JP2003122533A - Print system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem of trouble in fee adjustment procedure in performing network printing. SOLUTION: In this print system, a printer, an accounting device and a server are connected to each other by a network. The printer makes a request for obtaining the print data with a data identifier for specifying the print data, receives the response data to the obtaining request, prints the print data, and informs the print processing result (S711 to S714). The accounting device receives an obtaining request from the printer to specify a person for accounting, and transfers the obtaining request to a server when specifying is succeeded (S721, S722). On receiving the response data including the print data from the server, a management device transfers the same to the printer, and then updates accounting information on receiving the print processing result from the printer (S723, S724). The server receives the obtaining request from the accounting device to specify the print data, and returns the response data including the specified print data (S731 to S733).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing system using a network, and more particularly to a charging processing technique when printing is performed using the network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Network-compatible printers (copiers,
Printer, etc.) to obtain print data from a server device on the network and perform print processing for a fee,
The billing process is performed according to the number of sheets actually printed. At this time, when there is only one user of the printing device, the user is charged with an amount of money according to the number of printed sheets for each device. On the other hand, in a company or the like, a technology is disclosed in which a charging code is assigned to each user or each usage department, and the charging process is performed according to the number of printed sheets for each user or each usage department (for example, See Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-134137, etc.).

On the other hand, a printing apparatus such as a copying machine is installed in stores such as stationery stores and convenience stores (hereinafter abbreviated as convenience stores), and is used by an unspecified number of customers. As a charging method when printing is performed using the printing device installed in the store as described above, a method in which a payment machine is installed in parallel in the printing device and printing is permitted according to the amount of money put in the payment machine or A method of connecting a counter (counter) handed at a store to a printing device and making payment at the cash register based on the number of prints counted by the counter, or at the cash register based on the number of prints manually checked is used. ing.

Further, as one of services provided by stores such as stationery stores and convenience stores, a printing device installed in the store is connected to a network such as the Internet, and a user uses the printing device to connect to a server device on the network. A service is conceivable in which print data is acquired from the printer and printed (hereinafter, also referred to as network printing). In such a network printing service, for example, a document used by a business user at a business trip is saved as document data in a content server operated by the company, and the saved document data is printed at a convenience store near the business trip. It can be used when printing on paper using the device and obtaining it as a document.

[0005]

However, when a business user uses such a network printing service, for example, if the payment according to the number of printed sheets is paid in the store by the above-mentioned billing method, the amount of money is not paid at the time of payment. After receiving the receipt and returning to the office, it is necessary to settle the procedure in-house. Therefore, the procedure after using the service becomes complicated.

[0006]

A printing system according to the present invention is a printing system in which a printing device, a billing device and a server device are connected via a network. The printing apparatus includes an input unit for inputting a data identifier for specifying print data to be printed, an acquisition request unit for adding a data identifier input by the input unit and making a print data acquisition request, Response accepting means for accepting response data to the acquisition request made by the acquisition requesting means, printing means for printing the print data included in the response data accepted by the response accepting means, and print processing result including the number of prints by the printing means And notifying means for notifying. The billing device is associated with the server device that is the acquisition destination of the print data by using the acquisition request reception unit that receives the acquisition request from the printing device and the data identifier included in the acquisition request received by the acquisition request reception unit. Specifying means for specifying the charging target person, transfer means for transferring the acquisition request received by the acquisition request receiving means to the server device, print result receiving means for receiving the print processing result notified from the printing device, and this print result The updating unit updates the charging information of the charge target person specified by the specifying unit based on the print processing result received by the receiving unit. The server device has a response unit that receives the acquisition request from the billing device, specifies the print data by using the data identifier included in the acquisition request, and returns the response data including the specified print data.

