JP2006014145A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively utilizes an image data holding storage device even if its capacity is small in an image forming apparatus for holding image data inside the image forming apparatus and printing the image data. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus includes a printing job management means wherein, among image data held in a storage device inside the image forming apparatus, image data corresponding to the lowest rank of a significance value table created by combining at least two or more of multiple predetermined indexes are automatically erased when storage of new image data is commanded, or with regard to image data held in the storage device inside the image forming apparatus, the order of erasure is determined according to the significance value table created by combining the at least two or more of weighted multiple predetermined indexes and when storage of new image data is commanded, the erasure is automatically started from image data of the lowest significance. As significance indexes, various kinds of indexes may be used. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a digital copying machine, and more particularly to storing image data in an image forming apparatus capable of storing image data, reading out the stored image data when necessary, and repeatedly printing the image data. It relates to the efficient use of capacity.

  Currently, in an image forming apparatus such as a digital copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, or a complex machine thereof, image data to be printed is held in a storage device in the image forming apparatus, and can be used any number of times as desired. Can also be printed out.

  Any storage device may be used as the storage device in the image forming apparatus for holding the image data, and only the characteristics such as storage capacity, cost, and speed change depending on the selected storage device. Of course, it is desirable that the large storage capacity, the low cost, and the speed performance are excellent because it becomes possible to handle more image data at a low cost and at a high speed.

  However, in general, in a low-priced image forming apparatus, there are few cases in which a mass storage device such as a magnetic hard disk drive can be mounted. Further, even in an image forming apparatus in the middle / high price range, a large-capacity storage device such as a magnetic hard disk drive is often mounted with a user paying an additional cost. Therefore, in reality, in many cases, a part of a RAM (semiconductor memory) that is normally mounted on the image forming apparatus is allocated and used for holding image data. However, in this case, the RAM has a much smaller storage capacity than the magnetic hard disk device, and since the original use is for image data processing, the original image can be formed by allocating too much area to hold the image data. Disappear. Therefore, when the image data is held in the storage device in the image forming apparatus and is operated so as to perform print output when desired, effective use of the storage area for holding the image data is extremely important.

  In this case, conventionally, the stored image data cannot be newly stored when the storage device in the image forming apparatus is in a memory full state. Therefore, the image data is uniformly erased after a certain period of time. It was normal. However, it is not always efficient for the user to erase uniformly, and various proposals have been made for effective utilization.

There are various examples of effective use in a conventional image forming apparatus. For example, the image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-134429) described below stores image data. In order to prevent the data from being immediately filled up and becoming impossible to read the original, the reading means for reading the image data from the original, the measuring means for measuring the reading time of the image data, and the read image data And a reading means for storing the image data stored in the storage means when the data more than a predetermined value is stored in the storage means based on the reading time. Erased in order from the shortest. This is because a job with a short reading time is erased from the storage device, and it takes less time to read the image again later, and the burden is small. If the remaining amount of memory is still low, the next item with the shortest reading time can be deleted.
Further, instead of the remaining amount of memory, it is determined whether or not a predetermined amount or more of image data is stored in the storage device, and when the predetermined amount or more of image data is stored, the data is stored from the memory of the storage device. Sometimes deleted.

  Further, the image forming apparatus disclosed in the following Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-190997) has an output frequency of the written image data when automatically erasing the image data stored in the storage device. Let's realize efficient data management by delaying the data erasure timing for high image data, erasing image data with low output frequency first, and making it easy for image data with high importance to always remain on the storage device. Was.

  Furthermore, the communication device disclosed in the following Patent Document 3 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-45175) can store the image data in the storage unit in the main body so that the waiting time until reproduction can be reduced. High-priority data is preferentially stored, while data stored in the main body is deleted from the external storage device.

JP 2000-134429 A ([0084] to [0086], FIG. 25) JP-A-10-190997 ([0054] to [0056], FIG. 4) JP 2001-45175 A ([0012], [0029], [0143], FIG. 21)

  However, it is not always convenient for the user to determine the image data to be erased from the storage device based on a single criterion, as in the conventional image forming apparatuses according to Patent Documents 1 to 3, and more effective utilization is made. An image forming apparatus that can be used is desired.

  As a result of various studies to solve the above problems, the inventor of the present application pays attention to the erasure standard of the stored image data, and does not erase by a single judgment standard, but a plurality of judgment standards. It has been found that an image forming apparatus that is more user-friendly can be obtained by combining or further weighting the determination criteria and improving the above-mentioned problems and completing the present invention.

