PRINTING SYSTEM, A METHOD OF PRINTING A PRINT JOB, AND A PROGRAM

Abstract

A printing system with at least one printer and at least two print servers is provided for printing a print job on a selected printer. The print job is stored on one of the print servers and print job information about the stored print job on the storing print server is shared between the print servers. In case of a request for print out the print job on the selected printer, the print job is sent from the storing print server to the selected printer based on the print job information.

Claims

1. A printing system for printing a print job, the system having a printer, the system comprising: a first print server configured to receive a format convertible print job from a client terminal, to store the received print job, and to generate print job information about the received print job, which first print server is not designated to manage the printer; a second server, which has capabilities for converting a format convertible print job and is designated to manage the printer; and a release device configured to send to one of a gateway, web server and mail server a release request for releasing the format convertible print job to a selected printer; wherein the first and second servers and the release device are configured for peer-to-peer sharing of print job information about the stored print job between the first print server, the second print server and the release device via a network so that the first and second print servers and release device synchronize print job information at one of predefined time intervals and in response to a change of print job information detected in the printing system, so that the print job information generated by the first print server about the received print job is shared between the first server, the second server and the release device in response to generation of print job information about the received print job by the first print server, the first and second print servers being connected to the network; and wherein in response to the release request from the release device the format convertible print job is routed from the first server to the second server, converted at the second server into a print-ready print job with a print-ready format for the selected printer, and the print-ready print job is released by the second server to the selected printer.

2. A method of printing a print job within a printing system including a printer for printing a print job, the method comprising: receiving at a first print server a format convertible print job from a client terminal; storing the print job exclusively on the first print server which is not designated to manage the printer; generating print job information about the received print job at the first print server; peer-to-peer sharing via a network the print job information about the stored print job between the first print server, a release device, and a second print server which has capabilities for converting the format convertible job and is designated to manage the printer, so that the first and second print servers and release device synchronize information at one of predefined time intervals and in response to a change of print job information detected in the printing system and so that the print job information generated by the first print server about the received print job is shared between the first print server, the second print server and the release device in response to generation of print job information about the received print job by the first print server, the first and second print servers being connected to the network; the release device sending to one of a gateway, web server, and mail server a release request for releasing the format convertible print job to a selected printer; routing, in response to the release request from the release device, the format convertible job from the first server to the second server; converting, at the second server, the format convertible print job into a print-ready format print job with a print-ready format for the selected printer; and releasing, by the second server, the print-ready format print job to the selected printer.

3. The method of printing as claimed in claim 2, further comprising: updating the print job information after the printing of the print job; and sharing the updated print job information between the first and second print servers and the release device.

4. The method of printing as claimed in claim 2, wherein the print job is a postscript or printer command language format and the method comprises, in case the postscript or printer command language format of the print job is not usable for a selected printer, a raster image processor converting the format of the format convertible print job into an applicable format of the print job for the selected printer, before the print job is released to the selected printer.

5. The method of printing according to claim 2, wherein the printer is identified within the network by a unique address and the method further comprising a device agent installed on the second print server preparing and releasing the print job to the identified printer by using the unique address.

6. The method of printing according to claim 2, further comprising storing the print job on the first print server and releasing the print job to the printer by an electronic data exchange via the network based on a network protocol of the network.

7. The method of printing according to claim 2, wherein each printer is designated for one print server respectively and every designated print server manages at least one designated printer.

8. The method of printing according to claim 2, further comprising monitoring the status of a number of printers within the network and using the status for selecting and displaying appropriate printers for a possible print out.

9. The method of printing according to claim 2, further comprising designating the first print server as a storing print server that is frequently used by a user for the management of her/his print jobs.

10. The method of printing according to claim 2, further comprising accounting at the first print server print costs to an account for the print job on the storing print server after release of the print job.

11. The method of printing according to claim 10, further comprising sharing accounting information of the print costs as print job information between the print servers via the network.

