JP2002215372A - Imaging device and printing limit method for the imaging device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging device capable of surely preventing it from being used by a third person, without authorization and lowering the cost of construction of a system, and to provide a print limiting method for an imaging device. SOLUTION: This imaging device 2 identifies a transmitting side host device 1 by transmitting side physical address included in the packet of the transmitted printing data to determine whether a printing is permitted for the identified host device 1. If printing is not permitted, the transmitted packet is scrapped and the printing will not be made. If the host device 1 is one permitted to make printing, the packet is accumulated, and when the receiving of the packet is completed, the host device conducts printing. Since the printing data sending side host device 1 is identified by a packet level, the use of the imaging device by the third person without authorization can be prevented, using a simple structure.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for restricting printing for each host device connected to a network and a method for restricting printing of the image forming apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, personal computers,
2. Description of the Related Art A network system in which a plurality of information processing apparatuses such as printers are connected via a network such as a LAN has been put to practical use. A printer connected to a network can be shared by a plurality of personal computers (users) connected to the network. When sharing a printer,
If the printer is in a state where it can be used without permission by a third party who is not shared (hereinafter, simply referred to as a third party), a problem may occur with respect to sharing of expendable supplies and maintenance costs of the printer. is there.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, various techniques have been proposed for restricting the use of a third party printer. As a printer use restriction (print restriction), a method of not allowing a third party to use the printer at all, or a method of permitting the use by performing a separate billing process have been proposed. These printing restrictions are:
In this method, a printer server in which a printer sharer is registered is connected to a network, and print data is transmitted to the printer via the printer server.

However, if a personal computer connected to a network has a function of directly transmitting print data to a printer, if the network address of the printer is known, the print data can be transmitted to the printer without going through the printer server. Printing can be performed. Therefore, the unauthorized use of the printer by a third party cannot be sufficiently prevented only by using the printer server.

In view of the above, a technique has been proposed in which printing is restricted by adding a reciting code to print data (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-9).
No. 7140). Specifically, it is determined whether or not the recitation code transmitted together with the print data is proper. If the recitation code is proper, printing based on the print data is permitted. If not, a charging process is performed. An image forming apparatus that restricts printing has been proposed.

Further, there has been proposed a technique of determining a device that has transmitted print data and performing printing (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-30 / 1990).
0784). Specifically, there has been proposed an image forming apparatus that determines a host device that is a transmission source of the print data from an identifier transmitted together with the print data.

The apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-300784 discriminates a print data transmission apparatus based on an identifier in order to efficiently share expenses of consumables to be used. The number of prints for each device is tabulated for each paper size. Further, after printing, the apparatus that has transmitted the print data is identified based on the identifier. Therefore, the configuration disclosed herein cannot restrict printing to a third party.

[0008]

However, the function of transmitting the above-mentioned reciting code and the identifier together with the print data is required for the apparatus that transmits the print data. For this reason, a printer driver for creating and transmitting print data to which the above-mentioned reciting code or identifier has been added must be installed in the transmission source device, which makes the entire network system complicated and increases the cost of system construction. There was a problem of being expensive.

[0009] Further, when transmitting the print data, the apparatus that transmits the print data must execute a process of adding a recitation code or an identifier to the print data, and the processing speed decreases due to an increase in load. There was also a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus which can surely prevent unauthorized use by a third party and inexpensive to construct a system, and a printing restriction method in the image forming apparatus.

[0011]

An image forming apparatus according to the present invention has the following arrangement to solve the above-mentioned problems.

(1) Reception means for receiving print data transmitted by packet communication via a network, and identification for identifying a transmission source host device from a transmission source physical address included in the packet received by the reception means Means,
A determination data storage unit storing determination data for determining whether to permit printing to be performed on a host device connected to the network, and a host device identified by the identification unit using the determination data. Print control means for determining whether or not to permit execution of printing based on the print data transmitted by the printer.

In a general network system such as a LAN, data communication between devices connected to a network is performed by well-known packet communication. Packet communication has high communication efficiency because a specific device does not occupy a line. In the packet, the data to be transmitted includes the destination address and the physical address of the source of the data.

In the image forming apparatus having the above configuration, the transmission source host device is identified from the transmission source physical address included in the received packet. That is, the source host device is identified at the packet level. And
It is determined whether or not printing is permitted for the identified host device, and printing is restricted based on the determination result.

As described above, since the host device that has transmitted the print data at the packet level is identified, it is not necessary to provide the host device with a function of adding a recitation code or an identifier to the print data to be transmitted as in the related art. Therefore, the entire system is simplified, and the cost for building the system can be reduced.

