JP2010011045A - Image processor, copying device, information processor, and copy fee charging system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow copy even without directly paying fees depending on a copy state of a document though a complicated operation that a user pays for the copy fee to copy the document, and charges the copy fee to a company later becomes necessary when the document required in work and data for presentation are desired to be copied outside a company since the copy can not be performed unless the fee is paid on the spot by a copying machine installed outside the company. <P>SOLUTION: This image processor allows the copy even without paying the fee on the spot in the copy by adding information indicating a charging destination and a charging method to a plurality of documents, and enables a user to select the charging method according to a situation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a charging method and apparatus for effectively charging a copying fee when copying on a digital copying paper medium, a program for executing the method, and a storage medium storing the program, and more particularly to image processing. The present invention relates to an apparatus, a copying apparatus, an information processing apparatus, and a copying fee billing system.

  In recent years, with the widespread use of digital copying machines, it is possible to easily copy originals on paper media.

  In the copying fee billing system, copying machines installed in the company can perform copying without the need for a fee. On the other hand, for copiers installed outside the company, for example, in public facilities such as libraries, and convenience stores, the user inputs the fee into the copier or the fee input machine attached to the copier. In general, copying is performed. There is also a method of paying the copy fee at the register or reception of the store where the copying machine is installed after the copying is completed, instead of putting cash at the time of copying.

Examples of the above include Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 below.
JP 2000-224406 A JP 2000-163488 A

  However, with a copier installed outside the company, copying cannot be done without paying the fee on the spot, so if you want to copy a document or presentation material required for work outside the company, the user can change the copying fee and make a copy. It is necessary to perform troublesome work such as making a request and billing the company later.

  In such a case, it is desirable that copying can be performed without direct charge depending on the copying status of the document.

In the copying fee billing system of the present invention, in view of the above problems,
By adding information indicating the billing destination and billing method to multiple manuscripts, it is possible to carry out copying without incurring charges at the time of copying. Also, depending on the situation, the user can choose the billing method. The copy fee billing system is selectable.

  By adding information indicating the billing destination and billing method to multiple manuscripts, it is possible to copy a paper-based document without paying the fee on the spot. The user can select the billing method.

  Next, details of the present invention will be described in accordance with the description of the embodiments.

<Functional configuration of the entire system>
A preferred embodiment of a copying fee billing system of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the main functional configuration of the entire system of the copying fee billing system according to this embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the copying fee billing system according to the present embodiment includes an image processing apparatus 11, a copying apparatus 12, and an information processing apparatus 13.

  In the present embodiment, the image processing apparatus 11 is an apparatus that can generate an information-added document to which information indicating a charging destination and a charging method is added from an original document, and includes a plurality of devices (for example, a scanner, a computer, a printer, and the like). The present invention can be applied to an apparatus composed of a single device or a device composed of a single device (for example, a copier, a multifunction peripheral, a facsimile machine, etc.).

  The copying apparatus 12 is an apparatus capable of generating a copied document, and a copying machine, a multifunction machine, a facsimile machine, etc. can be applied. Further, the copying apparatus 12 has a function of reading information added from the information-added document generated by the image processing apparatus 11 and communicating with the information processing apparatus 13 via the network.

  Furthermore, the information processing device 13 is a device capable of charging a copy fee when the copying device 12 generates a copy document, and stores various information such as a widely used personal computer and Web server. In addition, a server capable of processing corresponding to a credit or debit function and a small device having a CPU and a memory, which are arranged on a network capable of replying, can be applied.

<Hardware configuration>
FIG. 2 shows a hardware configuration of the image processing apparatus 11, the copying apparatus 12, and the information processing apparatus 13 applicable to this embodiment. Note that it is not essential to use all the functions shown in FIG. 2 in realizing the embodiment. In FIG. 2, a computer 201 is, for example, a generally popular personal computer, and can input an image read from the scanner 217 and edit / store it. Furthermore, it is possible to print the image obtained here from the printer 218. In addition, various manual instructions from the user are performed by input from the mouse 215 and the keyboard 216. Furthermore, various data can be transmitted / received to / from another computer using the modem 214.

  Inside the computer 201, blocks which will be described later are connected by a bus 213, and various data can be transferred.