12. The method of printing according to claim 2, wherein the print job information about the stored print job comprises the name, storage location, data size, the related user and/or security information of the print job.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0028] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing three networked print servers with selected multifunctional printers (MFP).

[0029] FIG. 2 shows the main features of the hardware of the multifunctional printer (MFP).

[0030] FIG. 3 is a chart showing the routing of a print job from a storing print server, which is also the designated print server, to the selected printer.

[0031] FIG. 4 is a chart showing the routing of one print job from the storing print server to the designated print server of the selected printer.

[0032] FIG. 5 shows the routing of one print job from the storing print server to the designated print server, which converts the print job in an appropriated print format for the selected printer.

[0033] FIG. 6 is a chart showing the routing of one print job within the network and the release of the print job is managed by a mobile device.

[0034] FIG. 7 shows the routing of one print job within the network.

[0035] FIG. 8 is a Unified Modelling Language (UML) diagram showing three print servers and one printer.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0036] FIG. 1 shows a printing system 30 with three print servers 1 connected via a network 29a, such as the World Wide Web (WWW) or a Wireless Area Network (WAN). The print servers 1 are configured to communicate with each other, for example based on the HTTP protocol. Use of HTTP protocol avoids difficulty with communication through firewalls between different networks. The print servers 1 may be connected directly with each other or by a web/mail server 6. Each printer 4 may be assigned to one specific print server 1. The printer 4 is identified within the network 29a by a unique address. A device agent installed on one of the print servers 1 and/or printers 4 prepares and releases the print job 23 (not shown in FIG. 1) to the printer 4 by using the unique address. In the embodiment of FIG. 1 each designated print server 1 is managing one designated printer 4 and the related print job 23,27 (not shown in FIG. 1) for the designated printers 4. This can enhance the printing system functionalities, especially if the designated printer 4 is an inkjet printer with limited network resources and reduced print job management capacities.

[0037] FIG. 2 shows the hardware configuration of the printer 4, especially a multifunctional device, with printing, scanning and communication capabilities. The printer 4 comprises a CPU 7, a ROM 8, a hard disk drive 9, and a RAM 10. These components are standard hardware components for computers and other devices and perform their usual functions. The printer 4 further comprises a display unit 11, an operation unit 12, a communication control unit 13, an image reader 14, a recording unit 15, an image memory 16, an image processing unit 17, an authentication unit 18, a card reader 19 and an I/O control unit 20. The display unit 11 is a touch-screen LCD display provided on the printer 4 to allow a user to make selections and view information on the printer 4, such as requesting the printing of print job stored on a print server 1. The operation unit 12 is a keypad and other buttons to allow a user to enter settings and other information to the printer 4. The communication control unit 13 is provided to allow the printer 4 to communicate over a LAN with the print server 1 (not shown in FIG. 2). The printer 4 may be also a scanner that allows scanning of documents. The recording unit 15, shown in FIG. 2, represents parts of the printer 4, dedicated to printing. The recording unit 15 functions to print image data onto a recording medium and output the recording medium for collection by a user. The image memory 16 is a memory provided for storage of image data during scanning by the image reader 14 or printing by the recording unit 15. The image-processing unit 17 represents various application specific integrated circuits (ASIC) provided in the printer 4 in order to increase the speed of certain image processing operations, such as conversion of scanned R,G,B data into C,M,Y,K data during a copying operation. The authentication processing unit 18 is provided in order to authenticate user details received from the card reader 19. Data from the card reader 19 is received at the authentication unit 18 via the I/O control unit 20. The authentication unit 18 may be implemented by software run using the CPU 17 and RAM 10 rather than as a separate hardware component. The components 7 to 20 described above are interconnected via a system bus 21.

[0038] The printer 4 runs an operating system. In this particular embodiment the operating system is the Multifunctional Embedded Application Platform (MEAP) operating system provided on multifunctional device devices sold by Canon (RTM). The operating system allows the running of JAVA programming applications and also includes a web interface.