Further, since the host device does not need to execute the process of adding the reciting code or the identifier to the print data to be transmitted, the load on transmitting the print data can be suppressed. Therefore, a reduction in the processing speed of the host device can be prevented.

(2) There is provided a judgment data updating means for updating the judgment data stored in the judgment data storage means.

With this configuration, it is possible to update the determination data used to determine whether to permit printing for the host device that has transmitted the print data. Therefore, even when the network system is changed, such as when a new host device is connected to the network, appropriate printing restriction can be performed only by updating the determination data.

(3) The determination data includes host number limitation data indicating the number of prints for which printing permission is limited for each host device.

In this configuration, printing is limited by the number of prints, so that useless printing can be suppressed for the user. In addition, the user can be efficiently charged for the use of printing.

(4) The host number limit data is data indicating the number of prints for which printing permission is limited at predetermined intervals.

In this configuration, every predetermined period, for example, 1
Since the number of prints can be limited daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly, budget management and the like associated with print usage can be performed.

It should be noted that the number of printed sheets for each period may be the same or different.

(5) The determination data includes host time zone restriction data indicating a time zone for restricting printing permission for each host device.

In this configuration, since printing can be restricted during a time zone, for example, for a shared image forming apparatus installed in a specific room such as a conference room, printing is performed only for a user who uses the specific room. Can be restricted, and execution of printing is not permitted for other persons. For this reason, an appropriate billing process can be performed for a user who uses a specific room such as a conference room.

(6) The determination data includes group data for determining a group to which the host device connected to the network belongs, and group number limitation data indicating the number of prints for which printing permission is limited for each group. including.

In this configuration, printing can be restricted for each group having a plurality of users.

(7) The group number restriction data is data indicating the number of prints for which printing permission is restricted for each predetermined period.

With this configuration, substantially the same operation and effect as in the above (4) can be obtained for a group having a plurality of users.

(8) The determination data includes group time slot restriction data indicating a time slot for restricting printing permission for each group.

With this configuration, substantially the same operation and effect as the above (5) can be obtained for a group having a plurality of users.

(9) The print control means has means for discarding print data transmitted in the packet from a host device which does not permit printing.

In this configuration, print data transmitted from a host device that does not permit printing is discarded, so that useless print data, that is, print data that does not execute printing, is not left in the main body forever. Therefore, the storage capacity required for storing the print data can be reduced, so that the cost of the main body can be reduced.

[0034]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a network system to which an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. This network system includes a plurality of host devices 1 connected to a network such as a LAN.
(1-1-1-n) and a system to which the image forming apparatus 2 according to the embodiment of the present invention is connected. In this network system, printing restriction described later can be properly performed without connecting a device functioning as a printer server to the network. That is, since a printer server for restricting printing is not required, the configuration of the entire system is simplified.

The number of the image forming apparatuses 2 connected to the network may be one or plural. Further, another device other than the host device 1 and the image forming device 2 described above may be connected to the network.

As is well known, an address (physical address) on the network is assigned to each of the host device 1 and the image forming device 2 connected to the network, and each device can be identified by the physical address.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus 2 includes a network interface 11 for controlling transmission / reception of data, for example, print data, via a network, and a physical address for identifying a transmission source apparatus of data (print data) transmitted via the network. An identification unit 12, a restriction address storage unit 13 for storing print restriction data (corresponding to determination data in the present invention) indicating what type of print restriction is to be performed for each host device 1, and a restriction address storage unit 1
3, a restriction address registration unit 14 for updating the print restriction data stored therein, and a print control unit 15 for controlling printing of the print data transmitted via the network.
A print data developing unit 16 that stores print data transmitted in packets via the network and expands the print data, and a printer engine 17 that executes printing based on the print data. .

Data communication between devices connected to the network is performed by known packet communication. As is well known, in a packet communication, a specific device does not occupy a line, so that communication efficiency is high. As shown in FIG. 3, the packet includes a destination physical address indicating a destination apparatus, a source physical address indicating a source apparatus, and data to be transmitted.

The physical address identification unit 12 identifies the source device of the print data from the source physical address contained in the print data (packet) received via the network interface 11, and converts the device into the print restriction data described later. It is determined whether or not to permit printing based on the information. The physical address identification unit 12 identifies the host device 1 that has transmitted the print data at the packet level.