In the printing system configured as described above, when a data identifier is input to the printing apparatus, the data identifier is added and a print data acquisition request is made. This acquisition request is accepted by the billing device. At this time, the billing device identifies the person to be billed using the data identifier included in the acquisition request, and transfers the acquisition request to the server device that is the acquisition destination of the print data. The acquisition request thus transferred is accepted by the server device. The server device that has received the acquisition request specifies the print data by using the data identifier included in the acquisition request, and returns the response data including the specified print data. The returned response data is sent to the printing device via the billing device, or is sent (directly) to the printing device without going through the billing device. The printing apparatus that receives the response data prints the print data included in the response data, and when the printing is completed, notifies the print processing result including the number of printed sheets. The print processing result is accepted by the billing device, and the billing information of the payee is updated based on the print processing result.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the illustrated printing system 1, the printing devices 2A, 2B, 2C, ...
, And content servers (server devices) 4A, 4B, ... Are communicably connected to each other via a network (eg, the Internet) 5.

Each of the printing devices 2A, 2B, 2C, ...
For example, it is composed of a network-compatible copying machine, printer, etc., and performs a predetermined printing process in response to a service request from a user who uses the copying machine (hereinafter referred to as a printing user). The billing device 3 includes printing devices 2A, 2B,
2C, ... And the content servers 4A, 4B, ... Intermediate data exchange relating to print processing, and manage the charging information required for print processing. Each of the content servers 4A, 4B, ...
It is composed of a WWW (World Wide Web) server operated by a provider and holds various data (image data, text data, program data, etc.).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a device applied to the printing devices 2A, 2B, 2C, .... The illustrated printing apparatus 2 includes a main control unit 21, a user interface unit (hereinafter referred to as a UI unit) 22, a print processing unit 23, a communication unit 24, and a billing processing unit 25. Main control unit 2
Reference numeral 1 generally controls the processing and operation of each unit included in the printing apparatus 2. The UI unit 22 is, for example, an input operation (button operation, switch operation, etc.) by the printing user
It has an input operation unit and a display unit (for example, a liquid crystal panel) that displays various information to the printing user.

The print processing unit 23 converts print data to be printed into image data and prints an image on a print medium such as paper based on the converted image data. Incidentally, when the printing device 2 is configured by a copying machine, the print processing unit 23 also forms an image based on image data read by an image reading unit (scanner unit) not shown.

The communication unit 24 is connected to the network 5 and performs data communication (transmission / reception) with other devices via the network 5. The billing processing unit 25 performs billing processing according to the number of printed sheets when the printing user uses the printing apparatus 2 without using the network 5.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of the charging device. The illustrated billing device 3 includes a main control unit 31, a billing management unit 32, a printing device management unit 33, a communication unit 34, and a server information management unit 35. The main control unit 31 centrally controls the processing and operation of each unit included in the charging device 3. The billing management unit 32 manages billing information using a billing management table described later. The printing device usage management unit 33 manages the usage status of the printing device using a usage management table described later. Communication unit 34
Is connected to the network 5 and performs data communication (transmission / reception) with other devices via the network 5. The server information management unit 35 uses the data identifier included in the acquisition request from the printing device 2 to specify the content server 4 from which the print data is acquired.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a charge management table used by the charge management unit 32. In the illustrated billing management table, the server identification character string, the billing target person ID, and the number of printed sheets are held as one set. Among these, the server identification character string and the charge target person ID are registered in advance in response to a registration request by the owner (content provider) of the content server 4. Registration in the billing management table is performed by, for example, an administrator who manages the billing device 3, and registration processing inside the device is performed by the billing management unit 32.

The server identification character string is information for identifying the content server from which the print data is acquired. In the illustrated example, the server identification character string is included in a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) that identifies the location of the print data on the network. It is composed of the included character string. The charge target person ID is information for identifying the charge target person, and is registered in association with the above-described server identification character string. The number of prints indicates the number of prints obtained by printing the print data from the content server in units of the content server identified by the server identification character string, and corresponds to the server identification character string and the charging target person ID described above. It is attached.

As the person to be charged, the content server 4
The owner can be, more specifically, a company (company) or a group that provides (operates) content on the content server 4. The billing method and the like are determined by a prior contract between the store (convenience store or the like) where the printing device is installed and the content owner.