[0039] FIG. 3 is a chart showing the routing of one print job 23 from the storing print server 2 to a selected printer 5. The storing print server 2 is also the designated print server 3 of the printing system 30.

[0040] A user 26 is sending 34 from a client terminal 22, connected to the network 29a, one print job 23 in a printer ready format. The print job 23 is stored on the storing print server 2, which shares print job information 24b about the print ready status of the print job 23 on the storing print server 2 with the other print servers 1 of the network 29a.

[0041] The print job 23 on the storing print server 2 may be releasable by any device 1,2,3,4,5,22 within the network 29a, especially by the printers 4 connected and designated with the print servers 1,2,3. In FIG. 3 one printer 5 is designated for one designated print server 3, which is also in this case the storing print server 2. The user 26 identifies herself/himself and requests release for printing of the print job 23 on this selected printer 5. The identification of the user 26 may be ensured by an electronic card or user/password authentication on one of the printers 4. This printer 4 is chosen by this identification process as the selected printer 5 for the actual print job 23. The release request 25 is routed to the storing print server 2 and the storing print server 2 sends the print job 23 to the selected printer 5. In FIG. 3 the storing print server 2 is also the designated print server 3 of the selected printer 5, which manages the selected printer 5. After the print job 23 is printed on the selected printer 5, the print job 23 is deleted by the storing print server 2. Print job information 24b about the deletion of the actual print job 23 by the storing print server 2 is shared once again between the print servers 1,2,3 of the network 29a.

[0042] FIG. 4 is a chart showing the routing of one print job 23,27 from the storing print server 2 to the designated print server 3. The user 26 sends 34 one format convertible print job 27 to the storing print server 2, which is in this case connected directly to the client terminal 22 of the user 26. The format convertible print job 27 may be printed out on a number of printers, but has not the appropriate format for the designated printer 5. The format of the format convertible print job 27 might be a general print job format, such as Postscript (PS), Portable Document Format (PDF) or the Printer Command Language (PCL). Favourably, a raster image processor on the storing print server 2 converts the format of the format convertible print job 27 into an applicable format of the print job 23 for the selected printer 5. In the embodiment of FIG. 4 the storing print server 2 is selected by the user 26 as it is the print server 1 at the shortest distance from the terminal 22 used by the user 26 among the print servers 1,2,3 of the network 29a. In another embodiment, the storing print server 2 of the printing system 30 is selected as it is the most frequently used print server 1 by the specific user 26. The information about the most frequently used print server 1 of the user 26 may be shared also as a print job information 24a,24b between the print servers 1,2,3, such as described in WO 2008/129011 A1.

[0043] In FIG. 4 the storing print server 2 is also responsible for converting 37 the format convertible print job 27 into a print job 23 having a format, used by the selected printer 5. The print job information 24b about the format of the format convertible print job 27 is shared between all print servers 1,2,3 as part of the print job information 24b. Print job information 24b may be any information about the print job, such as the print job name, file size, the related user and/or storing location on one of the print servers 1,2,3. Print job information 24b is extracted by the storing print server 2 from the header of the print job 23 stored on the storing print server 2.

[0044] As already described with reference for FIG. 3, the selected printer 5 may be selected by the user 26 by going to the selected printer 5 and if required, authenticating herself/himself at the printer 4. The selected printer 5 is designating at the print server 3 and the print server 3 manages the selected printer 5. In FIG. 4 the storing print server 2 manages the format conversion 37 of the format convertible print job 27. After the format conversion 37 on the storing print server 2 the designated print server 3 of the selected printer 5 manages the routing of the print job 23 to the selected printer 5. Also the deletion of the print job 23 on the storing print server 2 is managed by the designated print server 3.

[0045] FIG. 5 shows the routing of one format convertible print job 27 from the storing print server 2 to the designated print server 3, which converts 37 the format convertible print job 27 into an appropriate print format of the print job 23.

