Printing device

Abstract

To perform appropriate setting on a setting screen for setting a plurality of setting items including a first setting item for setting whether to execute printing based on data from a first type of software and a second setting item for setting whether to execute printing based on data from a second type of software.SOLUTION: When a first setting item is set to execute printing in response to a first instruction given by a user, a predetermined setting item among a plurality of setting items is controlled to be a setting required to execute printing based on print data transmitted from a first type of software by means of IPP. When a second setting item is set to execute printing in response to a second instruction given by the user, a predetermined setting item among the plurality of setting items is controlled to be a setting required to execute printing based on print data transmitted from a second type of software by means of the IPP.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

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

[0002] Printing devices such as multifunction peripherals and printers support various printing protocols, such as IPP (Internet Printing protocol), RAW, LPR, etc. Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration for classifying and managing received print jobs by type of printing protocol. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2003-80807 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Since Patent Document 1 manages data for each type of print protocol, it does not distinguish and manage data from software that uses the same print protocol.

[0005] Therefore, in the present invention, Appropriate settings can be made on a setting screen for setting a plurality of setting items including a first setting item for setting whether or not to execute printing based on print data transmitted from a first type of software using IPP, and a second setting item for setting whether or not to execute printing based on print data transmitted from a second type of software using IPP. The purpose of this document is to: [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the printing device provided by the present invention includes a first setting item for setting whether to execute printing based on print data transmitted from a first type of software, and a second setting item for setting whether to execute printing based on print data transmitted from a second type of software that is different from the first type, and IPP(Internet Printing Protocol)and a third setting item for setting whether or not to execute communication based on the first instruction from a user in the setting screen, the third setting item is set to the setting screen when the first setting item is set to the setting screen when the user instructs the printing to be executed. IPP and in the setting screen, when the second setting item is set to execute printing by a second instruction by the user, the third setting item is set to execute communication based on the IPP The method is characterized in that the UserAgent information transmitted by the first type of software is different from the UserAgent information transmitted by the second type of software. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, Appropriate settings can be made on a setting screen for setting multiple setting items, including a first setting item for setting whether or not to perform printing based on print data sent from a first type of software using IPP, and a second setting item for setting whether or not to perform printing based on data from a second type of software. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing device 100. [Diagram 2] FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating other settings that are changed in conjunction with the changed settings. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a response to an mDNS search packet. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an operation relating to printing of an IPP. [Figure 6] 6 is a flowchart showing a process executed when printing is performed. [Figure 7] 13 is a flowchart showing an application identification process. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 illustrates a counter 800. [Figure 9]13 is a flowchart showing a modified example of the application identifying process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the following embodiment does not limit the invention according to the claims, and all of the combinations of features described in the embodiment are not necessarily essential to the solution of the invention.

[0010] (Embodiment 1) First, the configuration of a printing device 100 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Note that the printing device 100 of this embodiment is assumed to be a multifunction peripheral, but may be a printer without a scanner function.

[0011] The CPU 101 reads out a control program stored in the ROM 102 and executes various processes for controlling the operation of the printing device 100. The ROM 102 stores the control program. The RAM 103 is used as a temporary storage area such as the main memory and work area of ​​the CPU 101. The HDD 104 stores various data such as scanned images, user settings, and counter information (described later).

[0012] In the case of the printing device 100, one CPU 101 executes each process shown in the flowcharts described later, but other configurations are also possible. For example, multiple CPUs may cooperate to execute each process shown in the flowcharts described later.

[0013] The printer 105 executes printing on a sheet based on print data such as a print job received from an external device or a scanned image generated by the scanner 106. The number of times printing has been executed is stored in the HDD 104 as count information, which will be described later. The scanner 106 reads an original and generates a scanned image. The scanned image generated by the scanner 106 is printed by the printer 105 or stored in the HDD 104.

[0014] The operation unit 107 includes a liquid crystal display unit having a touch panel function and a keyboard, and displays various screens described below. A user can input instructions and information to the printing device 100 via the operation unit 107.

[0015] The network I / F 108 is connected to a network 110 and communicates with an external device. The network I / F 108 may be a wired I / F that connects a LAN work cable, or may be a wireless I / F that performs wireless communication such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark). The network I / F 108 receives a print job sent from an external device such as a PC or a mobile terminal (e.g., a smartphone), and the printer 105 executes printing based on the received print job.