By the way, in the example of the charge management table shown in FIG. 4, "www.server-A.co.jp" and "www.server-
Chargeable person I corresponding to the server identification character string of "C.com"
Both D are "101". This indicates that the chargeees are the same even if the content server from which the print data is acquired is different. The value in the number of printed sheets field is used when calculating the charge amount (cumulative amount within a predetermined period) for each person to be charged by multiplying the usage charge per one printed sheet.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a usage management table used by the printing device usage management unit 33. In the illustrated use management table, a character string for printing device identification and the number of printed sheets are held as one set. The printing device identification character string is information for identifying the printing device used for print processing of print data, and is registered for each printing device installed in a store such as a convenience store. The number of prints used is
The number of print data obtained from the content server and printed is shown in units of printing devices identified by the printing device identification character string, and is associated with the printing device identification character string.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a structural example of a device applied to the content servers 4A, 4B, .... The illustrated content server 4 includes a main control unit 41, a content management unit 42, an authentication processing unit 43, and a communication unit 44. The main control unit 41 centrally controls the processing and operation of each unit included in the content server 4. The content management unit 42 manages the data held by the content server 4, and the processing contents thereof include data registration, update, deletion, and search. The authentication processing unit 43
Among various data held by the content server 4,
When there is an access (acquisition request) to data that requires authentication, a predetermined authentication process is performed. here,
As an example, it is assumed that a password is set for data that requires authentication. The communication unit 44 is connected to the network 5 and performs data communication (transmission / reception) with other devices via the network 5.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart schematically showing the flow of printing processing by the printing system 1. First, when the printer 2 receives an input of a print request from the printing user, the printer 2 transmits a print data acquisition request based on the input information to the charging device 3 (step S711). On the other hand, the billing device 3 determines whether or not the billing target person can be specified using the data identifier (URL) included in the acquisition request transmitted from the printing device 2 (step S721).
At this time, if the charging target person can be specified, the acquisition request is transferred to the content server 4 which is the acquisition destination of the print data (step S722).

On the other hand, when the content server 4 receives the acquisition request transferred from the billing device 3, the content server 4 determines whether or not the print data which is the target of the acquisition request is held in its own device (step S731). If it is held in its own device, it is determined whether authentication processing is required before sending (providing) the print data that is the target of the acquisition request, and if it is necessary, it is included in the acquisition request. Authentication processing is performed using the authentication information that is provided (step S732). Then, in step S733, the above-mentioned step S
The response data based on the processing in 731 and S732 is transmitted (replied) to the charging device 3.

That is, if the print data for which the acquisition request is made is not held in the device itself, or if it is judged that the transmission is not permitted by the authentication processing even if it is held, the print data acquisition request is rejected. The response data of is transmitted. If the authentication data is determined to be unnecessary because the print data for which the acquisition request has been made is held in the device itself, or if the authentication process determines that transmission is permitted, response data including the print data is transmitted.

On the other hand, the billing device 3 transmits response data to the printing device 2 according to the determination result in step S721 or the content of the response from the content server 4 (step S723). That is, step S721
If the charging target person cannot be specified in (when the URL that is the data identifier does not include the server identification character string registered in the charging management table), the print data acquisition request is rejected. Send response data. Also,
When the response data is received from the content server 4,
This response data is transferred to the printing device 2.

On the other hand, the printing device 2, which has received the response data from the billing device 3, determines whether or not the print data has been successfully acquired based on the received response contents (step S).
712). Then, when the acquisition of the print data fails, the processing ends at that point. If the print data is successfully obtained, printing is performed using the obtained print data (step S713). When the printing is completed, the billing device 3 receives the print processing result including the number of print sheets required for the print. Notify (send) (step S714). Receiving the notification from the printing device 2, the billing device 3 updates the information in the billing management table shown in FIG. 4 and the information in the usage management table shown in FIG. 5, and then ends the process (step S7).
24).