[0046] The user 26 sends 34 a format convertible print job 27 from the client terminal 22 as part of the network 29a to the storing print server 2. In the embodiment of FIG. 5 the storing print server 2 is selected according to the shortest connection between the used client terminal 22 and one of the print servers 1,2,3 within the network 29a. Information 24a about the format convertible print job 27 on the storing print server 2 is shared between all print servers 1,2,3. When the user 26 accesses one of the printers 4,5, this printer 5 will be the selected printer 5 for this format convertible print job 27. In the embodiment of FIG. 5 every printer 4,5 is assigned to one specific print server 1,2,3, which manages the designated printer 4,5. Because of that, the functionality of the designated printers 4,5 may be enhanced, especially if the designated printers 4,5 have only limited print management and/or network resources, such as ink jet printers. The designated print server 3 manages the print capabilities and may provide additional functionalities for the selected printer 5, such as enhanced network functions or a complex print job management by spooling the print jobs 23 for the selected printer 5 on the designated print server 3 and not on the selected printer 5 itself.

[0047] The user 26 identifies herself/himself on the selected printer 5 and this identification of the user 26 is routed as a print job information 24a to print servers 1,2,3 of the printing system 30. Also the print job information 24a about the format convertible print job 27 on the storing print server 2 is shared with the selected printer 5. The storing print server 2 sends the print job information 24a to every printer 1,3 of the network 29a.

[0048] According to this embodiment of FIG. 5 print job information 24a may be displayed to the user 26 on the selected printer 5. The user 26 may select the format convertible print job 27 for printing according to the displayed print job information 24a. When the user 26 selects one format convertible print job 27 a release request relating to the selected format convertible print job 27 is submitted from the selected printer 5 to the network 29a. The designated print server 3 routes the release request 25 to all print servers 1,2 in the network 29a. According to the release request 25 the storing print server 2 sends the format convertible print job 27 to the requesting designated print server 3. The designated print server 3 converts 37 the format convertible print job 27 into a print job 23 with an appropriate format for the selected printer 5. After the print format conversion 37 the designated print server 3 releases the print job 23 to the selected printer 5 for printing. The print job 23 may be deleted from the designated print server 3, in case the printing of the print job 23 is finished on the selected printer 5.

[0049] In contrast to commonly used print queues, such as XML Paper Specification (XPS) or Graphics Device Interface (GDI) print paths, for storing the print job 23 within the print queue, according to the present invention the print job 23 is stored on the designated print server 3 and not within a print queue of the selected printer 5. Because of that, the print job 23 may be created, shared, printed, viewed, converted, deleted and/or archived on the file system of the designated print server 3. In the event that the print job 23 is deleted from the storing print server 3, information 24b (not shown in FIG. 5) about the deletion of the print job 23 from the designated print server 3 is also shared between all print servers 1,2,3. Therefore the actual status of every print job 23,27, regardless if in a appropriate format or not, is shared between all print servers 1,2,3.

[0050] According to the embodiment of FIG. 6 the release request 25 of the print job 23,27 is managed by a mobile device 28 connectable to the network 29a.

[0051] The user 26 prepares the format convertible print job 27 on the client terminal 22 and sends the format convertible print job 27 to a first network 29a of the printing system 30. The network 29a may be a sub-network of the printing system 30, such as an intranet or a network 29a with different network protocols, for example a Bluetooth (standard IEEE 802.15.1) in relation to a mobile phone network. The network 29a may also be a cloud computing system with shared servers providing system resources, software, and data to computers and other devices on demand.

[0052] The format convertible print job 27 is stored on the storing print server 2, located within the first network 29a. The print job information 24a about the format convertible print job 27 is shared between all print servers 1,2 of the first network 29a. The first network 29a is connected by gateways or routers 31 with a second network 29b. The second network 29b may use a different network protocol from the first network 29a. Also the second network 29b comprises on a number of print servers 1,3 and is connectable with a number of printers 4,5 and client terminals 22. The print job information 24a about the format convertible print job 27 on the storing print server 2 is also shared within the second network 29b.

