JP2001117737A - Image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming system capable of limiting the number of printing sheets allowed to be printed in each user and printing functions allowed to be used in each user as to an image forming system capable of executing printing without passing a printing server. SOLUTION: A header information analysis part 207 analyzes header information prepared by a printer driver 204 and a printing permission judgment part 208 compares the analyzed header information with information stored in printing limitation information 210. In the case of printing by a user permitted to execute printing as a result of the comparison, the judgment part 208 allows a ticket generation part 209 to generate a ticket certifying the user permitted to execute printing. A client PC 200 transmits the ticket to a printer 201 together with data. The printer 201 inspects the authenticity of the ticket on the basis of a ticket number generated by a ticket number generation part 212. The printer 201 prints out only data having a regular ticket.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an image forming system, and more particularly to an image forming system including a plurality of image processing apparatuses connected to a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there is a printer device that limits users who can perform printing in a network environment having the printer device.

[0003] A printer connected to a network environment is used by all client PCs connected to the network environment. However, when a client PC that is far from the printer uses the printer, the client PC that is close to the printer cannot use the printer. Therefore, as described above, it is necessary for the printer device connected to the network to restrict users who can perform printing. For this reason, there is a printer that determines whether a printer device is a user who can perform printing and allows only a user who can perform printing to perform printing.

However, according to this, it has been pointed out that the user cannot limit the number of sheets that can be printed using all the printer devices on the network. In some cases, a user who cannot use the printer device eavesdrops on information of a user who can use the printer device and uses the printer device.

As a prior art relating to a printing system for limiting the number of printable sheets for each user, there is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-161823.

According to this conventional technique, the print history of a user is stored in a database on a print server, and the number of prints of each user is limited or the printing function is limited based on the stored information.

[0007]

However, according to the above prior art, printing cannot be restricted unless print data is transmitted via a print server. In recent years, network printers that directly transfer print data to a printer device and perform printing without using a print server have been increasing. Therefore, in a network environment having such a network printer, the above-described conventional technology cannot limit the number of print sheets that can be printed for each user and cannot limit the printing function.

[0008] Further, according to the above-mentioned prior art, there is a problem that a user who cannot use a printer device eavesdrops on information of a user who can use the printer device and uses the printer device. Does not show any countermeasures.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in an image forming system that performs printing without going through a print server, the number of printable sheets and the available printing functions for each user are limited. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming system.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an image forming system for preventing information of a user who can use a printer device from being eavesdropped.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a plurality of image forming apparatuses are provided.
In an image forming system having a plurality of client PCs and an image forming restriction server, when transmitting data to the image forming apparatus, the client PC is a user permitted to use the image forming apparatus by the image forming restriction server. A ticket issuance requesting unit for requesting issuance of a ticket certifying that the ticket is issued, and a ticket transmitting unit for transmitting a ticket when transmitting data to the image forming apparatus. User determining means for determining whether the transmitting user is a user who is permitted to use the image forming apparatus,
A ticket issuing unit that issues a ticket to the client PC when the user who transmitted the ticket issuing request unit is a user who is permitted to use the image forming apparatus, The image forming apparatus forms an image of data only when a ticket is transmitted from a client PC.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the system of the first aspect, the image formation restriction server further includes an encryption unit for encrypting the ticket and transferring the encrypted ticket to the client PC. And decrypting means for decrypting the ticket encrypted by the decrypting means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the system of the second aspect, the image formation restriction server includes the generated random number in the ticket.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the system according to any one of the first to third aspects, the user determining means includes a predetermined number of sheets capable of forming an image for each user, The number of sheets required for image formation is compared, and when the number of sheets required for image formation of data is smaller than a predetermined number of sheets capable of forming an image, use of the image forming apparatus is permitted. It is characterized in that the user is determined to be a user who is in the service.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the system according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the user judging means permits a printing function used for printing data and use for each user. The print functions used for printing data are compared with each other, and if the print function used to print data is a print function permitted to the user, it is determined that the user is permitted to use the image forming apparatus. It is characterized by being.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the system according to the fourth aspect, the predetermined number of sheets is obtained by subtracting the number of sheets required for image formation of data each time the image forming apparatus forms an image. It is characterized by having.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the system according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the ticket issuing means includes in the ticket a ticket number incremented by one each time a ticket is issued. , The image forming apparatus,
It is characterized in that image formation of data having a ticket number for which image formation has already been performed is not performed.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the system according to the seventh aspect, the image forming apparatus divides the ticket number by a predetermined number n to form a quotient s and a remainder x
And stores the quotient s as s ′ for each remainder x. When data is input, the ticket number is divided by a predetermined number n, and s ′ corresponding to the obtained remainder x and quotient s Are compared, and when the quotient s is larger, image formation of data is performed.

