Abstract:
Automatically determining the cost to complete a printed job on a digital printing press. A Job Control Component in the Digital Front End of the printing press collects and stores the processing information from the job processing components after each has completed its step in the sequence of steps required to complete the printed job. A Job Reporting Component displays the stored processing information and, when the press owner has stored the predetermined cost of each processing step, automatically computes and displays the cost of the job.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     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.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     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.  
         [0003]     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.  
         [0004]     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.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     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.  
         [0006]     The invention, and its objects and advantages, will become more apparent in the detailed description of the preferred embodiment presented below.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]     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:  
         [0008]      FIG. 1A  is a schematic drawing of a digital printing press, in which the method of the present invention may be implemented;  
         [0009]      FIG. 1B  is a block diagram representation of the digital printing press in  FIG. 1A ;  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of the electrophotographic imaging hardware in the digital printing press in  FIG. 1A ; and  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram representation of the method of the present invention as practiced in the digital printing press in  FIG. 1A . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0012]     Referring to  FIG. 1A , there is shown a schematic line drawing of a digital printing press  40 , for example a NexPress 2100 Digital Production Color Press, in which the method of the present invention may be used.  FIG. 1B  depicts the same digital press in block diagram format. The digital press  40  in  FIGS. 1A and 1B  includes a print engine  50  and an operator interface  60 . The print engine  50  contains the printing process components that convert a raster pixel input into hard copy printed output. The printing process components in the print engine  50  include the imaging hardware  52  and the computer processors  54  that control the imaging hardware. In the shown printing press  40 , the imaging hardware  52  is electrophotographic printing technology that will be described below. The operator interface  60  contains the computational devices, henceforth referred to as the digital front end (DFE)  62 , that perform all of the necessary pre-printing steps to convert the job file into the raster pixel format to be sent to the print engine  50 . The operator interface  60  also contains data base storage media  64  and graphical user interface software  65  for interacting with the operator via graphical user interface display  66 , or with the press owner via a remote client computer and display  68 .  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  depicts a schematic diagram of the electrophotographic imaging hardware  52  in print engine  50  of  FIG. 1A . Four color images, black, yellow, magenta, and cyan are printed, by four printing modules, B, Y, M, C, onto the print media sheet  22 . Of course, a different number of printing modules (greater or less than four) is suitable for use with this invention. The imaging elements and process are identical in the four printing modules. Therefore only the elements in printing module B are designated with numerals. The following description of the imaging process applies to all four modules B, Y, M, C. An imaging drum  12  is provided on which is coated a photoconductive member  14 . The imaging drum  12  is selectively rotated, by any well-known drive mechanism (not shown), in the direction indicated by the arrow, to advance the photoconductive member  14  past a series of subsystems of the printing module. A primary charging device  16  is provided to deposit a uniform electrostatic charge onto the photoconductive member  14 . The uniform charge on the photoconductive member  14  is subsequently selectively dissipated by a digitally addressed exposure subsystem  18 , such as a Light Emitting Diode (LED) array, to form an electrostatic latent image of a document to be reproduced. The electrostatic latent image is then rendered visible by development subsystem  20 , which deposits charged, pigmented marking particles onto the photoconductive member  14  in accordance with the electrostatic charge pattern of the latent image.  
         [0014]     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 .  
         [0015]     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 .  
         [0016]     The method of this invention as embodied in the printing press  40  is illustrated schematically in block diagram form in  FIG. 3 . A Job Control Component  100  is responsible for stepping a job through the sequence of processing steps necessary to complete the job, including conversion of the job from the submitted page description format to the raster pixel format that is input to the print engine. In this embodiment this sequence of steps is Job Submission ( 102 ), Job Normalization ( 104 ), Resource Check ( 106 ), Raster Image Processing (RIP) ( 108 ), and Printing ( 110 ). Job Submission ( 102 ) includes recording the start time of the job, assigning a job name and job ID (Identification Code), and identifying the submitted job file format. Job Normalization ( 104 ) is the step in which the job file format from the Job Submission ( 102 ) step is converted from that format in which it was submitted into a special normalized PDF format required by the RIP. The Resource Check ( 106 ) step is a check to confirm that the print media (paper, type, size, weight, etc.) requested for the job is available in one of the supplies of the printing press  40 , and that the type fonts requested are available. RIPing ( 108 ) is the step in which the job file format is converted to the raster pixel format required by the print engine. Printing is the actual creation of the hard copy prints in the print engine  50 . These are the steps in the embodiment of this invention as implemented, for example in the NexPress 2100 Digital Production Color Press. It should be recognized by those skilled in the art that other printing presses or other types of job mode devices in which the method of this invention can be practiced may have different sequences of job processing steps.  