  That is, the present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to form an image having a function of holding image data in the image forming apparatus and printing out a print document at an arbitrary timing. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that can be used effectively even if the storage device for holding image data has a small capacity.

  The present invention also provides a management of held print jobs that automatically erases less important image data out of held image data in order to efficiently use a storage device in the image forming apparatus. It provides a means.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 1 of the present application is directed to image formation in an image forming apparatus that holds image data in a storage device in the image forming apparatus and prints out a print document when desired. Of the image data held in the storage device in the device, the one corresponding to the lowest level of the importance value table created by a combination of at least two or more predetermined indexes is stored in the storage device for new image data. It is characterized by having a print job management means for automatically erasing the print job when it is ordered to hold the print job.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus that stores image data in a storage device in the image forming apparatus and prints out a print document at a desired time. When erasure order is determined according to an importance value table created by combining at least two weighted predetermined indexes of the stored image data, and the storage of new image data in the storage device is ordered The image processing apparatus includes a print job management unit that automatically deletes image data having lower importance.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the print job management means according to the first or second aspect, the image data held in the storage device in the image forming apparatus is automatically deleted or the user This is characterized in that it is possible to select whether it is performed manually.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, an invention according to claim 4 of the present application is an image forming apparatus, which holds image data in a storage device in the image forming apparatus and prints out a print document when desired. In the image forming apparatus having a function, among the image data held in the storage device, the following indices (1) to (5):
(1) Completing execution of print output for the number of prints specified when image data is held;
(2) The image data takes a short time to generate image data in a printable format,
(3) The data size transmitted from the host computer is small image data,
(4) The image data is not frequently used.
(5) The image data has the longest elapsed time since being held,
Management means for print jobs that automatically erases the one corresponding to the lowest level of the importance value table created by a combination of at least two when a new image data is ordered to be stored in the storage device It is characterized by having.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus having a function of holding image data in a storage device in the image forming apparatus and printing out a print document when desired. The following indices (1) to (5) are weighted image data held in the storage device in the image forming apparatus:
(1) Completing execution of print output for the number of prints specified when image data is held;
(2) The image data takes a short time to generate image data in a printable format,
(3) The data size transmitted from the host computer is small image data,
(4) The image data is not frequently used.
(5) The image data has the longest elapsed time since being held,
The deletion order is determined according to the importance value table created by a combination of at least two of the above, and when new image data is ordered to be stored in the storage device, it is automatically deleted from the less important image data And a print job management means for performing the above.

  In the image forming apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, it is possible to select whether the print job management unit performs the erasing operation automatically or manually by the user. It is characterized by being made.

  According to the present invention, in an image forming apparatus having a function of holding image data in the image forming apparatus and printing out a print document at an arbitrary timing, the image data holding storage device has a small capacity. It is also possible to provide an image forming apparatus that can be effectively utilized. In other words, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that can hold and efficiently use important image data even when the storage capacity of the image forming apparatus is small.

  In addition, according to the invention of the present application, a management unit for held print jobs that automatically deletes image data to be held from image data with low importance determined by a combination of two or more determination criteria is provided. It is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that can more efficiently use a storage device in the image forming apparatus. Furthermore, weighting the determination criteria makes the determination of the importance more accurate, and the storage device in the image forming apparatus can be used more efficiently.

  Furthermore, according to the invention of the present application, in the image forming apparatus, the management unit can select not only automatically performing the erasing operation but also manually by the user, whereby the image forming apparatus It is possible to improve the convenience.

  Hereinafter, specific examples of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples and drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus capable of holding image data to be printed and a connection between the image forming apparatus and a host computer that executes print instruction / data transfer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing for maintaining jobs held in the storage device in the image forming apparatus in an arrangement state in which the jobs are arranged in order of importance. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a list of jobs held in the storage device, and FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a list of jobs arranged in order of importance. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the importance index. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of an automatic job erasing procedure in the case where the number of jobs that can be held is limited by the total number of held jobs. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an automatic job erasing procedure in the case where the holdable jobs are limited by the total size of held jobs.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an image forming apparatus 1 that can hold image data to be printed, and a connection between the image forming apparatus 1 and a host computer 9 that executes a print instruction / data transfer. The image forming apparatus 1 includes an operation unit 2, a display device 3, an interface unit (I / F unit) 4, a control device 5, a storage device 6, and a printing device 7. A host computer 9 connected to an interface unit (I / F unit) 4 of the image forming apparatus 1 via a network 8 includes a printer driver 10 therein.

