JP6743357B2 - Processor, program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a processing device and a program.

A coin kit for inserting coins is generally connected to an image forming apparatus (for example, a multi-function peripheral) installed in a convenience store or the like. When the user inserts some amount into the coin kit, the image forming apparatus executes processing such as copying instructed by the user.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, image forming apparatuses that are capable of receiving instructions such as printing from a user's terminal (for example, a smartphone) via wireless communication are becoming popular. In this type of image forming apparatus, the user can give a processing instruction without being in front of the image forming apparatus. However, this makes it impossible to associate the amount of money that the user has inserted into a billing device such as a coin kit with the instruction of the process that the user has performed wirelessly.

The printer device disclosed in Patent Document 1 generates an ID and displays the ID on the display unit when the user puts a charge into the charging device, and stores the ID. The user sends the ID together with the print data when sending the print data from his terminal to the printer device. If the ID sent from the terminal is the stored ID, the printer device executes printing and consumes the amount of money that has been input.

JP, 9-259351, A

According to the present invention, when associating the charging status of the charging device with the user inputting to the charging device, the user has to send the presented information for identifying the user to the image forming apparatus in association with the processing execution instruction. A device for eliminating the problem is provided.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, if the billing device is available in response to a usage instruction from a user terminal requesting the use of the billing device and including identification information, the billing device is identified as the identification information. and use in the state in association with, and associating means for the charging device Ru is stored in association with storing means and the identification information poured information about the entered amount to the charging device while in the in-use state , A payment of a charge for the process executed according to a process execution instruction including the identification information and process information indicating a process to be executed from the user terminal is stored in the storage unit in association with the identification information. And a billing processing unit that receives the amount of money indicated by the input information.

In the invention according to claim 2 , the processing information includes print information indicating a document to be printed and print attributes, and further, the document is printed according to the print attribute based on the print information. 2. The processing device according to claim 1 , further comprising: a calculation unit that calculates the billing amount and a billing amount notification unit that notifies the user terminal of the calculated billing amount.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, while the process related to the process execution instruction is being executed, the amount indicated by the input information associated with the identification information related to the process execution instruction is a section for the process. When the amount is insufficient, the execution of the process is temporarily stopped, the user terminal is instructed to input the additional amount, and the additional amount is input to the billing device in response to this instruction. The processing device according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit that performs control to restart the processing that has been temporarily stopped.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the computer is configured to operate the charging device if the charging device is available in response to a usage instruction from a user terminal requesting to use the charging device and including a usage instruction including identification information. wherein the in-use state in association with the identification information, Ru stores the introduced information about the amount of the charging device is turned to the charging device while in the in-use state to the identification information associated with storing means The associating unit associates the payment of the charge for the process executed according to the process execution instruction including the identification information and the process information indicating the process to be executed from the user terminal, with the storage unit in association with the identification information. It is a program for functioning as a billing processing unit that receives the amount indicated by the stored input information.

The configuration of the reference example is configured such that a computer executes a process execution instruction unit that sends a process execution instruction including identification information to a processing device, and a fee for executing a process related to the process execution instruction by the processing device from a user. In response to a request to use the charging device for depositing, a usage instruction means for sending a usage instruction including the identification information to the processing device, and the processing device responding to the usage instruction by the charging device. It is a program for functioning as a means for performing a control for displaying a message to the effect that a response indicating that it is available is received.

The present invention, when associating the charging status of the charging device with the user who deposits money into the charging device, eliminates the trouble of sending the presented information for identifying the user to the processing device in association with the processing execution instruction. It can be lost.

According to the invention of claim 2 , when the amount of money input by the user is less than the charge amount for the execution of the process execution instruction, the user issues the process execution instruction for the portion not executed due to the shortage of the charge. Even if it is not issued again, it is possible to cause the processing device to execute the portion simply by inputting the additional amount.

It is a figure showing an example of a system configuration of an embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the data content of a job management table. It is a figure which shows the example of the data content of an accounting management table. It is a figure which shows the example of the management information which shows the utilization condition of a charging device. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing procedure of the image forming apparatus when receiving a job execution instruction. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing procedure of the image forming apparatus when receiving a billing apparatus use instruction. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing procedure of the image forming apparatus when a job is started. It is a figure showing an example of a processing procedure of an image forming device when a deposit balance is insufficient during job execution.

