JP2007142657A - Image forming apparatus and image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus capable of discriminating whether print data are immediately printed or printed after authentication in a standby state by adding security information to the print data. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus receives print information resulting from attaching security information to the print data includes at least an output means including a printer and a storage means for storing data and information, discriminates whether or not the received print information is print data with the security information attached thereto, awaits printing by the output means when discriminating the presence of the security information, stores the print information to the storage means, or allows the output means to print out the print data when discriminating the absence of the security information. Further, the image forming apparatus compares personal information acquired by a personal information acquisition means by using an IC card or the like with the security information in the print information in the standby state and prints out the print data in the standby state when they are coincident. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that outputs print data instructed to be printed from a personal computer, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus that controls handling of print data to which security information is added.

  For example, Patent Document 1 proposes that information data such as print data is transmitted from an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer to an image forming apparatus via a network and the information data is printed out in the image forming apparatus. ing.

According to Patent Document 1, when print output is performed from an arbitrary image forming apparatus on the network, even if the data desired to be printed is not in the image forming apparatus, the corresponding data is obtained from the apparatus having the data and printed out. Has been shown to do. Further, Patent Document 1 discloses that each user forms an image by centrally managing all data on the network without setting up a dedicated server for storing and managing data on the network where a plurality of users share the image forming apparatus. It has been proposed to control print output from the apparatus.
JP 2003-263289 A

  In the conventional technique as shown in Patent Document 1, when printing is started from a printer driver built in a personal computer or the like connected to a network, there is no setting relating to security, and printing must be performed using a print button. Therefore, when it is desired to perform printing that other people do not want to see, there is an inconvenience of rushing to go after printing.

  FIG. 9 shows a print instruction screen by a printer driver in a personal computer or the like related to the prior art. In the print screen shown in FIG. 9, there is no security setting item for inputting a user ID or the like.

  A main object of the present invention is an image forming apparatus that receives print information in which security information is written at the same time as print data at the time of printing, detects whether there is security information, and controls whether to output the print data. It is to provide.

  Further, the present invention compares the personal information read by the image forming apparatus with the security information waiting for printing, and prints the waiting print data when the data matches, or for the data read by the image forming apparatus. It is another object of the present invention to secure in the image forming apparatus as secure data by adding personal information such as an IC card.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention adopts the following configuration.
An image forming system comprising: an information processing apparatus having a printer driver; an image forming apparatus having an output unit including a scanner, a storage unit, and a printer; and a network connecting the information processing apparatus and the image forming apparatus. In the print setting in the printer driver, an item for giving security information to print data to be printed out from the printer is provided.

  An image forming apparatus that receives print information with security information added to print data from an information processing apparatus having a printer driver via a network, and a connection unit that connects to the network; A configuration having at least an output unit including a printer and a storage unit that stores various data and information, and a determination unit that determines whether the received print information is the print data to which the security information is applied; To do.

  In the image forming apparatus, if the determination unit determines that there is security information, the printing unit waits for printing by the output unit, stores the print information in the storage unit, and has no security information. If it is determined, the output means prints the print data.

  Further, the image forming apparatus includes personal information acquisition means that can acquire personal information using an IC card or the like, and the personal information acquired by the personal information acquisition means and the security information in the waiting print information. If they match and the print data matches, the print data in the waiting print information is printed out.

  According to the present invention, by adding the security information to the print data, it is possible to determine whether the print data to be printed is printed immediately or whether it is printed after waiting and authentication.

  By this determination, the print data to which the security information is added can be put into a print standby state. Further, when the individual is authenticated by comparing the personal information obtained by reading the IC card and the security information in the print information, Since the waiting print data can be printed, it is possible to take out a printed matter that the other person does not want to see at any time.

  Further, since security information is added from the IC card to the print data read from the scanner or memory card of the image forming apparatus, security can be easily applied.

