JP6740586B2 - Image forming apparatus and image forming system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an image forming system.

Conventionally, there is an image forming system in which a user registers a print job in a print management apparatus such as a print server, and when this user authenticates the user with the image forming apparatus, the print job is downloaded from the print managing apparatus and printed.

In Patent Document 1, a user has an employee ID card attached with an IC tag in which identification information of the user is attached, and when a user approaches a self-apparatus in a power saving state, the user's employee ID card is copied. Wirelessly communicates with the IC tag attached to the user, obtains the identification information of the user, refers to the past usage history of the identified user, determines whether the copier is used by the user, and determines that it is used. , It is determined again based on the movement of the user (IC tag) whether or not the copying machine is used, and if it is determined that it is used, it is determined that the preparatory operation needs to be executed (power saving is cancelled). There is disclosed an image processing apparatus that determines that the above is unnecessary.

In Patent Document 2, a plurality of wireless base stations each having an antenna are arranged on the floor so as to surround an IC reader, and a user who gives a printing instruction to a printer from a personal computer is arranged close to the printer. An image forming system in which the identity of a person is confirmed by moving to a reader and bringing his or her own mobile communication terminal closer to an IC reader. By receiving radio waves emitted from the mobile communication terminals by a plurality of radio base stations, When the position information of the mobile communication terminal is acquired by the printer and the printer is in the energy saving mode, when the user who gives the print instruction enters the inner area to approach the IC reader to perform personal authentication, the printer startup state It has been disclosed that the return to the.

JP, 2007-49308, A JP, 2008-172531, A

In order to save energy in the image forming apparatus, when not used, the power saving state is set to be less than the power consumption in the normal state, and when used, the power saving state is returned to the normal state. There is. At this time, since the image formation is started immediately, the power saving state may be returned to the normal state when the user is detected.
However, conventionally, only the power saving state is returned to the normal state, and the subsequent processing is performed after the user performs user authentication. Therefore, it takes a lot of time until the printing is completed, and there is a problem that the waiting time of the user tends to be long.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus or the like in which a user's waiting time is unlikely to be long even when performing user authentication and printing.

According to one aspect of the present invention, an image forming unit for forming an image on a recording material, the user information of the user who registered the print job to the printing management apparatus that manages the print job, get from the print management device A user information acquisition unit, a user detection unit that uses the user information acquired by the user information acquisition unit to detect whether or not the user exists within a predetermined range, and the user authenticates the user. or before performing, and when present in a range in which the user has been determined in advance, the process of receiving the print job begins before performing authentication of the user, the otherwise, the operation An image forming apparatus comprising: a print job receiving unit that does not perform.
The invention according to claim 2 further comprises a state control unit for returning to a normal state when the user is within a predetermined range when the device is in a power saving state. The image forming apparatus according to item 1.
The invention according to claim 3, wherein the user detection unit, an image according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that changing the size of the range in which the predetermined by the time required for the processing of the print job It is a forming device.
A fourth aspect of the present invention is a user who acquires, from the print management apparatus, user information of a user who has registered a print job in an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording material and a print management apparatus that manages the print job. An information acquisition unit and the user information acquired by the user information acquisition unit are used to detect whether or not the user is within a predetermined range and determine whether or not the user is moving. A user detection unit that performs the process of receiving the print job before the user authenticates the user, and when the user is within a predetermined range and the user is moving. An image forming apparatus, comprising: a print job receiving unit that starts before the user is authenticated and does not perform this operation in other cases.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording material and a user who acquires user information of a user who has registered a print job in a print management apparatus that manages the print job from the print management apparatus. An information acquisition unit and the user information acquired by the user information acquisition unit are used to detect whether or not the user is within a predetermined range and to estimate the time required to process the print job. If the user detection unit and the user is not yet authenticated, and the user is within a predetermined range, and the time required to process the print job exceeds a predetermined threshold. An image forming apparatus , comprising: a print job receiving unit that starts a process of receiving the print job before authenticating the user, and otherwise does not perform this operation .
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus includes an image forming apparatus that performs printing by forming an image on a recording material, and a print management apparatus that manages printing performed by the image forming apparatus. an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording material, the user information of the user who registered the print job to the printing management apparatus, a user information acquiring unit you get from the print management device, the user information acquiring unit acquires A user detection unit that detects whether or not the user exists within a predetermined range by using the user information , and before the user authenticates the user, and the user is predetermined. and when present within the range, the process of receiving the print job begins before performing authentication of the user; otherwise, the print job receiving portion is not performed this operation, in that it comprises A characteristic image forming system.