An example of the system configuration of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

The system shown in FIG. 1 includes an image forming apparatus 100, a user terminal 200, and a charging device 300.

The image forming apparatus 100 is, for example, a printer, a scanner, a copier, a facsimile machine, or a multifunction machine having one or more of them. However, this is only an example, and a single-function image forming apparatus such as printing only, scanning only, and facsimile only, or an apparatus having two or more functions of a printer, a scanner, a facsimile, and the like, of the present embodiment. The method is applicable. The image forming apparatus 100 is compatible with wireless communication protocols such as WiFi (registered trademark), WiFi Direct (registered trademark), and Bluetooth (registered trademark), and can communicate with the user terminal 200 using the wireless communication protocol. There is. The image forming apparatus 100 is installed in, for example, a convenience store, a library, a public office, etc., and requests a fee for use from the user. Since the image forming apparatus 100 receives a job execution instruction from the user terminal 200 via a wireless connection, the image forming apparatus 100 may receive a job execution instruction from a plurality of user terminals 200 substantially at the same time. In the present embodiment, when the user receives a job execution instruction, the user does not always operate the operation screen of the image forming apparatus 100. For example, a place away from the image forming apparatus 100 in a convenience store. Sometimes I'm in. These points are different from the case of the conventional apparatus in which the job execution instruction is received only from the operation screen attached to the image forming apparatus 100. In the case of the conventional apparatus, it is assumed that the user who has instructed to execute the job is operating the operation screen of the image forming apparatus 100. Therefore, the conventional apparatus is installed near the image forming apparatus 100 when the job execution instruction is received. It can be assumed that the amount of money input to the charging device 300 is the amount of money input for the job. On the other hand, if the user can send a job execution instruction to the image forming apparatus 100 from his or her own user terminal 200 by wireless communication as in the present embodiment, such an assumption does not hold, and therefore the execution is executed. It is necessary to associate the job instructed with the amount of money to be charged to the charging device 300 by the user with some method. The mechanism of this association will be described below.

The user terminal 200 is a mobile terminal carried by the user, and examples thereof include a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a notebook PC (personal computer), and the like. The user makes a communication connection to the image forming apparatus 100 by the wireless communication function of the user terminal 200, sends a job execution instruction from the user terminal 200 to the image forming apparatus 100, and performs other processing necessary for the job. (Acquisition of usage right of the charging device 300, etc.).

The billing device 300 is a device that collects a fee for using the image forming apparatus 100 from a user. The charging device 300 has a mechanism for receiving coins such as coins and bills, calculates the amount of coins inserted by the user, and notifies the image forming device 100 of the calculated amount. The charging device 300 may also have a function of receiving a charge from electronic money or the like using NFC (Near Field Communication) or the like.

Next, the image forming apparatus 100 will be described in more detail. The image forming apparatus 100 includes a job control unit 110, a job management table 120, a charge management table 130, and a charge device control unit 140.

The job control unit 110 controls the execution of jobs in the image forming apparatus 100. A job is a process performed by the image forming apparatus 100, and has, for example, a print job, a scan job, a copy job, a facsimile transmission job, or the like, depending on the type of image processing function of the image forming apparatus 100. The job control unit 110 receives a job execution instruction from a user and operates a mechanism (for example, a printing mechanism or a scanning mechanism) according to the type of the instructed job to execute the job. Further, when the job control unit 110 receives a print instruction including print data from the user terminal 200, the job control unit 110 responds to the print data (for example, described in a data format such as a page description language or PDF (Portable Document Format)). By performing processing such as interpretation, the data is converted into a data format (for example, raster format) that the printing mechanism can handle.

The job control unit 110 has a charge calculation unit 112 and a withdrawal instruction unit 114. The charge calculation unit 112 calculates a charge required to execute a job instructed to be executed by the user. This charge calculation is performed based on, for example, job attribute information (for example, a color mode indicating whether the document is black and white or color, paper size, number of copies, number of pages of document). For example, depending on the data format of the print data, it is not possible to know whether each page is color or black-and-white and the total number of pages of the document unless the print data is actually interpreted. There are cases. In this case, the exact amount of the fee for the job can only be known by actually processing. Therefore, the fee calculated by the fee calculation unit 112 from the job attribute information before actually processing the job is an estimated (estimated) amount. However, there is a print data format that can accurately calculate the charge from the attribute information.

