Patent ID: 9264564
Filing Date: 2016-02-16
CPC Classification: G06K,H04N

Claim Text:
1. A printing data collection and distribution server, comprising: a storage unit in which printing data sent from an information terminal is stored; a data distribution unit configured to distribute the printing data stored in the storage unit to a distribution request destination; a designation unit configured to designate an image forming apparatus to be used as the distribution request destination; and a control unit configured to output, when the printing data is received from the information terminal, to the image forming apparatus, a resume-from-sleep command signal instructing the image forming apparatus to transition from a sleep mode to a standby mode, wherein the control unit is further configured to send to the image forming apparatus a return-to-sleep command signal containing a print-start elapsed time, based on which the image forming apparatus starts a next sleep mode, the print-start elapsed time being representative of the amount of time elapsed during a previous printing from the moment the printing data is received to the moment the printing is started.