of a general-purpose computer that has existed for a long time. That is, the print control device 10 is configured by connecting a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, a hard disk drive (HDD) as a storage means, a network interface (IF) provided as a communication means, and a user interface including an input means and a display means as necessary, to an internal bus.
[0030] 1, the print control device 10 in this embodiment has a job management unit 11, a print execution control unit 12, a print monitoring unit 13, and a job storage unit 14. Note that components that are not used in the description of this embodiment are omitted from the figure.
[0031] The job management unit 11 accepts jobs as print requests and registers them in the job storage unit 14. The job management unit 11 also performs job management such as registering and deleting jobs, and schedule management such as determining the order in which registered jobs are executed. The print execution control unit 12 controls the jobs registered in the job storage unit 14 to be executed according to the schedule. The print monitoring unit 13 monitors the print status, inspection status, etc. of the printing device 20. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, it obtains the remaining capacity of the continuous paper from the print execution unit 21 and the inspection results of each printed matter from the print inspection unit 22.
[0032] The job storage unit 14 stores job information including job identification information such as a job ID, job reception date and time, job size, amount of printed matter (page size and number of sheets of each size, capacity of continuous paper used, etc.), identification information of the continuous paper on which the printed matter is formed, etc. Also, the order of job execution, that is, schedule information, is set according to the sorting order of the job information, etc. The data configuration set in the job storage unit 14 may be the same as before.
[0033] Each of the components 11 to 13 in the print control device 10 is realized by the cooperative operation of a computer forming the print control device 10 and a program running on a CPU mounted on the computer. Also, the job storage unit 14 is realized by a HDD mounted on the print control device 10. Alternatively, a RAM or an external storage means may be used via a network.
[0034] Furthermore, the programs used in the present embodiment can be provided not only by communication means, but also by being stored in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a USB memory. The programs provided from the communication means or recording medium are installed in a computer, and various processes are realized by the computer's CPU sequentially executing the programs.
[0035] When a job is executed by the printing system, a printout is formed on continuous paper as a result of the execution. The printout is printed and generated as specified by attribute information, etc., but may not be generated with the desired quality due to, for example, dirt on the nozzle that outputs the ink. The print inspection unit 22 inspects the quality of each generated printout and judges printouts that do not meet the predetermined standards as failing.
[0036] A printed matter that fails the inspection is reprinted. In this embodiment, "reprinting" refers to generating a new job so that the printed matter that fails the inspection is produced with a quality that passes the inspection, and executing the job to obtain a new printed matter that passes the inspection. Note that, for the sake of convenience, this embodiment will be described assuming that a printed matter that passes the inspection is obtained by reprinting, but if a printed matter that fails the inspection is obtained even after reprinting, reprinting can be performed again.
[0037] In this embodiment, when a print that has failed inspection is to be reprinted, the system is characterized in that the system controls the reprinting of the print on the continuous paper on which the print was formed, if possible. Below, the basic process of the print control process in this embodiment will be explained using the flowchart shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 2 shows the process when a print is formed on the continuous paper by executing a single job.
[0038] The print execution control unit 12 retrieves one job from the job storage unit 14, and sends it to the printing device 20 to execute the job (step 101).
[0039] The print execution unit 21 in the printing device 20 starts executing the sent job, and is aware of the remaining capacity of the continuous paper at the start time. The remaining capacity of the continuous paper at the start time is equal to the remaining capacity of the continuous paper at the end time of the job executed immediately before. The print execution unit 21 forms multiple printed objects on the continuous paper and ends the job, and is aware of the remaining capacity of the continuous paper at the end time.
[0040] Furthermore, the print inspection unit 22 inspects the printed matter every time the print execution unit 21 generates the printed matter. When the execution of the job is completed, the print monitoring unit 13 obtains the inspection results of all the printed matters from the print inspection unit 22 (step 102). If all the printed matters pass the inspection and there is no printed matter that needs to be reprinted because it failed the inspection (N in step 103), the processing related to the job is terminated.
[0041] On the other hand, if there is at least one printed product that has failed the inspection and therefore needs to be reprinted (Y in step 103), the print monitoring unit 13 obtains the remaining capacity of the continuous paper from the print execution unit 21 (step 104).
