Patent Application
20150309759
The disclosures herein are generally related to a terminal apparatus, an output system, and an output method.
There is an output system, that is, a so-called pull printing system known in the art, one example of which may be disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-200284 (hereinafter referred to as “Patent Document 1”). In such a pull printing system, data to be printed is specified from a printer apparatus, a data area to be printed specified based on the specification or a print job based on the data to be printed is captured by the printer apparatus, and printing is performed based on the captured data.
In such a related art output system such as the pull printing system, the print jobs are temporarily stored in a format (e.g., page description language: PDL) that may be printed (output) by the image forming apparatus such as a printer. However, when the print job is stored in the format capable of being output by the image forming apparatus, displaying a preview image on the operations panels of the image forming apparatus, or changing print settings may be needed corresponding to the PDL which has dependency on various specifications and models. This kind of dependency problem is not only likely to occur in the image forming apparatus that performs printing but also in the image forming apparatus having a display format or an output format that has dependency on various specifications and models.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-200284
It is a general object of at least one embodiment of the present invention to provide a terminal apparatus, an output system, and an output method that substantially obviate one or more problems caused by the limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a terminal apparatus capable of communicating with an image forming apparatus. The terminal apparatus includes an output management unit configured to manage first output data stored in a first output data storage part, the first output data being created based on data to be output, and being independent of the image forming apparatus; a second data creating unit configured to create second output data based on the first output data, the second output data being dependent on the image forming apparatus; an output data process unit configured to receive a second output data acquiring request to acquire the second output data from the image forming apparatus, and instruct the second data creating unit to create the second output data based on the first output data stored in the first output data storage part; and a transmitting unit configured to transmit the created second output data to the image forming apparatus.
Other objects, features and advantages of embodiments will be apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
In the following, embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The terminal apparatus 10 may, for example, be a client terminal or a mobile terminal. The terminal apparatus 10 may be implemented by an information processing apparatus (a computer system) having a general-purpose OS (operating system) installed therein. The terminal apparatus 10 includes a wireless or a wired communication unit. The terminal apparatus 10 may be a tablet PC, a note PC, a smartphone, or a mobile phone that may be operated by a user.
The authentication device 11 is used for user authentication in the image forming apparatus 12. The authentication device 11 may be implemented by an information processing apparatus having a general-purpose OS (operating system) installed therein. Note that the authentication device 11 is not mandatory for the output system 1.
The image forming apparatus 12 is configured to include an image forming function, such as a multifunctional peripheral. The image forming apparatus 12 includes a wireless or a wired communication unit. The image forming apparatus 12 is configured to perform image forming processes performed by a multifunctional peripheral, a copier, a scanner, a printer, and a laser printer. The image forming apparatus 12 may be a projector, or the like.
The terminal apparatus 10 and the authentication device 11 each may be implemented by computer systems having a hardware configuration illustrated in
The input device 501 includes a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel and the like that are used by the user to input various types of operations signals. The display device 502 includes a display and the like, and is configured to display processed results produced by the computer system 500.
The communication I/F 507 serves as an interface configured to connect the computer system 500 to the network N1. Hence, the computer system 500 may be able to communicate data via the communication I/F 507.
The HDD 508 is a nonvolatile recording device configured to store programs or data. Examples of such programs or data stored in the HDD 508 may include an OS (operating system) serving as basic software configured to control the overall computer system 500, or application software that provides various functions on the OS. The HDD 508 is configured to manage the stored programs or data by a predetermined file system and/or a DB (database).
The external I/F 503 is configured to serve as an interface between an external device and the computer system 500. The external device may include a recording medium 503a. Hence, the computer system 500 may be able to read data from or write data onto the recording medium 503a via the external I/F 503. Examples of the recording medium 503a include a flexible disk, a CD (compact disk), a DVD (digital versatile disk), an SD (secure digital) memory card, a USB (universal serial bus) memory, and the like.