[0016] Next, the print application of this embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, two print applications are assumed: application A and application B. These applications are installed in an external device such as the above-mentioned PC or mobile terminal.

[0017] Application A uses IPP (Internet Printing protocol) as the print protocol and sends image data in pwg-raster format as a print job. Meanwhile, application B uses IPP as the print protocol and sends image data in PDF format as a print job. In this way, application A and application B handle different image data formats in their print jobs, but both use the IPP print protocol. In this embodiment, the purpose is to count the number of times printing is executed by distinguishing from which application the print job was received when print jobs are received using the same print protocol like this.

[0018] Next, various print settings including settings related to application A and application B will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Setting screen 200 in Fig. 2(A) is a screen displayed by operation unit 107, and is used by the user to perform print settings. Items 201 to 205 display "application A settings", "application B settings", "IPP settings", "HTTP settings", and "mDNS settings" as setting items. When the user selects a specific item on setting screen 200, for example by a touch operation, operation unit 107 displays a screen related to the selected setting item.

[0019] Setting screen 210 in FIG. 2B is a screen displayed by operation unit 107 when item 201 is selected. This setting screen 210 is used by the user to set whether or not to permit printing using application A. When "ON" is set on setting screen 210, printing device 100 executes printing using application A (executes printing based on a print job sent from application A). On the other hand, when "OFF" is set on setting screen 210, printing device 100 does not execute printing using application A (does not execute printing based on a print job sent from application A).

[0020] Setting screen 220 in FIG. 2C is a screen displayed by operation unit 107 when item 202 is selected. This setting screen 220 is used by the user to set whether or not to permit printing using application B. When "ON" is set on setting screen 220, printing device 100 executes printing using application B (executes printing based on a print job sent from application B). On the other hand, when "OFF" is set on setting screen 220, printing device 100 does not execute printing using application B (does not execute printing based on a print job sent from application B).

[0021] 2D is a screen that is displayed by the operation unit 107 when item 203 is selected. This setting screen 230 is used by the user to set whether or not to perform printing using IPP. When "ON" is set on the setting screen 230, the printing device 100 performs printing using IPP (printing based on a print job received via IPP). On the other hand, when "OFF" is set on the setting screen 230, the printing device 100 does not perform printing using IPP (printing based on a print job received via IPP).

[0022] 2E is a screen displayed by the operation unit 107 when the item 204 is selected. This setting screen 240 is used by the user to set whether or not to execute communication based on HTTP. When "ON" is set on the setting screen 240, the printing device 100 executes communication based on HTTP. On the other hand, when "OFF" is set on the setting screen 240, the printing device 100 does not execute communication based on HTTP.

[0023] 2F is a screen displayed by the operation unit 107 when the item 205 is selected. This setting screen 240 is used by the user to set whether or not to execute communication based on mDNS (Multicast DNS). When "ON" is set on the setting screen 250, the printing device 100 executes communication based on mDNS. On the other hand, when "OFF" is set on the setting screen 250, the printing device 100 does not execute communication based on mDNS.

[0024] As described above, by using the setting screen described in Fig. 2, the user can configure the printing device 100. For example, the user can configure whether to permit printing using application A and printing using application B, prohibit one of them, or prohibit both. Note that an authentication function may be introduced into the printing device 100 so that the settings using the setting screen in Fig. 2 can be made only by specific users (for example, a system administrator).

[0025] In this embodiment, in order to execute printing using application A or application B, the IPP setting, HTTP setting, and mDNS setting must each be set to "ON". Forcing the user to set these settings individually increases the user's workload, and there is also the possibility that a typical user does not realize that these settings also need to be set to "ON" in the first place. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the application A setting or application B setting is set to "ON", the IPP setting, HTTP setting, and mDNS setting are also automatically set to "ON". This process will be described with reference to FIG. 3.

[0026] First, the process shown in 301 in Fig. 3 will be described. Assume that the user sets the application A setting to "ON" on the setting screen 210. At this time, the printing device 100 automatically changes the IPP setting, HTTP setting, and mDNS setting required for executing printing using application A to "ON". This eliminates the need for the user to change settings individually. Also, even if the user does not accurately understand the settings required for printing using application A, the printing device 100 can automatically change them to appropriate settings.