According to the first aspect of the invention, it is possible to provide the image forming apparatus in which the waiting time of the user is unlikely to be long even when the user authentication is performed and the printing is performed.
According to the second aspect of the invention, the image formation can be started immediately.
According to the invention of claim 3 , the time during which the user waits is likely to be further shortened.
According to the invention of claim 4, even if the user is present within the predetermined range, this operation can be prevented from being performed when the process for receiving the print job is unnecessary.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to give priority to the case where the time required to process the print job is long, and the time when the user waits can be further shortened.
According to the invention of claim 6, it is possible to provide an image forming system which is more convenient for the user.

1 illustrates an example of the overall configuration of an image forming system to which this exemplary embodiment is applied. It is a figure showing the hardware constitutions of a terminal unit. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration example of an image forming apparatus. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration example when the image forming apparatus is viewed from the functional configuration. (A)-(b) is the figure which showed the method of detecting whether a user exists in a predetermined range based on a radio wave intensity. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the first embodiment of the operation of the image forming apparatus. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a second embodiment of the operation of the image forming apparatus. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a third embodiment of the operation of the image forming apparatus. (A)-(e) is a figure showing the method of estimating the time required for processing a print job. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a fourth embodiment of the operation of the image forming apparatus.

<Explanation of the overall configuration of the image forming system>
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an example of the overall configuration of an image forming system to which this embodiment is applied.
The illustrated image forming system is configured by connecting a terminal device 10 and image forming devices 30a, 30b, 30c to a network 90. A print server 50 is connected to the network 90.
Although the image forming apparatuses 30a, 30b, and 30c are shown in the drawing, they are referred to as the image forming apparatus 30 when it is not necessary to distinguish them. Although only three image forming apparatuses 30 are shown in the drawing, four or more image forming apparatuses 30 may be provided.

The terminal device 10 is a computer device that registers a print job for printing with the image forming device 30 in the print server 50. Then, the terminal device 10 prints on the image forming apparatus 30 via the print server 50. Here, as the terminal device 10, a PC (Personal Computer), a mobile terminal, a mobile phone, or the like may be used.

The image forming apparatus 30 is an apparatus that forms an image on a recording material (recording medium, paper) and outputs the image as a print medium. Here, as the image forming apparatus 30, an apparatus having only a printer function may be used, or in addition to this, an apparatus having other image processing functions such as a scanner function and a facsimile function may be used.

The print server 50 is an example of a print management apparatus that manages printing performed by the image forming apparatus 30. The print server 50 is realized by, for example, a PC having a network function. The print server 50 receives the print job from the terminal device 10 and stores (spools) the print job. Then, the accumulated print job is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 30 and the print processing is executed.

The network 90 is a communication unit used for information communication between the terminal device 10 and the image forming apparatus 30, and is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network).

Next, the hardware configuration of the terminal device 10 will be described.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of the terminal device 10.
As shown in the figure, the terminal device 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11 that is a calculation unit, a main memory 12 and a HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 13 that are storage units. Here, the CPU 11 executes various software such as an OS (Operating System) and application programs. The main memory 12 is a storage area for storing various software and data used for execution thereof, and the HDD 13 is a storage area for storing input data to the various software, output data from the various software, and the like.
Further, the terminal device 10 includes a communication interface (hereinafter, referred to as “communication I/F”) 14 for performing communication with the outside, a display mechanism 15 including a video memory and a display, a keyboard, a mouse, and the like. And an input device 16.

Note that FIG. 2 can also be regarded as a diagram showing the hardware configuration of the print server 50.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the image forming apparatus 30.
As illustrated, the image forming apparatus 30 includes a CPU 31, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 32, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 33, an operation panel 35, an image reading unit 36, an image forming unit 37, and a communication unit. An interface (hereinafter referred to as “communication I/F”) 38 and a wireless module 39 are provided.

The CPU 31 realizes each function described later by loading various programs stored in the ROM 33 or the like into the RAM 32 and executing the programs.
The RAM 32 is a memory used as a work memory or the like of the CPU 31.
The ROM 33 is a memory that stores various programs executed by the CPU 31.
The operation panel 35 is, for example, a touch panel that displays various kinds of information and receives operation input from the user.

The image reading unit 36 reads an image recorded on a document. Here, the image reading unit 36 is, for example, a scanner, and a CCD system in which reflected light corresponding to the light emitted from the light source to the original is reduced by a lens and received by a CCD (Charge Coupled Devices), or an original is sequentially emitted from the LED light source. It is preferable to use a CIS system in which reflected light for the above-described light is received by a CIS (Contact Image Sensor).