A ROM (read only memory) 505 is nonvolatile semiconductor memory (a nonvolatile storage device) configured to retain programs or data when the power is switched off. The ROM 505 is configured to store programs or data utilized for setting BIOS (basic input/output system), an OS, and a network. A RAM (random access memory) 504 is volatile semiconductor memory (a volatile storage device) configured to temporarily retain programs or data.
A CPU (central processing unit) 506 may be a processor device that is configured to implement an overall control over the computer system 500 or functions of the computer system 500. The overall control or functions may be implemented by retrieving programs or data from the storage device such as the ROM 505 and the HDD 508 to the RAM 504, and executing the retrieved programs or executing processes using the retrieved data. The terminal apparatus 10 and the authentication device 11 may be able to implement later-described various processes by having a hardware configuration of the computer system 500 illustrated in
The controller 601 includes a CPU 611, a RAM 612, a ROM 613, an NVRAM (nonvolatile random access memory) 614, and an HDD 615. The ROM 613 is configured to store various programs or data. The RAM 612 is configured to temporarily store programs or data. The NVRAM 614 is configured to store setting information and the like, for example. In addition, the HDD 615 is configured to store various programs or data.
The CPU 611 may implement overall control over the image forming apparatus 12 or functions of the image forming apparatus 12. The overall control or functions may be implemented by loading programs, data, or setting information into the RAM 612 that are retrieved from the storage device such as the ROM 613, the NVRAM 614, and the HDD 615, and executing the retrieved programs or executing processes using the retrieved data, or setting information.
The operations panel 602 includes an input part configured to receive input information from the user, and a display part configured to display the received information and the like. The external I/F 603 is configured to serve as an interface between an external device and the image forming apparatus 12. The external device may include a recording medium 603a.
Hence, the image forming apparatus 12 may be able to read data from or write data onto the recording medium 603a via the external I/F 603. Examples of the recording medium 603a include an IC card (an integrated circuit card), a flexible disk, a CD, a DVD, an SD memory card, a USB memory, and the like.
The communication I/F 604 serves as an interface to connect the image forming apparatus 12 to the network N1. Hence, the image forming apparatus 12 may be able to communicate data with other apparatuses via the communication I/F 604. The printer 605 is a printer apparatus for printing print data onto sheets of paper. The scanner 606 serves as a reading apparatus for reading image data from a document. The image forming apparatus 12 according to the embodiment having the above-described configuration may be able to implement later-described various processes.
The terminal apparatus 10 according to an embodiment may be able to be implemented by process blocks illustrated in
The terminal apparatus 10 in
The applications 21 include a print job management plug-in 31, and other plug-ins 32. The print job plug-in 31 is configured to perform later-described print job management. The other plug-ins 32 are configured to perform some kind of processes. Note that the other plug-ins 32 are not mandatory for the terminal apparatus 10.
The platform API 25 serves as an interface for the print job management plug-in 31 and other plug-ins 32 to utilize the platform 22. The platform API 25 may be composed of functions and classes, for example. The platform API 25 is a predefined interface disposed so as to allow the platform (Core) 22 to receive a request from the applications 21.
The platform (Core) 22 includes a display controller (UI controller) 33, and a communication part 34. The display controller 33 is configured to control display of the display device 502 based on the request from the applications 21. The communication part 34 is configured to implement communications between the image forming apparatus 12 and the terminal apparatus 10. For example, the communication part 34 may transfer print data and/or a print data list to the image forming apparatus 12.
The OSGi (Open Services Gateway initiative) platform 23 serves as an infrastructure system (OSGi framework) for managing dynamic addition or execution of the plug-ins (Java modules). The Java VM (virtual machine) 24 serves as an execution environment of the plug-ins. Note that the OSGi platform 23 and Java VM 24 are existing technologies, and descriptions of these are thus omitted from the specification.