         [0017]     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 .  
                   CHART 1                       Data Collected   Job Processing Component                   Job Creation Time   Job Submission (Job Control on a reprint,           copied or edited job)       Job ID   Job Submission (Job Control on a reprint,           copied or edited job)       Job Name   Job Submission (Job Control on a reprint,           copied or edited job)       Data Format_(PDF, PS, VDX) (Job Control on a   Job Submission (Job Control on a reprint,       reprint, copied or edited job)   copied or edited job)       Parent Job ID if it exists   Job Control       Submitted Job ID (Job Control)   Job Control       Job is a reprint of a done job   Job Control       Job is a Copy Job   Job Control       Job has been content edited   Job Control       Job Ticket has been edited   Job Control       Job has been deleted   Job Control       Number of Instance Documents (VDX)   Normalization Component       Media Name of Body Media needed   Resource Check component       Media Weight (in gsm) of Body Media needed   Resource Check component       Media Size (in mm) of Body Media needed   Resource Check component       Media name of Cover Media needed   Resource Check component       Media Weight (in gsm) of Cover Media needed   Resource Check component       Media Size (in mm) of Cover Media needed   Resource Check component       Media Name of Insert Media needed   Resource Check component       Media Weight (in gsm) of Insert Media needed   Resource Check component       Media Size (in mm) of Insert Media needed   Resource Check component       Color Spaces (sequence)   Resource Check component       Spot Colors (sequence)   Resource Check component       File Size of PDF   Normalization Component       Engine Path; One Sided or Two-Sided Path of   Resource Check       the Press       Imposition Type (Plain, Parameterized and   Resource Check       Template)       Number of Copies requested   Resource Check       Number of Sheets of Body Media per copy   Resource Check       Number of Sheets of Cover Media per copy   Resource Check       Number of Sheets of Insert Media per copy   Resource Check       Actual number of Body Media Body sheets   Print Component       printed       Actual number of Cover Media sheets printed   Print Component       Actual number of Insert Media sheets printed   Print Component       Number of Body Media Sample sheets printed   Print Component       Actual number of Cover Media Sample sheets   Print Component       printed       Actual number of Insert Media Sample sheets   Print Component       printed       Number of Conditioning sheets printed   Print Component       Media Name of Conditioning Sheets   Print Component       Start Time - End Time - Processing Time   All components       Elapsed Time of Job - Start Time from Creation   Derived       to End Time of last Processing step performed       on this job       Process Time (total time of all processing steps   Derived       of this Job)       A4 Page counters of the Press at the end of   Print Component       printing - Required for calculating Waste in the       Job Summary (aggregate level)       % Ink coverage for 4 (or 5) inks used, a number   RIP Component       between 0 and 100 as a floating point number       (for precision)       Grams of Dry Ink used estimate 4 (or 5) inks as   RIP Component/Print Component       a floating point number       Finishing Style (Perfect Bound, Saddle Stitch,   Print Component       Cut and Pile etc. see Job Ticket Editor)       Collation State (On-Off)   Print Component       Jog Setting (On - Off)   Print Component       Output Destination (Main Delivery, Proof Tray)   Print Component       Page Order (face up, face down)   Print Component       JTE Sidedness (One Sided, Two Sided H2H,   Print Component       Two Sided H2F)                  
 
         [0018]     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&#39;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.  
         [0019]     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 ).  
         [0020]     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.  
         [0021]     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.  
         [0022]     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.