The image forming unit 37 forms an image on a sheet. Here, the image forming unit 37 is, for example, a printer, and is an electrophotographic system in which toner attached to a photoconductor is transferred onto a sheet to form an image, or an inkjet system in which ink is discharged onto the sheet to form an image. It is good to use the one. In the present embodiment, the image forming unit 37 is provided as an example of a printing mechanism that performs printing based on print data.
The communication I/F 38 transmits/receives various information to/from other devices via the network.
The wireless module 39 is a device for connecting to an external device via a wireless communication line. The wireless module 39 can communicate with an external device using this wireless communication line. Here, Bluetooth (registered trademark) is used as the wireless module 39.

In this embodiment, the terminal device 10 generates a print job and the print server 50 stores (spools) the print job. Then, the user goes to the place of the image forming apparatus 30 and authenticates the user at the image forming apparatus 30. In the image forming apparatus 30, printing is started after user authentication.

An example of a case where user authentication is required in the image forming apparatus 30 to perform printing is security printing.
The security print is a function in which the user inputs a user ID and password on the image forming apparatus 30 and if the user ID and the password are sent in advance, printing is performed. If they do not match, printing is not performed.

<Description of Power Mode of Image Forming Apparatus 30>
Next, the power mode of the image forming apparatus 30 will be described.
The image forming apparatus 30 has a plurality of power modes (operation modes) with different power consumption. As the power mode, for example, a normal mode (normal state) when a print job is generated and the image is formed by the image forming apparatus 30, a standby mode in which the print job is waited for the generation of the print job, and power consumption are reduced. The sleep mode (power saving state) is set. In the standby mode and the sleep mode, the electric power supplied to the image forming unit 37 and the like is made lower than that in the stop or normal mode. As a result, the power consumption in the standby mode becomes lower than the power consumption in the normal mode. Moreover, the power consumption in the sleep mode is further reduced.

The image forming apparatus 30 shifts from the normal mode to the standby mode when the image forming unit 37 completes the image forming process. If a print job does not occur for a predetermined time after entering the standby mode, the sleep mode is entered.

On the other hand, the image forming apparatus 30 returns from the sleep mode to the normal mode when a predetermined return condition is satisfied.

The return condition is, for example, when the image forming apparatus 30 receives a print job.
In addition, in the related art, there is a technique in which a person approaches the image forming apparatus 30 as a return condition. However, in this case, it is not possible to distinguish between a user who intends to use the image forming apparatus 30 and a person who does not intend to use the image forming apparatus 30, for example, a passing person. There may be a case where the device 30 returns.

As a conventional technique for suppressing this problem, there is a technique of detecting an approaching user, identifying the user, determining the availability of the image forming apparatus 30 from the usage history of the user, and performing the recovery. However, since the use prediction of the image forming apparatus 30 is made based on the use history, if the prediction is not correct, the image forming apparatus 30 may return even if the return is not necessary.
Further, as a conventional technique for suppressing this problem, there is a technique in which the user and the position of the user are specified, and when the user who has instructed the image formation enters a specific area, the recovery is performed.

However, in the above conventional technique, the image forming apparatus 30 is only returned from the sleep mode to the normal mode, and the subsequent processing is not performed. That is, after the user reaches the image forming apparatus 30 and authenticates the user, the image forming apparatus 30 starts the process of receiving a print job from the print server 50. Therefore, it takes time to download the print job, and there is a problem that the user waits in front of the image forming apparatus 30 for a long time until printing is completed in the image forming apparatus 30.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, this problem is suppressed by making the functional configuration of the image forming apparatus 30 as follows.

<Description of Functional Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus 30>
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration example when the image forming apparatus 30 is viewed from the functional configuration.
The illustrated image forming apparatus 30 includes a user information acquisition unit 301, a user detection unit 302, a power mode switching unit 303, a print job receiving unit 304, a user authentication unit 305, and an image forming unit 306.

The user information acquisition unit 301 acquires user information of a user who has registered a print job in the print server 50 that manages the print job. In this case, the user information is not particularly limited as long as it can identify the user. In the present embodiment, the user information acquisition unit 301 acquires a user ID as user information.

The user detection unit 302 uses the user ID acquired by the user information acquisition unit 301 to detect whether or not a user having this user ID exists within a predetermined range.
In the present embodiment, the user detection unit 302 uses Bluetooth and detects whether or not it exists within a predetermined range based on the radio field intensity of Bluetooth.

