JP2000089997A - Electronic document management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic document management system capable of realizing sure storage management and easy backup for electronic documents stored and managed so as to be retrieved and reused without executing filing operation. SOLUTION: A scanner device 11, a printer device 12 and a facsimile equipment 13 on an intranet respectively store an electronic document to be processed in an HDD 26 to be a memory part corresponding to the registration ID of each device and send the ID information of the document to a server device 14 together with the registration ID and the storing address of the document and these sent data are stored and managed so as to be retrieved and outputted by a retrieval request from a PC 15.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic document management system, and more particularly, to an electronic document management system which is applied to a processing system for performing data processing such as data copying, facsimile communication, printout, etc., and reliably stores and manages electronic documents to be handled. And manage the data desired to be reused so that it can be obtained with high reliability.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Documents that need to be stored (documents on which images and characters are displayed) in accordance with the recent advances in data processing technology and the speeding up of data processing and the lowering of the cost of data storage and storage means.
A so-called file system (electronic document management system) has emerged, which is read by a scanner device and stored in a mass storage device.

[0003] This type of file system is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-44393. This file system connects a plurality of types of file devices on a network in order to store various electronic documents. In a distributed environment constructed in this way, the file management device is devised so that it can access electronic documents stored in various external file devices in the same way as those stored internally.

[0004]

However, in such a conventional file system, since it is necessary to read a document by a scanner in any case, file work of a necessary document is troublesome. There was a problem. By the way, the documents to be stored in the file system are copied for use in meetings,
The document may be a document transmitted / received to / from a customer by a facsimile machine or the like, or a document created and printed out by a workstation (WS) or a personal computer (PC). In short, the document to be stored is one that has been converted into an electric signal at least once and recorded and output on paper, and has been converted into an electronic document and filed again.

[0005] From this, the inventor of the present invention has been studying in order to solve the problems in the conventional file system, and has been able to extract the progress of the document until it is stored in the file system. We worked hard to find out if we could use the documentation. As a result, by acquiring and accumulating the electronic document at the time of the processing, the invention invented that the storage management of the electronic document without the need for a separate file operation is realized and the electronic document can be easily reused.

According to the present invention, a large number of electronic documents are stored as data in a storage such as a hard disk for a long period of time, and a desired electronic document is retrieved from the stored data, displayed, printed, and reused. The hard disk used is susceptible to the effects of the environment such as dust, and is not very reliable due to aging, preventing data from being destroyed and losing stored electronic documents. In order to do so, it is essential to backup the stored data as needed.

As described above, when electronic documents are aggregated in one data storage device, storage and management of electronic documents are easy, but it takes time to back up a large-capacity hard disk or the like. However, when a hard disk or the like is broken, there is a problem that an electronic document cannot be stored at the time of processing, or when the stored data is destroyed, it takes time to recover the data.

