JP2005063384A - Image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming system that can be used even when no cash or the like is carried about. <P>SOLUTION: A user accesses a cellular-telephone-oriented website provided by a management apparatus 20 from a cellular telephone 10 to register user information. Charges for using an image forming apparatus 30 are prepaid. When the user enters a cellular telephone number and a password into the image forming apparatus 30, the image forming apparatus 30 transfers them to the management apparatus 20, which in turn checks them against the registered user information for authentication. If the authentication is passed, the management apparatus 20 downloads a prepaid amount set by the prepayment to the image forming apparatus 30. The image forming apparatus 30 subtracts a use charge amount depending on use from the prepaid amount. If the prepaid balance is insufficient, an image forming operation is stopped. After the operation, the prepaid balance is uploaded to the management apparatus 20. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming system that charges a fee for use of an image forming apparatus.

  In general, in a store such as a convenience store or a copy shop, a service for outputting an image using a copier or a multifunction peripheral (hereinafter referred to as an image forming apparatus) is performed. When using the image forming apparatus, it is possible to insert coins into a coin vendor installed nearby and output the number corresponding to the amount.

In addition, after connecting a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone to the image forming apparatus and transmitting terminal user information to the server apparatus and performing authentication for user confirmation, the use of the image forming apparatus is permitted, and the usage fee is charged after use. An image forming system that transmits image data from an image forming apparatus to a server apparatus has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2002-133303 A

  However, in the above-described prior art, when using the image forming apparatus, the user must have cash or a mobile phone. Further, since the usage fee is charged after use, there is a risk that the service provider may suffer damage if the fee is not paid for the service of the image forming apparatus already performed.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming system that can be used even when the user does not have cash or the like.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, mobile phone number information input via an input unit provided in an image forming apparatus to be used is transmitted to a management apparatus that manages the image forming apparatus via a communication line. The management device verifies whether or not prepaid settlement of the image forming usage fee corresponding to the mobile phone number is completed based on the transmitted mobile phone number information, and prepays the image forming usage fee When the payment is completed, the prepaid payment amount information is returned to the image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus receives the prepaid payment amount information and forms an image according to the prepaid payment amount. It is characterized in that it can be operated.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to the first aspect, the image forming apparatus transmits password information input via the input unit to the management apparatus via the communication line. The management device authenticates the owner of the mobile phone number based on the transmitted password information, and if the authentication result confirms the identity of the person, The image forming apparatus is configured to send a reply to the image forming apparatus.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to the first or second aspect, after the image forming operation is completed, the image forming apparatus uses the prepaid settlement for the usage fee amount consumed in the image forming operation. The balance information subtracted from the amount is transmitted to the management device together with the mobile phone number information, and the management device is configured to store the balance information of the transmitted prepaid payment amount.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to the third aspect, a mobile phone having a mail function corresponding to the mobile phone number is connected to the communication line, and the management device is configured to perform the prepayment settlement. It is characterized in that usage result information including the remaining amount information and / or usage fee is transmitted to the mobile phone through the mail function.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the image forming apparatus sequentially subtracts a usage fee amount from the prepaid settlement amount according to an image forming operation. If the remaining amount of the prepaid payment amount is insufficient as a result of the subtraction, the image forming operation is stopped.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming system according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, when the image forming operation is executed in units of a predetermined amount, the image forming apparatus Prior to the execution of the above, the usage fee amount is subtracted from the prepaid settlement amount in units of the predetermined amount, and the image forming operation is stopped when the remaining amount of the prepaid settlement amount is insufficient as a result of the subtraction. It is characterized by that.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is verified whether or not the prepaid settlement of the image formation usage fee is completed based on the mobile phone number information transmitted from the image forming apparatus to the management apparatus, and the image formation usage When the prepaid payment is completed, the image forming apparatus can perform an image forming operation in an amount corresponding to the prepaid payment amount, so that the image forming apparatus can be used even when the user does not have cash. Can be used.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the owner of the mobile phone number is authenticated based on the password information transmitted from the image forming apparatus to the management apparatus, security can be improved.

  According to the third aspect of the invention, since the remaining amount information is transmitted from the image forming apparatus to the management apparatus after the image forming operation is completed, the management apparatus can store the remaining amount information of the prepayment settlement amount.