  In FIG. 2, a monitor 202 is a monitor capable of displaying various information from the computer. The CPU 203 is a CPU capable of controlling the operation of each internal block or executing a program stored therein. The ROM 204 is a ROM that stores a BIOS and a boot program. The RAM 205 is a RAM that temporarily stores a program and image data to be processed for processing by the CPU 203, and is loaded with a program for performing various processes described in the OS and embodiments. become.

  The I / F 206 is an interface (I / F) that is connected to the mouse 215 or the keyboard 216 in order to receive input instructions and to transmit / receive data to / from other computers using the modem 214.

  An I / F 207 is an interface (I / F) connected to these in order to receive image data input from the scanner 217 and store them in the HDD 211 or RAM 205.

  The CD 208 is a CD drive that can read or write data stored in a CD that is one of external storage media. The FD 209 is an FD drive that can read from and write to the FD in the same manner as the CD 208. The DVD 210 is a DVD drive that can read from and write to a DVD in the same manner as the CD 208. When a program for image editing is stored on a CD, FD, DVD or the like, these programs are installed on the HDD 211 and transferred to the RAM 205 as necessary.

  The HDD 211 is a hard disk (HDD) used for storing an OS and a program transferred to a RAM or the like, or storing or reading image data while the apparatus is operating.

  The I / F 212 is a printer interface (I / F) connected to the image data and character data stored in the HDD 211, CD 208, FD 209, DVD 210, etc., for output to a paper medium using the printer 218. .

  Heretofore, the hardware configurations of the image processing apparatus 11, the copying apparatus 12, and the information processing apparatus 13 that can be applied to the present embodiment have been described.

<Functional configuration of image processing apparatus>
Hereinafter, the image processing apparatus 11 applied to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the main functional configuration of the image processing apparatus 11 in the present embodiment. In the following description, the computer 201 in FIG. 2 is powered on, the OS is loaded into the RAM 205, and then the application for performing the processing described in this embodiment is loaded into the RAM 205. Accordingly, each processing means is realized by a corresponding program and the CPU 203 that executes the program, and in some cases, peripheral hardware.

  As shown in FIG. 3, an image processing apparatus 11 according to the present embodiment is an apparatus that generates an information-added document to which information indicating a charging destination and a charging method is added, and includes an image data input unit 301, a charging destination / charging The method information input means 302, the addition means 303, and the output means 304 are comprised.

  The process for generating the information-added document to which information indicating the charging destination and the charging method described here is added may be realized by software processing. In that case, each of the means should be considered as a conceptual view of the functions necessary for the processing.

  First, the image data input unit 301 will be described.

  The image data input means 301 is means for generating image data I that can be handled as electronic data from an original document.

  The original document can be acquired by reading out image data stored in advance in ROM 204, RAM 205, CD 208, FD 209, DVD 210, HDD 211, etc. in FIG. Various methods such as digitizing an original printed on paper using the scanner 217 can be used, and any input source can be used. The image data I generated by the image data input means 101 is temporarily held in the RAM 205.

  When the original document is input as text data (description by ASCII code or the like) or application-dependent data (PDF or the like), a process for converting these data into image data is performed.

  Next, charging destination / charging method information input means 302 will be described.

  Billing destination / billing method information input means 302 is means for generating billing destination information PI and billing method information MI.

  The billing destination information and the billing method information are input from the keyboard 216 in FIG. 2, converted into billing destination information PI and billing method information MI that can be handled as electronic data, and temporarily held in the RAM 205.

  Here, the billing destination information is, for example, a URL (Universal Resource Locator). When the usage application and the copying fee are paid to the administrator of the information processing apparatus 13 in advance, the administrator can store the data Uinf with user information, fee, and password. Is created and stored in the information processing apparatus 13. A URL (Universal Resource Locator) indicates the location where the Uinf is held. When the use application process is completed, the administrator of the information processing apparatus 13 sends a password and URL to the user.

  Also, the accounting method information is determined as MI1 for the method using debit using the above URL, MI2 for the method using prepaid card, MI3 for the conventional method using cash input, etc. When copying, if you want to use only the withdrawal method using URL, generate only MI1, and if you want to use all methods, generate MI1, MI2, and MI3.