The restriction address storage unit 13 stores the print restriction data (judgment data in the present invention) shown in FIG. This print restriction data is data that sets whether or not to permit printing for each host device 1. In particular,
This is table data in which the physical address of the host device 1 is associated with data indicating whether printing is permitted.

FIG. 4 shows the host devices 1-1, 1-3, 1-4, 1
-n is permitted to execute printing, and the host device 1-2, 1-5
This is an example of a case where execution of printing is not permitted for. The host device 1 that is permitted to execute printing is the image forming device 2
Is a third party who is not shared and is not permitted to execute printing (hereinafter, simply referred to as a third party).
It is.

The print restriction data may be table data in which only the physical address of the host device 1 (sharer) who permits printing is registered, or the host device 1 (third party) who does not permit printing. ) May be table data in which only the physical address is registered.

The restriction address registration unit 14 controls the change of the print restriction data shown in FIG. The change referred to here is a new setting as to whether or not printing is permitted for the host device 1 newly connected to the network, and a changing setting as to whether or not to permit printing for the already registered host device 1.

The print control unit 15 is a control unit that controls the overall printing function, and determines whether to permit printing based on print restriction data.

The print data expanding section 16 stores the received print data of the packet in a cumulative manner, expands the stored print data, and sends it to the printer engine 17.

The printer engine 17 prints characters and images based on print data on paper. The printing method may be an electrophotographic method or an inkjet method.

Hereinafter, the operation of the image forming apparatus 2 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment. When a packet addressed to the image forming apparatus 1 is transmitted via the network, the image forming apparatus 1 performs a receiving process of the packet (s1, s2). In the image forming apparatus 1, the physical address identification unit 12 identifies the host device 1 that has transmitted the packet received in s2 (s3), and the print control unit 13 determines whether printing is permitted for the host device 1 identified in s3. It is determined whether it is (s4).

As described above, since the packet contains the source physical address, the source host address can be extracted from the received packet to identify the source host device 1. As described above, the image forming apparatus 2 of this embodiment identifies the transmission source host apparatus 1 at the packet level.

In s4, it is determined whether or not the execution of printing is permitted using the print restriction data shown in FIG. Specifically, it is determined whether execution of printing is permitted for the host device 1 of the physical address identified in s3.

If execution of printing is not permitted for the transmission source host device 1, the packet received in s2 is discarded (s5), and the process returns to s1.

On the other hand, if the execution of the printing is permitted for the transmission source host device 1, the print data of the packet received in s2 is stored in the print data expanding section 16 (s6),
It is determined whether the reception of the packet from the transmission source host device 1 is completed (s7). If the reception of the packet has not been completed, the process returns to s1 to receive the next packet transmitted thereafter. If the reception of the packet has been completed, the print processing shown in FIG. 6 is started (s8), and s
Return to 1.

Next, the printing process started in s8 will be described with reference to FIG. The print processing expands the print data accumulated by the print data expansion unit 16 (s1).
1). The print data developed in s11 is sent to the printer engine 17. The printer engine 17 prints a character or an image based on the print data on paper (s12), and ends this processing.

As described above, the image forming apparatus 2 of this embodiment identifies the host apparatus 1 that has transmitted the print data at the packet level. Since printing is performed only when printing is permitted for the identified host device 1, unauthorized use by a third party who is not permitted to print can be prevented.

Further, since the image forming apparatus 2 identifies the transmission source host apparatus 1 at the packet level as described above, the host apparatus 1 only needs to have a function of transmitting print data in packets. Therefore, it is not necessary to install special driver software in the host device 1. Further, since a printer server is not required, the network system is simplified. Therefore, the cost for constructing the system can be reduced.

The load on the host device 1 for transmitting print data is reduced. As a result, a reduction in the processing speed of the host device 1 can be prevented.

Note that, in order to transmit the identification code together with the print data proposed in the above-mentioned prior art, an identification code for identifying the own device is added to the print data, and a process specified in the packet communication. This process is different from the process of transmitting a packet with the physical address of the device.

The print data transmitted from the host device 1 to which the print permission is not given in the form of a packet is discarded without being stored in the print data developing unit 16. No useless print data remains. Therefore, the print data developing unit 1
6 can be reduced, and the cost of the image forming apparatus 2 itself can be reduced.

Further, when a change occurs in the network system, such as when a new host device 1 is connected to the network, the restricted address registration unit 14 changes the print restriction data stored in the restricted address storage unit 13. Thus, appropriate printing restriction can be performed. Note that the restriction address registration unit 14 may have a configuration having a key for performing an input operation on the main body, or may have a configuration in which the print restriction data is changed according to an external input.