Accordingly, the present invention makes it possible to store and manage an electronic document without performing a file operation and to easily search and reuse the electronic document, and realizes reliable storage management and easy backup of the electronic document. It is another object of the present invention to provide a highly reliable and usable electronic document management system.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a plurality of acquisition devices for acquiring an electronic document and a plurality of storage devices for accumulating the acquired electronic document as data are provided. An electronic document management system constructed by connecting a management device for managing stored data to search and read out on a network, wherein the acquisition device reads out image data and records and outputs it on paper. At least one of a copying function, a transmission function of transmitting and receiving image data and character data via a communication line, and a recording function of recording and outputting received image data and character data on paper. The electronic document to be obtained is obtained and transmitted as an electronic document stored in the storage device, and the storage device The acquired electronic document stored as data by acquisition device that, said management apparatus is characterized in that for managing data in a plurality of storage devices.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the electronic document acquired by processing by the function of the acquisition device is sent to one of a plurality of storage devices assigned to each acquisition device. The data is stored and managed by the management device. Thereafter, the data is retrieved from the management device at an arbitrary timing, read out from the storage device, and displayed / recorded at a desired output destination and reused. Therefore,
The electronic documents to be stored and managed are distributed and managed at a plurality of locations while ensuring the same processing performance as when stored in one storage device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, the storage device or the management device monitors the storage function of the storage device, and when the storage of the electronic document cannot be performed, the other device. A request for storage of the electronic document from a device having a storage function of the electronic document. According to the second aspect of the present invention, the storage function of the storage device is monitored, and if it is confirmed that the electronic document cannot be stored by the assigned acquisition device, the storage device itself or the management device in advance stores the electronic document. A request for the storage of the electronic document is sent to another device having a storage function that has been set or investigated and determined, and is stored and managed by the management device. Therefore, even if one storage device cannot be stored, the electronic document is stored and managed elsewhere.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first or second aspect of the present invention, a backup unit for backing up data stored in the storage device is provided. The device is characterized in that the device grasps the storage status of the storage device and sends out the stored data in the storage device to a backup medium at an arbitrary timing to secure a storable capacity.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the electronic document distributed and managed at a plurality of locations is backed up to a backup medium in accordance with the storage status of each storage device and can be stored in the storage device. Capacity is secured. Therefore, the electronic document is backed up for each storage device. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of any one of the first to third aspects, each of the acquisition devices also functions as the storage device, and stores the electronic document acquired by itself as data. It is characterized by accumulation.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the electronic document is stored and managed by the acquisition device itself. Therefore, there is no need to separately connect a storage device.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, prior to describing the present invention, a case where an electronic document is stored in a reusable manner by one storage device will be described. 1 to 3 are diagrams showing an embodiment of an electronic document management system to which the present invention can be applied.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a management system constructed for effective use of electronic documents.
The electronic document management system 10 is constructed so as to function as a file system for reusably filing the digitized electronic document handled by the user as data, and a cable 100 installed in the user's office. A scanner device 11, a printer device 12, a facsimile device 13, and a server device 14.
And the personal computer (PC) 15 in FIG.
It is connected via an interface (I / F) 101 shown in FIG. 3 and is applied to an intranet constructed by a connection device (not shown). Needless to say, the intranet may be configured to be connectable to the external Internet via a connection device.

As shown in FIG. 2, the scanner device 11, the printer device 12, and the facsimile device 13 operate according to a control program read from a ROM (storage medium) 22 by a CPU (central processing unit) 22 according to the driving conditions of each part of the device. A function corresponding to each device based on a sensor signal of each unit of the device or an input command from the operation display unit 24 using the RAM 23 which stores various information such as management data and stores data necessary for operation. The unit 25 performs various processes, and sends the electronic document processed by the functional unit 25 to the server device 14 which executes a process of filing the data as reusable data as it is. Reference numeral 26 in FIG. 2 denotes a memory unit for temporarily storing an electronic document processed by the scanner device 11, the printer device 12, and the facsimile device 13 in the present system.

The basic configuration of the functional unit 25 of the scanner device 11 is known, and detailed description thereof is omitted (the printer device 12 and the facsimile device 13 are also omitted). For example, the functional unit 25 is set on a contact glass. The CPU 21 reads the image data (electronic document) by irradiating the original with light and capturing the reflected light from the image surface by a CCD. The CPU 21 temporarily stores the image data temporarily stored in the memory unit 26 in accordance with an instruction from the PC 15. In addition to transmitting (bitmap data) to the PC 15, ID information is transmitted to the server device 14 together with the image data. The function unit 25 of the printer device 12 is, for example, a PC 1
After the character data (code data) and the document data (electronic document) of the image data received from the printer 5 are bit-mapped in the memory unit 26, the data is transferred to the recording position by a known electrophotographic recording method or the like. The CPU 21 sends the ID information to the server device 14 together with the bitmap-developed document data. Function unit 25 of facsimile machine 13
For example, after temporarily storing image data (electronic document) read from a document by a reading unit in a memory unit 26, the image data is sent out to a telephone line via a communication control unit and facsimile-transmitted to a destination, or the communication control unit The image data (bitmap data) received by facsimile via the memory unit 26 is temporarily stored in a memory unit 26, and then recorded and output on paper by an electrophotographic recording method in a recording unit.
1 sends the ID information to the server device 14 together with the image data. In this system, a description will be given of a case where a scanner device 11, a printer device 12, and a facsimile device 13 are connected as acquisition devices. However, a copying machine that handles image data to be copied as an electronic document, a scanner device, a printer device, Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to a case where a multifunction machine usable as a facsimile machine and a copier is connected, and a device capable of taking out image data, such as a PC 15 or an electronic blackboard, can be used as an acquisition device. Not telephone voice data or EM
Information such as electronic information handled by aile or the like may be acquired as an electronic document.