When the job is executed, the withdrawal instruction unit 114 executes a process of deducting the charge for executing the job from the amount (deposit) that the user paid in advance to the charging apparatus 300. This withdrawal may be performed each time a portion of a job having a predetermined size is processed, for example, every time one page is printed.

The job management table 120 is a table that manages information about jobs that have received execution instructions from users. Upon receiving the job execution instruction, the job control unit 110 creates an entry of management information for the job in the job management table 120, and registers the attribute of the job in each item of the entry.

FIG. 2 shows an example of data contents of the job management table 120. In this example, the job management table 120 holds each item of job ID, terminal ID, terminal address, user ID, target document, color mode, paper size, and number of copies for each job. The job ID is identification information of the job. The job ID is generated by the job control unit 110 when receiving a job execution instruction, for example. The terminal ID is identification information of the user terminal 200 that has issued the job execution instruction, and is sent from the user terminal 200 in association with the job execution instruction. Although the terminal ID is not limited to this, for example, a MAC (Media Access Control) address of the user terminal 200 or a subscriber ID number held by a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card set in the user terminal 200. Etc. can be used. The terminal address is the address of the user terminal 200 used when the image forming apparatus 100 communicates with the user terminal 200 using a wireless communication protocol or the like. The terminal address is, for example, an IP address. The user ID is identification information of the user. The target document is a document (print data) file to be printed by the job. The color mode is a mode indicating whether the job is printed in black and white or in color. The paper size is the size of the paper used for printing in the job, and the number of copies is the number of copies of the document to be printed in the job.

The charge management table 130 is a table for managing charges for using the image forming apparatus 100. In the charge management table 130, “input information” relating to the charge input from the user who uses the user terminal 200 having the terminal ID is recorded in association with the terminal ID. In the example of FIG. 3, in association with the terminal ID of the user terminal 200, the balance of the amount of money (deposit money from the viewpoint of the image forming apparatus 100) that the user having the user terminal 200 has inserted into the charging apparatus 300 is held. When the job instructed by the user terminal 200 is executed, the withdrawal instruction unit 114 deducts the amount of the executed charge from the deposit balance corresponding to the user terminal 200 in the charge management table 130. In this way, the input information is information such as the amount of money input by the user and the balance.

The billing device control unit 140 receives from the billing device 300 information about the amount of money the user has input, and performs processing for reflecting the amount of money in the deposit balance corresponding to the user terminal 200 of the user in the billing management table 130.

When the charging device control unit 140 receives from the user terminal 200 a charging device usage instruction requesting the usage right of the charging device 300, whether the charging device 300 is available at that time (that is, whether or not another user is using the charging device). If it is available, the charging device 300 is reserved for the user terminal 200. If not available, the charging device 300 notifies the user terminal 200 that it is currently unavailable (in use by another person).

In order to determine whether the charging device 300 is available, the charging device control unit 140 manages information of a user who is currently using the charging device 300 (that is, the terminal ID of the user terminal 200 of the user). .. An example of this management information is shown in FIG. The example of FIG. 4 is an example in which two types of billing devices 300, which are a coin kit (device for collecting money) and an electronic money reader, are connected to the image forming device 100. The management information of this example shows the terminal ID of the user who is currently using the billing device (“used terminal ID” in the figure) for each of the coin kit and the electronic money reader. In the illustrated example, the coin kit is being used by the user having the terminal ID “1”, but the electronic money reader is not being used (that is, “empty”). When a billing device use instruction arrives from the user terminal 200, the billing device control section 140 refers to this management information and responds to the instruction. When there are a plurality of charging devices 300 as in the example of FIG. 4, this response is information indicating which charging device 300 is available or information indicating that all charging devices 300 are unavailable. is there. When there are a plurality of available charging devices 300, the user selects which one of them is to be used at the user terminal 200, and notifies the charging device control unit 140 of the selection result. According to the notified selection result, the charging device control unit 140 changes the value of the “terminal ID in use” of the charging device 300 selected by the user in the management information of FIG. 4 from “none” to the terminal of the user terminal 200. Rewrite to ID.