[0027] Next, the process shown at 302 in Fig. 3 will be described. It is assumed that the user sets the application B setting to "ON" on the setting screen 220. In this case, the printing device 100 automatically changes the IPP setting, HTTP setting, and mDNS setting required for executing printing using application B to "ON". This eliminates the need for the user to change settings individually. Also, even if the user does not accurately understand the settings required for printing using application B, the printing device 100 can automatically change to appropriate settings.

[0028] As described above, when the user sets the application A setting or application B setting to "ON," the printing device 100 can automatically change the IPP setting, HTTP setting, and mDNS setting to "ON" in tandem. Note that in the case of the printing device 100, even if the user changes the application A setting or application B setting to "OFF," the IPP setting, HTTP setting, and mDNS setting do not become "OFF" in tandem (see 303 and 304 in FIG. 3). This is because the IPP setting, HTTP setting, and mDNS setting may be related to settings different from the application A setting and application B setting.

[0029] Next, the relationship between the application A setting and the application B setting and the operation of mDNS will be described with reference to Fig. 4. In this embodiment, mDNS is used by an external device such as a PC or a mobile terminal to search for a printing device.

[0030] The process shown in 401 of Fig. 4 will be described. If both the application A setting and the application B setting are set to "OFF", the printing device 100 will not respond to the received mDNS search packet, even if the printing device 100 receives the search packet.

[0031] Next, the process shown in 402 in Fig. 4 will be described. If the application A setting is set to "OFF" and the application B setting is set to "ON", when the printing device 100 receives an mDNS search packet, it responds that it supports application B. Since the application A setting is set to "OFF", the printing device 100 does not respond that it supports application A.

[0032] Next, the process shown in 403 in Fig. 4 will be described. If the application A setting is set to "ON" and the application B setting is set to "OFF", when the printing device 100 receives an mDNS search packet, it responds that it supports application A. Since the application B setting is set to "OFF", the printing device 100 does not respond that it supports application B.

[0033] Next, the process shown in 404 of Fig. 4 will be described. If both the application A setting and the application B setting are set to "ON", the printing device 100 responds that it supports both application A and application B when it receives an mDNS search packet.

[0034] As described above, the printing device 100 can switch the processing upon receiving an mDNS search packet in accordance with the application A settings and application B settings.

[0035] Next, the process of printing using IPP will be described with reference to Fig. 5. When an external device prints using IPP, the application of the external device queries the printing device 100 about the image formats it supports. Upon receiving the query, the printing device 100 responds to the query according to the application A settings and application B settings.

[0036] First, the process shown in 501 in Fig. 5 will be described. If both the application A setting and the application B setting are set to "OFF", the printing device 100 will not respond to an IPP inquiry, even if it receives an inquiry. Furthermore, regardless of whether a print job is received from application A or application B, the printing device 100 will not execute printing based on the received print job. Note that when a print job is received via IPP, it is necessary to determine whether the print job was sent from application A or application B, and the method of determination will be described in detail later with reference to the flowcharts in Figs. 6 and 7.

[0037] Next, the process illustrated in 502 of Fig. 5 will be described. If the application A setting is set to "OFF" and the application B setting is set to "ON", when an IPP inquiry is received, the printing device 100 responds with PDF as a supported image format. Furthermore, the printing device 100 does not execute printing based on the print job received from application A, but executes printing based on the print job received from application B.

[0038] Next, the process illustrated in 503 of Fig. 5 will be described. If the application A setting is set to "ON" and the application B setting is set to "OFF", when an IPP inquiry is received, the printing device 100 responds with pwg-raster as a supported image format. Furthermore, the printing device 100 executes printing based on a print job received from application A, but does not execute printing based on a print job received from application B.

[0039] Next, the process shown in 504 in Fig. 5 will be described. If both the application A setting and the application B setting are set to "ON", when an IPP inquiry is received, the printing device 100 responds with PDF and pwg-raster as supported image formats. Furthermore, regardless of whether the printing device 100 receives a print job from application A or application B, it executes printing based on the received print job.

[0040] As described above, the printing device 100 can switch the operation related to IPP printing according to the application A settings and the application B settings.

[0041] Next, the process executed when the printing device 100 executes printing will be described with reference to the flowcharts of Figures 6 and 7. Each step shown in the flowcharts of Figures 6 and 7 is processed by the CPU 101 expanding a control program stored in a memory such as ROM 102 into the RAM 103 and executing it.

