Patent Application
20050080750
This invention relates to job accounting of computer controlled job mode processes for printing presses for example, and more particularly, to determining the cost to complete a job in such processes.
A job mode process is one that carries out and completes jobs or tasks in a sequence determined by a job-input schedule. In some job mode processes all jobs are alike, requiring the same steps and effort to complete. In these processes the cost per job, once determined, can be assumed to be the same for all jobs. However, in other job mode processes, jobs may be variable, requiring variable steps and effort to complete. In these processes the cost per job will therefore also be variable. A method to automatically determine the cost to complete a job in such a system is desirable so as to enable an accurate and efficient billing system.
Modern digital printing presses are exemplary of such job mode processes in which jobs, and therefore job cost, are highly variable. Job workflow in the printing industry has changed significantly with the advent of desktop computers and desktop publishing software applications. Automated and digital prepress techniques have replaced manual and analog ones. Today the print job customer can perform most of the prepress tasks that in the past were performed by several different people or groups, i.e., designer, photo scanner, photo retoucher, illustrator, layout artist, and page imposer. The result is input to the printer in the form of an electronic file, either on some type of electronic media such as a CD, or directly via network such as the internet. Often these electronic job files are saved in a file format that cannot be directly used for printing on the digital press, and must therefore be transformed to a format that can be handled by the press.
Examples of modern digital printing presses are the Heidelberg Quickmaster DI, Speedmaster DI, and Digimaster 9110, and the NexPress 2100 Digital Production Color Press. In the Quickmaster DI and Speedmaster DI printing plates are created from the electronic job files, directly on the press, and then used to print large numbers of pages by the offset lithographic process. On the other hand, electrophotographic imaging technology is used in the Digimaster 9110 and NexPress 2100 Digital Production Color Press. Electrophotographic imaging enables every page of the job to contain different information. With the numerous modifications that can be made to a print job after it has been submitted, it is very important for the press owner to have a way to capture all of the changes to a job that can create additional cost to the owner, so that these costs can be passed on to the print job customer in an accurate and timely itemized bill.
In view of the above, this invention is directed to automatically determining and computing the itemized cost of a print job upon completion of the job and displaying that itemized cost to the printing press owner. The method of the invention is programmed in the digital front-end of the printing press. A Job Control Component is responsible for stepping a job through the sequence of processing steps necessary to complete the job, including converting the job file, submitted electronically in a page description file format, into a raster pixel file to be sent to the press. Each of the steps in the sequence of steps required to complete the job is controlled by a corresponding job processing component. The Job Control Component provides each job processing component with a template for processing information that is carried out by the job processing component. After each job processing component finishes processing a step, the template of information is returned to the Job Control Component and stored in a database. After completion of the job, a Job Reporting Component can, upon request from the press owner, display, on a graphical user interface, a list of all the templates of information for the job. If the press owner programs into the Job Reporting Component the predetermined costs of each job processing step, the cost of the job can be automatically computed.
The invention, and its objects and advantages, will become more apparent in the detailed description of the preferred embodiment presented below.
The invention and its technical advantageous effects will be better appreciated from the ensuing detailed description of a preferred embodiment, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which:
Referring to
The developed marking particle image is then transferred from photoconductive member 14 to an intermediate transfer member 15. The electric field to transfer the marking particle image from photoconductive member 14 to intermediate transfer member 15 is provided by an appropriate bias voltage applied to intermediate transfer member 15. Meanwhile, cleaner 30 cleans away any marking particles that are not transferred from the photoconductive member 14 to the intermediate transfer member 15.