Next, an example of the configuration of the user terminal 200 will be described. The user terminal 200 has a print application 210 and a terminal ID holding unit 220.

The terminal ID holding unit 220 holds the terminal ID of the user terminal 200. For example, a communication module or a SIM card included in the user terminal 200 is one example.

The print application 210 is an application program used to use the image forming apparatus 100 from the user terminal 200. The print application 210 includes functional modules of a job execution instruction unit 212, a job fee display unit 214, a billing device usage instruction unit 216, and a billing device status display unit 218.

The job execution instruction unit 212 transmits an instruction to execute a job such as printing to the image forming apparatus 100. For example, the user activates the print application 210 on the user terminal 200, and instructs the user interface of the print application 210 to print a document file stored in the user terminal 200 or content such as a web page on the Internet. And Then, the job execution instructing unit 212 causes the terminal ID in the terminal ID holding unit 220, the communication address (“terminal address”) of the user terminal 200 used for communication with the image forming apparatus 100, and the document to be printed. The job execution instruction data including the information (for example, the document file itself, the URL of the content on the Internet, etc.) that identifies the job is sent to the image forming apparatus 100.

The job fee display unit 214 displays the information of the required amount of money of the job notified from the image forming apparatus 100 (S212 in FIG. 6 described later) on the display of the user terminal 200.

The billing device usage instruction unit 216 sends a usage instruction requesting the usage right of the billing device 300 to the image forming apparatus 100. In this example, similarly to the operation of the image forming apparatus provided with the conventional coin-insertion type billing device, first, the user makes a prepayment (deposit) of a certain amount of money to the billing device 300 for a job such as printing. The image forming apparatus 100 is supposed to start the execution of the job (it should be noted that another job execution control may be performed when credit settlement such as a credit card is used). Therefore, the job execution instruction unit 212 does not start executing the job just by sending the job execution instruction to the image forming apparatus 100, and it is necessary to put a certain amount of money into the charging apparatus 300 to start the job execution. .. In the present embodiment, a UI (user interface) screen for the print application 210 to issue a billing device usage instruction after a job execution instruction is issued from the portable user terminal 200 to the image forming apparatus 100 by wireless connection or the like. Is displayed on the display of the user terminal 200. When the user gives an instruction to issue a billing device usage instruction to the UI screen (for example, a pressing operation of the displayed transmission button), the billing device usage instruction unit 216 causes the terminal ID holding unit 220 to store the terminal ID. A billing device utilization instruction including the above is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 100.

The billing device status display unit 218 displays the status of the billing device 300 responded to by the billing device usage instruction transmitted from the billing device usage instruction unit 216 from the billing device control unit 140 of the image forming apparatus 100. For example, if the billing device 300 is unavailable when the billing device use instruction is sent, the billing device control unit 140 notifies that the billing device 300 is currently unavailable. Therefore, the notified information is sent to the user terminal. It is displayed on the screen of 200. If the billing device 300 is available when the billing device use instruction is sent, the billing device control unit 140 sends a notification prompting the user to reserve the billing device 300 for the user and promptly insert money. The charging device status display unit 218 displays the notification on the display.

When a plurality of billing devices 300 are connected to the image forming apparatus 100 as in the example of FIG. 4, the billing device control unit 140 of the image forming device 100 responds to the billing device usage instruction by charging the plurality of billing devices. It returns a response indicating which of the devices 300 are available. In this case, the charging device status display unit 218 displays a list of available charging devices 300 according to the response. The user selects the charging device 300 to be used for this payment from the list. The selection result is sent from the charging device usage instructing unit 216 to the charging device control unit 140.

The flow of processing in the system of this embodiment will be described below. In the following example, in order to simplify the description, an example will be described in which only one charging device 300 is connected to the image forming apparatus 100. When there are a plurality of billing devices 300 connected to the image forming apparatus 100, which of the plurality of image forming devices 100 is available at the time when the billing device usage instruction is issued, in the procedure illustrated below. It is only necessary to add a step of notifying the user terminal 200 of whether or not the charging device is controlled by the charging device control unit 140, and a step of allowing the user to select the charging device 300 to be used from a plurality of available devices.

