JP2014024262A - Image forming device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device which can immediately cancel image formation processing that is performed by acquiring image formation data held in a server.SOLUTION: An image forming device 9 performs image formation processing by acquiring secure jobs spooled in a spool server for a log-in user who has input the user information. The image forming device 9 comprises: a list management unit 25 which acquires a list of secure jobs being spooled from the spool server; a job acquisition unit 28 which reads and acquires the secure jobs being spooled from the spool server on the basis of the acquired list, respectively; and a job acquisition cancellation unit 31 which cancels reading processing of a print job according to an instruction input by the log-in user.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a program for acquiring image forming data held in a server and forming an image.

  As a conventional image forming apparatus, there is a printer capable of print output (image formation) by a pull print method. In the pull printing method, a print job (image formation data) spooled in a server is acquired by an image forming apparatus and printed out.

  Some pull printing methods allow a user to input a personal identification number or the like to acquire a print job in the image forming apparatus and print it out (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In this case, it is possible to perform print output for a user who has actually entered a personal identification number, etc., and to prevent information leakage due to the output material being acquired by a third party.

  In such a pull printing method, a print job is generally transmitted to an image forming apparatus through processing on the server side. For this reason, conventionally, a print job is unilaterally transmitted from the server side to the image forming apparatus, and it is difficult to immediately stop print output when acquiring a plurality of print jobs. It was.

  For example, when the user needs to leave the image forming apparatus, it is preferable to immediately stop the print output in order to prevent information leakage. However, if a print job is unilaterally transmitted from the server side, the print job may be received and the print output may be continued even after the image forming apparatus instructs to stop the print output.

JP-A-5-143253

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is that it is difficult to immediately stop image formation when image formation data held in a server is acquired and image formation is performed.

  In the present invention, when image formation data stored in a server is acquired and image formation is performed, the image formation can be stopped immediately. An image forming apparatus that acquires and forms an image, a list management unit that acquires a list of image forming data that is held from the server, and the server that stores the image forming data that is held based on the acquired list The main feature is that it includes a data acquisition unit that individually reads and acquires data from a data acquisition unit, and a data acquisition stop unit that stops reading of the image formation data in response to an instruction input from the user.

  According to the present invention, if reading of image forming data is stopped, acquisition of further image forming data can be stopped immediately and reliably, and as a result, image forming can be stopped immediately.

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an image forming system to which an image forming apparatus is applied (Example 1); 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus (first embodiment). FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating secure print processing by the image forming apparatus in FIG. 2 (Example 1). 3 is a timing chart illustrating secure print processing by the image forming apparatus in FIG. 2 (Example 1). FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a stop process of secure printing by the image forming apparatus of FIG. 2 (Example 1). FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing a stop process of secure printing by the image forming apparatus of FIG. 2 (Example 1). FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus (second embodiment). FIG. 8 is a timing chart showing secure printing by the image forming apparatus of FIG. 7 (Example 2).

  When the image formation data held in the server is acquired and image formation is performed, the image formation can be stopped immediately. This is realized by allowing the image formation data to be individually read from the server and stopping this reading.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[Image forming system]
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an image forming system to which an image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention is applied.

  An image forming system 1 shown in FIG. 1 performs pull print type secure printing through user authentication. An authentication server 3, a user terminal 5, a spool server 7, and an image forming apparatus 9 are connected via a network 11. Are connected to each other.

  The authentication server 3 provides a user authentication service to external subsystems such as the image forming apparatus 9 and the user terminal 5. The authentication server 3 of this embodiment manages user information (user name and password), and performs user authentication by collating user information received as authentication information from the image forming apparatus 9 or the user terminal 5.

  After the user authentication, the authentication token is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 9 or the user terminal 5 that is the transmission source of the user information.

  The user terminal 5 includes an information processing apparatus and has a printer driver for generating a print job that is image formation data. The printer driver can generate a print job for secure printing (hereinafter referred to as “secure job”) in addition to a normal print job.

  When generating a secure job, the printer driver inputs user information and sends it to the authentication server 3 to request user authentication. After the user authentication, a secure job in which the authenticated user information is embedded is generated and transmitted to the spool server 7.

  The spool server 7 receives the secure job from the user terminal 5 and spools it. Thereby, the secure job for each user is temporarily stored and held. In response to a request from the image forming apparatus 9, the spool server 7 transmits a secure job spool number and a list for each user or reads a secure job. For each request, the authentication token is confirmed through the authentication server 3.