[0053] The user 26 may use the release device 28, such as a mobile phone, a tablet-PC or a laptop, for releasing the print job 23,27 by a release request 25 in relation to the selected printer 5. Alternatively the release request may be sent by one printer 1,2,3 of the network 29a,29b, such as disclosed in one of the above mentioned embodiments of FIGS. 3 to 5. The release device 28 is connected via the gateway 31 or via the web/mail server 6 with the printing system 30 and print job information 24a, 24b are shared with the release device 28 too. In this case the print job information 24a,24b may be displayed on the release device 28. Additionally, possible available printers 4,5 in the vicinity of the release device 28 or printers 4 having sufficient print resources and/or on the designated print server 3 for the selected printer 5 may be displayed on the release device 28. It is also possible to forward directly a print job 23,27, regardless of the format, from the release device 28 to the network 29a,29b of the printing system 30.

[0054] According to the embodiment of FIG. 6 the release request 25 of the mobile device 28 about the format convertible print job 27 on the storing print server 2 is sent to the gateway 31 or web/mail server 6 within the printing system 30. The status of a number of printers 4,5 within the network 29a,29b,29c is monitored and used for selecting and displaying appropriate printers 4,5 for a possible print out on the mobile device 28. Because the print job information 24a about the format convertible print job 27 on the storing print server 2 of the first network 29a is shared between all networks 29a,29b of the printing systems 30, the format convertible print job 27 is routed to the designated print server 3 of the selected printer 5 of the second network 29b. The print server 1,2,3 and/or the printer 4,5 and/or release device 28 share the print job information 24a,24b about the stored print job 23,27 within pre-defined time intervals, such as every two minutes, and/or if a change of print job information 24a,24b about the stored print job 3,27 is detected in the printing system 30. The designated print server 3 is selected in accordance with specific reasons and conditions, such as the nearest vicinity to the selected printer 5 or specific capabilities or functions for converting 37 format convertible print jobs 27.

[0055] The format convertible print job 27 is converted 37 on the designated server 3 into a print job 23 with a print-ready format for the selected printer 5. Print job information 24b about the converted print job 23 is shared between all print servers 1,3 of the second network 29b. Based on the release request 25 of the release device 28 the print job 23 is released 38 by the designated print server 3 to the selected printer 5. After the print out of the print job 23 is finished on the selected printer 5, the print job 23 may be deleted from the designated print server 3. Print job information 24b about the deletion of the print job 23 on the designated print server 3 is shared between all print servers 1,2,3 of all networks 29a,29b.

[0056] Based on different format convertible print jobs 27 or different print jobs 23, the storing print server 2 and/or designated print server 3 and/or selected printer 5 for different format convertible print jobs 27 or different print jobs 23 may be different.

[0057] According to the embodiment of FIG. 7 the release request 25 of the print job 23,27 are managed within the printing system 30 of three networks 29a,29b,29c. The different networks 29a,29b,29c are connected by gateways or routers 31 for converting the different used network protocols. Alternatively web/mail servers 6 are used for managing email messages or messages via HTTP-connections for sending the print job information 24b, the release request 25 and/or the print job 23 in an appropriate network protocol via the networks 29a,29b,29c.