[0042] In this embodiment, an external device such as a PC or a mobile terminal transmits a print job to the printing device 100 via the network 110. The external device uses various print protocols such as IPP, RAW, and LPR when transmitting a print job. First, in step S601, the network I / F 108 receives the print job transmitted from the external device. Next, in step S602, the CPU 101 determines whether the print protocol of the received print job is IPP. The print protocol is determined based on, for example, the reception port number. If the CPU 101 determines in step S602 that the print protocol of the received print job is IPP, the process proceeds to step S603. On the other hand, if the CPU 101 determines in step S602 that the print protocol of the received print job is not IPP, the process proceeds to step S611.

[0043] Next, step S603 will be described. In step S603, CPU 101 executes application identification processing to identify the application of the sender of the print job received by IPP. This application identification processing will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0044] 7 is a subflow for explaining the application identification process of step S603 in FIG. 6. In step S701, CPU 101 analyzes the received print job and determines whether the format of the image data included in the print job is pwg-raster. The format of the image data is determined, for example, by analyzing the header information of the image data. If it is determined that the format of the image data included in the print job is pwg-raster, the process proceeds to step S702. Then, in step S702, CPU 101 identifies that the application of the sender is application A.

[0045] On the other hand, if the format of the image data included in the print job is, for example, PDF, CPU 101 determines in step S701 that the format of the image data included in the print job is not pwg-raster, and the process proceeds to step S703. Then, in step S703, CPU 101 identifies that the application of the transmission source is application B.

[0046] As described above, by executing the application identification process described in the flowchart of Fig. 7, printing device 100 can identify the application that is the sender of a print job received by IPP. When the application that is the sender of a print job received by IPP has been identified, the process returns to Fig. 6 and proceeds to step S604.

[0047] Next, step S604 will be described. In step S604, CPU 101 determines whether the application of the transmission source is application A according to the result of the application identification process executed in step S603. If CPU 101 determines in step S604 that the application of the transmission source is application A, the process proceeds to step S605. On the other hand, if CPU 101 determines in step S604 that the application of the transmission source is not application A, that is, that the application of the transmission source is application B, the process proceeds to step S608.

[0048] Next, step S605 will be described. In step S605, CPU 101 determines whether or not the application A setting is ON. If the application A setting is set to ON, CPU 101 determines in step S605 that the application A setting is ON, and proceeds to step S606. On the other hand, if the application A setting is set to OFF, CPU 101 determines in step S605 that the application A setting is not ON, and ends the process shown in the flowchart without executing printing based on the received print job.

[0049] Next, step S606 will be described. In step S606, printer 105 executes printing based on the received print job. Furthermore, when executing printing in step S606, printing is executed in an image processing mode for application A. The image processing mode for application A is determined in advance according to the purpose of application A. For example, if application A is often used for printing image images such as photographs, an image processing mode that prioritizes image quality is preset as the image processing mode for application A.

[0050] When printing is executed in step S606, the process proceeds to step S607. In step S607, the CPU 101 updates the counter 800 that counts the number of times printing is performed. This counter will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

[0051] 8 is a counter for classifying and counting the number of times printing is performed according to printing protocol, and is stored in HDD 104. In this embodiment, the counter counts four types: "RAW Print" (item 801) that uses RAW, "LPR Print" (item 802) that uses LPR, "IPP Print" (item 803) that uses IPP, and "Other" (item 806) that indicates other printing protocols. Also, this embodiment is characterized in that for IPP Print, the counter counts further distinguishing whether the application of the sender is application A or application B (items 804 and 805).

[0052] When the process of step S607 is executed, the received print job uses IPP, and the application of the sender is application A. Therefore, in step S607, the values ​​of items 803 and 804 are each incremented by 1.

[0053] Next, step S608 will be described. In step S608, CPU 101 determines whether or not the application B setting is ON. If the application B setting is set to ON, CPU 101 determines in step S608 that the application B setting is ON, and proceeds to step S609. On the other hand, if the application B setting is set to OFF, CPU 101 determines in step S608 that the application B setting is not ON, and ends the process shown in the flowchart without executing printing based on the received print job.

[0054] Next, step S609 will be described. In step S609, printer 105 executes printing based on the received print job. Furthermore, when executing printing in step S609, printing is executed in an image processing mode for application B. The image processing mode for application B is determined in advance according to the purpose of application B. For example, if application B is often used for printing business documents such as Word, an image processing mode that prioritizes character image quality is preset as the image processing mode for application B.