[0019]

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

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. According to FIG. 1, the printing system includes client PCs 100 and 101, a print restriction server 102, and printers 103 and 104.

The client PCs 100 and 101 send a print request to the printer 103 or 104. The client PCs 100 and 101 are
Request to issue a ticket necessary for printing.

The print restriction server 102 transmits the print request to the client P
When the above-mentioned ticket issuance request is received from C100 or client PC 101, this client P
It is determined whether the client PC 101 is a client PC capable of printing. If the result of the determination is that the client PC can print, the print restriction server 102 issues a ticket to the client PC.

The printers 103 and 104 receive a print request from the client PC 100 or 101. The printers 103 and 104 refer to the ticket and print if the print data is transmitted from a printable client PC.

The operation of the printing system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, 4, and 5.

The user requests the printer driver 204 to print data from the user application 203 on the client PC 200.

The printer driver 204 creates print data and header information from the data. This header information includes a printer ID, a user I
D, the number of sheets of printing paper, and printing conditions are designated. The printer ID is an ID of the printer 201 that prints the print data. The user ID is the ID of a user who has issued a print request from the user application 203. The printing conditions are
Specify printing conditions for printing print data on printing paper. The printing conditions include conditions regarding whether or not to perform duplex printing,
These are conditions regarding whether or not to perform aggregate printing and conditions regarding the type of printing paper.

The printer driver 204 transmits this header information to the print restriction server 202 via the network driver 205 of the client PC 200. At this time, the printer driver 204
2 is required to issue a ticket.

The header information analysis unit 207 in the print restriction server 202 analyzes the header information received via the network driver 206. The print permission determination unit 208
The header information analyzed by the header information analysis unit 207 is compared with the print restriction information 210. Print permission judgment unit 2
08 determines whether to permit printing of the print data based on the determination result.

The ticket generation unit 209 generates a ticket when the print permission determination unit 208 permits printing of the print data. As shown in FIG. 4, this ticket includes a printer ID in the header transmitted from the client PC 200 and a ticket number generated by the ticket number generation unit 212.

The ticket number generating section 212 generates a ticket number in accordance with an instruction from the ticket generating section 209. When the ticket number generation unit 212 receives a ticket number generation instruction from the ticket generation unit 209 for the first time, the ticket number generation unit 212 sets the ticket number to 0 and transmits the ticket number to the ticket generation unit 209. The ticket number generation unit 212
9 each time an instruction for generating a ticket number is received from the ticket generating unit 2 using the incremented value as a ticket number.
09. The ticket number generation unit 212 holds the generated ticket number in a nonvolatile storage area.

The ticket generation unit 209 transmits the ticket to the client P via the network driver 206.
Send to C200.

The printer driver 204 of the client PC 200 creates the print request shown in FIG. 5 from the ticket received via the network driver 205, the print data created by the printer driver 204, and the header information. The print request is transmitted to the printer 201 via the network driver 205.

The ticket inspection unit 214 in the printer 201
Determines whether the printer ID in the received print request matches the ID of the printer 201. If the printer ID in the print request does not match the ID of the printer 201, the ticket inspection unit 214 deletes the print request. As a result, data whose printer IDs do not match will not be printed.

The ticket inspection unit 214 is provided with the printer I
When D matches, it is checked whether the same number as the ticket number in the print request is stored in the ticket number storage unit 216.

The ticket number storage section 216 holds the ticket number of the print request printed by the printer 201. Therefore, when the same ticket number as the ticket number of the print request already printed by the printer 215 is transmitted, it can be determined that the ticket number is forged. Therefore, the ticket inspection unit 21
No. 4 deletes the transmitted print request when the same ticket number as the transmitted ticket number is stored in the ticket number storage unit. As a result, the data with the forged ticket number is not printed.

When the same ticket number as the transmitted ticket number is not present in the ticket number storage unit 216, the print data in the transmitted print request is printed on the printing paper based on the header information. Is done.

If the print permission judging unit 208 does not permit the printing of the print data, the ticket generating unit 209 informs that the ticket could not be issued.
Send to client PC.