  According to the fourth aspect of the invention, since the management apparatus transmits the remaining amount information of the prepaid settlement amount and / or usage result information including the usage fee amount to the mobile phone through the mail function, the remaining amount information of the prepaid settlement amount and / or Alternatively, usage result information including the usage fee amount can be notified to the user.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when the remaining amount of the prepaid settlement amount is insufficient, the image forming operation is stopped, so that the use of the image forming apparatus exceeding the prepaid settlement amount can be prevented.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, when the image forming operation is executed in units of a predetermined amount, the shortage of the remaining amount of the prepaid settlement amount is determined in units of the predetermined amount. It is possible to prevent the image forming operation from being stopped in the middle of the operation.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a system system of an image forming system 1 in the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming system 1 includes a mobile phone 10 owned by a user, an image forming apparatus 30 installed in a store such as a convenience store and a copy shop, and management for managing the image forming apparatus 30. And a device 20. The management apparatus 20, the image forming apparatus 30, and a settlement organization 40 such as a bank that performs prepaid settlement of charges for using the image forming apparatus 30 are connected via the Internet N. In addition, the mobile phone 10 can be connected to the management apparatus 20 via the Internet N. In FIG. 1, for the sake of simplicity, the mobile phone 10 and the image forming apparatus 30 are shown one by one. However, in reality, the mobile phone 10 and the image forming apparatus 30 are respectively installed in a plurality of mobile phones owned by a plurality of users and a plurality of stores. The present invention can be applied to a plurality of image forming apparatuses.

First, the mobile phone 10 will be described.
The mobile phone 10 is realized by a known radio telephone having a radio call function and a radio data communication function. The mobile phone 10 performs data communication with the management device 20 via a wireless base station owned by a contracted telephone company and the Internet N. The mobile phone 10 also has an access function (for example, a Web browser) and an e-mail function to a Web site provided by the management apparatus 20.

  FIG. 2 shows a functional configuration of the mobile phone 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile phone 10 includes a control unit 110, an operation unit 120, a display unit 130, a storage unit 140, and a communication unit 150.

  The control unit 110 is realized by including a central processing unit (CPU), a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), and the like, and centrally controls each unit constituting the mobile phone 10. In response to a signal input from the operation unit 120 or the communication unit 150, the CPU reads various control programs stored in the ROM or the storage unit 140, expands them in the RAM, and cooperates with the expanded control programs. Various processes are executed by the operation, and each part of the mobile phone 10 is caused to function. At this time, the CPU stores the various processing results in the RAM or the storage unit 140 and causes the display unit 130 to display the results as necessary.

  The operation unit 120 includes numeric keys and various function keys, and outputs a press signal by each key operation to the control unit 110. In addition to the time when the mobile phone 10 is in a call, for example, when the user accesses a website, information is input and designated by the operation unit 120.

  The display unit 130 is configured by an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panel or the like, and performs screen display based on display data input from the control unit 110. For example, the information received from the website is displayed on the display unit 130.

  The storage unit 140 stores various application programs and communication processing programs for the mobile phone 10 executed by the control unit 110, data processed by the processing programs, and the like.

  The communication unit 150 performs transmission / reception of transmission / reception voice via a radio base station owned by a contracted telephone company. The communication unit 150 transmits and receives data to and from the management device 20 via the radio base station and the Internet N.

Next, the management device 20 will be described.
FIG. 3 shows a functional configuration of the management apparatus 20. As shown in FIG. 3, the management device 20 includes a functional unit including a control unit 210, a storage unit 220, a communication unit 230, a user authentication unit 240, and a fee calculation unit 250.

  The control unit 210 is realized by including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and centrally controls each unit constituting the management device 20. In response to a signal input from the communication unit 230, the CPU reads out various control programs stored in the ROM or the storage unit 220, expands them in the RAM, and performs various processes in cooperation with the expanded control programs. Are executed to cause each part of the management apparatus 20 to function. At this time, the CPU stores the various processing results in the RAM or the storage unit 220 and transmits the results from the communication unit 230 to the mobile phone 10 and the image forming apparatus 30 via the Internet N as necessary.