The user detection unit 302 receives a radio wave that is carried by a user and is output from a mobile terminal or the like having a Bluetooth function. Then, the user who owns this terminal is identified thereby. Further, it is determined whether the user who owns the terminal and the user having the user ID acquired by the user information acquisition unit 301 are the same.
If they are the same, the user detection unit 302 detects whether or not the user exists within a predetermined range based on the radio field intensity.

5A and 5B are diagrams showing a method of detecting whether or not the user is present within a predetermined range based on the radio field intensity.
Of these, FIG. 5A is a diagram showing a predetermined range E. This range E is set as a circular range centered on the image forming apparatus 30 and having a radius r.

Further, FIG. 5B is a diagram showing a change in radio field intensity detected by the user detection unit 302. Here, the horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents radio wave intensity. In the illustrated example, it can be seen that the radio field intensity increases with the passage of time. This indicates that the user is approaching the image forming apparatus 30. That is, the radio wave intensity is determined by the distance between the mobile terminal or the like that emits radio waves and the image forming apparatus 30. Therefore, when the radio field intensity increases with time, it indicates that the user is approaching the image forming apparatus 30.

Then, in the present embodiment, a threshold value is set for the radio field intensity, and when the radio field intensity exceeds this threshold value, it is determined that the user exists within the range E. That is, since the radio field intensity is determined by the distance as described above, the radio field intensity corresponding to the radius r which is the distance from the outer edge of the range E can be measured in advance. Therefore, this radio field intensity is used as a threshold value, and when the threshold value is exceeded, it can be determined that the distance between the image forming apparatus 30 and the user is less than the radius r, and it can be determined that the user exists within the range E.

The power mode switching unit 303 is an example of a state control unit that returns to the normal mode when the user is within the predetermined range E when the image forming apparatus 30 is in the sleep mode.
As a result, the power mode switching unit 303 sets the power supplied to the image forming unit 306 and the like to a normal state, and starts preparation for performing image formation.

The print job receiving unit 304 starts the process of receiving the print job when the user detection unit 302 detects that the user is present within the predetermined range E before authenticating the user.
Here, the process of receiving the print job is, for example, file format conversion performed by the print server 50. That is, the print server 50 converts the print data into a data format that can be processed by the image forming apparatus 30. Specifically, when printing the Web page indicated by the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) input by the user, the print server 50 converts the information of the URL into a format such as PDF. The process of receiving a print job is, for example, reception (download) of print data. Further, the process of receiving a print job is, for example, expansion of received print data, image processing, compression, or the like.

The user authentication unit 305 authenticates the user after the print job receiving unit 304 starts the process of receiving the print job.
In order to authenticate the user, in the case of a security print, the user inputs the user ID and password on the operation panel 35 of the image forming apparatus 30 or the like. The present invention is not limited to this, and for example, user authentication may be performed using an ID card.

The image forming unit 306 corresponds to the image forming unit 37 in FIG. 3 and is a functional unit that forms an image on a sheet.

<Description of Operation of Image Forming Device 30>
Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus 30 will be described.
Here, first, the first embodiment of the operation of the image forming apparatus 30 will be described.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the first embodiment of the operation of the image forming apparatus 30.
First, the user information acquisition unit 301 periodically acquires print job registration information from the print server 50 (step 101). As a method of acquiring, for example, the user information acquisition unit 301 may periodically poll the print server 50, or the print server 50 may perform push.

Next, the user information acquisition unit 301 acquires the user ID of the user who registered this print job based on the registration information of the print job (step 102).

Then, the user detection unit 302 determines whether or not the user is present within the predetermined range E by the method described in FIG. 5 (step 103).
As a result, when the user does not exist within the range E (No in step 103), the process returns to step 101.

On the other hand, when it exists in the range E (Yes in step 103), the power mode switching unit 303 determines whether the power mode of the image forming apparatus is the sleep mode (step 104).
Then, in the sleep mode (Yes in step 104), the power mode switching unit 303 switches the power mode to the normal mode (step 105).

On the other hand, when it is not the sleep mode (in the normal mode) (No in step 104) and after step 105, the print job receiving unit 304 starts the process of receiving the print job before authenticating the user. (Step 106).
Specifically, the print server 50 converts the print data into a data format that can be processed by the image forming apparatus 30, as described above. Note that this process may not be necessary. Also, the download of the image data is started. After the download is completed, the print data is expanded in the memory, image processing is performed, and the image data is compressed and stored in the memory.