  An image forming apparatus capable of holding generated image data in the storage device 6 in the image forming apparatus 1 when a print job is transmitted from the printer driver 10 of the host computer 9 to the image forming apparatus 1 through the network 8 is already common. Has been realized. However, the storage capacity of the storage device 6 in the image forming apparatus 1 does not always ensure a sufficient job holding capacity desired by the user, and is limited particularly in an image forming apparatus in a medium to low price range. In many cases, it is operated with storage capacity. In this case, when the remaining storage capacity is reduced, as described above, a part of the image data related to the held print job is deleted and replaced with the image data of a new print job.

  In this case, in the present invention, the importance value table created by the image forming apparatus 1 using a combination of at least two or more predetermined indexes among the image data held in the storage device 6 in the image forming apparatus 1. The image data held in the storage unit 6 in the print job management unit or the image forming apparatus 1 is automatically deleted when storage of new image data is ordered. When the deletion order is determined according to the importance value table created by a combination of at least two weighted predetermined indexes, and new image data is stored and stored, it is automatically started from the less important image data. It has a print job management means for performing erasure.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of a procedure for registering print jobs designated to be held in the storage device 6 in the image forming apparatus 1 in an array arranged in order of importance values of already held print jobs calculated based on the importance index. It is a flowchart which shows. In FIG. 2, unimportant request commands or reports are omitted. Hereinafter, the main routine of the flowchart will be described first, and then the subroutine will be described.

  Now, in the storage device 6 in the image forming apparatus 1, four pieces of image data a, b, c, and d are stored, where j is the number of the already stored print job, as shown in the list of stored jobs shown in FIG. Assume that they are held as j1, j2, j3, and j4 in the order of occurrence, and these already held print jobs are multiplied by a weighting coefficient for each importance index, which will be described later, as in the importance job array shown in FIG. It is assumed that a job order table in order of importance arranged by the calculated importance values i1, i2, i3, i4 is created.

  When the image forming apparatus 1 receives a new holding designation print job from the printer driver 10 of the host computer 9 (step S201, hereinafter simply described as S201), the control apparatus 5 of the image forming apparatus 1 executes this job. Is calculated (S202). As the importance value, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, the weighting coefficients Ia, Ib, Ic, Id, and Ie are set to the importance levels I1, I2, I3, I4, and I5 of each importance index for the retention designated print job. Multiply and calculate. Assume that the evaluation is performed by combining two or more appropriately selected importance indexes.

  Assuming that the calculated importance level of the designated print job to be held is i0 and the number of held print jobs j is four (S203), the following steps (S204) and (S206) Compares the importance value i0 of the newly requested job with the importance value (see FIG. 4) of each held print job j in the importance array (i1 to i4) of FIG. It is determined whether or not the importance value of a holding designated print job is greater than the importance value of an already held print job. That is, the importance values of i0 and jn are compared (S204), and if i0> jn, the importance of each held print job in the job array in order of importance is compared with the importance of this job ( S206).

  In other words, the processing of step S204, step S205, and step S206 is a procedure for performing processing for comparing the importance value of the newly received job number jn while adding 1 to the importance array number i of the already held print job. is there. If the importance of the compared held print job is smaller than the importance of the new hold designated print job, the order in the job order in the importance order is changed (S207), and this is repeated in order. Go down.

  In step (S207), for example, when there are four already held print jobs arranged in the order of importance in FIG. 4, the importance value of the hold designated print job newly designated to be held is 3 out of 5 jobs in total. If it is the second, the job that was in the third and fourth of the array is shifted to the fourth and fifth, respectively, and the third element of the array is emptied. That is, in step (S207), j + 1 is set to j because the size of the array j becomes j + 1 because the job is newly saved, and the element at the end of the array so far has been increased by one. It will be put back at the end of the array. Step S208 is processing for adding a newly held job to the third element that has become empty in step S207 described above.

  In step (S206), if the importance of the job sequence [i] of the already held print jobs is smaller than the importance of this job, the job sequences [i] are sequentially compared and arranged. Rearrangement is performed by changing the order, and the order is changed to the calculated order (S207). If the importance of the job sequence [i] in order of importance is not smaller than the importance of this job in step (S206), the job of the next order is selected from the job sequence [i] in order of importance (S205). ) Again, the cycle of (S204) and (S206) is repeated, and the rearranged print jobs in the job sequence [i] in order of importance are sequentially compared to change the arrangement order, and are calculated by the weighting coefficient. It is replaced with the rank.