  The storage unit 220 includes, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and stores programs executed by the control unit 210, data, and the like. When the storage unit 220 is instructed to store data, the storage unit 220 determines the free space in the HDD and stores the instructed information in the free area. Further, when an instruction to read a program or data is given from the control unit 210, the instructed information is read from the HDD and output to the control unit 210. Further, the storage unit 220 stores user information and a prepaid settlement amount (prepaid amount) of a fee for using the image forming apparatus 30 in association with each other. User information refers to a user name, a user's mobile phone number, a password, an e-mail address, and the like. Further, the remaining prepaid amount received from the image forming apparatus 30 and the usage fee amount calculated by the fee calculation unit 250 are additionally stored.

  The communication unit 230 transmits / receives data to / from the mobile phone 10, the image forming apparatus 30, and the settlement organization 40 via the Internet N.

  The user authentication unit 240 authenticates the mobile phone number and password transmitted by the image forming apparatus 30 and the registered user information stored in the storage unit 220. This user authentication unit 240 is realized by software processing in cooperation with a program stored in the storage unit 220 and the CPU of the control unit 210.

  The fee calculation unit 250 determines the difference between the prepaid amount at the time of transmission to the image forming apparatus 30 and the remaining prepaid amount received from the image forming apparatus 30 after the image forming operation of the image forming apparatus 30 is completed. Calculate the usage fee. The fee calculation unit 250 is realized by software processing in cooperation with the program stored in the storage unit 220 and the CPU of the control unit 210.

Next, the image forming apparatus 30 will be described. The image forming apparatus 30 is a multifunction machine having a copying function, a facsimile function, and a printer function.
FIG. 4 shows a functional configuration of the image forming apparatus 30. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the image forming apparatus 30 includes a control unit 310, an input unit 320, a display unit 330, an image reading unit 340, an image forming unit 350, a storage unit 360, a communication unit 370, and a remaining amount calculation unit 380. Composed.

  The control unit 310 is realized by including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and centrally controls each unit constituting the image forming apparatus 30. In response to a signal input from the communication unit 370 or the input unit 320, the CPU reads various control programs stored in the ROM or the storage unit 360, expands them in the RAM, and cooperates with the expanded control programs. Various processes are executed by the operation, and each part of the image forming apparatus 30 is caused to function. At this time, the CPU stores the processing result in the RAM and displays it on the display unit 330 as necessary.

  The input unit 320 includes numeric keys and various function keys (start key, end key, etc.). When these keys are pressed, the pressing signal is output to the control unit 310. The input unit 320 may be configured by a touch panel integrated with the display unit 330.

  The display unit 330 is configured by an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), a TFT (Thin Film Transistor), or the like, and performs screen display according to a display signal from the control unit 310.

  The image reading unit 340 reads a document placed on the document table in accordance with a read signal from the control unit 310. The image reading unit 340 includes a light source, a lens, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), and the like. The image reading unit 340 forms an image of reflected light of the light scanned from the light source to the original and photoelectrically converts the read image. The image data read by the image reading unit 340 is temporarily stored in the RAM in the control unit 310.

  The image forming unit 350 forms an image by electrophotography based on the image data read by the image reading unit 340 and the image data received when functioning as a facsimile or a printer. Specifically, it has an exposure unit, a development unit, a fixing unit, etc., and the exposure unit sensitizes the photosensitive drum with a laser beam or LED (Light Emitting Diode) to form an electrostatic latent image based on the image data, The developing unit adsorbs toner to the photosensitive drum. Then, the toner adsorbed on the photosensitive drum is transferred to the paper, and the fixing unit thermally fixes the toner on the paper. The paper on which the image is formed by the image forming unit 350 is discharged to a paper discharge tray.

  The storage unit 360 includes an HDD, for example, and stores programs executed by the control unit 310, data, and the like. When the storage unit 360 is instructed to store data, the storage unit 360 determines the free space in the HDD and stores the instructed information in the free space. Further, when an instruction to read a program or data is given from the control unit 310, the designated information is read from the HDD and output to the control unit 310. Further, the storage unit 360 stores the prepaid amount received (downloaded) from the management device 20 and the prepaid balance calculated by the remaining amount calculation unit 380.

  The communication unit 370 transmits / receives data to / from the management apparatus 20 via the Internet N. The communication unit 370 receives image data when functioning as a printer, and transmits and receives image data when functioning as a facsimile.

