JP2007055123A - Image formation device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a job to be eliminated only after an authentication is completed with a password depending on the job when eliminating a secure print job on the side of actual equipment. <P>SOLUTION: When feeding a job, a selection whether the authentication of password is to be executed or not at the time of elimination can be performed. Thereby, those who want to perform the secure print job truly can prevent the job from being eliminated by third parties by enabling users to establish the presence or absence of password establishment against canceling the secure print job at the time of feeding the job, and also it becomes possible to prevent the job of the person who is forgetting the printing from remaining for a long time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to setting a password when deleting a secure print job.

A password is set at the time of printing, and printing / erasing is enabled after authentication with the set password.
JP2003-226047

  Conventionally, there is a secure print function in which a password is set when a job is submitted and printing is executed only when the password is authenticated on the actual machine. However, a third party can delete the job while waiting for printing. Therefore, there is a problem that data (job) of a person who really wants to perform secure printing is also deleted.

  As a countermeasure to this problem, a method of performing password authentication when deleting a job waiting for printing has been proposed, but this is because passwords are uniformly required for all jobs during secure printing. There is a problem that if there are people who have forgotten to print, jobs will remain forever.

  When deleting a secure print job, the setting information on whether or not to perform password authentication again is sent to the device. When selecting job deletion, the setting determines whether or not to perform password authentication. ”Is deleted, and for jobs set to“ authenticate ”, the user is prompted to enter a password, and is deleted only when authenticated. In addition, a “waiting time” is set in advance, and the waiting job is deleted according to the time.

  If the user can set whether or not to set a password for canceling a secure print job when the user submits the job, the person who really wants to perform secure printing can prevent the job from being erased by a third party. It is possible to prevent the job of people who have forgotten to print from being left forever.

  First, an embodiment of an image forming apparatus used in the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus of the present invention. In the present embodiment, an image forming apparatus including a digital copying machine having a copy function, a print function, and a facsimile function will be described as an example.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus is connected to a scanner 2070 as an image input device and a printer 2095 as an image output device, and is connected to a LAN 2011 and a public line (WAN) 2051, and has a copy function and a LAN 2011. A composite device having a printer function for printing out data supplied from the outside via the public line (WAN) 2051 and a communication function including a facsimile function via the public line (WAN) 2051, and controlling the entire device, A controller unit 2000 that performs control related to input / output of image information and device information is provided.

  The controller unit 2000 starts the system based on the boot program stored in the ROM 2003, reads various control programs stored in the HDD (hard disk device) 2004 on this system, and performs predetermined processing using the RAM 2002 as a work area. The CPU 2001 is executed. The HDD 2004 stores the various programs and image data.

  In addition to the RAM 2002, the ROM 2003, and the HDD 2004, the CPU 2001 includes an operation unit I / F (operation unit interface) 2006, a LAN I / F (LAN interface) 2010, a modem 2050, an image bus I / F (image bus interface) 2005, and a system bus 2007. Connected through.

  The operation unit I / F 2006 is an interface with the operation unit 2012, and transfers image data displayed on the operation unit 2012 to the operation unit 2012, transfers a signal generated by an operation input in the operation unit 2012 to the CPU 2001, and the like. Do. The operation unit 2012 includes a current setting state for each function related to image formation, a display unit for displaying an information input screen for inputting setting information related to each function, a key for inputting setting information for each function, and the like. It has an input part.

  A LAN I / F 2010 is connected to the LAN 2011 and inputs / outputs information via the LAN 2011. The modem 2050 is connected to a public line (WAN) 2051 and inputs / outputs information via the public line 2051. The image bus I / F 2005 includes a bus bridge that connects the image bus 2008 and the system bus 2007 and converts a data structure. The image bus 2008 is composed of a PCI bus that can transfer image data at high speed or a bus that conforms to the IEEE 1394 standard.

  An RIP (raster image processor) 2060, a device I / F (device interface) 2020, a scanner image processing unit 2080, a printer image processing unit 2090, an image rotation unit 2030, and an image compression unit 2040 are connected to the image bus 2008. .