[0055] When printing is executed in step S609, the process proceeds to step S610. Then, in step S610, the CPU 101 updates the counter 800. In step S610, the value of the item 803 and the value of the item 805 are each incremented by 1.

[0056] Next, step S611 will be described. In step S611, printer 105 executes printing based on the received print job. At this time, the print protocol of the print job is not IPP. Once printing is executed, in step S612, CPU 101 updates counter 800. In step S612, the value of the item corresponding to the print protocol of the print job is incremented by 1. For example, if the print protocol is RAW, the value of item 801 is incremented by 1, and if the print protocol is LPR, the value of item 802 is incremented by 1.

[0057] As described above, according to this embodiment, the number of prints can be counted for each type of print protocol, while for IPP, the number of prints can be counted by distinguishing the source application.

[0058] In addition, with the development of cloud services and the spread of touch printing using NFC, it is expected that IPP will be used for various printing services. Therefore, by counting the number of prints for IPP by distinguishing the application that sent the print, the system administrator and the manufacturer of the printing device 100 can understand how the printing device 100 is being used.

[0059] (Embodiment 2) In the first embodiment, the application of the sender is distinguished based on the format of the image data included in the print job, as described in Fig. 7. However, the method of distinguishing the application of the sender is not limited to the method described in the first embodiment. A method different from the method described in the first embodiment will be described as the second embodiment.

[0060] Fig. 9 is a sub-flow for explaining the application identification process in step S603 in Fig. 6, which is a modified example of the process explained in Fig. 7. Each step shown in the flowchart in Fig. 9 is processed by CPU 101 expanding a control program stored in a memory such as ROM 102 into RAM 103 and executing it.

[0061] When an external device such as a PC or a mobile terminal uses IPP to send a print job to the printing device 100, the external device first sends an HTTP request to the printing device 100. In this embodiment, the application of the sender is identified based on this HTTP request.

[0062] In step S901, CPU 101 analyzes the received HTTP request and determines whether or not the received HTTP request includes predetermined information. For example, if UserAgent in the HTTP header includes "applicationA" indicating application A, CPU 101 determines in step S901 that the received HTTP request includes predetermined information, and proceeds to step S702. On the other hand, if UserAgent in the HTTP header does not include "applicationA", CPU 101 determines in step S901 that the received HTTP request does not include predetermined information, and proceeds to step S703.

[0063] As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to distinguish the application of the sender based on the HTTP request for printing using IPP.

[0064] In this embodiment, the configuration has been described in which the sender application is distinguished by the description of the UserAgent of the HTTP request, but the distinction may be made using information other than the UserAgent. For example, if the HTTP request contains attribute information indicating application A, it may be determined in S901 that the sender application is application A.

[0065] (Other embodiments) In the above-described embodiments, the application of the sender is identified when the print protocol of the received print job is IPP, but other configurations are also possible. The application of the sender may be identified when a specific print protocol other than IPP, such as LPR, is used.

[0066] In the above-described embodiments, the process for identifying the application of the sender (FIGS. 7 and 9) has been described, but the object to be identified is not limited to the application. For example, the sender software may be configured to be identified, such as the type of OS or a printing function installed in the OS.

[0067] The present invention can also be realized by a process in which a program for realizing one or more functions of the above-mentioned embodiments is supplied to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or device read and execute the program. The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) for realizing one or more functions. [Explanation of symbols]

[0068] 100 Printing device 101 CPU 102 ROM 103 RAM 104 HDD

Claims

[Claim 1] a display control means for controlling a display unit to display at least one setting screen including a first setting item for setting whether or not to execute printing based on print data transmitted from a first type of software, a second setting item for setting whether or not to execute printing based on print data transmitted from a second type of software different from the first type, and a third setting item for setting whether or not to execute communication based on IPP (Internet Printing Protocol); a control means for controlling a printing device in accordance with settings made in the first to third setting items included in the at least one setting screen; The printing device comprising: on the setting screen, when the first setting item is set to execute printing by a first instruction by a user, the third setting item is controlled to be set to execute communication based on the IPP, on the setting screen, when the second setting item is set to execute printing by a second instruction by the user, the third setting item is controlled to be set to execute communication based on the IPP, The information of the UserAgent transmitted by the first type of software is different from the information of the UserAgent transmitted by the second type of software; A printing device comprising:

Images