The storage part 26 is configured to store later-described intermediate print data and printer driver information. The virtual printer driver 27 is configured to create intermediate print data based on application data created by desired applications. Note that the intermediate print data do not depend on the model of the image forming apparatus 12. The data in an XPS (XML paper specification) format are an example of the intermediate print data. The real printer driver 28 is configured to create print data in a RAW format based on the intermediate print data. The print data in the RAW format depend upon the model of the image forming apparatus 12. The print data in the RAW format are hereinafter called “RAW data”.
Note that the virtual printer driver 27, the real printer driver 28, the display controller 33, and the communication part (transmitting part) 34 are already described above with reference to
The print job management plug-in 31 in
The terminal apparatus 10 in
The image forming apparatus 12 according to an embodiment may be able to be implemented by process blocks illustrated in
The image forming apparatus 12 in
The authentication device 11 according to an embodiment may be able to be implemented by process blocks illustrated in
The authentication device 11 in
In the following, a description is given of details of processes of the output system 1 according to the embodiment. In the following, a pull printing process is described as an example of an output process in the output system 1.
When receiving from the user a print instruction for printing the application data utilizing the virtual printer driver 27, the terminal 10 accumulates print jobs based on the print instruction from the user. The details of the print job accumulation will be described later.
In step S2, after accumulating print jobs, the user logs into the image forming apparatus 12 by operating the operations panel 602 of the image forming apparatus 12. In step S3, the image forming apparatus 12 requests the authentication device 11 to authenticate the user as well as acquiring information on the user's terminal apparatus 10 (PC information). When the authentication of the user is successful, the image forming apparatus 12 may be able to acquire the user's PC information.
In step S4, the image forming apparatus 12 requests the terminal apparatus 10 to acquire a print job list of the logged-in user's terminal apparatus 10 (PC information) utilizing the acquired user's PC information. The image forming apparatus 12 displays the acquired print job list on the operations panel 602.
When the user instructs the image forming apparatus 12 to display a preview image by operating the operations panel 602 of the image forming apparatus 12, the image forming apparatus 12 requests the terminal apparatus 10 to acquire the preview image data in step S5. The image forming apparatus 12 displays the acquired preview image on the operations panel 602 utilizing the acquired preview image data.
When the user instructs the image forming apparatus 12 to perform printing by operating the operations panel 602 of the image forming apparatus 12, the image forming apparatus 12 requests the terminal apparatus 10 to acquire RAW data in step S6. When acquiring the RAW data from the terminal 10, the image forming apparatus 12 performs printing utilizing the acquired RAW data.
Note that the sequence diagram in
In step S12, the virtual printer driver 27 creates intermediate print data based on the application data. The virtual printer driver 27 stores the created intermediate print data in the intermediate print data storage part 43.
In step S13, the virtual printer driver 27 reports to the print data management part 41 that the intermediate print data are created and the created intermediate print data are stored in the intermediate print data storage part 43. When receiving the report from the virtual printer drive 27, the print data management part 41 creates an intermediate print data list illustrated in
In step S23, the authentication device 11 authenticates the user who operates the image forming apparatus 12 utilizing user data stored by the user data storage part 63 as illustrated, for example, in
Further,
In step S26, when receiving the user's PC information from the authentication device 11, the image forming apparatus 12 requests the terminal apparatus 10 specified by the user's PC information to acquire a print data (a print job) list. In step S27, the terminal apparatus 10 receives a print data list acquiring request from the image forming apparatus 12.
In step S28, the print data management part 41 of the terminal apparatus 10 acquires a print data list based on the intermediate print data list illustrated in
In step S29, the terminal apparatus 10 transmits the print data list acquired by the print data management part 41 to the image forming apparatus 12. In step S30, the image forming apparatus 12 displays the print data list acquired from the terminal apparatus 10 on the operations panel 602.
Hence, the user operating the image forming apparatus 12 may be able to check the print job list accumulated as the print jobs in the terminal apparatus 10 via the operations panel 602 and the like of the image forming apparatus 12.
In step S42, the image forming apparatus 12 requests the terminal apparatus 10 to acquire a preview image. In step S43, the terminal apparatus 10 receives the preview image acquiring request from the image forming apparatus 12.