  The image forming apparatus 9 acquires a secure job from the spool server 7 and performs print output (image formation) as secure print. At the time of secure printing, login is performed by inputting user information. At the time of login, the input user information is transmitted to the authentication server 3 to request user authentication.

  After the user authentication, a request is made to the spool server 7 so that the number of spools and a list can be obtained for the login user, or a secure job can be read.

In such an image forming system 1 of this embodiment, a secure job is spooled to the spool server 7 through user authentication in the user terminal 5 in advance, and a secure job is acquired and acquired through user authentication in the image forming apparatus 9 thereafter. Print output is performed. Thus, secure printing in the image forming apparatus 9 is realized. The secure print of this embodiment can be stopped immediately in the middle of the image forming apparatus 9.
[Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the image forming apparatus.

  The image forming apparatus 9 according to the present exemplary embodiment is configured as, for example, a digital multifunction peripheral or the like, and includes at least a network interface 13, an image forming unit 15, an operation panel unit 17, a storage unit 19, and a control unit 21. .

  The network interface 13 transmits / receives data to / from the authentication server 3, the spool server 7, and the user terminal 5 via the network 11.

  The image forming unit 15 forms an image on a sheet based on the print job. In secure printing, image formation is performed based on a secure job acquired via the network 11.

  The operation panel unit 17 is composed of a touch panel type liquid crystal display screen or the like, and displays operation inputs, operation statuses, and the like for the image forming apparatus 9. In this embodiment, the operation panel unit 17 can be used to input a secure print execution instruction or a cancel instruction by inputting user information such as a user name and a password.

  The storage unit 19 is a storage device such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) that stores various control applications, data necessary for control or data to be processed. In the storage unit 19, an image forming program for secure printing according to the present embodiment is stored.

  The control unit 21 is a control element such as a CPU (Central Process Unit) that executes various programs and performs operations by executing a program. In this embodiment, by executing the image forming program in the storage unit 19, the login management unit 23, the spool number acquisition unit 24 that is the retention number acquisition unit, the list management unit 25, and the job selection unit 27 that is the data selection unit. The job acquisition unit 28 as a data acquisition unit, the job processing unit 29, and the job acquisition stop unit 31 as a data acquisition stop unit are provided as functional configurations.

  The login management unit 23 realizes a login management procedure, and manages login and logoff for the user. The login management unit 23 transmits user information input on the operation panel unit 17 to the authentication server 3 and requests user authentication.

  When receiving the authentication token from the authentication server 3, the login management unit 23 performs login for the authenticated user and stores the authentication token in the storage unit 19. By this login, secure printing is possible.

  Further, the login management unit 23 executes logoff in response to a logoff instruction on the operation panel unit 17. The logoff is also executed when shifting to the power saving mode or the like.

  The spool number acquisition unit 24 realizes the retained number acquisition procedure, and acquires the spool number of the secure job of the login user from the spool server 7. At the time of acquisition, a spool number acquisition request is transmitted to the spool server 7 together with an authentication token, and the spool number received based on the request is stored in the storage unit 19.

  The list management unit 25 implements a list management procedure, and acquires a list of secure jobs being spooled from the spool server 7. Specifically, the list management unit 25 transmits a request for acquiring the list being spooled of the secure job of the login user to the spool server 7 together with the authentication token. The list of secure jobs received based on this is stored in the storage unit 19 by the list management unit 25.

  The job selection unit 27 realizes a data selection procedure, and selects a secure job for executing secure printing from the acquired list. At this time, the job selection unit 27 stores the secure job selection information and the number of secure job selections in the storage unit 19. When selecting all secure jobs, the acquired list becomes selection information, and the number of spools becomes the selection number.

  The secure job is selected by displaying a list in the storage unit 19 on the operation panel unit 17. In this embodiment, the list is displayed for each specific number of secure jobs. For example, when the number of secure job spools is 1000, display is performed for every 100 secure jobs. However, the number of displayed secure jobs is arbitrary, and can be appropriately changed according to the number of secure jobs spooled.

  The job acquisition unit 28 realizes a data acquisition procedure, and individually acquires the secure job being spooled from the spool server 7 based on the list in the storage unit 19 and acquires the secure job. Specifically, the secure job is read from the spool server 7 based on the selection information in the storage unit 19.

  The reading of the secure job is continuously repeated for the number selected in the storage unit 19. The repetition timing can be, for example, the start of processing of the previous secure job.