An example of a processing procedure of the image forming apparatus 100 when receiving a job execution instruction from the user terminal 200 will be described with reference to FIG.

The image forming apparatus 100 waits for a wireless communication connection from the user terminal 200 (S102). When the communication connection is made from the user terminal 200, the terminal ID sent from the print application 210 is acquired. Then, the acquired terminal ID is registered in the connected terminal list used by the image forming apparatus 100 to manage the connected user terminal 200 (S104). After that, the job control unit 110 determines whether or not a job execution instruction is received from the user terminal 200 (job execution instruction unit 212 of the print application 210) (S106). When the job execution instruction is received, the job control unit 110 registers the terminal ID, the terminal address, and the job information included in the instruction in the job management table 120 (see FIG. 2) in association with each other (S108). After that, the job control unit 110 returns to S106 and determines whether the job execution instruction for the next job is received. When the job execution instruction is not received in S106, the job control unit 110 determines whether the connection from the user terminal 200 has been disconnected (S110). If the connection has not been disconnected, the process returns to S106. When the connection is disconnected, the image forming apparatus 100 deletes the terminal ID of the user terminal 200 from the connection terminal list (S112), and ends the process.

Next, with reference to FIG. 6, an example of a processing procedure of the image forming apparatus 100 when receiving a billing device usage instruction from the user terminal 200 will be described.

The image forming apparatus 100 waits for a wireless communication connection from the user terminal 200 (S202). When the communication connection is made from the user terminal 200, the terminal ID sent from the print application 210 is acquired, and the acquired terminal ID is registered in the connected terminal list (S204). After that, the charging device control unit 140 determines whether or not the charging device usage instruction is received from the user terminal 200 (the charging device usage instruction unit 216 of the print application 210) (S206). If the charging device use instruction has not been received (No in S206, the determination result is No), it is determined whether or not the communication connection with the user terminal 200 has been disconnected (S220). If not, the process returns to S206. If disconnected, the terminal ID is deleted from the connected terminal list (S222), and the process ends.

On the other hand, when the charging device use instruction is received, the charging device control unit 140 refers to the usage flag to determine whether the charging device 300 is currently in use (S208). The usage flag is a flag indicating whether or not the charging device 300 is currently in use. Note that the management information illustrated in FIG. 4 may be used instead of the use flag. If it is determined in S208 that the charging device is in use, the charging device usage control unit 140 returns to the user terminal 200 a response including information on a screen indicating that the charging device 300 is in use (S210). In the user terminal 200 having received this response, the charging device status display unit 218 displays a screen indicating that the charging device 300 is in use on the display of the user terminal 200. The user who sees this screen waits for a while and then operates the print application 210 again to send a billing device usage instruction.

When it is determined in S208 that the charging device 300 is not currently used (that is, when the usage flag has a value indicating “unused”), the charging device control unit 140 instructs the user terminal 200 to transfer to the charging device 300. Returns a response including information on the instruction screen for instructing the payment of the fee (S212). At this time, the charging device control unit 140 sets the usage flag of the charging device 300 to “in use”, and the money to be inserted into the charging device 300 from now on (until the usage flag is reset to “unused”) , S204, and the user ID of the user terminal 200 having the terminal ID acquired in S204. The billing device control unit 140 creates an entry corresponding to the terminal ID in the billing management table 130 (not necessary if there is already an entry corresponding to the terminal ID). At this time, a screen indicating that the billing device 300 has been reserved for use on the display of the image forming device 100 (for example, "The billing device is currently reserved. The entered amount will be deposited to the reservation person. Message) is displayed. Further, at the time of performing the notification in S212, the charge calculation unit 112 of the job control unit 110 indicates the charge amount of the job that has not been started yet and is registered in the job management table 120 in association with the terminal ID. If the estimation has been completed, a fee input instruction screen displaying the estimated amount of money by the fee calculation unit 112 may be provided to the user terminal 200 in S212.