  In step (S204), i and j are compared. If i> j, no comparison is made with each already held print job. In step (S208), the job sequence [i] = in order of importance. This job is entered in the job order table in order of importance and ends (S209).

In the flowchart of FIG. 2, when the image forming apparatus 1 receives a new holding designation print job, the calculation of the importance of the print job that is performed first is the following (1) to (5) shown in Table 3. For each importance index.
(1) Designated output count I1: Completing execution of print output for the designated print count when image data is held;
(2) Image generation time I2: Image data that takes a short time to generate printable format image data;
(3) Data transfer amount I3: image data having a small data size transmitted from the host computer,
(4) Output frequency I4: Image data that is used less frequently,
(5) Elapsed time I5: the image data having the longest elapsed time since being held;

  That is, FIG. 5 shows that the erasing order is set by assigning weighting coefficients Ia to Ie respectively determined to the respective importance indexes I1 to I5. In this case, the image data held in the storage device 6 in the image forming apparatus 1 is weighted by multiplying the importance indexes I1 to I5 by the coefficients Ia to Ie, and at least two selected from these indexes. A print job management unit is provided that determines an erasure order in accordance with a weight calculated by a combination of two or more, and automatically erases image data with less importance. Then, when the maximum number of jobs permitted to be held is exceeded when the retention designation print job is received, the print job management means included in the control device 5 of the image forming apparatus 1 stores the storage device in the image forming apparatus 1. Among the image data held in 6, the data corresponding to the lowest level of the importance value table created by the combination of at least two or more selected indexes among the indexes (1) to (5) above is automatically It is erased.

Here, the significance of each index will be described.
The “specified output count index” is an index that increases the importance of the job as the remaining number of possible output counts specified by the user at the time of job transmission increases. As a specific application example of the function for automatically erasing after the specified number of printouts, the image forming device can specify and hold the number of meeting materials output by the number of expected participants in the conference, and each conference participant can In this example, a print instruction is given to the image forming apparatus. In such a usage, the fact that the number of designated output times of the job is large means that the print output of the job has not yet been distributed to many distribution targets.

  The “image generation time index” is an index in which the importance of the job increases as the time for converting the data received from the host computer 9 into a printable format is longer. This is because when a job with a short image generation time is compared with a job with a long image generation time, even if a job with a short image generation time is deleted and data is transmitted again to perform image formation, output can be performed in a short time. However, if a job that requires a long time to generate an image is deleted, it will be necessary to allocate that long time to the image generation, so the importance of jobs with a long image generation time per unit number will be increased. It is.

  The “data transfer amount index” is an index based on the amount of print data transferred from the host computer 9 to the image forming apparatus 1 through the network 8. Even for the same number of jobs, there is often a great difference in the amount of print data transmitted via the network for each job. In this case, an increase in the importance of a job having a large print data amount is made difficult to be deleted, thereby preventing an increase in network traffic due to retransmission of the print data.

  The “output frequency index” is an index that increases the importance of the job as the output frequency increases. By increasing the importance of jobs with high output frequency and making them difficult to be deleted, loss such as retransmission of data and image generation is reduced.

  The “elapsed time index” is an index in which the importance of a job becomes higher as the elapsed time after the job is held is shorter. This is based on a simple FIFO (first-in first-out) concept of being pushed out of an old job.

  The weighting coefficient of each importance index is used to weight an index emphasized in each use environment when calculating the importance of a job by combining two or more of the above job importance indices. . For example, in a usage environment with a lot of network traffic, a large weighting is effective for the data transfer amount index.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of a job automatic erasure process performed after the job registration process of FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an automatic job erasing procedure when a print job that can be held is limited by the total number of held print jobs.
In other words, when a retention designated print job is received (S401), the number of already retained print jobs is confirmed (S402), the number of already retained print jobs is compared with the number of jobs permitted to retain (S403), and the retention designated print job is determined. If the number of held print jobs becomes larger than the maximum number of jobs allowed to be held by holding, the last job in the job sequence in order of importance is deleted (S404). If the number of held print jobs is smaller than the maximum number of jobs permitted to be held, the process ends without deleting the last job in the job sequence in order of importance.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of automatic job deletion processing performed after the job registration processing of FIG. 2 is performed, as in FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an automatic job erasing procedure when a job that can be held is limited by the total size of the held print job.
That is, when a new hold designation print job is received (S501), the total save size of the hold print job and the size of the hold designation print job are confirmed (S502), and the total save size of the hold print job and the new hold are newly confirmed. If the total size of the jobs including the total save size of the permitted jobs is not larger than the total save size of the jobs permitted to be held (S503), the process is terminated without deleting the last job in the job sequence in order of importance. To do.