  The remaining amount calculation unit 380 subtracts the usage fee amount of the image forming apparatus 30 from the prepaid amount downloaded from the management device 20 to calculate a prepaid remaining amount. The remaining amount calculation unit 380 is realized by software processing in cooperation with the program stored in the storage unit 360 and the CPU of the control unit 310. The unit price for calculating the usage fee may be set for each image forming apparatus.

Next, the operation in the image forming system 1 of the present embodiment will be described.
First, an outline of a series of processes will be described. As shown in FIG. 5, a user who uses the image forming system 1 operates the mobile phone 10 to access a mobile phone website provided by the management apparatus 20 and register user information. Subsequently, a prepayment settlement of a fee for using the image forming apparatus 30 is executed. The user information and the prepaid amount set by the prepaid payment are associated with each other and stored in the storage unit 220 of the management apparatus 20, and after the registration is completed, a registration completion notification is notified to the mobile phone 10 (see FIG. 6). .

  When the user inputs a mobile phone number and password to the image forming apparatus 30, the mobile phone number and password are transmitted from the image forming apparatus 30 to the management apparatus 20. The management device 20 authenticates the mobile phone number and password with the registered user information. If the authentication is successful, the prepaid amount is downloaded from the management apparatus 20 to the image forming apparatus 30 (see FIG. 7).

Next, when the user instructs the image forming apparatus 30 to execute an image forming operation such as copying or printing, the image forming apparatus 30 executes an image forming operation such as copying or printing. When the prepaid balance is insufficient, the image forming operation is stopped. When the image forming operation ends, the prepaid balance is transmitted (uploaded) to the management apparatus 20. Then, the management device 20 notifies the usage details to the mobile phone 10 by e-mail (see FIG. 8).
Hereinafter, each process will be described in detail.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing user information registration processing.
First, the user operates the mobile phone 10 to access the mobile phone website provided by the management device 20 via the Internet N (step S1), and registers user information (step S2). Information such as a user name, a mobile phone number, a password, and an e-mail address is transmitted from the mobile phone 10 to the management device 20, and the user information is stored in the storage unit 220 of the management device 20.

  Next, prepaid payment for the fee for using the image forming apparatus 30 is executed (step S3). For example, there is a user's account in a settlement institution 40 such as a bank, and information (amount, bank account number, etc.) necessary for prepaid settlement is transmitted from the mobile phone 10 to the management device 20, thereby Ownership is transferred from the user to the management device 20. In addition, prepaid settlement of charges may be performed by methods such as debiting mobile phone charges from a contract account, settlement by credit card, and transfer. At this time, the prepayment settlement may be set by a monetary amount, or may be set by a predetermined number (for example, 100 monochrome pages, 50 color pages) provided by the service. The prepaid amount generated by the prepayment settlement is stored in the storage unit 220 of the management device 20 in association with the user information.

When the prepaid settlement is completed, the user information registration completion and the prepaid amount are set are transmitted to the mobile phone 10 to notify the user (step S4). The user confirms that the registration of the user information and the setting of the prepaid amount have been completed, and ends the access to the management device 20 (step S5).
This completes the user information registration process.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing user authentication processing.
The user inputs the telephone number and password of the mobile phone 10 from the input unit 320 of the image forming apparatus 30 at the store where the image forming apparatus 30 to be used is installed (step S11). The input mobile phone number and password are transmitted from the image forming apparatus 30 to the management apparatus 20 via the Internet N (step S12). At this time, the information may be transmitted after being encrypted.

  Next, the management device 20 authenticates the mobile phone number and password received from the image forming device 30 and the registered user information. As a result, when the user authentication fails (step S13; NO), the image forming apparatus 30 is notified that the user authentication has failed (step S14), and the display unit 330 of the image forming apparatus 30 has an authentication error. Is displayed (step S15). Then, the image forming apparatus 30 returns to a normal waiting state.

If the user authentication is successful (step S13; YES), it is verified whether or not the prepaid settlement corresponding to the mobile phone number is completed. If the prepaid settlement is completed (step S16; YES). ) The prepaid amount is downloaded from the management apparatus 20 to the image forming apparatus 30 (step S17). Then, it is displayed on the display unit 330 of the image forming apparatus 30 that it can be used (step S18).
This completes the user authentication process.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the image forming process.
After the user authentication process is completed, the remaining amount of the prepaid amount downloaded from the management apparatus 20 is displayed on the display unit 330 of the image forming apparatus 30 (step S21).