  The job processing unit 29 realizes a data processing procedure and performs processing such as analysis and drawing data generation on the secure job read from the spool server 7. The job processing unit 29 passes the generated drawing data to the image forming unit 15 to perform print output based on the secure job.

  The job acquisition cancel unit 31 realizes a data acquisition stop procedure, and stops reading of a secure job by the job acquisition unit 28 in response to a secure print cancel instruction on the operation panel unit 17.

Further, the job acquisition cancel unit 31 causes the list management unit 25 to delete the acquired list from the storage unit 19 in response to a secure print cancel instruction, and causes the job processing unit 29 and the image forming unit 15 to perform secure jobs. Cancel the process. The list deletion by the list management unit 25 includes secure job selection information and the number of selections.
[Secure Print Processing]
A secure print process performed by the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing secure print processing by the image forming apparatus of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a timing chart thereof.

  In the secure print processing of the present embodiment, first, “login processing” is performed in step S1 of FIG. That is, the login management unit 23 of the image forming apparatus 9 accepts input of a user name and a password as user information on the operation panel unit 17 for the user. The input user information is transmitted to the authentication server 3 by the login management unit 23 (1.1 in FIG. 4). The authentication server 3 performs user authentication by comparing user information to be managed with received user information.

  When the user authentication is performed, an authentication token is transmitted from the authentication server 3, and the login management unit 23 of the image forming apparatus 9 logs in the authenticated user (1.2 in FIG. 4). At this time, the login management unit 23 stores the received authentication token in the storage unit 19.

  Thereby, step S1 is completed and it transfers to step S2.

  In step S2, “acquire spool number” is performed. That is, the spool number acquisition unit 24 of the image forming apparatus 9 requests the spool server 7 to acquire the spool number of the secure job of the login user (2.1 in FIG. 4). This request includes the authentication token in the storage unit 19. The request can be made in response to an instruction input on the operation panel unit 17 or login completion.

  The spool server 7 transmits the authentication token included in the spool number acquisition request to the authentication server 3 (2.2 in FIG. 4). The authentication server 3 determines whether the received authentication token is appropriate or not by comparing it with information to be managed.

  The determination result is notified to the spool server 7 (2.3 in FIG. 4), and when the authentication token is appropriate, the number of spools of the login user is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 9 (2.4 in FIG. 4). ). In the image forming apparatus 9, the received spool number is stored in the storage unit 19 by the spool number acquiring unit 24.

  Thus, step S2 is completed, and the process proceeds to step S3.

  In step S3, “list acquisition” is performed. That is, the list management unit 25 of the image forming apparatus 9 requests the spool server 7 to acquire a list during spooling of the secure job of the login user (3.1 in FIG. 4). This request can be made in response to instruction input on the operation panel unit 17 or completion of spool number acquisition.

  Also in this step S3, the authentication token included in the acquisition request is transmitted from the spool server 7 to the authentication server 3 to determine whether or not it is appropriate (3.2 and 3.3 in FIG. 4). If the authentication token is proper, the list of the logged-in user's spool is transmitted from the spool server 7 and stored in the storage unit 19 of the image forming apparatus 9 (3.4 in FIG. 4).

  Thus, step S3 is completed, and the process proceeds to step S4.

  In step S4, “select secure job” is performed. That is, the job selection unit 27 of the image forming apparatus 9 displays the secure job spooling list acquired on the operation panel unit 17 and allows the login user to select a secure job to be secured.

  The list display can be performed in response to an instruction input on the operation panel unit 17 or reception of the list. When the secure job is selected, the job selection unit 27 stores the secure job selection information and the number of selections in the storage unit 19.

  When step S4 is completed in this way, the process proceeds to step S5.

  In step S5, “read secure job” is performed. That is, the job acquisition unit 28 of the image forming apparatus 9 individually requests the spool server 7 to read the secure job of the login user according to the secure job selection information in the storage unit 19 (4. in FIG. 4). 1). This request can be made in response to the completion of selection in step S4.

  Also in step S5, it is determined whether or not the authentication token is appropriate in the authentication server 3 (4.2 and 4.3 in FIG. 4). If the authentication token is appropriate, the job acquisition unit 28 of the image forming apparatus 9 is determined. The individual reading of the secure job is started (4.4 in FIG. 4). When reading of the secure job is completed, the process proceeds to step S6.

  In step S6, “secure job processing start” is performed. That is, the job processing unit 29 of the image forming apparatus 9 starts processing such as analysis and drawing data generation for the read secure job (5 in FIG. 4). When this processing is completed, the drawing data generated by the job processing unit 29 is passed to the image forming unit 15 to perform print output based on the secure job.