In step S44, the print data process part 42 of the terminal apparatus 10 creates preview image data based on the intermediate print data stored in the intermediate print data storage part 43. In step S45, the terminal apparatus 10 transmits the preview image data created by the print data process part 42 to the image forming apparatus 12. In step S46, the image forming apparatus 12 displays the preview image on the operations panel 602 utilizing the preview image data acquired from the terminal apparatus 10.
Hence, the user operating the image forming apparatus 12 may be able to check the preview images of the print jobs accumulated in the terminal apparatus 10 via the operations panel 602 and the like of the image forming apparatus 12. In this embodiment, the preview image data are created based on the intermediate print data, which may be easier than creating the preview image data based on the RAW data, which are dependent on the model of the image forming apparatus (model dependent).
The RAW data acquiring request illustrated in
In step S53, the terminal apparatus 10 receives the RAW data acquiring request from the image forming apparatus 12. In step S54, the print data process part 42 of the terminal apparatus 10 selects a real printer driver 28 corresponding to the image forming apparatus 12, and instructs the real printer driver 28 to create RAW data. The real printer driver 28 creates print data in a RAW format based on the intermediate print data stored by the intermediate print data storage part 43.
Note that in step S54, the print data process part 42 changes the print settings when the print settings of the intermediate print data subject to printing that are included in the intermediate print data list illustrated in
Hence, the user operating the image forming apparatus 12 may be able to execute printing the print jobs accumulated in the terminal apparatus 10 by instructing the image forming apparatus to print the accumulated print jobs via the operations panel 602 and the like of the image forming apparatus 12.
Further, the user operating the image forming apparatus 12 may be able to instruct printing the print jobs or execute printing the print jobs accumulated in the terminal apparatus 10 via the operations panel 602 and the like of the image forming apparatus 12 after changing the print settings.
In this embodiment, the RAW data are created based on the intermediate print data after the user has performed the printing operation via the operations panel 602 of the image forming apparatus 12. In this embodiment, the model dependent RAW data are created after changing the print settings in the intermediate print data, which may be easier than changing the print settings in the RAW data.
Note that the present embodiment illustrates an example without using a print server; however, the embodiment is not limited to this example. The embodiment may employ the print server. In the embodiment employing the print server, the intermediate print data created by the terminal apparatus 10 in the print job accumulating process may, for example, be accumulated in the print server.
In the embodiment employing the print server, the image forming apparatus 12 that is logged in by the user transmits the print job list acquiring request, the preview image acquiring request, the RAW data acquiring request, and the like to the print server. Hence, the terminal apparatus 10 does not have to accumulate the intermediate print data.
The output system 1 according to the embodiment may be employed by an output system according to another embodiment having mixed image forming apparatuses 12 produced by different manufacturers in an environment such as an office. For example, when the user desires to output the print jobs from an image forming apparatus 12 produced by a different manufacturer into which the above-described applications (plug-ins) are not installable, the user may cause a mobile terminal to execute the processes in steps S2 to S6. The user may be able to print RAW data and the like with the image forming apparatus into which the above-described applications (plug-ins) are not installable via the mobile terminal.
The present embodiment may facilitate handling of the print data in the image forming apparatus 12 such as displaying the preview image on the operations panel 602 of the image forming apparatus 12 or changing the print settings by accumulating the print jobs in a print data format independent of the model of the image forming apparatus 12.
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments specifically disclosed above, and numerous variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. It is noted that the first data creating unit described in the claims corresponds to the virtual printer driver 27. The second data creating unit corresponds to the real printer driver 28.
The disclosed embodiments may facilitate handling data to be output in the image forming apparatus.
While certain preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and numerous variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
The present application is based on and claims the benefit of priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-285040 filed on Dec. 27, 2012, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-285040 | Dec 2012 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2013/084393 | 12/17/2013 | WO | 00 |