When the printer driver 204 of the client PC 201 receives, via the network driver 205, that the ticket could not be issued, it deletes the created print data and header information. As a result, data for which a ticket has not been generated is not printed.

According to the above embodiment, even in an image forming system that directly transmits print data to a printer without going through a print server, it is possible to restrict printing for each user.

A first example in which the print permission determining unit according to the embodiment of the present invention determines whether to permit printing of print data will be described with reference to FIG.

The user sets a user ID for permitting printing of print data using the delivery restriction information setting unit 211. This setting is held in the print restriction information 210. The print permission determination unit 208 causes the ticket generation unit 209 to generate a ticket only when the user ID in the header information transmitted from the client PC 200 matches the user ID held in the print restriction information 210.

As a result, only the person having the user ID set in advance from the delivery restriction information setting section 211 can print the print data.

In the above setting, a printer ID corresponding to the user ID may be set in addition to the user ID. According to this, the user cannot print the print data without using a predetermined printer.

When a printer ID other than a printer that is permitted to be used is specified, the print permission determination unit 208 sends the client PC 200 the name of the printer that the user is permitted to use. You may make it notify. This allows the user to check which printers are permitted to use.

It should be noted that a user ID that does not permit printing of print data may be set instead of the user ID that permits printing of print data. According to this,
Only the user who performs the unauthorized access can reject the printing of the print data. In addition to the user ID, a printer ID may be set for each user ID. According to this, it is possible to set an unusable printer for each user.

A second example in which the print permission determining unit according to the embodiment of the present invention determines whether to permit printing of print data will be described with reference to FIG.

The user sets the user ID for permitting printing of the print data and the number of print sheets by using the transfer restriction information setting section 211. This setting corresponds to the print restriction information 210
Is held. The print permission determining unit 208 determines the user I in the header information transmitted from the client PC 200.
It is determined whether D matches the set user ID.

If the user IDs do not match, the print permission determining unit 208 causes the ticket generating unit 209 to transmit to the client PC 200 that no ticket is to be generated.

If the user IDs match, the print permission determining unit 208 reads the number of print sheets corresponding to the user ID from the print restriction information 210. The print permission determination unit 208
The number of printed sheets in the header information is compared with the number of printed sheets read from the print restriction information 210.

The number of printed sheets for each user ID set by the transfer restriction information setting section 211 is the number of sheets that can be printed for each user ID. Print permission determination unit 208
Causes the ticket generation unit 209 to generate a ticket when the number of print papers of the print data specified by the header information is smaller than the number of print papers allocated to the user ID. If the number of print sheets of the print data specified by the header information is larger than the number of print sheets assigned to the user ID, the print permission determination unit 208
9 that the client PC cannot generate a ticket
200.

When the ticket generation unit 209 generates a ticket, the print permission determination unit 208
The value of the number of printed sheets in the header information is subtracted from the number of printed sheets corresponding to the user ID stored in 0.

According to the second embodiment, it is possible to limit the number of sheets that can be printed for each user.

Note that the number of print sheets for each user ID set in the print restriction information 210 is
The number of print sheets set in the delivery restriction information setting unit 211 may be reset. According to this, for example, it is possible to set the number of print sheets that can be printed every day.

If the number of print papers of the print data specified by the header information is larger than the number of print papers assigned to the user ID, the print permission determining unit 208
The ticket generation unit 209 may transmit to the client PC tickets that can be printed only for the number of print sheets assigned to the user ID.

If the number of print papers of the print data specified by the header information is larger than the number of print papers assigned to the user ID, the print permission determining unit 208
The client PC 200 may be notified of the number of print sheets assigned to the user ID in the print restriction information 210. According to this, the user can check the number of print sheets that can be printed.

It should be noted that a printer ID may be set in addition to the setting of the user ID and the number of print sheets from the delivery restriction information setting section 211. According to this, it is possible to set the number of printable sheets for each printer ID. In addition, if the number of printed sheets of the header information in the printer ID specified by the header information is larger than the number of printed sheets permitted by the printer corresponding to the printer ID specified by the header information, the print permission is set. The determining unit 208 determines that the client PC 200
May be notified of the number of print sheets for each printer permitted by the user ID. According to this, the user can know a printer that can print this data.

A third example in which the print permission determining unit according to the embodiment of the present invention determines whether to permit printing of print data will be described with reference to FIG.