On the other hand, the user authentication unit 305 determines whether user authentication has been performed (step 107).
When the user authentication is performed (Yes in step 107), the image forming unit 306 performs printing (step 108).
On the other hand, when the user authentication is not performed (No in step 107), the printing process is stopped and the series of processes is ended.

In this embodiment, the process of receiving the print job is not started after the user authentication is performed as in the related art, but the process of receiving the print job is started before the user authentication is performed. This can be restated in that the user authentication is performed after the process of receiving the print job is started. As a result, user authentication is performed while the print job is being downloaded, or after the print job is completed. Therefore, the time the user waits in front of the image forming apparatus 30 until the printing is completed by the image forming apparatus 30 becomes shorter, and the convenience of the user is improved.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the operation of the image forming apparatus 30 will be described.
In the present embodiment, the print job receiving unit 304 does not start the process of receiving a print job when the user has not moved.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the image forming apparatus 30 according to the second embodiment.
In the figure, step 201 to step 203 are the same as step 101 to step 103, and therefore description thereof will be omitted.
In the present embodiment, in the next step 204, the user detection unit 302 determines whether or not the user is moving (step 204).
If the user is moving (Yes in step 204), the process proceeds to the next step 205. The subsequent steps 205 to 209 are the same as steps 104 to 108.
On the other hand, when the user is not moving (No in step 204), the process returns to step 201.

In the case of the present embodiment, for example, when the user originally exists in the above-described predetermined range E and has not moved, the processing from step 205 onward is not performed. That is, when the user is present in the range E and remains present after the print job is registered, it is considered that the user does not have the intention to immediately perform printing. Therefore, if the user does not move even though the user exists in this range E, the processes in and after step 205 are not performed, and other users in an urgent need have priority.

Note that the user detection unit 302 sees the change in the radio field intensity described with reference to FIG. 5, and if there is almost no change, determines that the user has not moved.

As a result, when the return operation to the normal mode or the process for receiving the print job is unnecessary, this operation is not performed.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, a third embodiment of the operation of the image forming apparatus 30 will be described.
In the present embodiment, the user detection unit 302 changes the size of the predetermined range E according to the time required to process the print job.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the image forming apparatus 30 according to the third embodiment.
In the figure, step 301 to step 302 are the same as step 101 to step 102, and therefore description thereof will be omitted.
In the present embodiment, in the next step 303, the user detection unit 302 estimates the time required to process the print job based on the print job registration information (step 303). Then, the user detection unit 302 determines the size of the range E based on the estimated time (step 304). The subsequent steps 305 to 310 are the same as steps 103 to 108.

9A to 9E are diagrams showing a method of estimating the time required to process a print job.
Of these, FIG. 9A shows a mathematical expression for calculating the time (processing time) required to process the print job. In FIG. 9A, there are a plurality of print jobs, and each print job is represented as α, β,.... Then, the file size, the file type coefficient, and the image processing coefficient are multiplied for each print job. Then, the processing time is calculated by further adding all.

The file type coefficient is a coefficient determined by the file type of the print job, and the processing time varies depending on the file type, and thus such a coefficient is provided. The image processing coefficient is a coefficient determined by the image processing, and the processing time varies depending on the image processing. Therefore, such a coefficient is provided. Here, as shown in FIG. 9B, the relationship between the file type and the file type coefficient is created in advance. Further, as shown in FIG. 9C, the relationship between the image processing setting and the image processing coefficient is created in advance. Then, these coefficients are determined based on the file type and required image processing.

Then, the user detection unit 302 determines the range E as shown in FIG. 9D based on the calculated processing time. Here, it is shown that the range E of four-step size of the division A, the division B, the division C, and the division D is determined by the processing time. Then, in the section A, the radius r of the range E is set to 18 m, and in the section B, the radius r of the range E is set to 12 m. In the section C, the radius r of the range E is set to 9 m, and in the section D, the radius r of the range E is set to 6 m. Note that this range E is illustrated in FIG.

In the present embodiment, a larger range E is set as the processing time increases. That is, the longer the processing time is, the longer it takes to receive the print job. Therefore, the power mode is set to the normal mode sooner and the processing to receive the print job is started. As a result, the time the user waits is further shortened, and the convenience for the user is further improved.

