Patent Publication Number: US-2005134913-A1

Title: Printing system to request data for re-printing through a printing device

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2003-93591, filed on Dec. 19, 2003, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in it entirety and by reference.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present general inventive concept relates to a printing system and a printing method of printing data received from a plurality of hosts through a printing device. More particularly, the present general inventive concept relates to a printing system and a printing method of requesting re-transmission of once-printed data to re-print through a printing device.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      A printing system comprises at least one personal computer (PC) and at least one printer, which are connected to each other through a local area network (LAN) for transmission of data stored in the PC to the printer for printing. Such a printing system provides an advantage in that several users can share a limited resource effectively, so that the printing system becomes popular.  
      However, these printers carry out a printing job only in response to a printing command input through the PC. Therefore, if the printer and the PC are located considerably remote from each other, users experience inconvenience in going back to the PC to input a printing command and coming again to the printer to receive the printed output.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      In order to solve the foregoing and/or other problems, it is an aspect of the present general inventive concept is to provide a printing system having a printing device through which a user can directly request one-printed data to be re-printed, and a printing method thereof.  
      Additional aspects and advantages of the present general inventive concept will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the general inventive concept.  
      The foregoing and/or other aspects and advantages of the present general inventive concept may be achieved by providing a network printing system having at least one printing device which comprises a first interface unit to communication-interface with at least one host device transmitting printing data, an engine control unit to execute a printing job of the printing data received through the first interface unit, a memory to store information about the printing job executed by the engine control unit, a manipulation panel unit to display a list of the information about the printing job stored in the memory and to input a request for re-execution of the printing job, and a first control unit to detect the information about the printing job executed by the engine control unit and to store the information in the memory. The first control unit requests the corresponding host device to re-transmit the printing data through the first interface unit on receipt of a request for re-execution of the printing job through the manipulation panel unit.  
      In an aspect of the present general inventive concept, the information about the printing job stored in the memory may comprise at least one of a printing job ID, a host device ID and a file name.  
      In another aspect of the present general inventive concept, the host device may comprise a second interface unit connected with the first interface unit via a communication network to communication-interface with each other, a storage unit to store information about the printing data and the printing job which the host device requests the printing device and a second control unit to transmit the printing data stored in the storage unit to the printing device through the second interface unit according to a user&#39;s demand, to store the information about the executed printing job, and to re-transmit the printing data at the request of the printing device for the re-transmission of the printing data.  
      In yet another aspect of the present general inventive concept, the information about the printing job stored in the storage unit may comprise at leas one of a printing job ID, a printer ID, and a file name.  
      The foregoing and/or other aspects and advantages of the present general inventive concept may also be achieved by providing a printing method comprising printing data received from the host device according to a request from at least one host device for a printing job, storing in a memory information about the executed printing job and generating a list of the job information, requesting re-execution of the printing job, requesting the host device to re-transmit the printing data which was once printed, based on the information about the printing job, and receiving the printing data from the host device and re-printing the re-transmitted printing data.  
      The requesting of the re-execution of the printing job may comprise displaying the list of the information about the printing job according to a user&#39;s demand, and selecting one of the list of the job information about the printing job.  
      In an aspect of the present general inventive concept, the information about the printing job may comprise at least one of a printing job ID, a host ID, and a file name.  
      In another aspect of the present general inventive concept, the host device may be one of a desktop PC, a laptop PC, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), and a mobile phone, and the printing device may be a printer.  
      The foregoing and/or other aspects and advantages of the present general inventive concept may also be achieved by providing a printing system comprising_a printing device to receive printing data transmitted fro an external source, to print the printing data, to store information about the printing data and the external source, and to output a signal to request the external source to retransmit the print data, according to the information.  
      The foregoing and/or other aspects and advantages of the present general inventive concept may also be achieved by providing a printing system comprising_a computer to transmit printing data to an external printing device, to store information about the printing data and the external printing device, to receive from the external printing device a signal to retransmit the transmitted printing data, and to retransmit the printing data to the external printing device according to the signal and the information.  
      The foregoing and/or other aspects and advantages of the present general inventive concept may also be achieved by providing a printing system comprising an external source to generate printing data, and a printing device to receive printing data transmitted from the external source, to print the printing data, to store information about the printing data and the external source, and to output a signal to request the external source to retransmit the printing data, according to the information, so that the external source retransmits the printing data to the printing device according to the signal.  