[0042] Next, the print execution control unit 12 acquires the total volume of the printed materials that need to be reprinted (step 105). Since the printed materials that need to be reprinted can be identified, the print execution control unit 12 acquires the volume of each printed material that needs to be reprinted by referring to the job storage unit 14 or obtaining information from the printing device 20, and calculates the total volume by adding up the volumes.
[0043] Next, the print execution control unit 12 obtains the remaining capacity of the continuous paper from the print monitoring unit 13 and compares it with the total volume of the printed materials that need to be reprinted. If the remaining capacity of the continuous paper is equal to or greater than the total volume of the printed materials that need to be reprinted (Y in step 106), the print execution control unit 12 requests the job management unit 11 to reprint the printed materials that need to be reprinted on the printed materials that are the result of the execution of the job, that is, on the continuous paper on which the printed materials that have passed the inspection and the printed materials that have failed the inspection are formed (hereinafter, "the same continuous paper") (step 107). In other words, since the same continuous paper has sufficient remaining capacity to reprint the printed materials that have failed the inspection, in this embodiment, in such a case, the reprinted portions are controlled to be printed on the same continuous paper.
[0044] The job management unit 11 generates a new job to print the reprinted portion in response to a request from the print execution control unit 12, and registers the job in the job storage unit 14 so that it is printed on the same continuous paper. The request from the print execution control unit 12 includes information for identifying the printed matter to be reprinted (for example, a job ID and a page number).
[0045] On the other hand, if the remaining capacity of the continuous paper is less than the total volume of the printed materials that need to be reprinted (N in step 106), the remaining capacity of the same continuous paper is insufficient to reprint all of the reprinted printed materials. In this case, all of the reprinted printed materials may be controlled to be formed together on a different continuous paper from the same continuous paper. However, in this embodiment, the print execution control unit 12 requests the job management unit 11 to make as effective use of the remaining portion of the same continuous paper as possible by extracting only those printed materials from the reprinted printed materials that fit within the remaining capacity of the same continuous paper (step 108).
[0046] In order to print the reprinted printed matter in response to a request from the print execution control unit 12, the job management unit 11 generates new jobs for printing on the same continuous paper and for printing on a different continuous paper from the same continuous paper, and registers them in the job storage unit 14. The printed matter to be reprinted on the same continuous paper may be specified by the print execution control unit 12, or the job management unit 11 may specify it by referring to the job information registered in the job storage unit 14.
[0047] As described above, in this embodiment, when the printed matter resulting from the execution of a single job includes a printed matter that needs to be reprinted because it failed inspection, it is possible to form the reprinted printed matter on the same continuous paper as much as possible.
[0048] Embodiment 2 In the above-mentioned first embodiment, a case was described in which a single job is executed and print control is performed after the execution of the single job is completed and all printed matter is generated. In this embodiment, a single job is executed as in the above-mentioned description, but the job execution control process in the case of print control of printed matter that needs to be reprinted each time a printed matter is generated will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. 3. Note that the same processes as those shown in FIG. 2 are assigned the same step numbers and descriptions will be omitted as appropriate. Also, the configuration of the printing system may be the same as that of the first embodiment.
[0049] The print execution control unit 12 retrieves one job from the job storage unit 14 and sends it to the printing device 20 to execute the job (step 101). In the explanation using Fig. 2, the process waits until all printed matter is formed, but here, the process controls reprinting as necessary each time one printed matter (e.g., one page) is generated.
[0050] That is, the print inspection unit 22 inspects the printed matter each time the print execution unit 21 forms the printed matter, and the print monitoring unit 13 obtains the inspection results of the printed matter from the print inspection unit 22 each time the inspection of a printed matter is completed (step 112).
[0051] If the acquired printed matter passes the inspection and therefore does not need to be reprinted (N in step 103), the process moves to the next printed matter to be printed (Y in step 119, step 112). If there is no next printed matter to be printed (N in step 119), the process related to the job ends.
[0052] On the other hand, if the acquired printout has failed the inspection and needs to be reprinted (Y in step 103), the print monitoring unit 13 acquires the remaining capacity of the continuous paper from the print execution unit 21 (step 104).