The user uses the delivery restriction information setting unit 211 to set a user ID for permitting printing and a user ID.
A print function that is permitted to be used is set according to D. This setting is held in the print restriction information 210.

The print permission determining unit 208 determines whether the user ID in the header information matches the user ID included in the print restriction information 210.

The print permission judging unit 208 stores the user ID
Do not match, the ticket generation unit 209 is transmitted to the client PC 200 indicating that the ticket has not been generated.

The print permission judging section 208 stores the user ID
Are matched, the print function included in the print condition in the header information is compared with the print function permitted to the user held in the print restriction information 210.

When the print function specified in the header information and the print function permitted to the user set in the print restriction information 210 match, the print permission determination unit 208 causes the ticket generation unit 209 to generate a ticket. . If the print function specified in the header information and the print function permitted to the user set in the print restriction information 210 do not match, the print permission determination unit 208
The client PC 200 is informed that the ticket could not be generated.

According to the third embodiment, it is possible to set a print function that can be used for each user. For example, it is possible to set a user who can use only the monochrome printing function.

The user ID and the user ID
The printer ID may be set in addition to the function information corresponding to. According to this, it is possible to set a function that can be used by the user for each printer on the network.

The operation of the printer according to the embodiment of the present invention for judging the coincidence of the ticket numbers will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 6, 7 and 9.

In the initial state, the printer 201 detects whether a print request has been received from the client PC 200 (step S900). When a print request has not been received from the client PC 200 (step S900 / N
O), the printer 201 returns to the initial state.

The printer 201 is connected to the client PC 200
(Step S900 / YE)
S), the ticket inspection unit 214 analyzes the print request (step S901).

The ticket inspection unit 214 compares the printer ID included in the header information in the print request with the ID of the printer 201 (step S902). When a print request having a ticket number assigned to another printer is transmitted to the printer 201, the ticket inspection unit 214
It is not possible to judge the double use of the ticket only by comparing the ticket numbers. Therefore, the double use of the ticket is eliminated by comparing the printer ID.

As a result of the comparison of the printer ID, the printer ID
Do not match (step S902 / NO), the ticket inspecting unit 214 deletes the print request and proceeds to step S902.
Return to the initial state of 900. The same applies to the case where the ticket is not included in the transferred print request.

The ticket inspection unit 214 divides the transmitted ticket number by a predetermined number n, and calculates a quotient s and a remainder x
Ask for. (Step S903)

The ticket inspection section 214 reads the value s ′ held in the x-th area of the ticket number storage section 216. The ticket inspection unit 214 determines whether the quotient s obtained by dividing the ticket number by n is greater than the value s ′ held in the x-th area of the ticket number storage unit 216 (step S904).

The ticket number storage unit 216 has a storage area for storing n integers. Ticket number storage unit 216
Is the quotient obtained by dividing the ticket number for which printing was performed by n
Is stored in the x-th storage area having the same value as the remainder x. Therefore, a large quotient s is stored in the storage area of the ticket number storage unit 216 every time a new print request is executed.

Therefore, when the quotient s obtained from the ticket number of the print request is equal to or smaller than the value s ′ stored in the x-th storage area of the ticket number storage unit 216, the print request of the print request that has already been executed is The ticket number has a smaller value than the ticket number. Therefore, step S90
In 4, the ticket inspection unit 214 can determine whether the quotient s is greater than s', thereby determining whether the ticket number of the print request is the latest number.

As a result of the above determination, when the quotient s obtained by dividing the ticket number by n is larger than the value s ′ held in the x-th area of the ticket number storage unit 216 (step S904 / YES) ), And writes this quotient s into the x-th storage area of the ticket number storage unit 216 (step S905).

The print execution unit 215 prints the print data according to the print conditions specified in the header information. After the printing of the print data is completed, the printer 201 proceeds to step S9.
Return to the initial state of 00.

When the quotient s obtained by dividing the ticket number by n is equal to or smaller than the value s ′ held in the x-th area of the ticket number storage unit 216 (step S904 / N).
O), the ticket inspection unit 214 deletes the print request.
After deleting the print request, the printer 201 proceeds to step S900.
Return to the initial state.

FIG. 6 illustrates a case where the ticket number storage unit 216 has five storage areas. As shown in FIG. 6A, s ′ is recorded as 1, 1, 0, 0, 0 from the left. FIG. 6 shows a region where x is 0, a region of 1, a region of 2, a region of 3, a region of 4, and a region of x from the left.