  An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention and a host connected to the image forming apparatus via a network. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print setting screen by a printer driver such as a PC connected to the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment via a network. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a format of print information including security information received by the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart relating to the present embodiment for creating print information by adding security information to print data. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation when the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment receives print information. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for printing the print data in the print information to which security information is added according to the present embodiment. FIG. 8 is a flowchart for generating print information by adding security information to print data in the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 2, 1 is an image forming apparatus, 2 is a network connection unit, 3 is a communication unit, 4 is a control unit, 5 is a storage unit, 6 is an output unit such as a printer, 7 is a determination unit, and 8 is a personal information acquisition unit. , 9 is a scanner, 10 is a memory card reading means, 20 is a network, 30 is PC-1 with a printer driver, and 31 is PC-2 with a printer driver. And the connection relationship of each component shown in FIG. 2 is as showing in figure. Here, the personal information acquisition unit 8, the scanner 9, the memory card reading unit 10 and the like may be external units connected to the image forming apparatus 1 instead of internal components. Note that the overall configuration including the image forming apparatus 1, the network 20, and the drivers 30 and 31 with printers is referred to as an image forming system.

  In FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is a printer as an output unit 6 that receives a print instruction from a printer driver built in a personal computer (PC-1, PC-2) 30, 31 through the network 20. Print data (print data such as characters and images) is printed out. In the schematic diagram shown in FIG. 1, a print instruction is given from the host instead of the PC.

  Conventionally, on the print setting screen when starting printing from the printer driver, as shown in FIG. 9, there are no setting items related to printing security, and there is no other way than printing by operating the print button. Therefore, if you want to perform printing that you do not want to be seen by others, you have to hurry up after printing.

  The main feature of the present embodiment is that security can be set at the time of printing using a printer drive of the PC, and security information is written simultaneously with the print data at the time of printing, and the data is transferred to the image forming apparatus. When viewed from the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, it is mainly intended to receive print information in which security information is added to print data and to perform appropriate printing corresponding to the security information (a printing mode will be described later). It is a feature.

  More specifically, in FIG. 3, the security setting and user ID items are provided on the print setting screen by the printer driver of the PC 30 or 31, and when security is applied at the time of printing, the user ID is entered with a check. It is supposed to be. FIG. 4 shows a print information format as an instruction content from the printer driver. This format has print properties such as a print name, a paper size, and the number of sheets in addition to print data, and further includes a user ID. It also has security information including Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the print information is composed of security information including print data (print data of characters and images), print properties, and a user ID. As a matter of course, it is possible to print immediately by operating the print button as in normal printing, without including security information in the print data at the user's will.

  In the flowchart for adding security information shown in FIG. 5, first, the security setting is displayed by the print setting by the printer driver, and it is checked whether or not the print button is pressed, and if it is operated, print data is created. . Next, it is checked whether or not there is security information. If there is, the print information in which the security information is added to the print data is transmitted to the image forming apparatus. Here, what is important for the present embodiment is to transmit this security information together with the print data when the security information is given by checking whether it is given.

  As described above, the conventional printer driver has no place (input item) for inputting security information (FIG. 9). In the present embodiment, security information can be added to the print data by providing a security setting item in the printer driver (FIG. 3). An image diagram of a print information format in which security information is added to print data is as shown in FIG. 4, and a flowchart at the time of creating print data is as shown in FIG. As described above, since the security information can be added to the print data in the printer driver, it is possible to select whether to print the print data to be printed immediately or wait and print after authentication.

  Next, an operation when the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment receives the print information shown in FIG. 4 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. When the image forming apparatus 1 receives the print information, the image forming apparatus 1 determines whether there is security information. If there is security information, it waits for printing. That is, the determination unit 7 shown in FIG. 2 determines whether the print data is analyzed by analyzing the print information. If the security is applied, the print information is stored in the storage unit 5 and waits (print waiting). State). In other words, it is possible to determine whether or not to print by reading the print data to which the security information is added, so that the print data to which the security information is added can be put into print standby.