[0053] Next, the print execution control unit 12 acquires the volume of the printed matter that needs to be reprinted (step 105). In this way, the print execution control unit 12 acquires the volume of the printed matter that needs to be reprinted each time a printed matter that needs to be reprinted is detected, but the volume acquired here is the volume of one printed matter (e.g., one page). Next, the print execution control unit 12 compares the remaining volume of the continuous paper acquired from the print monitoring unit 13 with the volume of the printed matter that needs to be reprinted. Here, if the remaining volume of the continuous paper is equal to or greater than the volume of the printed matter that needs to be reprinted (Y in step 106), the print execution control unit 12 requests the job management unit 11 to reprint the printed matter that needs to be reprinted on the same continuous paper (step 107).
[0054] On the other hand, if the remaining capacity of the continuous paper is less than the volume of the printed matter that needs to be reprinted (N in step 106), the printed matter that needs to be reprinted cannot be reprinted any further on the same continuous paper, so the print execution control unit 12 requests the job management unit 11 to form the printed matter that needs to be reprinted on a continuous paper different from the same continuous paper (step 118).
[0055] The process in the job management section 11 that receives the request from the print execution control section 12 may be the same as that described above, and therefore the description will be omitted.
[0056] Embodiment 3 In the above-mentioned first and second embodiments, a single job is executed, but in this embodiment, a case where multiple jobs are executed will be described. The job execution control process in this embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 4. Note that the same processes as those shown in FIG. 2 are given the same step numbers, and the description will be omitted as appropriate. Also, the configuration of the printing system may be the same as in the first embodiment.
[0057] In this embodiment, it is assumed that multiple jobs are scheduled to be executed consecutively, and the order of the scheduled multiple jobs is fixed. For example, as shown in Fig. 5(a), jobs A, B, and C are executed in this order.
[0058] First, the print execution control unit 12 causes the print execution unit 21 to execute a scheduled job (step 101), and the print inspection unit 22 inspects the prints formed on the continuous paper by the print execution unit 21. When the print monitoring unit 13 finishes executing the job, it obtains the inspection results of all the prints from the print inspection unit 22 (step 102). Here, if all the prints pass the inspection and there is no print that needs to be reprinted because it failed the inspection (N in step 103), and if there is a next scheduled job (Y in step 122), the print execution control unit 12 causes the print execution unit 21 to execute the next job to be executed (step 101). If there is no next scheduled job (N in step 122), this process ends.
[0059] On the other hand, if there is at least one printed item that needs to be reprinted because it failed the inspection (Y in step 103), the print execution control unit 12 acquires the remaining capacity of the continuous paper acquired by the print monitoring unit 13 (step 104).
[0060] In this embodiment, scheduled jobs (jobs A, B, and C in the example shown in Figure 5(a)) are fixed, so printed matter of jobs (e.g., jobs B and C) that have not yet been executed and are subsequent to the job currently being processed (e.g., job A) will then be formed on the same continuous paper. Therefore, the print execution control unit 12 calculates the expected remaining capacity of the continuous paper at the time of reprinting the printed matter that needs to be reprinted by subtracting the capacity expected to be consumed by all subsequent jobs formed on the same continuous paper from the acquired remaining capacity of the continuous paper (step 121).
[0061] The print execution control unit 12 then obtains the total volume of the printed materials that need to be reprinted (step 105) and compares the calculated remaining volume of the continuous paper with the total volume of the printed materials that need to be reprinted. If the remaining volume of the continuous paper is equal to or greater than the total volume of the printed materials that need to be reprinted (Y in step 106), the print execution control unit 12 reprints the printed materials that need to be reprinted on the same continuous paper (step 107).
[0062] On the other hand, if the remaining capacity of the continuous paper is less than the total volume of the printed items that need to be reprinted (N in step 106), the remaining capacity of the same continuous paper is insufficient to reprint all of the reprinted printed items, so the print execution control unit 12 requests the job management unit 11 to extract only as many printed items from the reprinted printed items as will fit within the remaining capacity of the same continuous paper, thereby making the most effective use of the remaining portion of the same continuous paper (step 108).
[0063] According to the process of this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 5(b), even if the reprinted printed matter of a job can be formed on the same continuous paper, it is scheduled to be printed in the fixed job execution order, that is, following jobs A, B, and C. Note that Fig. 5(b) shows a case where reprint jobs are also generated for jobs B and C.