In the area where x is 1 shown in FIG.
Is recorded as 1. Accordingly, the ticket number is divided by the number 5 of the storage areas, and the remainder that is 1 indicates that the largest quotient is 1. That is, this printer 201
Indicates that the print data having the ticket of the ticket number 6 has been printed.

When the ticket of the ticket number 7 is transmitted to the printer 201, the ticket inspection unit 214
Divides the ticket number 7 by the number 5 of storage areas. This quotient
Is 1 and the remainder x is 2.

The ticket checking unit 214 checks the number s ′ stored in the area of x = 2 in the storage area of the ticket number storage unit 216. As shown in FIG. 6A, s ′ is stored as 0 in an area where x is 2 in the storage area.

The quotient s obtained by dividing the ticket number by the number 5 of the storage area is larger than s ′ stored in the x-th storage area of the ticket number storage unit 216. Therefore, it can be determined that the ticket number 7 is the latest ticket number. Therefore, the ticket inspection unit 21
No. 4 causes the print execution unit 215 to execute printing.

After the print execution unit 215 executes printing,
The ticket inspection unit 214 stores the number of the ticket that has been printed. As described above, the quotient obtained by dividing the ticket number 7 by the number of storage areas 5 is 1 and the remainder is 2, so that FIG.
As shown in (b), the second area of the ticket number storage is rewritten as 1.

FIG. 7 illustrates a case where the ticket number storage unit 216 has five storage areas. In FIG. 7, s ′ is recorded as 1, 1, 1, 0, 0 from the left as in FIG. FIG. 7 shows the region where x is 0, the region of 1, the region of 2, the region of 3, the region of 4, and the region of x from the left similarly to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7, the area where x is 2 is s ′
Is recorded as 1. Therefore, FIG. 7 shows that the quotient s divided by the number 5 of the storage area is 1 and the print data having the ticket number of 2 is printed. That is, it indicates that the print data having the ticket number 7 has been printed.

When the ticket of the ticket number 7 is transmitted to the printer 201, the ticket inspection unit 214
Divides the ticket number 7 by the number 5 of storage areas. This quotient
Is 1 and the remainder x is 2.

The ticket checking section 214 checks the number s ′ stored in the area where x is 2 in the storage area of the ticket number storage section 216. As shown in FIG. 6A, s ′ is stored as 1 in an area where x is 2 in the storage area.

Therefore, s' stored in the x-th storage area of the ticket number storage unit 216 is equal to quotient s obtained by dividing the ticket number by the number 5 of storage areas. Therefore, it is determined that the ticket number 7 is not the latest ticket number.

The ticket inspection section 214 deletes the print request and does not print the print data. As a result, the print request is not executed by the forged ticket and the copied ticket.

According to the above-described embodiment, it is possible to determine whether the ticket number is the latest one without the ticket number storage unit 216 holding all the ticket numbers printed so far. . Therefore, the ticket number storage unit 216 only needs to have a limited storage area.

The storage area may have a predetermined width. A plurality of client PCs are connected to this image forming system. When these client PCs issue a ticket issuance request at the same time, n or more tickets may be generated. At this time, a print request with a small ticket number may be input to the printer after a print request with a large ticket number. In this case, a print request having a small ticket number cannot be printed in spite of having a formal ticket. Therefore, such a situation can be prevented by giving the storage area a predetermined width.

The operation of the print restriction server that encrypts a ticket in the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7.

The header information analyzer 207 in the print restriction server 202 determines whether a ticket issuance request has been received (step S800).

The header information analysis unit 207 determines that the ticket issuance request has not been received (step S800 / N
O), returning to the initial state of step S800.

When the header information analysis unit 207 in the print restriction server 202 receives the ticket issuance request (step S800 / YES), it analyzes the header information received via the network driver 206 (step S80).
1). The print permission judging unit 208 includes the header information analyzing unit 20
7 and the print restriction information 210
Compare. The print permission determining unit 208 determines whether to permit printing of the print data based on the determination result.

The print permission determining unit 208 determines that the user ID analyzed by the header information analyzing unit is
It is determined whether it matches the user ID registered in (step S802).

If the user IDs do not match (step S802 / NO), the print permission determining unit 208 causes the ticket generating unit 209 to transmit to the client PC 200 that a ticket cannot be generated. After this transmission, the image forming system ends the processing.