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      These and/or other aspects and advantages of the present general inventive concept will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:  
       FIG. 1  is a view showing a network printing system according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept;  
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing one of host PCs of  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram showing one of printers of  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIGS. 4A and 4B  are tables showing lists of printing job information stored in one host PC;  
       FIG. 5  is a table showing a list of printing job information stored in one printer;  
       FIGS. 6A and 6B  are flowcharts showing a printing job execution method of a host PC according to another embodiment of the present general inventive concept; and  
       FIGS. 7A and 7B  are flowcharts showing a printing job execution method of a printer according to another embodiment of the present general inventive concept. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present general inventive concept, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present general inventive concept by referring to the figures.  
       FIG. 1  is a view showing a network printing system according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept. Referring to  FIG.1 , the printing system may comprise a plurality of personal computers (PCs)  100 ,  100 - 1 , and  100 - 2  and a plurality of printers  200  and  200 - 1  connected to the PCs  100 ,  100 - 1 , and  100 - 2 .  
      The printers  200  and  200 - 1  can carry out printing jobs of printing print data in response to printing commands input through the PC  100 ,  100 - 1 , and  100 - 2 . When a printing command is input through the printers  200  and  200 - 1  with respect to the once-printed data, the printers  200 ,  200 - 1  can request their corresponding PCs to re-transmit the once-printed data to re-print and can receive the requested once-printed data from the corresponding PCs.  
      The first PC  100  of  FIG. 1  will be representatively described below in detail with reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 . However, if will be appreciated that the other PCs  100 - 1  and  100 - 2  are identical to the first PC  100 .  
      Referring to  FIG. 2 , the first PC  100  may comprise an input unit  110 , a storage unit  120 , a display unit  130 , a PC interface unit  140 , and a PC control unit  150 .  
      The input unit  110  can comprise a keyboard or a mouse through which a user command is inputted. The display unit  130  may comprise a monitor to display an operating state and an output of the first PC  100 .  
      The storage unit  120  can comprise a hard disk (HD) to store therein applications executed in the first PC  100  and various printing data. More specifically, the storage unit  120  can also store therein information, such as a printing job execution application, a printing job management application, and information on a printer connected to the first PC  100 .  
      The PC interface unit  140  can be accessible to the printers  200  and  200 - 1  and an external communication network (not shown) through a wire or wireless communication network ot a local area network, for data communication.  
      The PC control unit  150  can control overall operations of the first PC  100  and can execute the printing job management application (not shown) stored in the storage unit  130 .  
      When a printing job command is inputted through the input unit  110 , the PC controller unit  150  can read out data and can display the data on the display unit  130 . Here, the printing job command is referred to as a command to request to print certain data through a certain selected printer. Then, the PC control unit  150  can transmit the read data to the selected printer through the PC interface unit  140  to execute the printing job.  
      The PC control unit  150  can store in the storage unit  120  information about the requested printing job. The printing job information is tabulated as shown in  FIG. 4A and 4B  and stored in the storage unit  120 . The stored printing job information may include three entries, such as a printing job list, a printer IP, and a file name.  
      Referring  FIG. 4A , the printing job information stored in the first PC  100  may include JOB ID  1 , JOB ID  2 , and so on. The JOB ID  1  has a file name of “address.doc,” and the first printer  200  at IP 168.219.12.70 prints the data of the file “address.doc.” Also, the JOB ID  2  has a file name of “birthday party.jpg,” and the first printer  200  at IP 168.219.12.70 prints the data of the file “birthday party.jpg.” 
      Referring to  FIG. 4B , the printing job information stored in the second PC  100 - 1  may include JOB ID  3 , JOB ID  4  and so on. The JOB ID  3  has a file name of “report.doc,” and the first printer  200  at IP 168.219.12.70 prints the data of the file “report.doc.” Also, the JOB ID  4  has a file name of “presentation document.ppt,” and the second printer  200 - 1  at IP 168.219.15.70 prints the data of the file “presentation document.ppt.” 
      When the printer  200  requests the PC control unit  150  to re-transmit once-printed data, the PC control unit  150  can read out the once-printed data based on the printing job information list stored in the storage unit  29  and can re-transmit the data to the requesting printer  200 .  
      Hereinafter, the first printer  200  of  FIG. 1  will be representatively described in detail with reference to  FIGS. 2 and 3 .  
      The first printer  200  can perform a printing job at the request of the PCs  100  and  100 - 1 , and can request a corresponding PC to re-transmit of the once-printed data to be re-printed. The first printer  200  may comprise a manipulation panel  210 , a memory  220 , an engine control unit  230 , a printer interface unit  240 , and a printer control unit  250 .  
      The manipulation panel  210  can be used for inputting a user&#39;s command and can display an operating state and a specific message of the printer  200 . The manipulation panel  200  can be disposed on an upper or front portion of the printer  200 . The manipulation panel  210  can be provided with a plurality of function keys (not shown) to set various functions supported by the printer  200  and also to set printing environments of the printer  200 . A separate manipulation key to request the re-printing of data may be provided on the manipulation panel  210 .  