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing in detail the processing procedure in the printer 2. Here, as the operation mode of the printing apparatus 2, an operation mode in which data is printed using the network 5 (hereinafter, network printing mode) and an operation mode in which the printing process is performed without using the network 5 (hereinafter, normal printing). Mode) and are available as options. As the normal print mode, for example, a process of printing image data read by a scanner unit attached to the printing apparatus (copying process), a process of reading out data recorded on a recording medium, and printing the data can be considered.

First, the user using printing selects an operation mode desired by the user using the input operation unit provided in the UI unit 22. Then, in the main controller 21,
Based on the mode selection information from the UI unit 22, it is determined whether the operation mode selected by the printing user is the network print mode or the normal print mode (step S801). If the normal print mode is selected, the print processing unit 23 is caused to execute the normal print processing based on the selected mode (step S802).

On the other hand, when the operation mode selected by the printing user is the network print mode, the main control section 21 inputs the data identifier (URL in this example) for specifying the print data to be printed. Processing is performed (step S803). In this input process, a message prompting the input of the data identifier is displayed on the display unit of the UI unit 22, and the input of the data identifier by the printing user is awaited.
On the other hand, the printing user inputs the data identifier using the input operation unit of the UI unit 22.

Next, the main control unit 21 performs an input process of authentication information (password in this example) used when acquiring print data requiring authentication from the content server 4 (step S804). This input process is performed in the same manner as the data identifier input process. When acquiring print data that does not require authentication, the process of inputting authentication information is unnecessary. Further, the input process of the data identifier and the input process of the authentication information can be collectively performed in one input process. Further, it is also possible to input the authentication information in the URL serving as the data identifier.

Subsequently, the main control unit 21 uses the information (data identifier, authentication information, etc.) input via the input operation unit of the UI unit 22 to make a request for obtaining print data to the billing device 3. (Step S805). In this acquisition request,
The previously input data identifier is included, and if the authentication information is input, this authentication information is also included. Further, the print data acquisition request is transmitted to the charging device 3 by the communication unit 24 according to the communication instruction from the main control unit 21.
After transmitting the acquisition request, the communication unit 24 waits for a response.

After that, when the communication unit 24 receives the response data from the charging device 3, the response data is received by the main control unit 21.
Then, the response contents are confirmed and it is judged whether or not the print data is successfully acquired (step S806). Here, if the received response data (content of response) includes the print data requested to be acquired in step S805, the acquisition is successful. If it is not included (that is, if the response indicates request rejection), Judge as acquisition failure.

When the main control unit 21 determines that the print data has been successfully acquired, the main control unit 21 sends the print data included in the response data to the print processing unit 23, where the print data is converted into image information and the print processing is executed. (Step S80
7). After that, when the print processing in the print processing unit 23 is completed, the main control unit 21 notifies (transmits) the print processing result including the number of prints required for printing to the billing device 3 (step S808), and a series of processes. To finish. The print processing result is
It is transmitted to the charging device 3 by the communication unit 24 in accordance with the communication command from the main control unit 21. On the other hand, step S80
If it is determined that the acquisition of print data has failed in 6, the main control unit 21 cancels the print processing by the print processing unit 23 (step S809) and ends the series of processing.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing in detail the processing procedure in the charging device 3. First, when the communication unit 34 receives a print data acquisition request transmitted from the printing apparatus 2, the main control unit 31 receives the received acquisition request (step S901). Next, in the main control unit 31, the data identifier (UR) included in the previously received acquisition request is received.
L) is taken out and given to the billing management unit 32 and the server information management unit 35, and the data identifier is analyzed by each (step S902).

In step S902, the billing management unit 32 specifies the billing target person by analyzing the data identifier given from the main control unit 31, and the server information management unit 35 is given from the main control unit 31. By analyzing the data identifier, the content server from which the print data is acquired is specified. For example, when the billing management unit 32 holds the billing management table shown in FIG. 4, the data identifier given from the main control unit 31 is "ht.
tp: //www.server-A.co.jp/pr/catalogue/products-A/pr
If it is oductA1.txt ”, the server information management unit 3
5 is “www.server-A.co.” Included in the data identifier.
The content server associated with the character string “jp” is specified as the print data acquisition destination server, and the charge management unit 32
The chargeable person is specified by the chargeable person ID “101” associated with the server identification character string “www.server-A.co.jp”.