If the user IDs match (step S8)
02 / YES), it is determined whether or not the number of print sheets assigned to the user registered in the print restriction information 210 is larger than the number of print sheets in the header information analyzed by the header information analysis unit 207 (step S803).

The number of prints assigned to the user registered in the print restriction information 210 is determined by the header information analysis unit 2
If the number is smaller than the number of prints of the header information analyzed in step 07 (NO in step S803), the print permission determination unit 2
08 causes the ticket generation unit 209 to transmit to the client PC 200 that the ticket cannot be generated. After this transmission, the image forming system ends the processing.

The number of prints assigned to the user registered in the print restriction information 210 is determined by the header information analysis unit 2
If the number is equal to or larger than the number of prints of the header information analyzed in step S07 (YES in step S803), the print restriction information 2
The number of print papers described in the header information is subtracted from the number of print papers allocated to the user registered in No. 10 and this number is written back to the print restriction information 210 (step S80).
4).

The ticket number generator 212 generates a ticket number according to the instruction from the ticket generator 209 (step S806). The ticket number generation unit 212
When a ticket number generation instruction is received from the ticket generation unit 209 for the first time, the ticket number is set to 0 and transmitted to the ticket generation unit 209. Each time the ticket number generation unit 212 receives a ticket number generation instruction from the ticket generation unit 209, it transmits the incremented value to the ticket generation unit 209 as a ticket number. The ticket number generation unit 212 holds the generated ticket number in a nonvolatile storage area.

The network driver 206 encrypts the generated ticket (step S807). As this encryption method, a public key encryption method or a common key encryption method is used.

The public key encryption system is one of the systems for encrypting data, and is a system for encrypting and decrypting information using two values called a secret key and a public key. Rivest-Shamir-Adleman scheme as public key encryption
(RSA). In the RSA, encryption and decryption are achieved by performing a modular exponentiation operation.

[0103] The common key cryptosystem is also called a common key cryptosystem, in which the key to be encrypted and the key to be decrypted are the same, and both the sender and the receiver are secret. As a common key encryption method, there is a data encryption standard (DES). DES performs encryption by repeating a process combining transposition and substitution for 16 steps.

The ticket generation unit 209 transmits the ticket to the client P via the network driver 206.
It transmits to C200 (step S808).

According to the above embodiment, since the ticket is encrypted and transmitted to the client PC, it is possible to prevent eavesdropping by an unauthorized user.

The ticket generation unit 209 may include a random number in the ticket. According to this,
The ticket is encrypted after including the random number. Therefore, even if the tickets include the same information, a ticket configured with a different value is transferred on the network. Therefore, it is possible to prevent forgery or falsification of the ticket by an unauthorized user.