  Next, the adding unit 303 will be described.

  The adding means 303 is means for adding the charging destination information PI and charging method information MI generated by the charging destination / charging method information input means to the image data I generated by the image data input means 301.

  The image data I generated by the image data input means 101, the charging destination information PI and the charging method information MI generated by the charging destination / charging method information input means are input from the RAM 205, and the charging destination is added to the input image data I. Information PI and accounting method information MI are added, and the added image data is temporarily held in RAM 205 as image data Iinf.

  Here, a method of adding information will be described. As an example of a method of adding information indicating a charging destination and a charging method, there is a method using a digital watermark technique. Since the present invention is distributed as a paper medium to which information indicating a billing destination and a billing method is added, it is possible to apply a digital watermark technique for still images. That is, by embedding information indicating the charging destination and charging method as digital watermark data, information indicating the charging destination and charging method can be added to the paper medium.

  The method of embedding digital watermark data in a still image can be classified into two methods: a method of embedding in a spatial domain and a method of embedding in a frequency domain.

  Examples of methods for embedding in the spatial domain include patchwork methods (W. Bender, D. Gruhl, N. Morimoto, Techniques for DATA Hiding, Proceedings of the SPIE, SAn Jose CA, USA, February 1995). Can be mentioned.

  An example of a method embedded in the frequency domain is a method using discrete cosine transform (Nakamura, Ogawa, Takashima, “Digital watermarking in the frequency domain for copyright protection of digital images”, 1997 Lecture on cryptography and information security symposium In addition to the collection of papers, SCIS'97-26A, 1997), a method using discrete Fourier transform (Onishi, Oka, Matsui, “Watermark signature method for images using PN sequences”, 1997 Symposium on Encryption and Information Security Symposium , SCIS '97 -26B, 1997) and methods using discrete wavelet transform (Ishizuka, Sakai, Sakurai, “Experimental study on security and reliability of digital watermark technology using wavelet transform”, 1997 Proceedings of Information Security Symposium, SCIS'97-26D, 1997), (Inoue, Miyazaki, Yamamoto, Katsura, “Digital Watermark Based on Wavelet Transform-Image Compression, Conversion Robustness- ”, 1998 Proceedings of the Symposium on Cryptography and Information Security, SCIS '98 -3.2.A, 1998).

  Also, when the content is a document, the content is not treated as a still image but is treated as a character string (Nakamura, Matsui, “Embedding a signature in a hard copy of an electronic document for copyright protection”, IPSJ Journal, Vol.36, No.8, 1995).

  However, since the present invention is not an invention of the digital watermark technology itself and is not an invention specialized for a specific digital watermark technology, a detailed description of each digital watermark technology is omitted.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to digital watermarking, and charging destination information PI and charging method information MI can be added as, for example, a barcode or QR code.

  Next, the output unit 304 will be described.

  The output unit 304 is a unit that outputs a document with information to which information indicating a billing destination and a billing method is added as a paper medium. Image data Iinf is input from the RAM 205, and the input image data Iinf is output to the printer 218. Output to a paper medium. The output is referred to as document P with information.

  The main functional configuration of the image processing apparatus 11 in the present embodiment has been described above.

<Document generation processing with information>
Here, in the present embodiment, the generation process of the information-added document to which the information indicating the charging destination and the charging method is added, which is executed using the image processing apparatus 11 described above, is shown in FIGS. It explains using. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the information-added document generation process applicable to this embodiment. Note that the information-added document generation processing has been described in detail in the functional configuration part of FIG. 3, and only a simple flow will be described here.

  First, when an instruction for generating an information-added document is issued from the user using the mouse 215 or the keyboard 216, the image data input unit 301 generates image data I that can be handled as electronic data from the original document (S401). As described above, the original document acquisition method can be acquired as electronic data via an external storage device (ROM 204, RAM 205, CD 208, FD 209, DVD 210, HDD 211, etc.) or a network, and printed on paper using the scanner 217. The original document may be obtained by digitization, and any input source may be used.

  When the original document is input as text data (description by ASCII code or the like) or application-dependent data (PDF or the like), a process for converting these data into image data is performed.

  The generated image data I is held in the RAM 205.