In the user terminal 200 that has received the response including the information of the fee input instruction screen from the image forming apparatus 100, the charging apparatus use instruction unit 216 displays the instruction screen on the display of the user terminal 200. The user who sees this screen goes to the charging device 300 and inputs money. If the estimated amount is displayed on the fee input instruction screen, the user may put the determined amount into the charging device 300 with reference to the estimated amount. If the estimated amount is not displayed, the page of the print data is displayed. It is sufficient to input the amount of money estimated by the user himself from the number, the number of copies to be printed, the printing conditions and the like. Note that the user inputs the estimated amount of money in the same operation as the payment device of the conventional image forming apparatus 100 installed in a convenience store or the like. The billing device 300 notifies the billing device control unit 140 of the amount of the inserted money. The billing device control unit 140 waits for the notification of the deposit amount from the billing device 300 (S212), and when the notification arrives, the deposit amount indicated by the notification is stored in the billing management table 130 and the terminal ID acquired in S204. Is added to the deposit balance of the entry corresponding to (S216).

When the user finishes inserting money, he/she presses the end button of the charging device 300. In response to this, the notification that the usage of the charging device 300 is completed is sent from the charging device 300 to the charging device control unit 140. Alternatively, when money is not inserted into charging device 300 for a predetermined time or more, notification that charging device 300 has been used is sent from charging device 300 to charging device control unit 140. The charging device control unit 140 waits for the user to pay the charge until receiving the notification that the use of the charging device 300 has ended (S218), and when receiving the notification of the end, the charging device control unit 140 recognizes the terminal ID recognized in S204. It is determined whether or not the communication connection with the user terminal 200 is disconnected (S220), and if not disconnected, the process returns to S206 and waits for an instruction to use the charging device from the user terminal 200 again (S206). If disconnected, the terminal ID is deleted from the connected terminal list (S222), and the process ends.

By the processing of FIG. 6 described above, the amount of money input by the user is recorded in the charge management table 130 in the image forming apparatus 100 in association with the terminal ID of the user terminal 200 of the user.

Next, with reference to FIG. 7, an example of a processing procedure executed by the job control unit 110 and the billing device control unit 140 when a new job becomes executable in the image forming apparatus 100 will be described.

When the job such as printing or copying that is being executed is completed, the job control unit 110 checks whether there is a job waiting to be executed in the job management table 120 (S302). If there is a job waiting to be executed, the terminal ID and job information of the job whose execution order is the first among them are acquired from the job management table 120 (S304). The fee calculation unit 112 of the job control unit 110 calculates an estimated fee required to execute the job from the acquired job information (S306). In this estimation, the image forming apparatus 100 executes according to various information included in the job information (for example, the number of pages of print data, the number of print copies, designation of single-sided/double-sided printing, designation of color/monochrome printing, etc.). Request a fee for processing such as printing. Note that depending on the type of page description language that describes the print data, the exact number of pages and whether it is a black-and-white page or a color page cannot be known until the end of the actual processing of the print data, and the exact amount of charges cannot be determined. There are cases. In S306, the page description language of the print data may be processed to the end to obtain an accurate charge amount, but this takes time. Therefore, in S306, the amount of the necessary fee may be estimated from the information (data amount, color/black and white designation, etc.) such as the print attribute accompanying the print data. Although the estimated amount of money is not an accurate amount, if the estimated amount of money exceeds the accurate amount, there will be no problem if a measure such as refund from the charging device 300 is taken. The estimated amount of the required charge calculated by the charge calculation unit 112 is passed to the charging device control unit 140 together with the job ID and the terminal ID in the job information acquired in S304.

The job control unit 110 acquires the deposit balance corresponding to the terminal ID acquired in S304 from the charging management table 130, and determines whether the balance amount is less than the required amount of the job estimated in S306 (S308). .. If the balance is equal to or more than the required amount (No in S308), the job control unit 110 starts execution of the job, and as the execution progresses (for example, every time one page is printed), the withdrawal instruction unit 114 , The charge for the executed portion is deducted from the deposit balance corresponding to the terminal ID (S314).