  When the user instructs the image forming apparatus 30 to execute an image forming operation such as copying or printing (step S22), the image forming apparatus 30 determines whether the usage fee for the image forming apparatus 30 is within the prepaid balance. Is determined (step S23). For example, when the image forming operation executed by the image forming apparatus 30 is a print job using a printer function, the number of output jobs is calculated before the job, and the shortage of the prepaid balance is determined for each job. Further, when the image forming operation executed by the image forming apparatus 30 is a copy of a plurality of the same document, a usage fee amount for the plurality of sheets is calculated before copying, and a shortage of the prepaid balance is determined in units of a plurality of sheets. Is done.

  When the prepaid balance is insufficient (step S23; NO), it is displayed on the display unit 330 of the image forming apparatus 30 that it cannot be used (step S28), the image forming operation is stopped, and the process jumps to step S29.

  If the usage fee is within the prepaid balance (step S23; YES), the image forming operation is executed by the image forming apparatus 30 (step S24). Then, the usage fee amount based on the usage amount of the image forming apparatus 30 is subtracted from the prepaid balance by the image forming apparatus 30 (step S25).

  After the subtraction, it is determined whether the prepaid balance is “0” (step S26). When the prepaid balance is “0” (step S26; YES), it is displayed on the display unit 330 of the image forming apparatus 30 that it cannot be used (step S28), and the image forming operation is stopped.

  If the prepaid balance is not “0” (step S26; NO), it is determined whether or not to end the use of the image forming apparatus 30 (step S27). The end of use of the image forming apparatus 30 is determined by the user pressing the end key of the input unit 320 of the image forming apparatus 30. Furthermore, for example, when there is no instruction for one minute by the timer function in the image forming apparatus 30, the input mobile phone number and password may be cleared and forcibly terminated. Accordingly, when the user forgets to press the end key, unauthorized use of the image forming apparatus 30 by the next user can be prevented. If the use of the image forming apparatus 30 is not terminated (step S27; NO), the processing from step S21 to step S26 is repeated.

  When the use of the image forming apparatus 30 is ended (step S27; YES), when the prepaid balance is “0” at step S26 (step S26; YES), or when the usage fee exceeds the prepaid balance at step S23. If so (step S23; NO), the prepaid balance is uploaded from the image forming apparatus 30 to the management apparatus 20 together with the corresponding mobile phone number (step S29).

The uploaded prepaid balance is stored in the storage unit 220 of the management device 20. When the image forming apparatus 30 is used next time, the stored prepaid balance is downloaded. Then, the difference between the prepaid amount at the time of download and the uploaded prepaid balance is calculated (step S30). The calculated usage fee is stored in the storage unit 220. The usage fee is sent to the mobile phone 10 by e-mail based on the e-mail address stored in the storage unit 220 of the management apparatus 20 as the usage details along with the name of the used image forming apparatus, the usage date and time, the prepaid balance, etc. The user is notified (step S31).
This completes the image forming process.

  According to the image forming system 1 in the present embodiment, whether or not the advance payment settlement of the usage fee of the image forming apparatus 30 is completed based on the mobile phone number and the password transmitted from the image forming apparatus 30 to the management apparatus 20. When the prepaid payment is completed, the image forming operation corresponding to the prepaid amount can be performed. Therefore, the image forming apparatus 30 is used even when the user does not have cash or the like. can do. In addition, since the settlement is performed before the image forming apparatus 30 is used, the service provider of the image forming system 1 does not suffer any damage such as being unable to collect charges from the user. In addition, since user authentication is performed based on the password, security can be improved.

  Further, when the image forming apparatus 30 subtracts the usage fee from the prepaid balance based on the usage amount of the image forming apparatus 30, the unit price is set for each image forming apparatus. It becomes easy to compete for prices and set special charges such as service days.

  In addition, the usage fee, the name of the used image forming device, the usage date and time, the prepaid balance, etc. can be transmitted from the management device 20 to the mobile phone 10 by e-mail to notify the user. The user can manage this notification as a history of usage details.