  In addition, the total saved size of already held print jobs is large, and adding the total saved size of jobs that are allowed to be newly held is larger than the total saved size of jobs that are allowed to be held. If not, the last job in the job sequence in order of importance is deleted (S504), and the total save size of the held print job is again compared with the total save size of the job permitted to be held (S503). The routine is repeated until the total save size of the job permitted to be held can be held.

  In the processes shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, in the present invention, the print job to be deleted is determined by combining any two or more of the importance indexes shown in FIG. This is performed by an importance value table calculated by multiplying each importance obtained by combining two or more selected from the importance indices with individual weighting coefficients Ia to Ie. By doing so, the stored image data is automatically erased from the least important image data judged by the combination of two or more judgment criteria, so that the storage device in the image forming apparatus is more efficient than before. Can be used automatically, and the held print job can be accurately managed.

  According to the present invention, for example, depending on the weighting, holding of a new holding designation job in the storage device may be refused. In the flowchart of FIG. 2, the algorithm for newly adding a retention designation job to the array has been described in the case where the comparison is simply performed from the top, but other search algorithms such as binary search may be used.

  In the above, an example in which the image forming apparatus is connected as a network system has been described. Needless to say, the present invention can also be applied to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine having another structure.

  The embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings. However, what has been described above exemplifies an example for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and is not intended to specify the present invention in this embodiment, and does not depart from the gist thereof. Various changes can be made in the scope, and the present invention can be applied equally to the modifications included in the claims.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention and a connection between the image forming apparatus and a host computer that executes a print instruction / data transfer. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing for maintaining jobs held in a storage device in an image forming apparatus in an order of importance order. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a list of jobs held in a storage device. It is a schematic diagram which shows the list of the jobs arranged in order of importance. It is a figure which shows an example of an importance parameter | index. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an automatic job erasing procedure when jobs that can be held are limited by a total number of held jobs. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an automatic job erasing procedure in a case where jobs that can be held are limited by the total size of held jobs.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Operation part 3 Display apparatus 4 Interface part 5 Control apparatus 6 Storage apparatus 7 Printing apparatus 8 Network 9 Host computer 10 Printer driver

Claims (6)

  In an image forming apparatus that holds image data in a storage device in the image forming apparatus and prints out a print document at a desired time, a plurality of predetermined indexes among the image data held in the storage device in the image forming apparatus Management means for print jobs that automatically erases the one corresponding to the lowest level of the importance value table created by a combination of at least two when a new image data is ordered to be stored in the storage device An image forming apparatus comprising:   In an image forming apparatus that stores image data in a storage device in the image forming apparatus and prints out a print document when desired, a plurality of predetermined weighted image data held in the storage device in the image forming apparatus When the deletion order is determined in accordance with the importance value table created by the combination of at least two indicators, and the new image data is ordered to be stored in the storage device, the image data with lower importance is automatically selected. An image forming apparatus, comprising: a print job management unit that performs erasure.   3. The print job management means according to claim 1, wherein the user can select whether the image data held in the storage device in the image forming apparatus is automatically erased or manually performed by a user. An image forming apparatus. In an image forming apparatus having a function of storing image data in a storage device in the image forming apparatus and printing out a print document when desired, among the image data stored in the storage device, (1) The index of (5),
(1) Completing execution of print output for the number of prints specified when image data is held;
(2) The image data takes a short time to generate image data in a printable format,
(3) The data size transmitted from the host computer is small image data,
(4) The image data is not frequently used.
(5) The image data has the longest elapsed time since being held,
Management means for print jobs that automatically erases the one corresponding to the lowest level of the importance value table created by a combination of at least two when a new image data is ordered to be stored in the storage device An image forming apparatus comprising: In an image forming apparatus having a function of holding image data in a storage device in the image forming apparatus and printing out a print document when desired, the image data held in the storage device in the image forming apparatus is weighted. The following indices (1) to (5)
(1) Completing execution of print output for the number of prints specified when image data is held;
(2) The image data takes a short time to generate image data in a printable format,
(3) The data size transmitted from the host computer is small image data,
(4) The image data is not frequently used.
(5) The image data has the longest elapsed time since being held,
The deletion order is determined according to the importance value table created by a combination of at least two of the above, and when new image data is ordered to be stored in the storage device, it is automatically deleted from the less important image data An image forming apparatus comprising: a print job managing unit that performs the operation.   6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the print job management means can select whether to perform an erasing operation automatically or manually by a user.

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