[0064] Embodiment 4 In the above-mentioned third embodiment, when multiple jobs are executed, the order of scheduled job execution is fixed. In this embodiment, the order of scheduled job execution can be changed. For example, after the execution of a job is completed, the print execution control unit 12 instructs the print execution unit 21 to execute the next job each time. The job execution control process in this embodiment will be explained using the flowchart shown in FIG. 6. Note that the same processes as those shown in FIG. 4 are assigned the same step numbers and explanations will be omitted as appropriate. Also, the configuration of the print system may be the same as that of the first embodiment.
[0065] The processing in this embodiment may be the same as the processing in steps 101 to 106 in embodiment 3, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted. If the remaining capacity of the continuous paper is equal to or greater than the total volume of the printed materials that need to be reprinted (Y in step 106), a request is made to job management unit 11 to reprint the printed materials that need to be reprinted on the same continuous paper immediately after the printed materials that were generated by execution of the job that generated the printed materials that need to be reprinted (step 131).
[0066] As shown in Fig. 5(a), jobs A, B, and C are scheduled to be executed consecutively, but in this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 5(c), the reprint job is controlled to be executed immediately after the job from which the reprint was generated. In other words, in the example shown in Fig. 5(a), job B is scheduled to be executed following job A as the first job among multiple jobs A, B, and C, but the reprint job of job A is scheduled to be inserted immediately after job A and immediately before job B, as shown in Fig. 5(c).
[0067] On the other hand, if the remaining capacity of the continuous paper is less than the total volume of the printed items that need to be reprinted (N in step 106), the remaining capacity of the same continuous paper is insufficient to reprint all of the reprinted printed items, so the print execution control unit 12 requests the job management unit 11 to extract only as many printed items from the reprinted printed items as will fit within the remaining capacity of the same continuous paper, thereby making the most effective use of the remaining portion of the same continuous paper (step 132).
[0068] As described above, by controlling printing of reprints, a job for reprinting a printed material that failed inspection due to the execution of a first job (e.g., job A) ("job A reprint" in FIG. 5(c)) can be executed immediately after the completion of job A, allowing replacement of printed materials to be performed efficiently.
[0069] In the above example, priority is given to printing all jobs A, B, and C on the same continuous paper, but priority may be given to executing "job A reprint" for reprinting immediately after "job A" is completed. For example, if the total volume of printed matter requiring reprinting is not reached (N in step 106), the jobs are rescheduled so that "job A reprint" for reprinting is executed immediately after "job A" as the first job is completed. In this case, job C or both of jobs B and C that have not yet been executed among the multiple jobs A, B, and C may not be able to form printed matter on the same continuous paper as job A. Therefore, the job management unit 11 reconsiders the plan in response to a request from the print execution control unit 12 so that the printed matter that is the execution result of job C or jobs B and C is printed on another continuous paper.
[0070] In each of the above embodiments, the term "processor" refers to a processor in a broad sense, and includes general-purpose processors (e.g., CPU: Central Processing Unit, etc.) and dedicated processors (e.g., GPU: Graphics Processing Unit, ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit, FPGA: Field Programmable Gate Array, programmable logic device, etc.).
[0071] In addition, the operations of the processor in the above embodiments may be performed not only by one processor, but also by multiple processors located at physically separate locations working together. The order of the operations of the processor is not limited to the order described in the above embodiments, and may be changed as appropriate. [Explanation of symbols]
[0072] 10 print control device, 11 job management unit, 12 print execution control unit, 13 print monitoring unit, 14 job storage unit, 20 printing device, 21 print execution unit, 22 print inspection unit.