If it is determined in S308 that the deposit balance corresponding to the terminal ID is less than the required amount, the job control unit 110 acquires the communication address of the user terminal 200 from the job information acquired in S304 (S310). Then, a notification is sent to the communication address of a request for additional insertion of the difference between the estimated required amount and the deposit balance, that is, the shortage of charges (S312). Upon receiving this notification, the job fee display unit 214 of the user terminal 200 displays on the display of the user terminal 200 a message requesting additional charging of the shortage amount shown in the notification to the charging device 300. The user inputs the displayed shortage amount to the charging device 300. After S312, the process of the image forming apparatus 100 returns to S308, and when the user deposits money into the billing device 300, the deposited amount is added to the deposit balance of the entry of the user's terminal ID in the billing management table 130. .. When the deficiency has been input, the deposit balance becomes equal to or larger than the required amount for executing the job in S308, the execution of the job is started in S314, and the charge is deducted.

Next, with reference to FIG. 8, an example of a processing procedure of the image forming apparatus 100 when the deposit balance becomes insufficient during job execution will be described. If the charge amount for the job estimated in S306 of FIG. 7 is less than the amount actually required, the procedure of FIG. 8 is executed.

In the procedure of FIG. 8, if the balance is insufficient during the process of deducting the charge of the executed part from the deposit balance during job execution (for example, the charge of the executed part is larger than the balance), S402 The determination result of is Yes. In this case, the job control unit 110 temporarily presents the execution of the job (S404), and acquires the terminal ID and the terminal address corresponding to the job ID of the job from the job management table 120 (S406). Further, the charge calculation unit 112 of the job control unit 110 calculates the amount of charge required to execute the remaining part of the job (S408). From the start of the job execution until the shortage of the deposit balance is detected, the processing of the page description language of the job has progressed to a considerable degree (even for pages that have already been printed, up to a certain number of pages). Since the processing of the page description language has been completed up to the last page in some cases), in S408, the fee required for the rest of the job can be estimated with considerably high accuracy. After this estimation, a notice of requesting additional input of the estimated required amount is transmitted to the terminal address obtained in S310 (S410). Upon receiving the request notification, the job charge display unit 214 of the user terminal 200 displays on the display of the user terminal 200 a message requesting additional charging of the charge indicated in the notification to the charging device 300. When the user puts the fee shown in this display into the billing device 300, the deposit balance of the user terminal 200 in the billing management table 130 becomes the required amount or more (the determination result in S412 is No). As a result, the job control unit 110 starts executing the job and deducts the charge (S414).

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above. In the present embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 recognizes the terminal ID of the user terminal 200 of the communication partner, and thereby recognizes from which terminal ID the job execution instruction and the billing apparatus use instruction come. As a result, the job that is the target of the job execution instruction and the amount of money that has been put into the charging device 300 that has been permitted to use according to the charging device usage instruction are associated with each other via the terminal ID. The fee for executing the job is deducted from the deposit amount (deposit balance) associated with the terminal ID corresponding to the job. This series of flow is automatically executed between the image forming apparatus 100 and the user terminal 200, and the user does not need to explicitly perform the operation of associating the payment amount with the job.

In the above example, the input information (the balance of the amount of money input by the user or the like) is recorded in association with the terminal ID of the user terminal 200, but this is only an example.

For example, instead of the terminal ID, the user ID of the user who is using the user terminal 200 may be used. In this case, the job execution instruction unit 212 of the print application 210 acquires the user ID from the operating system or the like of the user terminal 200, and sends the job execution instruction data including the user ID to the image forming apparatus 100. The charging device usage instruction unit 216 sends a charging device usage instruction including the user ID (instead of the terminal ID), and the image forming apparatus 100 switches from the user to the charging device at the timing corresponding to the charging device usage instruction. The entered amount of money is added to the balance corresponding to the user ID in S216 of FIG. When the image forming apparatus 100 executes a job corresponding to the stored job execution instruction data, the image forming apparatus 100 charges the job from the balance recorded in association with the user ID included in the job execution instruction data. Withdraw.