      The memory  220  can temporarily store therein data received from the PCs  100 ,  100 - 1 , and  100 - 2  prior to printing the data, and can especially store information about once-executed printing job.  FIG. 5  shows one example of a list of the printing job information.  
      Referring to  FIGS. 2 through 5 , the printing job information stored in the first printer  200  may include JOB ID  1 , JOB ID  2 , JOB ID  3 , and so on. The JOB ID  1  and JOB ID  2  respectively have file names of “address.doc” and “birthday party.jpg” which are transmitted from the first PC  100  at an IP 137.241.12.2. JOB ID  3  has a file name of “report.doc” which is transmitted from the second PC  100 - 1  at an IP 145.211.35.6.  
      For example, in order to re-print the data of “report.doc,” a user can select a printing job information display key provided on the manipulation panel  210 , so that the printing job information list of  FIG. 5  can be displayed on a screen. From the list of the printing job information, the user can select the JOB ID  3 .  
      At a request for re-printing of the JOB ID  3 , the printer control unit  250  can transmit to the second PC  100 - 1  a signal to request the re-transmission of the data of “report.doc” through the printer interface unit  240 . In response to this signal, the second PC  100 - 1  can re-transmit the data to the printer control unit  250 . The printer control unit  250  can control the engine control unit  230  to print the re-transmitted data.  
       FIGS. 6A and 6B  are flowcharts showing a printing job execution method of a host PC in a printing system according to another embodiment of the present general inventive concept.  
      Referring to  FIG. 6A , data to be printed and a printer to print the data can be selected through the input unit  110  provided on the first PC  100 , and a printing job execution can be requested in operation S 310 . The PC control unit  150  can read out the data in response to the printing job execution request in operation S 320 . Also, the PC control unit  150  can detect whether the requested printing job has been previously executed based on the printing job information list stored in the storage unit  120  in operation S 330 . If information about the requested printing job is not determined to exist in the printing job information list as a result of the detection, the information can be stored in the storage unit  120  in operation S 340 . The read data can be transmitted to the selected printer through the PC interface unit  140  in operation S 350 . Meanwhile, if the information about the requested printing job is determined to exist in the printing job information list in operation S 330 , the read data can be transmitted to the selected printer.  
      Referring to  FIG. 6B , when one of printers connected to the first PC  100  requests the transmission of data a printing job in operation S 410 , the PC control unit  150  can detect whether the requested printing job has been previously executed based on the printing job information list of the storage unit  120  in operation S 420 . As a result of the detection, if the information about the requested printing job has been already stored in the storage unit  120 , the data is read out based on the printing job information in operation S 430 . The read data can be transmitted to the printer through the PC interface unit  140  in operation S 440 . If the information about the requested printing job does not exist in the printing job information list in operation S 420 , a signal to inform the printer impossibility of the transmission of the requested data can be transmitted to the printer in operation S 450 .  
       FIGS. 7A and 7B  are flowcharts showing a printing job execution method of a printer, for example, the printer  200  of  FIG. 1 , in a printing system according to another embodiment of the present general inventive concept.  
      Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 7 A, when the printer  200  receives a request signal for the printing job with respect to certain data from the PC  100  connected thereto in operation S 510 , the printer control unit  250  can transmit a response signal to the PC  100 , can receive the data from the PC  100  through the printer interface unit  240 , and can execute the printing job by operating the engine control unit  230  in operation S 520 . The printer control unit  250  can detect whether the information about the executed printing job is stored in the memory  220  in operation S 530 . As a result of the detection, if the information about the executed printing job does not exist in the memory  220 , the information can be stored in the memory  220  in operation S 540 .  
      Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 7 B, in order to re-print the once-printed data, a user can request the re-execution of the printing job through the manipulation panel  210  of the printer  200  in operation S 610 . Accordingly, the printer control unit  250  can read out the printing job information list from the memory  220  and can display the list on a screen provided on the manipulation panel  210  in operation S 620 . The user can select an item corresponding to a desired printing job to re-print using the function key of a manipulation panel  210  in operation S 630 . The printer control unit  250  can transmit to the PC, which has previously requested the printing of the selected printing job, a signal to request the re-transmission of the data based on the printing job information of the selected printing job in operation S 640 .  
      As described above, the printer of the printing system according to the present general inventive concept is capable of requesting a re-printing job with respect to the once-printed data by using the information about the printing job previously executed at the request of the printer and the PC of the printing system.  
      Although a few embodiments of the present general inventive concept have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the general inventive concept, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.