  Further, since the image forming operation is stopped when the prepaid balance is insufficient, the use of the image forming apparatus 30 exceeding the prepaid balance can be prevented. Therefore, it is possible to prevent an unexpected excessive use of the user.

  In addition, when an image forming operation is executed in a predetermined amount unit such as a print job or multiple copies of the same document, the shortage of the prepaid balance is determined in a predetermined amount unit. It is possible to prevent the image forming operation from being stopped during the process.

  In the above-described image forming process, when an image forming operation is executed in a predetermined amount unit such as a print job or a plurality of copies of the same document, it is determined that the prepaid balance is insufficient in a predetermined amount unit. However, the usage fee amount may be subtracted from the prepaid balance each time one sheet is output, and the shortage of the prepaid balance may be determined. If the prepaid balance is insufficient, the image forming operation may be stopped. In this case, the image forming operation can be executed while the usage fee amount corresponding to one output is within the prepaid balance.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the Internet N is used as the communication line has been described. However, the communication line may include a LAN (Local Area Network) or a WAN (Wide Area Network), and may be a telephone line network. An ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) line network, an ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) line network, a mobile communication network, a communication satellite line, a CATV line, an optical communication line, a wireless communication line, and the like may be used.

  The description in the above embodiment is an example of a suitable image forming system 1 according to the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to this. The detailed configuration and detailed operation of each apparatus constituting the image forming system 1 can be changed as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a system system of an image forming system 1 in an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the mobile phone 10. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a management device 20. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the image forming apparatus 30. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating an outline of a series of processes in the image forming system 1. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows a user information registration process. It is a flowchart which shows a user authentication process. It is a flowchart which shows an image formation process.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming system 10 Cellular phone 110 Control part 120 Operation part 130 Display part 140 Storage part 150 Communication part 20 Management apparatus 210 Control part 220 Storage part 230 Communication part 240 User authentication part 250 Charge calculation part 30 Image formation apparatus 310 Control part 320 Input unit 330 Display unit 340 Image reading unit 350 Image forming unit 360 Storage unit 370 Communication unit 380 Remaining amount calculation unit 40 Settlement organization N Internet

Claims (6)

The mobile phone number information input via the input means provided in the image forming apparatus to be used is transmitted to the management apparatus that manages the image forming apparatus via the communication line,
Based on the transmitted mobile phone number information, the management device verifies whether or not a prepaid settlement of an image formation usage fee corresponding to the mobile phone number is completed, and a prepaid settlement of the image formation usage fee Is completed, the prepaid settlement amount information is returned to the image forming apparatus,
The image forming apparatus is configured to receive the prepaid settlement amount information and perform an image forming operation in an amount corresponding to the prepaid settlement amount. The image forming system according to claim 1,
The image forming apparatus transmits password information input via the input unit to the management apparatus via the communication line,
The management device authenticates the owner of the mobile phone number based on the transmitted password information, and when the authentication result confirms that the user is the person, the prepaid settlement amount information is An image forming system configured to send a reply to an image forming apparatus. The image forming system according to claim 1 or 2,
After the image forming operation is completed, the image forming apparatus transmits residual amount information obtained by subtracting the usage fee amount consumed in association with the image formation from the prepaid settlement amount together with the mobile phone number information to the management device,
The image forming system, wherein the management device is configured to store the balance information of the transmitted prepaid payment amount. The image forming system according to claim 3.
A mobile phone having a mail function corresponding to the mobile phone number is connected to the communication line,
The image forming system, wherein the management device is configured to transmit remaining result information of the prepaid settlement amount and / or usage result information including a usage fee amount to the mobile phone through the mail function. In the image forming system according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The image forming apparatus is configured to sequentially subtract a usage fee amount from the prepaid settlement amount according to an image forming operation, and to stop the image forming operation when the remaining amount of the prepaid settlement amount is insufficient as a result of the subtraction. An image forming system characterized by that. The image forming system according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
When the image forming operation is executed in units of a predetermined amount, the image forming apparatus subtracts the usage fee amount from the prepaid settlement amount in advance in units of the predetermined amount before executing the image forming operation. As a result, the image forming system is configured to stop the image forming operation when the remaining amount of the prepaid settlement amount is insufficient.

Images