  Next, the user inputs billing destination information and billing method information using the mouse 215 and keyboard 216 (S402). As described above, the billing destination information is, for example, a URL (Universal Resource Locator), and the administrator of the information processing device 13 is paid when the usage application and the copying fee are paid to the administrator of the information processing device 13 in advance. Is sent from. The billing method information is information indicating, for example, a method using a debit using the URL, a method using a prepaid card, and a conventional method using cash input.

  Thereafter, charging destination / charging method information input means 302 converts the input charging destination information and charging method information into charging destination information PI and charging method information MI that can be handled as electronic data, and holds them in RAM 205.

  Then, the adding unit 303 obtains the image data I generated by the image data input unit 101, the charging destination information PI and the charging method information MI generated by the charging destination / charging method information input unit from the RAM 205, and the image data I Is added with charging destination information PI and charging method information MI, and the added image data is stored in the RAM 205 as image data Iinf (S403).

  Finally, the output unit 304 acquires the image data Iinf generated by the adding unit 303 from the RAM 205, and outputs the image data Iinf to a paper medium using the printer 218 (S404). The output is referred to as document P with information.

  In the foregoing, the generation process of the information-added document to which the information indicating the charging destination and the charging method is added has been described.

  In the following, the functional configurations of the copying apparatus 12 and the information processing apparatus 13 applied when copying the information-added document to which the information indicating the charging destination and charging method generated by the image processing apparatus 11 is added, and the copying process A series of flows will be described.

<Functional configuration of copying machine>
Next, FIG. 5 shows a block diagram for explaining the main functional configuration of the copying apparatus 12 in the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the copying apparatus 12 in this embodiment is an apparatus that generates a copied document C from an information-added document P. From the copied document generating means 501, the extracting means 502, the selecting means 503, and the output means 504, Composed.

  First, the copy document generation unit 501 will be described.

  The copy document generation unit 501 is a unit that generates image data Iinf2 that can be handled as electronic data from the document P with information.

  The information-added document P is digitized using the scanner 217 to generate image data Iinf2. The image data Iinf2 generated by the copy document generation unit 501 is temporarily held in the RAM 205.

  Next, the extraction unit 502 will be described.

  The extracting unit 502 is a unit that extracts charging destination information PI and charging method information MI from the image data Iinf2 generated by the copy document generation unit 501.

  The image data Iinf2 generated by the copy document generation means 501 is input from the RAM 205, and charging destination information PI and charging method information MI are extracted from the image data Iinf2.

  The extraction method depends on the addition method processed by the image processing apparatus 11.

  That is, when the method of adding the charging destination information PI and the charging method information MI to the image data I is performed using the digital watermark technology, the extraction is performed using the digital watermark technology.

  The extracted charging destination information PI and charging method information MI are temporarily held in the RAM 205.

  Next, the selection means 503 will be described.

  The selection unit 503 is a unit that performs communication with the information processing apparatus 13 and selects a charging method for the copying fee, and inputs the charging destination information PI and the charging method information MI generated by the extraction unit 502 from the RAM 205, The accounting method information MI is displayed on the monitor 202.

  FIG. 8 shows an example in which the accounting method information MI is displayed on the monitor 202.

  For example, the billing method information is MI1 as a method of debiting using a URL, MI2 as a method using a prepaid card, MI3 as a method using a conventional cash input, and MI1 and MI2 as billing method information MI input from the RAM 205. When MI3 is included, it is possible to select any of “withdrawal”, “use of prepaid card”, and “cash” using a URL. Further, when only the accounting method information MI includes MI3, only accounting by cash input is performed as usual.

  Then, the user selects a charging method from the charging method information displayed as shown in FIG.

  Here, the monitor 202 may be operated by touching the screen with a finger or a dedicated pen like a touch panel. Further, the monitor 202 may be operated using the mouse 215 or the keyboard 216 even if it is not like a touch panel.

  In the case of a touch panel, for example, if you want to withdraw using a URL, you can select the billing method by touching the "Use URL (withdrawal)" part of the billing method displayed as shown in Fig. 8 with your finger or a dedicated pen. It is.