Next, another embodiment of the image forming apparatus 2 of the present invention will be described. The image forming apparatus 2 of this embodiment is different from the apparatus of the above-described embodiment in that the print restriction data shown in FIG. The print restriction data illustrated in FIG. 7 is a table in which the physical address of the host device 1 and data indicating whether or not to permit printing are associated with a print restriction number (corresponding to the host number restriction data in the present invention). Data. The limited number of prints is the maximum number of prints permitted for the host device 1 to execute printing. Execution of printing of a number exceeding the print limit number is not permitted. In addition, the number of printed sheets is counted down every time printing is performed, as described later.

FIG. 7 shows the host devices 1-1, 1-3, 1-4, 1
-n is permitted to execute printing, and the host device 1
In this example, printing is not permitted for -2 and 1-5. Also, the print limit number of the host device 1-1 is 10
The limited number of prints of the host device 1-3 is 2, the limited number of prints of the host device 1-4 is 1004, and the limited number of prints of the host device 1-n is 134.

Hereinafter, the operation of the image forming apparatus 2 of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment. In this figure, the same processes as those in FIG. 5 are denoted by the same step numbers (s *). Image forming apparatus 2 of this embodiment
Also executes the processing of s1 to s4 described in the apparatus of the above embodiment. If the printing is not permitted for the host device 1 of the print data in s4, the received packet is discarded (s5).

On the other hand, the host device 1 as the transmission source of the print data
If printing is permitted for the host device 1, it is determined whether or not the number of prints limited to the host device 1 is one or more (s21). If the number of prints limited is 0, the process proceeds to s5 to receive the received packet. Is destroyed.

If the print limit is one or more, the processes of s6 to s8 in the above embodiment are executed.

Next, the printing process started in s8 will be described. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the printing process. In this figure, the same processes as those in FIG. 6 are given the same step numbers (s *). Image forming apparatus 2
Expands the print data of the packet stored in the print data storage unit 16 (s11), and determines whether the number of prints of the print data is within the print limit (s3).
1). If the number of prints is not less than the print limit in s31, the print data developed in s11 is discarded, and this processing ends (s32). On the other hand, if it is within the print limit,
The print data developed in s11 is sent to the printer engine 17, and printing is executed by the printer engine 17 (s1).
2). When the printing is completed, the print limit number set for the corresponding host device 1 is counted down by the number of printed sheets, and the process ends (s33).

As described above, the image forming apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment also identifies the host apparatus that has transmitted the print data at the packet level, and determines whether or not to execute printing based on the print data. The same effect as that of the device according to the embodiment is exerted.

Further, since the above-mentioned limited number of prints, which is counted down by the number of prints each time printing is performed, is used to determine whether to permit execution of printing for each host device 1, the use of each host device 1 is determined. The user can be charged for consumables and maintenance costs according to the number of prints.
Further, it is possible to suppress useless printing from being performed for the user of the host device 1, so that printing costs can be reduced.

It should be noted that the print limit number may be increased by a number corresponding to the cost when, for example, expendable supplies and maintenance costs are received from the user of the host device 1.

Next, another embodiment of the image forming apparatus 2 of the present invention will be described. The image forming apparatus 2 of this embodiment differs from the apparatus of the above-described embodiment in that the print restriction data shown in FIG. The print restriction data is table data (FIG. 1) in which information indicating whether printing is permitted for each host device 1 is associated with information indicating a group to which the host device 1 belongs.
0 (see FIG. 10A)) and table data (see FIG. 10B) indicating the print limit number (corresponding to the group number limit data referred to in the present invention) for each group.

FIG. 10 shows the host device 1-1 and the host device 1.
-4 belongs to group A, host device 1-2 and host device 1-5 belong to group D, host device 1-3 belongs to group B, and host device 1-n belongs to group C. This is an example showing that this is the case. The print limit for group A is 200, and the print limit for group B is 100.
The number of prints for group C is 163, and the number of prints for group D is 0.

Hereinafter, the operation of the image forming apparatus 2 of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment. The image forming apparatus 2 of this embodiment executes the following s41 in place of s21 shown in FIG.

More specifically, the above-described processes s1 to s3 are performed to determine whether or not the execution of the printing is permitted for the identified host device 1 (s4). It is determined whether or not the print limit of the group to which the host device 1 identified in s3 belongs is one or more (s41). If it is determined in s41 that the number is one or more, the processes in and after s6 are executed. If the number is zero, the packet received in s2 is discarded (s5) and the process returns to s1.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the printing process started in s8. This printing process executes the following s51 in place of s31 shown in FIG.

