JPH0485618A - Data processor equipped with plural printers - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a data processing device equipped with a plurality of printing devices configured by, for example, connecting a plurality of computer terminals and a plurality of printing devices through a network. Regarding.

(Prior Art) For example, when each person uses a plurality of computer terminals to develop software, in order to print the developed software program, it is necessary to connect the plurality of computer terminals to each other via a network. An attached printing device is used.

Here, if a plurality of printing devices exist on the computer network, the operator arbitrarily selects and designates one of the plurality of printing devices to print out the created program.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, if an operator arbitrarily selects a plurality of printing devices that exist on a network, not only will the frequency of use of each printing device be uneven, but also all printing devices will be used. When printing is in progress, it is not possible to determine which printing device will finish printing first, making it impossible to perform efficient printing in the shortest possible time.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and provides multiple printing devices that enable efficient printing work with the shortest printing processing time without the need for operators to select multiple printing devices themselves. The purpose is to provide a data processing device.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) A data processing device equipped with a plurality of printing devices according to the present invention is one in which a plurality of printing devices are connected to the same network, and the plurality of printing devices are connected to the same network. a printing load inspection means provided in each of the apparatuses for inspecting the printing load state of the printing apparatus; and an inspection information transmitting means for transmitting inspection information of the printing load state inspected by the printing load inspection means onto the network; Printing device selection means for receiving inspection information on the state of printed pages 6f of each of the plurality of printing devices transmitted over the network by the inspection information transmission means and selecting one printing device with the least printing load state; and a seven-stage data transmitter for specifying one printing apparatus selected by the printing apparatus selection means and transmitting the print data onto the network.

(Operation) That is, the printing device selection means can automatically specify the printing device with the least number of waiting times for printing, that is, the printing device with the earliest printing start time.

(Example) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a data processing device equipped with a plurality of printing devices. In the figure, 1 is an input device equipped with a keyboard, mouse, etc., 2 is an output device such as a CRT display unit, and the input device is Both the device 1 and the output device 2 are connected to a data processing device (a) 3.

When data to be printed is given from the input device 1 along with a print command signal, the data processing device (a) 3 selects a plurality of printing devices, displays the selected device on the display device 2, and also displays the selected device on the display device 2. The data to be printed is transmitted to the selected printing device, and the data to be printed transmitted from this data processing device (a) 3 is given to the specified printing device through the network communication medium N.

A printing device (a) 5 is connected to the network communication medium N through a printing control device (a) 4.

The print control device (a) 4 outputs and transfers the print data given through the network communication medium N to the printing device (a) 5 and controls its printing operation, and also controls the print load based on the print queue of the print data. The status is periodically inspected, and this inspection information on the printing load status is transmitted to the data processing apparatus side through the network communication medium N.

Here, a human-powered device 6 and an output device 7 each have the same functions as the input device 1, output device 2, data processing device (a) 3, print control device (a) 4, and printing device (a) 5, respectively. , day-evening device (b) 8, printing control device (b)
9. A printing device (b) 10 is further connected via a set of network communication media N.

FIG. 2 shows the internal configuration of the data processing device (a) 3, in which a print command signal given from the input device 1 is input to a print command reception section 31, and the print command reception section 31 receives the print command. The department number is output to the printing device selection section 32. This printing device selection section 32 is configured to select the printing device from the printing control device (a).
) 4 and (b) 9, the printing device with the smaller print queue is selected. It is output to the network communication medium N via the data transmitter 33 together with the print data received from the device 1.

On the other hand, real-time inspection information on the printing load status repeatedly given from the printing control devices (a) 4 and (b) 9 is received by the inspection result receiving section 35 and sent to the load information storage section 1-36.
The data is temporarily stored in , and output to the printing device selection section 32 .

FIG. 3 shows the internal configuration of the printing control device (a) 4, in which the printing data given from the data processing device (a) 3 or (b) 8 through the network communication medium N is Received by the receiving unit 41 and sent to the queue processing unit 42
will be forwarded to. This queue processing unit 42 is a printing device (
The print data to be printed on the printing device (a) 5 is sequentially arranged and held in the order of the print line data, and the print line data held in the queue processing unit 42 in the order of print waiting is stored in the printing device (a) 5. The images are sequentially transferred and outputted through the output processing unit 43 in accordance with the printing operation.

On the other hand, the print load state corresponding to the print queue amount of print data in the queue processing section 42 is periodically inspected by the load inspection section 44, and transmitted from the inspection result transmission section 45 to the data processing device through the network communication medium N. (a)
3 or (b) 8 is repeatedly sent 12.

Next, a printing operation by a pig processing apparatus including a plurality of printing apparatuses having the above configuration will be described.