  If the selected item does not use a URL, that is, “cash” or “use of prepaid card”, the selection unit 503 displays an instruction for causing the monitor 202 to input the print information Cinf. Here, the print information Cinf is information indicating color printing, single color printing, black and white printing, the number of printed sheets, a total charge, and the like. Note that the total charge cannot be entered by the user. FIG. 9 shows an example of an input instruction display of print information Cinf. As shown in FIG. 9, the user can select color printing, single color printing, or monochrome printing, and can input the number of prints. Next, after the print information Cinf is input by the user, the monitor 202 supplies instruction information indicating meaning such as “insert cash” or “insert prepaid card” to the monitor 202. Display information. 10 and 11 show examples of instruction information display.

  FIG. 10 shows a display example when the “cash” billing method is selected. As shown in FIG. 10, the instruction information, the required amount, and the input amount are displayed. FIG. 11 shows a display example when the “prepaid card” billing method is selected. As shown in FIG. 11, the instruction information, the required amount, and the balance of the prepaid card are displayed.

  After the user performs billing processing according to the instruction information shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, billing processing result information RI is generated and temporarily stored in the RAM 205.

  If the selected item uses a URL, first, an instruction to input the print information Cinf is displayed on the monitor 202 (FIG. 9). Next, after the print information Cinf is input by the user, an instruction to input a password is displayed on the monitor 202. FIG. 12 shows an example of an instruction for inputting a password. As shown in FIG. 12, instruction information, a password, and a confirmation input are displayed. After the password is input by the user, the input print information Cinf and Pass is transmitted to the information processing apparatus 13 (location described in the billing destination information PI) with the password information as Pass.

  Further, when the information SI indicating the charging process result is received from the information processing device 13, the charging process result information RI is generated after the reception, and is temporarily held in the RAM 205.

  Next, the output unit 504 will be described.

  The output unit 504 is a unit that outputs the duplicate document C as a paper medium. The output unit 504 is information indicating that the image data Iinf2 and the charging process result information RI are input from the RAM 205, and that the charging process result information RI is correctly processed. In this case, the input image data Iinf2 is output to a paper medium using the printer 218. The output is a duplicate document C.

  If the billing processing result information RI is information indicating that it has not been processed correctly, the monitor 202 supplies information indicating that the processing has not been performed correctly. Display information indicating the meaning of the error, such as “You were not charged.”

  FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 show examples of processing result display. FIG. 13 is a display example of the processing result when the charge is insufficient during the charging process. FIG. 14 is a display example of the processing result when the input Pass is not correct or there is no user data in the information processing apparatus 13.

  If the fee is insufficient, it is possible to change to another billing method such as “cash” or “prepaid card”.

  The main functional configuration of the copying apparatus 12 in the present embodiment has been described above.

<Functional configuration of information processing apparatus>
Next, FIG. 6 shows a block diagram for explaining a main functional configuration of the information processing apparatus 13 in the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the information processing apparatus 13 according to the present embodiment is an apparatus that performs a charging process for a copying fee when generating a multi-document C from an information-added document P, and includes a verification unit 601 and a charging processing unit 602. The holding means 603.

  First, the verification unit 601 will be described.

  The verification unit 601 communicates with the copying apparatus 12, receives the print information Cinf and Pass transmitted from the copying apparatus 12, and verifies whether the Pass is correct. The password of the user data Uinf that is stored is compared with the Pass transmitted from the copying apparatus 12.

  If the transmitted Pass is correct, information indicating that the Pass is correct and print information Cinf are supplied to the accounting processing unit 602.

  If the transmitted Pass is not correct, information indicating that the Pass is incorrect is supplied to the accounting processing means 602.

  When there is no transmitted Pass, that is, when there is no user data Uinf, information indicating that there is no Pass or no user data is supplied to the accounting processing means 602.

  Next, the accounting processing unit 602 will be described.

  The billing processing unit 602 communicates with the copying apparatus 12 and performs billing processing of the copy fee for copying from the fee of the user data Uinf held in the holding unit 603. The pass from the verification unit 601 is correct. When the information indicating this is supplied, the total charge of the print information Cinf transmitted from the copying apparatus 12 is subtracted from the charge of the user data Uinf.

  If the charge can be normally withdrawn, data indicating that the process has been completed normally (billing process result information SI) is transmitted to the copying apparatus 12.