The image forming apparatus 2 expands the print data in s11, and determines whether or not the number of prints of the print data is within the print limit of the corresponding group (s5).
1). If the number of prints is not within the print limit, s11
Discards the print data expanded in and terminates this processing (s
32). On the other hand, if it is within the print limit, the print data developed in s11 is sent to the printer engine 17, and printing is executed by the printer engine 17 (s12). When the printing is completed, the print limit number set for the group to which the corresponding host apparatus 1 belongs is counted down by the number of printed sheets, and the process ends (s3).
3).

As described above, the image forming apparatus 2 of this embodiment also identifies the host apparatus that has transmitted the print data at the packet level, and determines whether to execute printing based on the print data. The same effect as that of the device according to the embodiment is exerted.

Further, the print execution is restricted by using the above-mentioned print limit number which is counted down by the number of prints each time the print is executed in the group to which the host device 1 belongs, so that the consumption for each group is reduced. The cost of goods and maintenance can be charged according to the number of prints. In addition, as a method of dividing a group, a division unit or the like can be considered. Further, it is possible to suppress useless printing from being performed for the user of the host device 1, so that printing costs can be reduced.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. The image forming apparatus 2 of this embodiment stores the print restriction data shown in FIG. The print restriction data shown in FIG. 13 includes day / month / day information in addition to information indicating whether printing is permitted for each host device 1.
The print limit number is set for each period of the year.
In the example shown in FIG. 13, for example, the number of printable sheets on January 1, 2001 is 250, and the number of printable sheets on January 31, 2001 is set to 250. Also, 200
It is set to 6,000 printable sheets in January of January,
The number of printable sheets in 2001 is set to 72,000 sheets. The data indicating the print limit number is stored in the host device 1.
It is set every time.

Note that, from January 1, 2001 to January 1, 2001,
And the total number of prints allowed for each day up to
The print limit number of January may be the same or may not be the same. Similarly, from January 2001 to 200
The total number of prints for each month up to December of the year, and 200
The limited number of prints for one year may match or may not match.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the operation of the image forming apparatus of this embodiment. In this figure, the same processes as those described in the above embodiment are denoted by the same step numbers (s *).

The image forming apparatus 2 executes the processing of s1 to s4 described in the above embodiment. If the printing is not permitted for the host device 1 of the print data in s4, the received packet is discarded (s5).

On the other hand, the host device 1 as the transmission source of the print data
If printing is permitted for the host device 1, it is determined whether or not the print limit for the host device 1 is one or more (s61). In s61, it is determined whether or not all of the current print limit, the current print limit, and the current print limit are one or more. If at least one of these print limit sheets is zero, the packet received in s2 is discarded (s5), and the process returns to s1. On the other hand, if the three print limit numbers are all one or more, the processes in s6 to s8 described in the above embodiment are executed.

Next, the printing process started in s8 will be described. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the printing process. In this figure, the same processes as those in the above embodiment are denoted by the same step numbers (s *). The image forming apparatus 2 expands the print data of the packet stored in the print data storage unit 16 (s11), and determines whether the number of prints of the print data is within the print limit (s7).
1). In s71, it is determined whether or not all of the current print limit, the current print limit, and the current print limit are one or more. Of these print limit numbers,
If there is at least one sheet, the print data developed in s11 is discarded (s35), and this processing ends. On the other hand, if the three print limit numbers are all equal to or greater than the print number, the printing based on the print data developed in s11 is executed (s12),
The process is terminated by counting down the number of print-limited sheets by the number of printed sheets (s33).

In s33, the above countdown is performed for all of the print limit of today, the print limit of this month, and the print limit of this year.

As described above, the apparatus according to the present embodiment can set the print limit number on a daily basis, a monthly basis, and a yearly basis, so that the budget for printing can be managed.

Further, since the host device 1 that has transmitted the packet is identified at the packet level, the same effect as that of the device of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

In this embodiment, the limited number of prints for each period of day / month / year is set for each host device 1, but the limited number of prints for each period of day / month / year is set. You may make it set in the above-mentioned group unit.

Further, the print limit may be set only for one of the day / month / year periods.