  The RIP 2060 expands the PDL code into a bitmap image. A device I / F 2020 connects an image input / output device such as a scanner 2070 or a printer 2095 to the controller unit 2000, and performs synchronous / asynchronous conversion of image data. Here, the device I / F 2020 and the scanner 2070 are connected via a cable 2071, and the device I / F 2020 and the printer 2095 are connected via a cable 2096. A scanner image processing unit 2080 corrects, processes, and edits input image data. A printer image processing unit 2090 performs printer correction, resolution conversion, and the like on print output image data. The image rotation unit 2030 performs image data rotation processing. The image compression unit 2040 performs compression / decompression processing of JPEG for multi-valued image data and JBIG, MMR, and MH for binary image data.

  As described above, the CPU 2001 of the controller unit 2000 comprehensively controls access to various devices connected to the system bus 2007 based on each control program, and reads image information from the scanner 2070 via the device I / F 2020. Then, after performing predetermined processing on the read image information, control is performed such that the image information is output to the printer 2095 via the device I / F 2020.

  Next, a box according to the present invention will be described. An area (box) for temporarily storing image data is prepared in the HDD. The box includes a user box used for temporarily storing a document scanned by a user and a PDL image sent from a computer, and a system box for storing a received FAX document. Each user box is given a number and can be identified. Moreover, it is possible to set a name, a personal identification number, and a time until the user box is automatically deleted from a user box on a screen (not shown). The user can specify that the scanned image or the PDL image sent from the computer is stored in the box. The stored document can be transmitted by FAX or electronic mail, moved to another box, or output to a printer.

  Examples of the present invention are shown below.

  A flow of basic processing in the present invention is shown in FIG.

Here, it is assumed that when a job is submitted by the user, whether or not password authentication is set when deleting is set. (See Figure 7)
In Step 102, it is determined whether or not there is a print waiting job (spool job) in the image forming apparatus. If it is determined in step 102 that there is no job waiting for printing, the process returns to step 102 and loops until a job waiting for printing occurs.

  When it is determined in Step 102 that there is a print waiting job, the process proceeds to Step 104, and it is determined whether or not a print waiting job is selected in Step 104. If it is determined in step 104 that no job is selected, the process returns to step 102.

  When it is determined in step 104 that a job has been selected, the process proceeds to step 106, where it is determined whether or not job deletion has been selected. If it is determined in step 106 that job deletion is not selected, the process proceeds to (2) print processing.

  If it is determined in step 106 that job deletion has been selected, it is determined in step 108 whether or not the job is a secure print job. If it is determined that the job is not a secure print, the process proceeds to step 116 and the job is deleted.

  If it is determined in step 108 that the job is a secure print job, the process proceeds to step 110 to determine whether or not the password authentication setting for erasure is set for the job.

  If it is determined in Step 110 that the password authentication setting for deletion is not set, the process proceeds to Step 116 and the job is deleted.

  If it is determined in step 110 that the password authentication setting for erasure has been set for the job, a password request is made in step 112.

  Next, in Step 114, it is determined whether or not password authentication is correct. When it is determined that the password authentication is not correct, the process returns to Step 102, and when it is determined that the password authentication is correct, the process proceeds to Step 116 and the job is deleted.

  Next, the printing process (2) will be described.

  The flow of the print process is shown in FIG.

  First, in step 402, it is determined whether or not printing has been selected. When it is determined that the print is not selected, the process proceeds to (3) in FIG. When it is determined that the print has been selected, in Step 404, it is determined whether or not the selected job is a secure job.

  If it is determined that the job is not a secure job, the process proceeds to Step 414 to execute printing. If it is determined in step 404 that the job is a secure job, the process proceeds to step 406 and a password is requested.

  Next, in Step 408, it is determined whether or not the password is correct. If it is determined that the password is incorrect, the process proceeds to (1) in FIG. If it is determined that the password is correct, the process proceeds to Step 410, and after printing is performed, data is erased at Step 412, and then the process proceeds to (1) in FIG.