Further, instead of the terminal ID and the user ID, other identification information such as the identification information (job ID) of the job to be printed may be used. The identification information used (1) does not overlap among a plurality of user terminals 200 that simultaneously use one image forming apparatus 100, and (2) one user terminal 200 prints once. It suffices that the same identification information is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 100 in a series of processes such as the transmission of job execution instruction data for, and the charging, and so on. By operating the user terminal 200 so as to satisfy the above condition (2), the charge entered by the user is associated with the job issued by the user. The terminal ID is the most easily understood example that satisfies the above condition (1). The user ID and the job ID can also be set so as to satisfy the above condition (1).

The information processing mechanism of the image forming apparatus 100 and the user terminal 200 illustrated above is realized by causing a general-purpose computer to execute a program representing the processing of each functional module of the apparatus. Here, the computer is, for example, as a hardware, a microprocessor such as a CPU, a memory (primary storage) such as a random access memory (RAM) and a read-only memory (ROM), an HDD controller for controlling an HDD (hard disk drive), Various I/O (input/output) interfaces, a network interface for controlling connection with a network such as a local area network, and the like have a circuit configuration connected via a bus, for example. In addition, to the bus, for example, through a I/O interface, a disk drive for reading and/or writing a portable disk recording medium such as a CD or a DVD, a portable nonvolatile recording of various standards such as a flash memory. A memory reader/writer for reading and/or writing to the medium may be connected. The program in which the processing content of each functional module illustrated above is described is stored in a fixed storage device such as a hard disk drive via a recording medium such as a CD or a DVD or via a communication means such as a network, and is stored in a computer. Installed. The program stored in the fixed storage device is read into the RAM and executed by a microprocessor such as a CPU, whereby the functional module group illustrated above is realized.

<Addendum>
The technology disclosed in this specification can also be understood as the configuration described below.
(Structure 1)
Acquisition means for acquiring a process execution instruction including identification information and process information indicating a process to be executed from the user terminal;
When receiving a billing instruction containing the identification information from the user terminal, a deposit amount recording means for recording the amount deposited in the billing device in response to the billing instruction in association with the identification information.
Amount recorded by the input amount recording unit in association with the identification when the process according to the process information included in the process execution instruction acquired by the acquisition unit is performed is associated with the identification information included in the process execution instruction. Charging processing means for processing as charging for
An image forming apparatus including.

100 image forming apparatus, 110 job control unit, 112 fee calculation unit, 114 withdrawal instruction unit, 120 job management table, 130 billing management table, 140 billing device control unit, 200 user terminal, 210 print application, 212 job execution instruction unit, 214 job charge display unit, 216 billing device usage instruction unit, 218 billing device status display unit, 220 terminal ID holding unit, 300 billing device.

Claims (4)

In response to a usage instruction from the user terminal requesting the usage of the charging device and including the identification information, if the charging device is available, the charging device is associated with the identification information and is set to the in-use state. and associating means for the charging device Ru is stored in association with storing means and the identification information poured information about the entered amount to the charging device while in the in-use condition,
Payment of a charge for the process executed according to a process execution instruction including the identification information and process information indicating a process to be executed from the user terminal is stored in the storage unit in association with the identification information. a charging processing means for receiving from the amount indicated by the put information there are,
Processing equipment including. The processing information includes print information indicating a document to be printed and print attributes,
Furthermore,
Calculation means for calculating a charge amount when the document is printed according to the print attribute based on the print information;
Charging amount notifying means for notifying the user terminal of the calculated charging amount,
The processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: When the amount of money indicated by the input information associated with the identification information of the process execution instruction is insufficient for the charge amount for the process while the process of the process execution instruction is being executed. , The execution of the process is temporarily stopped, the user terminal is instructed to input the additional amount of money, and when the additional amount of money is input to the billing device in response to this instruction, it is temporarily stopped. Control means for performing control to restart the processing,
The processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: Computer,
In response to a usage instruction from the user terminal requesting the usage of the charging device and including the identification information, if the charging device is available, the charging device is associated with the identification information and is set to the in-use state. association means for the charging device Ru is stored in association with storing means and the identification information poured information about the entered amount to the charging device while in the in-use condition,
Payment of a charge for the process executed according to a process execution instruction including the identification information and process information indicating a process to be executed from the user terminal is stored in the storage unit in association with the identification information. accounting processing means for receiving from the amount indicated by the put information there are,
Program to function as.

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