  The image forming apparatus 1 also has personal information acquisition means 8 that can acquire personal information such as an IC card such as an employee ID card, and the security in the print information to which the personal information acquired by the acquisition means 8 is applied with security. The control unit 4 compares the information, and if they match, the waiting print data is printed. FIG. 7 shows a printing procedure for print data to which security information is added. According to FIG. 7, when personal information is received from an IC card or the like and acquired, the personal information and the waiting print information are included. The security information is compared and printed if it matches. If they do not match, the process ends without printing. According to this, the user can instruct printing using the printer driver of the PC, and can print out the print data instructed to print when the IC card is inserted into the image forming apparatus at an arbitrary timing. In other words, since personal information can be read from an IC card such as an employee ID card and compared with print standby data, the print data on standby can be printed, so it is possible to take out printed matter that is not desired to be seen by others at any time. .

  The above-described embodiment is printing security from the viewpoint of issuing a printing instruction from a PC, and does not apply security to data read by the image forming apparatus.

  Therefore, in another embodiment of the present invention, by adding personal information such as an IC card to the print data read by the image forming apparatus, the print information can be made secure, and the data can be converted by the PC. When taking out, it can be taken out with peace of mind. In other words, the print data acquired by the scanner 9 or the like in the image forming apparatus is stored with security, and when the print data is taken out by the PC when necessary, the print data cannot be taken out from others. is there.

  Specifically, the security lamp flashes after the scanner or the memory card is inserted. Hold your IC card while it is flashing to read personal information. By adding personal information to the read image data, it is converted into print data with security. When the print data is taken out on the PC side, the print data cannot be taken out unless an ID and a password are input. A flowchart of adding security information after the scanner is shown in FIG. According to FIG. 8, for example, the print data is read by the scanner 9, and when the reading is completed, the security lamp is blinked to wait for the IC card data input. When the personal information is acquired from the IC card by the personal information acquisition means 8, the personal information is added to the print data as security information. In this way, security information is added from the IC card to the print data read from the scanner or memory card, so that security can be easily applied.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention and a host connected to the image forming apparatus via a network. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print setting screen by a printer driver such as a PC connected to the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment via a network. FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a format of print information including security information received by the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. 4 is a flowchart for creating print information by adding security information to print data according to the present embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation when the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment receives print information. 6 is a flowchart for printing print data in print information to which security information is added according to the present embodiment. 5 is a flowchart for generating print information by adding security information to print data in the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a print setting screen by the printer driver in the personal computer etc. regarding a prior art, and shows that the setting item regarding security does not exist.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Network connection means 3 Communication means 4 Control means 5 Storage means 6 Output means (printer etc.)
7 Determination means 8 Personal information acquisition means 9 Scanner 10 Memory card reading means 20 Network 30 PC-1 with printer driver
31 PC-2 with printer driver

Claims (6)

An image forming system comprising: an information processing apparatus having a printer driver; an image forming apparatus having an output unit including a scanner, a storage unit, and a printer; and a network connecting the information processing apparatus and the image forming apparatus. ,
The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the print setting in the printer driver includes an item for giving security information to print data to be printed out from the printer. In claim 1,
The image forming system, wherein the security information includes security presence and a user ID. An image forming apparatus that receives print information with security information attached to print data from an information processing apparatus having a printer driver via a network.
A connection means for connecting to the network; an output means including a printer; and a storage means for storing various data and information.
An image forming apparatus comprising: determination means for determining whether received print information is print data to which the security information is applied. In claim 3,
When it is determined that the security information is present by the determination unit, the printing unit waits for printing by the output unit, stores the print information in the storage unit, and when it is determined that there is no security information, the output unit The print data is printed out by the image forming apparatus. In claim 4,
Has personal information acquisition means that can acquire personal information by IC card etc.,
Comparing the personal information acquired by the personal information acquisition means with the security information in the waiting print information, and printing the print data in the waiting print information if they match. Image forming apparatus. In claim 3 or 4,
Has personal information acquisition means that can acquire personal information by IC card etc.,
Furthermore, it has a scanner or a memory card reading means for reading data to be printed,
Add the acquired personal information to the print data read by the scanner or memory card reading means,
Print information in which security is ensured by the personal information is generated.