Next, the main control unit 31 receives the result of the analysis processing by the server information management unit 35 and the charging management unit 32, and determines whether or not the content server and the charging target person have been specified successfully (step S903). ). At this time, if it is determined that the identification has failed, the process proceeds to step S910, and response data to the effect that the acquisition request is rejected is transmitted (replied) to the printing apparatus 2 there. The request rejection response data is transmitted to the printing apparatus 2 by the communication unit 34 in accordance with the communication instruction from the main control unit 31.

If it is determined that the identification has succeeded,
The content server 4 that has specified the print data acquisition request received from the printing device 2 as the acquisition destination of the print data
(For example, the content server 4A in FIG. 1). The transfer process in this case is also performed by the communication unit 34 based on the communication command from the main control unit 31. After transferring the acquisition request, the communication unit 34 waits for a response.

After that, when the communication section 34 receives the response data from the content server 4, the main control section 31 accepts the response data and confirms the response content. Whether the data type indicates request refusal, It is determined whether the print data is included (steps S905 and S90).
6). When the request is rejected, the process proceeds to step S910 and the request reject response data is transmitted to the printer 2.

If the print data is included, the response data including the print data is transmitted (transferred) to the printer 2 as the acquisition request source (step S907). The response data from the charging device 3 is performed by the communication unit 34 based on the communication instruction from the main control unit 31. Further, after transmitting the response data including the print data, the communication unit 34 waits for reception of the print processing result.

The print processing result from the printer 2 is sent to the communication unit 3
4, the main control unit 31 receives the print processing result, confirms (analyzes) the print processing content of the printing apparatus 2 (step S908), and manages the information of the number of printed sheets included in the print processing content by the charge management. It is given to the section 32 and the printing apparatus management section 33, respectively. As a result, both the billing management unit 32 and the printing apparatus management unit 33 update the management information (step S909).

That is, in the billing management unit 32, with respect to the number of printed sheets corresponding to the content server identified in the previous step S903 and the billing target associated therewith,
Management information (contents of the charging management table shown in FIG. 4) is obtained by adding the number of printed sheets given from the main control unit 31.
To update. In the printing device management unit 33, the management information (shown in FIG. 5) is obtained by adding the printing number given from the main control unit 31 to the printing number used for the printing device used for printing. Update the contents of the usage management table).

For example, if the printing device 2 identified by "printer-02" prints 10 sheets of data in the content server 4 identified by "www.server-A.co.jp", the charge management unit 32, the value of the number of printed sheets fold associated with the billing target person ID of “101” (722 in the example of FIG. 4).
(Sheet) is updated to a value obtained by adding the number of newly printed sheets (10 sheets). Further, in the printing device management unit 33,
A value obtained by adding the value of the number of prints used (554 in the example of FIG. 5) associated with the printing device identification character string of “printer-01” by the number of newly printed sheets (10) To update. With that, the series of processes in the charging device 3 is completed.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing in detail the processing procedure in the content server 4. First, when the communication unit 44 receives a print data acquisition request transmitted (transferred) from the billing device 3, the main control unit 41 accepts the received acquisition request (step S1001). Then
The main control unit 41 extracts the data identifier (URL) included in the previously received acquisition request, and extracts the data identifier (URL).
2, and the content management unit 42 analyzes the data identifier (step S1002).

In step S1002, the content management unit 42 analyzes the data identifier given from the main control unit 41 to perform a search process as to whether or not the print data requested to be acquired is held in the device itself. The main control unit 41 is notified of the result of the investigation. Then, the main control unit 41 receives the analysis result (survey result) of the content management unit 42 and determines whether or not the print data that is the target of the acquisition request is held (step S1003). At this time, if it is determined that the print data that is the target of the acquisition request is not held, the process proceeds to step S1007, and response data to the effect that the acquisition request is rejected is transmitted (replied) to the charging apparatus 3 there. The request rejection response data is transmitted to the charging device 3 by the communication unit 44 in accordance with the communication command from the main control unit 41.