  When the charge for the user data Uinf is small, the charging processing unit 602 transmits data (charging processing result information SI) indicating that the charge is insufficient to the copying apparatus 12.

  When the information indicating that the Pass is not correct is supplied from the verification unit 601, the charging processing unit 602 transmits information indicating that the Pass is not correct (charging processing result information SI) to the copying apparatus 12.

  When information indicating that there is no Pass or no user data is supplied from the verification unit 601, the charging processing unit 602 provides information indicating that there is no Pass or no user data (charging processing result information SI) to the copying apparatus 12. ).

  Next, the holding means 603 will be described.

  Holding means 603 is means for holding user data Uinf and copy history information Log.

  Here, the user data Uinf is data that describes user information, fees, and passwords created by the administrator. As described above, the user applies to the administrator of the information processing device 13 in advance for use application and copying fees. When paying, the administrator creates user data Uinf with user information, fee, and password. Then, the user data Uinf is held in the holding means 605.

  Also, after the printing information Cinf and Pass are transmitted from the copying apparatus 12, the verification means 601 determines that the Pass is correct, and after the charging processing means 602 performs charging processing, the holding means 603 displays the date information T, print Information Cinf is held as copy history information Log.

  The main functional configuration of the information processing apparatus 13 in the present embodiment has been described above.

<Copy processing>
Here, in the present embodiment, the copying process executed using the copying apparatus 12 and the information processing apparatus 13 described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 5, 6, 7, and 8. FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a copy process applicable to the present embodiment. Since the copying process has been described in detail in the above-described functional components, only a simple flow will be described here.

  First, the information-added document P is set in the copying apparatus 12. Then, when the user gives an instruction to generate the copy document C using the mouse 215 or the keyboard 216, the copy document generation unit 501 digitizes the information-added document P using the scanner 217 and generates the image data Iinf2. (S701). The image data Iinf2 generated by the copy document generation unit 501 is temporarily held in the RAM 205.

  Next, the extraction unit 502 inputs the image data Iinf2 generated by the copy document generation unit 501 from the RAM 205, and extracts charging destination information PI and charging method information MI from the image data Iinf2 (S702).

  The extracted charging destination information PI and charging method information MI are temporarily held in the RAM 205.

  Next, the selection unit 503 inputs the charging destination information PI and the charging method information MI generated by the extracting unit 502 from the RAM 205, and displays the charging method information MI on the monitor 202 (S703).

  For example, the billing method information is MI1 as a method of debiting using a URL, MI2 as a method using a prepaid card, MI3 as a method using a conventional cash input, and MI1 and MI2 as billing method information MI input from the RAM 205. When MI3 is included, it is possible to select any of “withdrawal”, “use of prepaid card”, and “cash” using a URL.

  The user selects a charging method from the displayed charging method information (S704).

  If the selected item does not use a URL, that is, “cash” or “use of prepaid card”, the selection unit 503 displays an instruction for causing the monitor 202 to input the print information Cinf. Next, after the print information Cinf is input by the user (S705), the selection means 503 displays instruction information indicating meaning such as “insert cash” or “insert prepaid card” into the monitor 202. And the monitor 202 displays the instruction information.

  After the user performs the charging process according to the instruction information (S706), the selection unit 503 generates the charging process result information RI (S717), and the charging process result information RI is temporarily held in the RAM 205.

  If the selected item uses a URL, first, an instruction to input print information Cinf on the monitor 202 is displayed. Next, after the print information Cinf is input by the user (S707), an instruction to input a password is displayed on the monitor 202. After the password is input by the user (S708), the selection unit 503 transmits the input print information Cinf and Pass to the information processing apparatus 13 (location described in the billing destination information PI) with the password information as Pass. To do.

  The verification unit 601 of the information processing device 13 receives the print information Cinf and Pass transmitted from the selection unit 503 of the copying device 12 (S709), and copies the password of the user data Uinf held in the holding unit 603 Comparison with the Pass transmitted from the device 12 is performed (S710).

  When the transmitted Pass is correct, the verification unit 601 supplies information indicating that the Pass is correct and the print information Cinf to the charging processing unit 602.