  When step S6 is completed in this way, the process proceeds to step S7.

  In step S7, processing of “start processing of last secure job?” Is performed. In this processing, the job processing unit 29 determines whether processing has started for the end of the secure job that is the target of secure printing. This determination can be made based on whether or not secure job processing has been started for the number of selections in the storage unit 19.

If the last process of the selected secure job has not been started (NO), the process returns to step S5 and the process is repeated. On the other hand, when the last process of the secure job has been started (YES), the secure print process ends.
[Secure print cancel processing]
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a stop process of secure printing by the image forming apparatus of FIG. 2, and FIG. 6 is a timing chart thereof.

  In the image forming apparatus 9 of the present embodiment, when there is a stop instruction from the login user, the secure print process is immediately stopped. This cancellation instruction is issued when the login user needs it. In this embodiment, the processing is performed after the start of the processing of the previous secure job and while the subsequent secure job is being read (6.1 in FIG. 6).

  When a cancel instruction is issued, first, “secure job read cancel” is performed in step S11 of FIG. That is, the job acquisition cancellation unit 31 of the image forming apparatus 9 causes the job acquisition unit 28 to stop reading the secure job from the spool server 7 (6.2 in FIG. 6). Thereby, acquisition of a secure job can be immediately canceled (cancelled).

  The cancel instruction is issued by pressing the logout key on the operation panel 17 once.

  Thus, step S11 is completed, and the process proceeds to step S12.

  In step S12, “cancel secure job being processed” is performed. That is, the job acquisition cancel unit 31 of the image forming apparatus 9 causes the job processing unit 29 to stop processing such as secure job analysis and drawing data generation, and causes the image forming unit 15 to perform print output processing by a secure job. Stop (6.3 in FIG. 6). Thereby, the print output by the secure job can be stopped immediately.

  Thus, step S12 is completed, and the process proceeds to step S13.

In step S13, “list deletion” is performed. That is, the job acquisition cancellation unit 31 of the image forming apparatus 9 causes the list management unit 25 to delete the list in the storage unit 19 (6.4 in FIG. 6). As a result, there is no information on which secure jobs are acquired, and print output by all secure jobs can be canceled immediately.
[Effect of Example 1]
The image forming apparatus 9 according to this embodiment is an image forming apparatus 9 that performs image formation by acquiring a secure job spooled in the spool server 7 for a login user who has input user information. A list management unit 25 for acquiring a list of secure jobs, a job acquisition unit 28 for individually reading and acquiring a secure job being spooled from the spool server 7 based on the acquired list, and in response to an instruction input from a login user A job acquisition canceling unit 31 that cancels the reading of the print job.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, if individual reading of secure jobs is canceled on the image forming apparatus 9 side, acquisition of further secure jobs can be immediately and reliably stopped.

  For this reason, in this embodiment, after the secure printing is stopped on the image forming apparatus 9 side, no further secure job is received, and as a result, the print output can be stopped immediately.

  Thus, even when the logged-in user needs to leave the image forming apparatus 9 urgently, information leakage can be prevented.

  Further, even when there are a plurality of secure jobs, since the secure jobs are read individually, the image forming apparatus 9 does not receive all the secure jobs, so that the print output can be immediately stopped more reliably and the operability can be realized. Can be improved.

  In addition, in the present embodiment, the list acquired by the list management unit 25 is deleted, so that the base information for reading the secure job can be eliminated, and the print output by all the secure jobs for the login user can be batched. Can be stopped immediately. At the same time, since no list remains on the image forming apparatus 9 side, security can be improved.

  In this embodiment, the image acquisition apparatus 28 acquires the secure job from the spool server 7 by the job acquisition unit 28, so that the secure print status management becomes easy.

  The image forming apparatus 9 according to the present exemplary embodiment includes a job selection unit 27 that displays the acquired list and selects a secure job to be secured, and the list is displayed for each specific number of secure jobs.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, even when the number of secure jobs being spooled is large, it is possible to display a list without waiting for list acquisition for all secure jobs.

  Further, in this embodiment, when the image forming apparatus 9 shifts to the power saving mode, for example, when the operation panel unit 17 is turned off, the log-in user can be logged off to improve convenience.

  Even in this configuration, in the image forming apparatus 9 of the present embodiment, the job acquisition unit 28 individually reads the secure jobs being spooled from the spool server 7, so logoff is inadvertently performed and secure printing is interrupted. Can be prevented.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. Since the basic configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, a duplicate description is omitted by using a corresponding portion to which the same symbol or the same symbol A is added.