If it is determined that the print data that is the target of the acquisition request is held, then it is checked whether authentication is required to acquire the print data, and if authentication is required (ie, , If a password is set for the print data that is the target of the acquisition request), the authentication processing unit 43
Then, the authentication process is executed (step S1004). If the print data that is the target of the acquisition request is data that does not require authentication, the process of step S1004 and the process of step S1005 described later are both passed (through) and the process proceeds to the next process (step S1006). .

In the authentication processing in the authentication processing section 43,
The authentication information (password input by the printing user) included in the acquisition request received in step S1001 is extracted, and it is determined whether the extracted authentication information matches the password set in the print data to be acquired. It investigates and notifies the main control part 41 of this investigation result.
Then, the main control unit 41 receives the result of the investigation by the authentication processing unit 43 and determines whether or not the authentication is successful (step S1005). At this time, if it is determined that the authentication has failed (when the passwords do not match in the authentication process,
Alternatively, if the password has not been input), the process proceeds to step S1007 and the response data of the request rejection is transmitted to the charging device 3. The response data of the request rejection is the main control unit 4
It is performed by the communication unit 44 based on the communication command from 1.

When it is determined that the authentication has succeeded (when the passwords match in the authentication process), the response data including the print data that is the target of the acquisition request is transmitted (replied) to the billing device 3. The response data in this case is also provided by the communication unit 44 based on the communication command from the main control unit 41. This is the end of the series of processing in the content server 4.

Incidentally, the information managed by the billing device 3 (the number of printed sheets in the billing management table, the number of printed sheets used in the usage management table) has a specific period (for example, one month).
The charges are settled for each item, and the usage fee is settled based on the result of the counting. As a specific operation method, the owner of the content server 4 (the person to be charged) pays the usage fee for the number of printed sheets using the content server 4, and the store (convenience store) that manages the printing device 2 It is possible to employ an operation system in which a usage fee for the number of printed sheets using the printing device 2 is paid. At that time, the usage fee received by the store is calculated from the usage fee for the number of sheets printed in the network print mode using the printing apparatus 2 installed therein (the number of printing sheets used in FIG. 5). It is equivalent to the amount less the charges to be paid to the owner.

According to the printing system 1 described above, print data is acquired from the content server 4 by using the printing device 2, and the billing process when the print data is printed by the printing device 2 is performed between the two. Since the system configuration is performed by the billing device 3 that relays data, it is not necessary for a printing user who performed network printing using the printing device 2 installed in a store or the like to settle the usage fee on the spot. . Therefore, when using the network printing service, the convenience of the printing user is greatly improved.

Further, by inputting the authentication information in the printing apparatus 2, the content server 4 performs an authentication process by using the authentication information, and determines whether or not the print data can be transmitted, thereby obtaining the print data that requires the authentication. When making a request, network printing can be permitted only to a specific printing user who knows the authentication information. As a result, the confidentiality of the data held in the content server 4 can be secured.

As a service form using the printing system 1, in addition to the service for business users described above, for example, information (product catalog information) to be provided to a customer who is a sales target is not required to be authenticated. Information service for a customer (a user who uses printing) so that the customer (printing user) can print desired information free of charge by using the printing device 2 as data of the data, or an Internet service provider. When using the content server 4 owned (operated) by itself to provide a data storage service to subscribers (contractors with the provider), the data stored in the content server 4 is added as an additional service. The printing device 2
A payment agency service that does not require payment procedures at the store when printing using the, and collects the usage fee from the subscriber as part of the provider usage fee and pays to the shop, and also a specific number of pages per month It is possible to provide a free printing service that can print up to (for example, 10 sheets) free of charge.