  FIG. 3 shows a flow of processing for setting a time in advance in the present invention and deleting jobs that have not been set for password authentication at the time of deletion among jobs that have been spooled during that time.

  It is assumed that the time is set in advance by an actual machine administrator or user.

  First, in Step 202, it is determined whether or not there is a print waiting job (spool job) in the image forming apparatus. If it is determined in Step 202 that there is no job waiting for printing, the process returns to Step 202 and loops until a job waiting for printing occurs.

  If it is determined in step 202 that there is a job waiting for printing, the process proceeds to step 204 to determine whether or not a job is selected. If it is determined that a job has been selected, the process proceeds to step 206 to determine whether or not job deletion has been selected. When it is determined that job deletion is not selected, the process (2) is performed.

  If it is determined in step 206 that job deletion has been selected, it is determined in step 208 whether or not the job selected in step 204 is a secure print job. If it is determined that the job is not a secure print job, the process proceeds to Step 222 to delete the selected job, and the process ends.

  In Step 208, when it is determined that the job selected in Step 204 is a secure print job, the process proceeds to Step 210, and it is determined whether or not the selected password is set for password authentication at the time of deletion.

  If it is determined in Step 210 that the password authentication setting at the time of deletion is not set, the process proceeds to Step 222 to delete the selected job, and the process ends.

  When it is determined in Step 210 that the password authentication setting at the time of deletion is set, a password is requested in Step 212, and it is determined in Step 214 whether or not the password is correct. If it is determined that the password is not correct, the process returns to Step 202. If it is determined that the password is correct, the job is deleted in Step 222, and the process ends.

  When it is determined in Step 204 that no job is selected, it is selected in Step 216 whether or not there is a job waiting for a preset time. If it is determined that there is no job waiting for a long time, the process returns to Step 202. If it is determined that there is a job waiting for a long time, in Step 218, whether the job waiting for a long time is a secure print job. A determination is made whether or not.

  If it is determined that the job is not a secure print job, the job is deleted in step 222 and the process ends. When it is determined that the job is a secure print job, in Step 220, it is determined whether or not the job is set for password authentication at the time of deletion. When it is determined that the password authentication setting at the time of deletion is performed, the process returns to Step 202 and is repeated. If it is determined that the password authentication setting at the time of deletion has not been performed, the job is deleted at Step 222 and the process ends.

  FIG. 4 shows a flow of processing related to erasing a job that has been spooled during the first waiting time and second waiting time set in advance in the present invention.

  First, in Step 302, it is determined whether or not there is a job waiting to be printed. If it is determined that there is no job, the process returns to Step 302. If it is determined that there is a print waiting job, it is determined in step 304 whether or not the job is selected.

  If it is determined in step 304 that a job has been selected, it is determined in step 306 whether or not job deletion has been selected. If it is determined that job deletion has not been selected, the process proceeds to (2). . If it is determined that job deletion has been selected, the process proceeds to step 308 to determine whether the selected job is a secure print job.

  If it is determined in step 308 that the job is not a secure print job, the process proceeds to step 326 to delete the job and the process ends.

  If it is determined in step 308 that the job is a secure print job, it is determined in step 310 whether or not the password authentication setting for erasure is set in the job. When it is determined that the password authentication setting at the time of deletion is set, a password is requested at Step 312 and it is determined at Step 312 whether or not the password is correct. If it is determined that the password is not correct, the process returns to Step 302. If it is determined that the password is correct, the job is deleted in Step 326, and the process ends.

  If it is determined in step 304 that no job has been selected, the process proceeds to step 316 to determine whether there is a job waiting for a long time. When it is determined that there is no job waiting for a long time, the process returns to Step 302. When it is determined that there is a job waiting for a long time, the waiting time is set at Step 318 to the preset first waiting time. A determination is made as to whether it has been exceeded.