  The image forming apparatus 9A according to the present embodiment is obtained by adding an interrupt prohibition unit 33 to the image forming apparatus 9 according to the first embodiment.

  The interrupt prohibition unit 33 realizes an interrupt prohibition procedure, and prohibits interrupts of other print jobs outside the list between secure jobs processed based on the list.

  In this embodiment, the processing of another print job is made to wait until the end of the secure job selected from the list is started. This can be realized by repeating from the reading of the selected secure job to the start of processing by the number of selections in the storage unit 19 and scheduling the processing of other print jobs next to the last selected secure job.

  Whether or not interruption is prohibited can be determined by inputting an instruction on the operation panel unit 17.

  The secure printing by prohibiting the interruption can basically be performed according to the flowchart of FIG. Therefore, in the following, description will be made using the timing chart of FIG.

  When interrupt prohibition is designated, priority is given to interrupts being prohibited as shown in 1.2 based on the secure print execution instruction as shown in 1.1 of FIG. 8 (steps S1 to S4 in FIG. 3). Printing starts.

  When priority printing is started, the job acquisition unit 28 of the image forming apparatus 9A reads the login user's secure job from the spool server 7 as shown in 1.3 to 1.6 in FIG. 8 (step S5 in FIG. 3). As in 1.7, the job processing unit 29 starts the secure job processing (step S6 in FIG. 3). The reading of these secure jobs and the start of processing are repeated for the number of selections in the storage unit 19 (step S7 in FIG. 3).

  Then, in the image forming apparatus 9A of this embodiment, when another print job outside the list is received during the above repetition, the process of the print job is waited until the end of the secure job starts.

  In FIG. 8, as 2.1 and 2.2, copying as another print job outside the list is started and accepted by reading a document image. This print job is scheduled after the last secure job selected from the list and is in a standby state. The waiting print job is started when priority printing is completed as shown in 1.8 and 2.3 of FIG.

  Further, when there is a cancel instruction from the logged-in user, the secure print process is immediately stopped as in steps S11 to S12 in FIG. 5 and 6.1 to 6.3 in FIG. Next, processing of the waiting print job is started.

  As described above, in the image forming apparatus 9A according to the present exemplary embodiment, it is possible to easily and surely prohibit interruption of other print jobs outside the list based on the list of secure jobs, and mixing of output products due to other print jobs is possible. It can be prevented.

  In addition, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be achieved.

  In the first and second embodiments, when a secure job is processed, it may be possible to transmit and output via the network interface 13 together with the secure print. In this case, if there is a cancel instruction from the login user, the secure print process is immediately stopped as in steps S11 to S12 in FIG. 5 and 6.1 to 6.3 in FIG. On the other hand, the transmission output can be continued without stopping the printed matter.

  Therefore, even when the logged-in user needs to leave the image forming apparatus 9 urgently, it is possible to prevent information leakage due to the printed matter being left in the image forming apparatus 9 and to perform transmission output with certainty. It becomes possible.

7 Spool server 9 Image forming apparatus 25 List management unit 27 Job selection unit (data selection unit)
28 Job acquisition unit (data acquisition unit)
31 Job acquisition cancellation part (data acquisition cancellation part)
33 Interrupt disable part

Claims (5)

An image forming apparatus that obtains image forming data held in a server for a user who has entered authentication information and forms an image,
A list management unit for obtaining a list of image forming data being held from the server;
A data acquisition unit that individually reads and acquires the image forming data being held from the server based on the acquired list;
A data acquisition stop unit that stops reading the image formation data in response to an instruction input from the user;
An image forming apparatus comprising: The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
The list management unit deletes the acquired list when reading of the image formation data is stopped.
An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:
An interrupt prohibiting unit that prohibits interruption of other image forming data outside the list between the image forming data of the image forming target based on the list;
An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A data selection unit for displaying the acquired list and selecting image formation data to be imaged;
The display of the list is performed for each specific number of image formation data.
An image forming apparatus. An image forming program for obtaining image forming data held in a server for a user who has entered authentication information in an image forming apparatus and forming an image,
A list acquisition procedure for acquiring a list of image forming data being held from the server;
A data management procedure for individually reading and acquiring the image forming data being held from the server based on the acquired list;
A data acquisition stop procedure for stopping reading of the image formation data in response to an instruction input from the user;
An image forming program for causing a computer to execute the above.

Images