Further, when the chargeable person who is the owner of the content server 4 pays the usage fee for network printing, the content server 4 is provided with the following management function so that it can be used according to the number of sheets used. It becomes possible to settle the usage fee. That is, as an additional function of the content server 4, when an acquisition request is issued from the billing device 3, the data identifier (UR) included in the acquisition request.
L) is used to identify the provider of print data (provider or department of data used for printing), and a management unit that manages the number of prints used for each provider is provided.

More specifically, the management unit of the content server 4 manages the number of prints used for each usage department as a data providing source, using a usage status management table as shown in FIG. 11, for example. The data identification character string is information for identifying which usage department provided (registered) the respective data held in the content server 4. The data identification character string is composed of a character string included in the URL (data identifier) used for specifying the print data. User department ID
Is information for specifying a network printing use department and is associated with the data identification character string. The number of prints used indicates the number of prints used for network printing in units of utilization departments, and is associated with the character string for data identification and the utilization department ID.

As a result, the usage fee charged to the charging manager can be distributed to the provider according to the number of prints used and settled. Therefore, it becomes possible for a company or the like to be a billing administrator to fairly share the network printing usage fee for each department.

In the above embodiment, when the content server 4 holds the print data requested to be obtained from the printing device 2, the print data is sent from the content server 4 to the printing device 2 via the billing device 3. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the print data may be directly transmitted from the content server 4 to the printing device 2.

[0055]

As described above, according to the present invention, print data is acquired from a server device using a printing device,
Since the billing device performs the billing process when the print data is printed by the printing device, the user who has performed the network printing using the printing device does not need to pay the usage fee at the store or the like. As a result, a user who uses the printing apparatus can use network printing without performing a troublesome settlement procedure.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a printing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a charging device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a charge management table.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a usage management table.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a content server.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart schematically showing the flow of printing processing by the printing system.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure in the printing apparatus in detail.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing in detail a processing procedure in the charging device.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing in detail the processing procedure in the content server.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a usage status management table.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Printing system, 2 ... Printing device, 3 ... Billing device, 4 ...
Content server, 5 ... Network, 21, 31, 4
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Main control part, 22 ... UI part (user interface part), 23 ... Print processing part, 24, 34, 44 ... Communication part,
25 ... Billing processing unit, 32 ... Billing management unit, 33 ... Printing device management unit, 35 ... Server information management unit, 42 ... Content management unit, 43 ... Authentication processing unit

Front page continuation (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G06F 17/60 512 G06F 17/60 512 ZEC ZEC

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A printing system in which a printing device, a billing device, and a server device are connected via a network, wherein the printing device comprises input means for inputting a data identifier for specifying print data to be printed. , An acquisition request means for adding a data identifier input by the input means to request acquisition of print data, a response acceptance means for accepting response data to the acquisition request made by the acquisition request means, and the response acceptance means The charging device includes a printing unit that prints the print data included in the received response data, and a notification unit that notifies the print processing result including the number of printed sheets by the printing unit, and the billing device requests the acquisition request from the printing device. By using the acquisition request reception unit that receives the print request and the data identifier included in the acquisition request received by the acquisition request reception unit. Specifying means for specifying the chargeable person associated with the server device which is the acquisition destination of the data, transfer means for transferring the acquisition request received by the acquisition request receiving means to the server device, and notification from the printing device A print result receiving unit that receives the print processing result, and an updating unit that updates the charging information of the charge target specified by the specifying unit based on the print processing result received by the print result receiving unit. The server device accepts the acquisition request from the charging device, specifies print data using the data identifier included in the acquisition request, and returns response data including the specified print data. A printing system comprising: 2. The printing apparatus has authentication information input means for inputting authentication information for acquiring print data that requires authentication, and the authentication information input by this authentication information input means is added to the printing device. The printing according to claim 1, wherein the server device includes an authentication processing unit that makes an acquisition request and determines whether or not print data can be transmitted in response to the acquisition request by using the authentication information included in the acquisition request. system. 3. The server device, upon the acquisition request from the billing device, identifies the source of the print data by using the data identifier included in the acquisition request, and uses the print for each source. The printing system according to claim 1, further comprising management means for managing the number of sheets.