  When the transmitted Pass is not correct, the verification unit 601 supplies information indicating that the Pass is not correct to the accounting processing unit 602.

  Next, when the information indicating that the Pass is correct is supplied from the verification unit 601, the billing processing unit 602 subtracts the charge of the print information Cinf transmitted from the copying apparatus 12 from the charge of the user data Uinf (S711). If the charge can be successfully withdrawn, data (billing process result information SI) indicating that the process has been completed normally is generated (S712) and transmitted to the copying apparatus 12 (S713).

  If the fee for the user data Uinf is small, the charging processing unit 602 generates data (charging processing result information SI) indicating that the fee is insufficient, and transmits the data to the copying apparatus 12.

  When information indicating that the Pass is not correct is supplied from the verification unit 601, the charging processing unit 602 generates information indicating that the Pass is incorrect (charging processing result information SI) and transmits the information to the copying apparatus 12.

  Next, the holding unit 603 sends the print information Cinf and Pass from the copying apparatus 12, and the verification unit 601 determines that the Pass is correct, and after the accounting processing unit 602 performs accounting processing, the date and time information T, The print information Cinf is held as copy history information Log (S714).

  The selection unit 503 of the copying apparatus 12 receives the information SI indicating the charging process result from the information processing apparatus 13 (S715), generates charging process result information RI (S716), and temporarily stores it in the RAM 205.

  Finally, if the image data Iinf2 and the charging process result information RI are input from the RAM 205 and the output unit 504 is information indicating that the charging process result information RI has been correctly processed, the output unit 504 transmits the input image data Iinf2 to the printer 218. Is output to a paper medium using (S717). The output is a duplicate document C.

  If the accounting processing result information RI is information indicating that the processing has not been performed correctly, information indicating that the processing has not been performed correctly is supplied to the monitor 202. Information indicating the meaning of the error, such as “Not done”, is displayed (S717), and the process is terminated.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, information indicating the billing destination and billing method is added to a plurality of manuscripts, so that when copying a paper medium document, copying can be performed without paying the fee on the spot. It is possible to do this, and the user can select a charging method depending on the situation.

It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the whole copying fee billing system in this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions in this embodiment. It is a block diagram explaining the main functional structures of the image processing apparatus in this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the information addition document production | generation process in this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a main functional configuration of the copying apparatus according to the present embodiment. It is a block diagram explaining the main function structures of the information processing apparatus in this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the copy process in this embodiment. 6 is a diagram illustrating a display example of charging method selection of the copying apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a display example of print information input of the copying apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display (cash) of the charge instruction information of the copying apparatus in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a display (prepaid card) of the charge instruction information of the copying apparatus in this embodiment. 6 is a diagram illustrating a display example of password input of the copying apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment. FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a display example (charge shortage) of processing results of the copying apparatus according to the present embodiment. 6 is a diagram illustrating a display example (Pass error or user data error) of a processing result of the copying apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

11 Image processing device
12 Copier
13 Information processing equipment

Claims (4)

An image processing apparatus for generating a document with information to which information indicating a charging destination and a charging method is added,
Image input means for inputting image data;
Billing destination / billing method information input means for inputting information indicating a billing destination and a billing method;
Adding means for adding information indicating a billing destination / billing method to the image data;
An image processing apparatus comprising: output means for outputting the image data to which the billing destination / billing method information generated by the adding means is added as a paper document. A copying apparatus for copying an information-added document to which information indicating a charging destination and a charging method generated by the image processing apparatus according to claim 1 is added,
A duplicate document generating means for scanning an information-added document and generating image data that can be handled as electronic data;
Extraction means for extracting information indicating a charging destination and a charging method added to the image data;
Selecting means for selecting a charging method from information indicating the charging method;
A copying apparatus comprising output means for outputting a copied document. An information processing apparatus for performing charging processing connected to the copying apparatus according to claim 2 via a network,
Verification means for verifying the password transmitted from the copying apparatus;
Billing processing means for performing billing processing when the password is correct,
An information processing apparatus comprising: holding means for holding print information and a charging process result.   A copying fee billing system comprising: the image processing apparatus according to claim 1; the copying apparatus according to claim 2; and the information processing apparatus according to claim 3.

Images