  When it is determined in Step 318 that the waiting time does not exceed the first waiting time, the process returns to Step 302, and when it is determined that the waiting time exceeds the first waiting time, the waiting time becomes the second waiting time in Step 320. A determination is made as to whether it has been exceeded.

  When it is determined that the waiting time has exceeded the second waiting time, the job is deleted in Step 326, and the process ends.

  If it is determined that the waiting time does not exceed the second time, it is determined in step 322 whether the spool job is a secure print job. If it is determined that the job is not a secure job, in step 326, the job is deleted and the process ends.

  When it is determined that the spool job is a secure print job, in step 324, it is determined whether or not the password authentication setting at the time of deletion is set. If it is determined that the password authentication setting at the time of deletion is determined, the process returns to Step 302. If it is determined that the password authentication setting at the time of deletion is not set, the job is deleted at Step 326, and the process ends.

  FIG. 6 shows a process when the image forming apparatus is turned off in the present invention.

  First, in Step 502, it is determined whether or not there is an instruction to turn off the power.

  If it is determined that the power-off instruction has not been given, Step 502 is repeated until the power-off instruction is given. If it is determined that the power-off instruction has been issued, the process proceeds to step 504, where the job list is confirmed. Then, the process proceeds to step 506, where it is determined whether there is a secure print job in the job list.

  If it is determined that there is no secure print job, the job is deleted from the job list in Step 510, and then the power is turned off in Step 514, and the process is terminated.

  If it is determined that there is a secure print job, it is determined in step 508 whether or not the password authentication setting at the time of deletion is set. If it is determined that the password authentication setting at the time of deletion is not set, the job is determined in step 510. After erasing the job from the list, the power is turned off at step 514 to end the process.

  If it is determined that the password authentication setting at the time of erasure is set, the job is stored in the HDD in step 512, and then the power of the image forming apparatus is turned off in step 514.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. The basic processing flow in this invention. Processing flow for a preset time (part 1). Processing flow for a preset time (part 2). Print processing flow. A processing flow when the image forming apparatus is powered off. Password authentication settings for erasure.

Explanation of symbols

2000 Controller unit
2001 CPU
2002 RAM
2003 ROM
2004 hard disk
2005 Image Bus I / F
2006 Operation I / F
2007 System bus
2008 Image bus
2010 Network I / F
2011 LAN
2012 Operation unit
2020 Device I / F
2030 Image rotation
2040 image compression
2050 MODEM
2051 WAM
2060 RIP
2070 scanner
2080 Scanner image processing
2090 Printer image processing
2095 printer
2100 IC Card Slot
2110 Encryption / decryption processing

Claims (6)

  Storage means for storing image data read by a scanner, PDL data transmitted from a computer, image data, etc. in a storage device such as a hard disk provided in the device, and transmission for transmitting the data by FAX or E-mail An image forming apparatus including: a printing unit that prints out the data; and a control unit that can set the data and parameters stored in the storage unit to control the printing unit and the transmission unit. Means for setting a password in the PDL data when transmitting the PDL data, means for spooling the PDL data on the image forming apparatus side, and output means for outputting only when the password is input on the image forming apparatus side And whether to perform password authentication when deleting password-added jobs on the image forming device An image forming apparatus comprising an erasure authentication setting means for performing such setting when transmitting PDL data.   A waiting time setting means for setting a waiting time in advance, and a means for automatically erasing secure print jobs that have not been set for password authentication at the time of deletion among jobs spooled after the waiting time has elapsed The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.   A waiting time setting means for setting the first waiting time and the second waiting time in advance, and a normal print job and a secure print job without password authentication setting at the time of erasing among jobs spooled after the first waiting time are deleted. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: means for erasing all jobs spooled after the second waiting time.   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the image forming apparatus is turned off / on, a job other than secure printing with password authentication setting at the time of erasing is erased.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when the image forming apparatus is powered off / on, a job other than secure printing with password authentication setting at the time of erasing is erased.   4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein when the power of the image forming apparatus is turned OFF / ON, a job other than secure printing with password authentication setting is deleted.

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