[0107]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a client PC in an image forming system having a plurality of image forming apparatuses, a plurality of client PCs, and an image forming restriction server. When sending data to the image forming apparatus, ticket issuing request means for requesting the image forming restriction server to issue a ticket certifying that the user is permitted to use the image forming apparatus, When transmitting data to the forming apparatus, the print restricting server includes a ticket transmitting unit that transmits a ticket, and the user who transmits the ticket issuing request unit is a user who is permitted to use the image forming apparatus. The user determining means for determining whether or not there is a user, and the user who transmitted the ticket issuing request means, And a ticket issuing unit for issuing a ticket to the client PC when the user is permitted to use the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus transmits the data only when the ticket is transmitted from the client PC. By performing the image formation described above, it is possible to limit the users who can print in an image forming system that performs printing without going through the print server.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the system of the first aspect, the image formation restriction server further includes an encryption unit for encrypting the ticket and transferring the encrypted ticket to the client PC. In addition, by further providing a decryption unit for decrypting the ticket encrypted by the encryption unit, it is possible to prevent an unauthorized user from eavesdropping on the ticket.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in the system according to the second aspect, the image formation restriction server includes the generated random number in the ticket, thereby preventing forgery or falsification of the ticket by an unauthorized user. Can be prevented.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the system according to any one of the first to third aspects, the user judging means determines the predetermined number of sheets that can form an image for each user. The number of sheets required for image formation of data is compared, and when the number of sheets required for image formation of data is smaller than a predetermined number of sheets capable of forming an image, the image forming apparatus can be used. By determining that the user is an authorized user, it is possible to limit the number of print sheets that can be printed for each user in an image forming system that performs printing without using a print server.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the system according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the user judging means includes a printing function used for printing data and a printing function used for each user. Compare the allowed printing features,
When the print function used to print data is a print function permitted by the user, the print server determines that the user is permitted to use the image forming apparatus. In an image forming system that performs printing without the use of a user, it is possible to set a print function that can be used for each user.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, in the system according to the fourth aspect, each time the image forming apparatus forms an image, the number of sheets required for forming an image of data is subtracted from the predetermined number of sheets. Accordingly, in an image forming system that performs printing without going through a print server, it is possible to limit the number of print sheets that can be printed for each user.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the system according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the ticket issuing means includes in the ticket a ticket number incremented by one each time a ticket is issued. Since the image forming apparatus does not form an image of data having a ticket number for which an image has already been formed, it is possible to prevent a ticket used once from being used twice. become.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the system of the seventh aspect, the image forming apparatus divides the ticket number by a predetermined number n to obtain a quotient s and a remainder x when an image is formed on the data. The quotient s is stored as s 'for each remainder x. When data is input, the ticket number is divided by a predetermined number n, and the quotient s is compared with the s' corresponding to the obtained remainder x. However, when the quotient s is larger, the image of the data is formed, so that it is possible to prevent the ticket used once from being used twice.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a printing system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of header information according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a ticket according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print request according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a first diagram illustrating a storage area for storing a ticket number according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a second diagram illustrating a storage area for storing a ticket number according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the printing system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of verifying a ticket number according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100, 101, 200 Client PC 102, 202 Print restriction server 103, 104, 201 Printer 203 User application 204 Printer driver 205, 206, 213 Network driver 207 Header information analysis unit 208 Print permission determination unit 209 Ticket generation unit 210 Print restriction information 211 Delivery restriction information setting unit 212 Ticket number generation unit 214 Ticket inspection unit 215 Print execution unit 216 Ticket number storage unit

Claims (8)

[Claims] In an image forming system having a plurality of image forming apparatuses, a plurality of client PCs, and an image forming restriction server, the client PC transmits data to the image forming apparatus by the image forming restriction server. A ticket issuance requesting unit for requesting issuance of a ticket certifying that the user is permitted to use the image forming apparatus; and transmitting the ticket when transmitting the data to the image forming apparatus. A ticket transmission unit, wherein the print restriction server includes a user determination unit configured to determine whether a user who has transmitted the ticket issuance request unit is a user who is permitted to use the image forming apparatus. The user who transmitted the ticket issuance request means uses the image forming apparatus. A ticket issuance unit that issues a ticket to the client PC when the user is permitted to perform the operation. The image forming apparatus is configured to transmit the ticket only when the ticket is transmitted from the client PC. Forming an image of the data. 2. The image forming restriction server further includes an encrypting unit that encrypts the ticket and transfers the encrypted ticket to a client PC, wherein the image forming apparatus encrypts the ticket encrypted by the encrypting unit. 2. The image forming system according to claim 1, further comprising a decoding unit for decoding. 3. The image forming system according to claim 2, wherein the image formation restriction server includes a generated random number in the ticket. 4. The user judging means compares a predetermined number of sheets on which image formation can be performed for each user with a number of sheets required for image formation of data, and determines a predetermined number of sheets on which image formation can be performed. And determining that the user is permitted to use the image forming apparatus when the number of sheets required for forming the image of the data is smaller than the number of sheets. 1 to 3
The image forming system according to claim 1. 5. The user determining unit compares a print function used to print data with a print function permitted to be used for each user, and determines whether the print function used to print the data is: 5. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the printing function is permitted by the user, the user is determined to be a user permitted to use the image forming apparatus. 3. The image forming system according to 1. 6. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined number of sheets is obtained by subtracting the number of sheets required for image formation of the data each time the image forming apparatus forms an image. Image forming system. 7. The ticket issuance means includes, in the ticket, a ticket number incremented by one each time the ticket is issued, and the image forming apparatus stores data having the ticket number for which image formation has already been performed. The image forming system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the image forming is not performed. 8. The image forming apparatus, when forming the image of the data, divides the ticket number by a predetermined number n to obtain a quotient s and a remainder x, and calculates a quotient s for each remainder x as s ′.
When the data is input, the ticket number is divided by a predetermined number n, and the quotient s is compared with the s' corresponding to the obtained remainder x. 8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein when the size is larger, the image of the data is formed.