[0058] The user 26 sends the format convertible print job 27 from one of the client terminals 22 to the first network 29a, which is stored on the selected storing print server 2. The print job 27 is stored on the storing print server 2 and is released 38 to the selected printer 5 by an electronic data exchange via the printing system 30 based on a network protocol of at least one of the networks 29a,29b,29c. Because of that, there is no need for providing a print queue and the print jobs 23,27 are stored within the file system of the storing print server 2. Print job information 24a about the format convertible print job 27 is shared within the first network 29a and via the gateway 31 with the second network 29b. One of the print servers 1,3 within the second network 29b is designated for the format convertible print job 27 and the format convertible print job 27 is routed to the designated print server 3 via the gateways 31 between the first and second network 29a,29b. Print job information 24b about the print job 23 on the designated print server 3 is shared between all networks 29a,29b,29c. When the user 26 authenticates herself/himself at a selected printer 5, release request 25 is routed to the designated print server 3, which releases the print job 23 via the third network 29c to the selected printer 5 for printing out. Prior to release, the format convertible print job 27 it converted 37 on the designated print server 3 in a print job 23 having a printer ready format. The designated print server 3 may be selected according to its recourses or capabilities for converting format convertible print job 27. This conversion 37 is only necessary if the format convertible print job 27 is not appropriate for the selected printer 5. The designated print server 3 may be located in a network 29b different to the network 29c of the selected printer 5. After finishing the print out of the print job 23 on the selected printer 5, the print job 23 may be deleted or archived and the print job information 24b about the deletion or archiving is shared between all networks 29a,29b,29c of the printing system 30.

[0059] FIG. 8 is a Unified Modelling Language (UML) diagram showing three print servers 1,2,3 and one selected printer 5. The selected printer 5 in this example is managed by the print server 3, which is the designated print server 3 for the selected printer 5. The

[0060] The client terminal 22 builds up a connection to one of the print servers 1,2,3 registers 32 as a client terminal 22 at one of the print servers 1,2,3, which is according to the embodiment of FIG. 8 the storing print server 2. The storing print server 2 may be selected in accordance with various reasons or conditions for every print job 23 (not shown in FIG. 8). The storing print server 2 acknowledges 33 the request 32 and the client terminal 22 sends 34 the print job 23 (not shown in FIG. 8) to the storing print server 2. The storing print server 2 generates print job information 24a, which are shared between every print server 1,2,3. Independently, the selected printer 5 connects itself to its designated print server 3, which manages the selected printer 5. The selected printer 5 sends printer status information 36 to the designated print server 3 after receiving a printer ready request 35.

[0061] The user 26 (not shown in FIG. 8) may authenticate on the selected printer 5 and generates a release request 25 on the selected printer 5 for a selected print job 23. This release request 25 is shared between all print servers 1,2,3. Based on the print job information 24a the storing print server 2 checks whether or not the format of the print jobs 23 has to be converted 37. The print job 23 is sent 34 from the storing print server 2 to the designated print server 3 for printing out. After receiving the print job 23 the designated print server 3 releases 38 the print job 23 to the selected printer 5. If necessary the designated print server 3 manages the costs of the print job 23 by charging 39 the costs to a specific cost centre. The printer status information 36 of the selected printer 5 in relation to the printing of the print job 23 is shared between all print servers 1,2,3.

[0062] Also all print job information 24a, such as the termination of the printing of the print job on the selected printer 5 or the deletion of the print job 23 from the storing print server 2 is shared between all printer servers 1,2,3, the client terminal 22 and the selected printer 5.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0063] 1 print server [0064] 2 storing print server [0065] 3 designated print server [0066] 4 printer [0067] 5 selected printer [0068] 6 web/mail server [0069] 7 central processing unit (CPU) [0070] 8 read only memory (ROM) [0071] 9 hard disk [0072] 10 random access memory (RAM) [0073] 11 display unit [0074] 12 operation unit [0075] 13 communication control unit [0076] 14 image reader [0077] 15 recording unit [0078] 16 image memory [0079] 17 image processing unit [0080] 18 authentication processing unit [0081] 19 card reader [0082] 20 I/O control unit [0083] 21 system bus [0084] 22 client terminal [0085] 23 print job [0086] 24a, 24b print job information [0087] 25 release request [0088] 26 user [0089] 27 format convertible print job [0090] 28 device [0091] 29a,29b,29c network [0092] 30 printing system [0093] 31 gateway [0094] 32 requesting and identification [0095] 33 responding acknowledge [0096] 34 sending print job [0097] 35 requesting printer ready [0098] 36 sending printer status information [0099] 37 print format conversion [0100] 38 releasing print job [0101] 39 accounting print job [0102] 40 deleting print job [0103] 41 storing print job