[Fourth Embodiment]
Next, a fourth embodiment of the operation of the image forming apparatus 30 will be described.
In the present embodiment, the user detection unit 302 determines whether to start the process of receiving a print job depending on the time required to process the print job.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the image forming apparatus 30 according to the fourth embodiment.
In the figure, step 401 to step 405 are the same as step 101 to step 105, and therefore description thereof is omitted.
In the present embodiment, in the next step 406, the user detection unit 302 estimates the time required to process the print job (processing time) based on the print job registration information (step 406). The time required to process the print job is calculated using the mathematical formula shown in FIG.

Then, the user detection unit 302 determines whether to start the process of receiving the print job according to the estimated time (step 407). Specifically, a threshold is set for the processing time, and when the threshold is exceeded, it is determined to start the process of receiving a print job. On the other hand, if it is less than or equal to this threshold, it is determined not to start.

When it is determined to start (Yes in step 408), the subsequent processing, step 409 and subsequent steps, is performed. Note that steps 409 to 411 are the same as steps 106 to 108.

On the other hand, when it is determined not to start (No in step 408), the user authentication unit 305 determines whether user authentication has been performed (step 412).
When the user authentication is performed (Yes in step 412), the print job receiving unit 304 starts the process of receiving the print job (step 413). Then, the image forming unit 306 performs printing (step 411).
On the other hand, if the user authentication has not been performed (No in step 412), the printing process is stopped and the series of processes ends.

If the time required to process the print job is small, the process of receiving the print job does not require much time. Therefore, the significance of performing this process in advance becomes smaller. Further, if such print jobs are individually dealt with, there may be a delay in dealing with print jobs that take a long time to process the print jobs. Therefore, when the time required to process the print job is long, the process of receiving the print job is performed in advance. On the other hand, when the time required to process the print job is short, this process is performed after user authentication as in the conventional case. As a result, the case where the time required to process the print job is large is given priority, and the time when the user waits is further shortened.

10... Terminal device, 30... Image forming device, 50... Print server, 301... User information acquisition unit, 302... User detection unit, 303... Power mode switching unit, 304... Print job receiving unit, 305... User authentication unit, 306 ... Image forming unit

Claims (6)

An image forming unit that forms an image on a recording material,
The user information of the user who registered the print job to the printing management apparatus that manages a print job, the user information acquiring unit you get from the print management device,
A user detection unit that detects whether or not the user exists within a predetermined range by using the user information acquired by the user information acquisition unit;
Wherein the user is a pre-authenticates the user, and when present in a range in which the user has been determined in advance, the process of receiving the print job begins before performing authentication of the user, other In this case, if the print job receiving unit does not perform this operation,
An image forming apparatus comprising: The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a state control unit that restores a normal state when the user is within a predetermined range when the apparatus is in a power saving state. The user detection unit, an image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that changing the size of the range in which the predetermined by the time required for the processing of the print job. An image forming unit that forms an image on a recording material,
A user information acquisition unit that acquires user information of a user who has registered a print job in the print management apparatus that manages the print job from the print management apparatus;
A user detection unit that detects whether or not the user exists within a predetermined range by using the user information acquired by the user information acquisition unit and determines whether or not the user is moving. ,
Before the user authenticates the user, and if the user is within a predetermined range and the user is moving, the process of receiving the print job is performed to authenticate the user. Print job receiver that started earlier and does not do this otherwise
An image forming apparatus comprising: An image forming unit that forms an image on a recording material,
A user information acquisition unit that acquires user information of a user who has registered a print job in the print management apparatus that manages the print job from the print management apparatus;
A user detection unit that detects whether or not the user is present within a predetermined range by using the user information acquired by the user information acquisition unit and estimates the time required to process the print job;
Before the user authenticates the user, if the user exists within a predetermined range and the time required for processing the print job exceeds a predetermined threshold, the print job is Start the process of receiving before performing the authentication of the user, and in other cases, the print job receiving unit that does not perform this operation,
An image forming apparatus comprising: An image forming apparatus that performs printing by forming an image on a recording material,
A print management apparatus that manages printing performed by the image forming apparatus;
Equipped with
The image forming apparatus,
An image forming unit that forms an image on a recording material,
The user information of the user who registered the print job to the printing management apparatus, a user information acquiring unit you get from the print management device,
A user detection unit that detects whether or not the user exists within a predetermined range by using the user information acquired by the user information acquisition unit;
Wherein the user is a pre-authenticates the user, and when present in a range in which the user has been determined in advance, the process of receiving the print job begins before performing authentication of the user, other In this case, if the print job receiving unit does not perform this operation,
An image forming system comprising:

Images