Claims
1. A processor is provided. The processor, Obtaining results of an inspection performed on a plurality of prints formed on the continuous paper as a result of execution of the job; If there is at least one printed product among the plurality of printed products that has failed the inspection and therefore needs to be reprinted, the remaining capacity of the continuous paper after the formation of the plurality of printed products and the capacity of the printed product that needs to be reprinted are obtained; When the remaining capacity of the continuous paper is equal to or greater than the capacity of the printed matter requiring reprinting, control is performed so that the printed matter requiring reprinting is reprinted on the same continuous paper as that used to form the plurality of printed matters; when the remaining capacity of the continuous paper is less than the capacity of the printed matter requiring reprinting, control is performed so that the reprinting of the printed matter requiring reprinting is performed on the same continuous paper as that used to form the plurality of printed matters, to the extent that the reprinting capacity fits within the remaining capacity of the continuous paper. A print control device comprising:
2. The processor, Obtaining a total volume of all the printed materials that need to be reprinted at the end of the job; when the remaining capacity of the continuous paper at the time of completion of the job is equal to or greater than the total capacity of the printed matter requiring reprinting, control is performed so that the printed matter requiring reprinting is reprinted on the same continuous paper as that used to form the plurality of printed matters.
2. The print control device according to claim 1.
3. The processor, Obtaining a total volume of all the printed materials that need to be reprinted at the end of the job; when the remaining capacity of the continuous paper at the time of completion of the job is less than the total volume of the printed products requiring reprinting, control is performed so that the reprinting of the printed products requiring reprinting is performed on the same continuous paper as that on which the plurality of printed products are formed, to the extent that the reprinting fits within the remaining capacity of the continuous paper.
2. The print control device according to claim 1.
4. The processor, Each time one of the printed matters is formed on the continuous paper, a result of an inspection performed on the printed matter is obtained; If the print fails the inspection and needs to be reprinted, the remaining capacity of the continuous paper after the print is formed and the capacity of the print are obtained; when the remaining capacity of the continuous paper is equal to or greater than the capacity of the printed matter, control is performed so that the printed matter is reprinted on the same continuous paper that was used to form the printed matter; 2. The print control device according to claim 1.
5. When execution results of a plurality of jobs are planned to be printed on the continuous paper, the processor obtaining a result of an inspection performed on a printed matter formed on the continuous paper by execution of a first job included in the plurality of jobs; If there is at least one printed matter that needs to be reprinted because it has failed an inspection among the printed matters formed on the continuous paper by the execution of the first job, the remaining capacity of the continuous paper after the printed matter has been formed by the execution of the first job and the capacity of the printed matter that needs to be reprinted are obtained; calculating a remaining capacity of the continuous paper at a time when the printed matter requiring reprinting is to be reprinted by subtracting a volume of the printed matter to be formed by executing a subsequent job of the first job from the remaining capacity of the continuous paper obtained; when the expected remaining capacity of the continuous paper is equal to or larger than the capacity of the printed matter requiring reprinting in the first job, control is performed so that the reprinting of the printed matter requiring reprinting in the first job is performed on the same continuous paper as that on which the printed matter was formed by executing the first job.
2. The print control device according to claim 1.
6. The processor, controlling the reprinting of the printed matter requiring reprinting in the first job to be performed immediately after the end of the job currently being printed; 6. The print control device according to claim 5,
7. The printing control device described in claim 5, characterized in that when the planned remaining capacity of the continuous paper is less than the capacity of the printed matter that needs to be reprinted in the first job, the processor reprints the printed matter that needs to be reprinted in the first job on the same continuous paper that was used to form the printed matter by executing the first job, and revises the plan so that the results of execution of one or more unexecuted jobs other than the first job among the multiple jobs are printed on other continuous paper.
8. On the computer, A function for acquiring the results of an inspection performed on a plurality of prints formed on a continuous sheet as a result of execution of a job; a function of acquiring the remaining capacity of the continuous paper after forming the plurality of printed products and the capacity of the printed product that needs to be reprinted, when at least one printed product among the plurality of printed products has failed an inspection and needs to be reprinted; a function of controlling, when the remaining capacity of the continuous paper is equal to or greater than the capacity of the printed matter requiring reprinting, to perform reprinting of the printed matter requiring reprinting on the same continuous paper that was used to form the plurality of printed matters; a function of controlling, when the remaining capacity of the continuous paper is not sufficient for the volume of the printed matter requiring reprinting, to reprint the printed matter requiring reprinting to an extent that fits within the remaining capacity of the continuous paper, on the same continuous paper that was used to form the plurality of printed matters; A program to achieve this.
Citation Information
Patent Citations
Control method of printing device, control program of printing device, and printing device
JP2008087386A