The marking particle image is transferred from intermediate transfer member 15 to print media sheet 22 that has been fed from supply 24 onto the transport belt 26. The electric field to transfer the marking particle image from the intermediate transfer member 15 to the print media sheet 22 is provided by electrically biased roller 28. Cleaner 31 is provided to clean any marking particles that are not transferred from intermediate transfer member 15 to the print media sheet 22. The print media sheet 22 bearing the marking particle image is then transported through printing modules Y, M, C to similarly form superimposed, registered, marking particle images on the media sheet 22 to create a full color image. Thereafter, the print media sheet 22 is transported into the nip formed between fuser roller 32 and pressure roller 34 wherein the composite marking particle image is fused by heat and pressure to the print media sheet 22.
The method of this invention as embodied in the printing press 40 is illustrated schematically in block diagram form in
In this embodiment each step in the job processing sequence is carried out by a corresponding job processing component (not shown) within the DFE 62. The Job Control Component 100 provides each job processing component with a template for processing information that may be carried out by the specific processing component. Chart #1 provides a mapping of job processing component to data collected for that component. After each job processing component finishes processing, the template of information for that processing component is returned to the Job Control Component 100 and stored in a database 64.
It is possible that, before job completion, job processing may be re-routed through some or all of the job processing sequence steps. Some of the various reasons why that might happen are the following: Typically one set of job prints is printed as a proof to confirm that the output meets the customer's approval. If the proof does not meet customer approval, the job will be edited and re-routed through the job processing sequence to produce another proof. Several proofs may be printed before the customer approves. Even if print quality attributes meet customer approval, the customer, upon seeing the prints for the first time, may request other types of job editing such as content or imposition changes, or different print media. The customer may also decide that he/she wants more copies than originally requested.
If the job is edited or modified or reprinted, the Job Control Component 100 must move the job back to the specific processing step required for the change that was made. If an operator requests that the job be reprinted, the Job Control Component 100 will route the job back through the RIP processing (108) and Print processing (110) components. If a Job is edited for changes in color correction or number of copies, the job will also be routed to RIP and to Printing. Usually in both of these cases, the RIP processing just verifies that the raster data is resident in a Page Buffer memory, but it is possible that the pages are no longer in the Page Buffer memory and the job must be re-ripped. If the job is content edited, or the imposition of the job modified, the Job Control Component 100 must insure that the RIP process flushes the old raster pages for this job and re RIPs the job with the new content or imposition changes. If the media types in the job change, then the job must be run through the Resource Check component (106).
To capture the processing information from each job processing component and store it persistently, a Job Statistics Object (JSO) is created in the Job Control Component 100. The templates of job processing information from each job processing step are stored in the JSO. In the original Job Submission step 102, the job is assigned an identifier (ID) that is designated the Submitted Job ID. Each time a job is re-routed back in the sequence of job processing steps, a sub-job ID is assigned and a new JSO for that sub-job ID is created; this allows the system to capture the processing information each time a processing step is performed. In effect a family of jobs may be created for an originally submitted job.
A Job Reporting Component 112 is responsible for creating various job accounting reports from the job processing information accumulated and stored by the Job Control Component 100. The Job Reporting Component 112 can provide the press owner with a detailed account of what processing was performed on the press over a window of time, typically a press shift, or it can provide a Job Family Report for billing purposes. To provide a Job Family Report the Job Reporting Component takes a given job ID and queries the database 64 for the specific JSO with a matching Job ID field. The Submitted Job ID field of this specific JSO is then retrieved. The Submitted Job ID is then used to perform a second query for all jobs that have the same Submitted Job ID. The records returned from this query provide the Job Reporting Component 112 with all jobs that originated for the specific initial submitted job. This provides the needed mechanism for tracking copies of jobs, either specifically copied by the operator or saved with a different name after an Edit. Also, this picks up jobs that underwent the same processing steps multiple times, such as reprints, proof jobs, color tweaks, etc. If the press owner chooses to enter into the Job Reporting Component his/her predetermined costs for each step in the job sequence, the cost of the complete job can be automatically computed and included in the Job Family Report which is sent to a display 114, for example to the graphical user interface display 66 or remote client 68 display.
The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60510917 | Oct 2003 | US |