The server device 14, as shown in FIG.
PU 31, ROM 32, RAM 33 and I / O (not shown)
A large-capacity storage device (IMS: Infinit Memory Servo) is installed in a general PC including an O (Input / Output) circuit and the like.
ver) 38 is connected, and the CPU 31 operates the keyboard 35 and the mouse 36 while watching the display 34 so that the CPU 31 uses the RAM 33 in accordance with the control program read from the ROM 32 and stores it in the hard disk device (storage medium) 37. The installed electronic document storage management software (application program) is started, and the scanner device 11, the printer device 12,
Alternatively, the electronic document sent from the facsimile device 13 can be reused as bitmap data by IM.
In S38, a process of storing and managing is executed. The server device 14 checks whether or not the free space of the IMS 38 exceeds a predetermined space regularly or before or after the storage of the electronic document. This is displayed on the display 34 to notify the user, and the backup of the electronic document stored in the IMS 38 is prompted to secure the free space.

Here, as the ID information that the scanner device 11, the printer device 12, and the facsimile device 13 send to the server device 14 together with the electronic document, for example,
The processing date and time, the number of processed sheets, the reading density, the presence or absence of characters and images, the processing conditions such as the telephone number of the other party, the authentication information assigned to each device, and the like are conceivable.
When the configuration for inputting the user ID is adopted or when the management I
In the case of adopting a configuration in which D is attached to the electronic document, the user ID and the management ID may be ID information,
Information useful for specifying the electronic document is ID information. Then, the server device 14 transmits the FTP (File Tra
The electronic document and the ID information transmitted from the scanner device 11, the printer device 12, and the facsimile device 13 are received according to the nsfer protocol, and the electronic document is stored in the IMS 38, while the ID information is stored in the HDD 38.
Registered in the index prepared in the table format in 37 in correspondence with the storage address of the electronic document in the IMS 38 and can be specified by the registration ID (storage management)
At this time, the information may be stored and managed in a directory format corresponding to the ID information so that the index can be easily searched.

The PC 15 is a general PC (excluding the IMS 38 from the server device 14 shown in FIG. 3). Like the server device 14, the PC 15 performs arithmetic processing and the like according to an application program started by the CPU 31. Can be used as a system for performing various processes such as creation of documents and images. The document data can be printed out by sending processing instructions to the printer device 12 and read by the scanner device 11. Or receive image data. When the electronic document search management software is activated, the PC 15 can execute a process of searching and outputting an electronic document stored and managed in the server device 14 by using the electronic document search management software as a user interface. Needless to say, the PC 15 may be capable of transmitting and receiving document data via the facsimile machine 13. Also, the server device 14
A configuration similar to that of C15 may be used so that the user can create document data.

The server device 14 is, for example, a PC
When the processing date and time (arbitrary period may be specified) are designated from 15 and a search request for the corresponding electronic document is sent to the server device 14, an electronic document having the same processing date and time is extracted from the table using the index in the HDD 37. A list of ID information for each registered ID is returned to the PC 15 as a search result, and thereafter, the PC 15 outputs the electronic document in which the registered ID is selected by the user from the list displayed on the display 34. When the request is sent to the server device 14, the electronic document of the storage address with the matching registration ID is read from within the IMS 38 and returned to the PC 15. As a result, the PC 15 can display and output the received electronic document on the display 34 in response to a user's instruction, or can send (output) to the printer device 12 and record and output it on paper. Needless to say, the electronic document to be stored and managed in the IMS 38 may be searched and output by the server device 14.