[0087] Further, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. The restriction data shown in FIG. 16 is stored in the restriction address storage unit 13 of the image forming apparatus 2 of this embodiment. The print restriction data includes a time period during which printing is permitted for each host device 1. Host device 1
-1 is permitted to print only between 13:00 and 17:00, the host device 1-3 is permitted to print only between 8:00 and 12:00, the host device 1-4 is permitted to print in all time zones, -n permits printing only from 9:00 to 17:00. FIG.
5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment. In this figure, the same processes as those described in the above embodiment are denoted by the same step numbers (s *).

The image forming apparatus 2 executes the processing of s1 to s4 described in the above embodiment. If the printing is not permitted for the host device 1 of the print data in s4, the received packet is discarded (s5).

On the other hand, the host device 1 as the transmission source of the print data
If printing is permitted for, it is determined whether or not the current time is within the printing permitted time zone (s81). If the current time is not the print permission time zone, the packet received in s5 is discarded, and the process returns to s1. On the other hand, if the current time is the printing permitted time zone, the processes in s6 to s8 are executed, and the process returns to s1.

The print processing started in s8 is the same as the processing shown in FIG. 6 described above, and the description is omitted here.

As described above, the image forming apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment is capable of restricting whether or not to permit the execution of printing in a time zone. For example, the image forming apparatus 2 may be provided in a specific room such as a conference room. With respect to the image forming apparatus 2, printing can be restricted only to users who use the specific room, and not to other users.
Therefore, the user can be properly charged for the image forming apparatus 2 installed in a specific room such as a conference room.

[0092]

As described above, according to the present invention, the host device that has transmitted the print data at the packet level is identified, so that unauthorized use by a third party who is not shared can be prevented, and the system can be used. The overall configuration is simplified, and the cost for system construction can be reduced.

Further, since the host device does not need to execute a process for adding a reciting code or an identifier to the print data to be transmitted, the load on the transmission of the print data is suppressed, and the processing speed is prevented from lowering. be able to.

Also, since the determination data used to determine whether to permit printing for the host device that has transmitted the print data can be updated, a change occurs in the network system, such as when a new host device is connected to the network. In this case, appropriate print restriction can be performed by updating the determination data.

Further, since the printing is limited by the number of prints, it is possible to suppress unnecessary printing execution for the user. In addition, the user can be efficiently charged for the use of printing.

Further, since the number of prints can be limited for each predetermined period, for example, for one day, one week, one month, and one year, budget management of printing costs can be performed.

Further, printing restriction can be performed on a group basis.

Further, since the print data transmitted from the host apparatus which does not permit printing is discarded, useless print data, that is, print data which does not execute printing, is not left in the main body forever. Therefore, the storage capacity required for storing the print data can be reduced, so that the cost of the main body can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a network system to which an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a packet received by the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing print restriction data in the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a printing process of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating print restriction data in an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a printing process of an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating print restriction data in an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a printing process of an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating print restriction data in an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a printing process of an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating print restriction data in an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 (1-1 to 1-n) -Host device 2-Image forming device 11-Network interface 12-Physical address identification unit 13-Limited address storage unit 14-Limited address registration unit 15-Print control unit 16-Print data development Part 17-Printer Engine

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A receiving means for receiving print data transmitted by packet communication via a network, and an identifying means for identifying a transmission source host device from a transmission source physical address included in a packet received by the reception means. And determination data storage means for storing determination data for determining whether to permit execution of printing for the host device connected to the network; and for the host device identified by the identification means, the determination data Print control means for determining whether to permit execution of printing based on print data transmitted by using
An image forming apparatus comprising: 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a determination data updating unit that updates the determination data stored in the determination data storage unit. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination data includes host number limitation data indicating the number of prints for which printing permission is limited for each host device. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the host number limit data is data indicating the number of prints for which printing permission is limited for each predetermined period. 5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said determination data includes host time zone restriction data indicating a time zone in which printing permission is restricted for each host device. 6. The determination data includes group data for determining a group to which a host device connected to the network belongs, and group number limitation data indicating the number of prints for which printing permission is limited for each group. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the group number restriction data is data indicating the number of prints for which printing permission is restricted every predetermined period. 8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the determination data includes group time zone restriction data indicating a time zone for restricting print permission for each group. 9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print control unit includes a unit that discards the received packet when it is determined that the execution of the print is not permitted. 10. A host connected to the network, receiving print data transmitted by packet communication via a network, identifying a transmission source host device from a transmission source physical address included in the received packet. Using the determination data for determining whether to permit execution of printing for the apparatus, it is determined whether to permit execution of printing based on the print data transmitted in the packet, and the determination result is A print restriction method for an image forming apparatus that executes printing based on print data received only when execution is permitted.