First, in the input device 1, when an operator performs a print command operation after creating print data, the print command signal output from the input device w, 1 is sent to the data processing device along with the print data. (a) It is input to the print command reception unit 31 in 3 and sent to the printing device selection unit 32.

Then, the printing device selection unit 32 selects the two printing control devices (a
) 4 and (b) 9, and based on this printing load information, select the printing device (a) 5 or (b) 10 that currently has the least amount of data waiting for printing. For example, the device selection unit 32 selects a printing bag@
When (a) 5 is selected, the selected printing device is displayed on the output device 2 via the selection result display section 34, and the data transmission section 3
3 to print control device 71 (a) 4 is designated, and the print data is transferred through the network communication medium N.

Here, the data transmitter 3 of the data processing device (a) 3
The print data output from 3 is sent to print control device (a) 4
The queue processing unit 42 receives the data by the data receiving unit 41 of the
will be forwarded to. Then, when the printing device (a) 5 is in the process of printing according to the print command at the current location, the queue processing unit 42 transfers the print data received and transferred through the data reception unit 41 to the end of the print queue. , and waits until other first-come-first-served print processing is completed. After that, when the first-come-first-served print processing by printing device (a) 5 is completed, the data sent this time from data processing device (a) 3 is The printing data is transferred and outputted to the printing bag W(a)5 through the output processing section 43.

As a result, there are two printing devices (a) 5 or (b) 1.
0, whichever has the earlier printing start time is selected,
Print data created in advance using the input device 1 is now printed.

On the other hand, the registration status of the print queue in the queue processing unit 42 is periodically checked by the load check unit 44, and the print load status corresponding to the print waiting time checked by the load check unit 44 is checked by the load check unit 44. The test information is sent to each data processing device (a) 3 and (b) 8 through the test result transmitter 45.
sent to.

Then, for example, the printing load information of the printing device (a) 5 received by the inspection result receiving unit 35 of one data processing device (a) 3, together with the printing load information of the other printing bag Ml (b) 10, The information is stored in the information storage section 36, and is output to the printing device selection section 32 in response to an input request for printing load information from the printing device selection section 32.

Therefore, according to the data processing device having a plurality of printing devices configured as described above, the two printing devices (a) 5 and (b)
The printing load status corresponding to the printing waiting time of 10 is periodically inspected, and based on the inspection information of the printing load, whichever printing device (a) 5 or (b) 10 has the earliest printing start time is selected.
is selected, so the operator does not have to select among multiple printing devices himself, and can print in the shortest possible time, resulting in more efficient printing work. can.

In the above embodiment, two data processing devices f(a) 3 and (b) 8 and two print control devices f(a) 4 and (b) 9 are connected to the network communication medium N. However, the number of these devices connected is not limited to two, and even if more devices are connected, the same effects as described above can be obtained.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of printing apparatuses are connected to the same network, and the apparatus is provided in each of the plurality of printing apparatuses and is configured to monitor the printing load state of the printing apparatus. printing load inspection means for inspecting the printing load status; inspection information transmission means for transmitting inspection information of the printing load status inspected by the printing load inspection means onto the network; a printing device selection unit that receives inspection information on the printing load status of each of the printing devices and selects one printing device with the least printing load status;
Specify the printing device 1. and data sending means for sending the data to be printed onto the network.
71. The printing device selection means described above can automatically specify the printing device with the shortest printing wait time, that is, the printing device with the shortest printing start time, so the operator does not have to select multiple printing devices himself and can perform the shortest printing. It becomes possible to perform printing work efficiently in processing time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a data processing device equipped with a plurality of printing devices according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows the internal configuration of the data processing device in the data processing device equipped with the plurality of printing devices described above. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of a print control device in a data processing device equipped with the plurality of printing devices described above. 1.6... Input device, 2.7... Output device, 3.8
...Data processing device, 4.9...Printing control device, 5
．． 10...Printing device, 31...Print command reception unit, 3
2... Printing device selection section, 33... Data transmission section, 3
4... Selection result display section, 35... Test result receiving section,
36... Load information storage unit, 4]... Data receiving unit,
42... Queue processing section, 43... Output processing section, 4
4... Load inspection section, 45... Inspection result transmission section. Data (to 4 or 9) Inspection results (from 4 and 9) Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzunote Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] In a data processing device equipped with a plurality of printing devices connected to the same network, the printing load state of the printing device provided in each of the plurality of printing devices is inspected. A printing load inspection means for transmitting the inspection information of the printing load condition inspected by the printing load inspection means to the network; Printing device selection means for receiving inspection information of the printing load state of each printing device and selecting one printing device with the lowest printing load state, and specifying one printing device selected by the printing device selection means. 1. A data processing apparatus comprising a plurality of printing apparatuses, characterized in that the data processing apparatus includes a data transmission means for transmitting print data onto the network.