Therefore, the electronic document processed by the scanner device 11, the printer device 12, and the facsimile device 13 does not require any special input operation in addition to the operation for executing the processing (regardless of whether the storage command is input or not). The electronic document can be automatically stored and managed by the server device 14 by adding ID information for identifying the electronic document, and the electronic document can be obtained and reused only by making a search request for the electronic document from the PC 15. can do.

Next, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to the above-described electronic document management system will be described.
Note that this embodiment can be constructed with a similar configuration, and thus will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 1, a scanner device 11, a printer device 12, and a facsimile device 13 have a built-in large capacity HDD 26 in a memory unit 26, and a CPU 21 stores acquired electronic documents in a server device 1 in accordance with electronic document management software to be started.
4 in the HDD 26 instead of sending the
D and storage management in association with the server device 1
Reference numeral 4 sends the registration ID, ID information, and the storage address of the electronic document in the HDD 26. The CPU 21 of the scanner device 11, the printer device 12, and the facsimile device 13 is configured to secure a free space by backing up the electronic document in the HDD 26, similarly to the server device 14 in the above-described system. In some cases, the electronic document may be sent to the server device 14 to be stored in the IMS 38, and the storage address may be changed to that of the IMS 38 so that a backup can be made so that search and output can be performed. Further, the scanner device 11, the printer device 12,
The facsimile device 13 is, like the server device 14,
ID information may be registered (stored and managed) in the DD 26 together with an electronic document or the like.

The server device 14 receives only the ID information and the registration ID sent from the scanner device 11, the printer device 12, and the facsimile device 13, and stores the ID information in the index prepared in the table format in the HDD 37 by the CPU 31. The information and the registration ID are registered (accumulated and managed) in a directory format. And this server device 14
When a search request for the corresponding electronic document is issued from C15, a list of ID information for each registered ID that matches the designation by the user in the HDD 37 is returned to the PC 15 as a search result, similarly to the above-described electronic document search processing. Thereafter, when a registration ID is selected from the PC 15 and an electronic document output request is sent, the device that stores the electronic document is identified by the registration ID of each device, and the scanner device 11, the printer device 12, or the The transfer request of the electronic document to be stored and managed by the registration ID is transmitted to the facsimile apparatus 13, and the electronic document transmitted by the transfer request is output to the PC 15 which has issued the search request. It goes without saying that the server 14 may be able to search and output electronic documents to be stored and managed for each device.

Therefore, without connecting special storage devices on the intranet, and with the same processing capacity as that managed centrally by the server device 14, the scanner device 11,
The electronic documents to be processed by the printer device 12 and the facsimile device 13 can be distributed and stored for each device, and the number of electronic documents transmitted and received on the intranet can be reduced to reduce the load on the network. The burden on the server device 14 can also be reduced. Furthermore, the PC 15 can receive an electronic document and display or record it just by making a search request, as if it were centrally managed by the server device 14.

The scanner device 11 and the printer device 1
2. When the facsimile apparatus 13 is unable to store the electronic document during the backup processing or due to a failure of the HDD 26 (such as prohibiting data writing to the HDD 26), the CPU 21 performs the backup processing according to the electronic document management software. The same storage request processing is executed, the electronic document is sent to the server device 14 and stored in the IMS 38, and the registration ID and the ID are stored.
By associating the storage address of the IMS 38 with the information, the information is stored and managed so that it can be searched and output.
The request for storing the electronic document is not limited to the server device 14, but may be made to another device preset among the scanner device 11, the printer device 12, and the facsimile device 13. At this time, the storage address may be set to that of the device.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the scanner device 11, the printer device 12, the facsimile device 13
In order to store and manage electronic documents to be processed in each device without requiring a special input operation in addition to an operation for performing processing in each device, to store and manage the electronic documents, and to specify the electronic document. The ID information can be managed by the server device 14, and the electronic document can be obtained again and reused only by making a search request from the PC 15.

Therefore, it is possible to distribute and accumulate and manage electronic documents while securing processing capacity with a small storage capacity of the HDD 26 which can be set according to the frequency of use of each device, and to construct an electronic document management system at low cost. And the overall maximum storage capacity can be easily increased. In addition, since the electronic document is stored and managed for each device as it is, no burden is placed on the network or the server device 14, and the backup process for each device can be performed quickly, and even if the HDD 26 is damaged. It can also recover quickly with minimal damage.

Further, when the writing to the HDD 26 is prohibited, the storage management can be requested to the server device 14 similarly to the backup process, and the electronic document processed by each device cannot be stored because it cannot be stored. It will not be. In addition, since the HDD 26 can be built in each device, it is not necessary to separately connect a storage unit to a network, so that an electronic document management system can be constructed compactly and, if necessary, a unique electronic document management system. Information can be easily managed.

As another aspect of this embodiment, the server device 14 is provided with a stored data management function for managing ID information of an electronic document in this embodiment. Printer device 1
2. While the facsimile device 13 manages the server device 14, the server device 14 has only a storage management function for storing the registration ID of each device and managing the storage result. When a search output request is issued, all the registration IDs of the selected device are used. May be returned to the server device 14.
In this case, when writing to the HDD 26 is prohibited, the electronic document and the I / O document are sent together as in the present embodiment.
It is preferable that the D information is also sent to the server device 14 to be managed so as to prevent the loss of the ID information and the inability to identify the electronic document.

The scanner device 11 and the printer device 1
2. The HDD 26 for storing the electronic document is built in the memory unit 26 of the facsimile machine 13, but it goes without saying that the storage device may be separately connected on the network.

[0033]

According to the present invention, an electronic document processed and acquired by an acquisition device can be stored in a storage device for each acquisition device and managed and reused by a management device. In this case, it is possible to perform distributed accumulation management at a plurality of locations by using the processing capacity. Therefore, the storage capacity of the storage device can be reduced while ensuring the processing capability, and the storage processing can be decentralized and the electronic document can be stored and managed without burden. As a result, the backup processing of the electronic document can be quickly performed for each storage device, and even if the storage device is damaged, damage can be minimized and restoration can be quickly performed. In addition, an electronic document management system can be constructed using a small-capacity, low-cost, high-performance storage device, and the storage capacity may be set according to the frequency of use of the acquisition device. Can also be easily increased.

In the case where the storage device is out of order or is in backup, an electronic document can be requested to be stored in another device having a storage function, so that the electronic document cannot be stored. Furthermore, by combining the acquisition device and the storage device, it is not necessary to connect a storage device separately from the acquisition device, thereby reducing costs and easily managing information unique to the acquisition device. At the same time, the load on the network due to the transmission of the electronic document can be reduced, and the internal document can be made compact by incorporating it.

As a result, according to the present invention, it is possible to store and manage an electronic document without performing a file operation and to easily search and reuse the electronic document. Usability can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of an electronic document management system according to the present invention, and is a block diagram illustrating a schematic overall configuration thereof.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the acquisition device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the storage device and the management device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 electronic document management system 11 scanner device (acquired device) 12 printer device (acquired device) 13 facsimile device (acquired device) 14 server device (managed device) 15 PC 26 memory unit (storage device) 38 IMS (backup media)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A network comprising: a plurality of acquisition devices for acquiring an electronic document; a plurality of storage devices for storing the acquired electronic document as data; and a management device for managing and searching / reading the stored data. An electronic document management system constructed by being connected to the above, wherein the acquisition device reads image data and records and outputs it on paper, and a transmission function of transmitting and receiving image data and character data via a communication line. Or at least one of a recording function of recording and outputting the received image data and character data on paper, and acquiring and sending an electronic document processed by the function as an electronic document stored in a storage device, The storage device uses an electronic document acquired by a preset acquisition device as data. EDMS and product, said management device, wherein to manage the data in the plurality of storage devices. 2. The storage device or management device monitors a storage function of the storage device, and when the storage of the electronic document is impossible, requests the device having another storage function to store the electronic document. The electronic document management system according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A backup means for backing up data stored in the storage device, wherein the storage device or the management device grasps the storage status of the storage device and stores the data in the storage device at an arbitrary timing. 3. The electronic document management system according to claim 1, wherein data is sent to a backup medium to secure a storable capacity. 4. The electronic document management according to claim 1, wherein each of the acquisition devices also functions as the storage device and accumulates the electronic document acquired by itself as data. system.