JP2005173793A - Data output system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system enabling a receiver to recognize a printer close to the receiver by information transmitted from a transmitter, who acquires positional information of the receiver, recognizes the printer close to the receiver, and transmits the information about the printer to the receiver, also for easy data output. <P>SOLUTION: In this data output system, the transmitter transfers data to a print center and comprehends the location of the receiver, and the print center combines the positional information of the printer and the positional information of the receiver together and transmits (notifies) the information about the printers near to the receiver to the receiver. The receiver selects a printer to be used for printing from the information about the printers near to the receiver and returns the selection result to the print center. When the print center transmits the data to the selected printer, the printer starts printing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a system that allows a receiver to smoothly receive data when the sender has data that the user wants to print out and pass to the receiver.

  Recently, mobile terminals (cell phones, PDAs, other mobile terminals) having functions such as a timekeeping function, a scheduler function, a text creation function, and a communication function have become widespread. For this reason, the user can perform various tasks on a mobile terminal, although not as much as a PC.

  In particular, recently, due to the enhancement of communication functions, it is also possible to receive data exchanges with external devices, provision of information from a network that provides various types of information, and the like. In addition, when the PHS function is used, a location registration function for updating and registering the location of confidence is provided, and the location information of the mobile terminal is monitored. In addition, a GPS function and a technology for recognizing the position have been developed so that the position information of the mobile terminal can be known.

  In addition, normally, a portable terminal is not equipped with a printing device that prints data, and there is a problem that it is not easy to print out text or the like created while moving or on the go. There has been proposed a data transfer system or the like that can print out document data created on a portable terminal by transferring the document data to a printing device designated by a user.

The printing apparatus may have a printer server or the like that manages its location and status. When the user of the mobile terminal prints from the mobile terminal, the user can print from where the printing device by combining the location information of the mobile terminal and the location and status information of the printing device in the printer server or the like. There is also a means for selecting whether or not to perform printing (Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-191453

  However, when a person (hereinafter referred to as a sender) wants to pass data to another person (hereinafter referred to as a receiver) by paper, the sender and the receiver may be at a remote location.

  There is a method called FAX as the method, but in the case of FAX, it is not suitable for sending a lot of data, and there is a problem that the recipient cannot select the FAX that he / she wants to send. Also, if you want to protect confidentiality in terms of security, FAX has a function to specify time, and it is only necessary for the recipient to go to the FAX location at that time, but it is troublesome to actually do it .

  There is also a method of sending data to the receiver's mobile terminal, and the receiver prints out from the mobile terminal. However, if the data to be printed is large, the memory of the mobile terminal may not fit or the mobile terminal may It may be late.

  The above-described method in which the user accesses the printer server from the portable terminal and obtains printer information near the user may not be possible depending on the type of portable terminal.

  Therefore, the problem of the present invention is that the sender side obtains the position information of the receiver, the sender recognizes the printer near the receiver, and sends the information to the receiver, so that the receiver selects the printer near the receiver. The idea is to propose a system that can be easily recognized and can easily output data. We also propose a system that increases security.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the data output system, the sender passes the data to the print center where the receiver knows the position of the receiver, and the printer center receives the position information of the printing apparatus and the receiver. The information on the printing device in the vicinity of the recipient is transmitted (contacted) to the recipient. The receiver selects the printing apparatus that he / she wants to print out from the information on the nearby printing apparatus sent and sends it back to the print center. The print center starts printing by sending data to the selected printing device. As a result, the sender can easily give the data to the receiver by paper.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the data to be printed out by the printing apparatus is directly transmitted from the sender to the printing apparatus. Can be reduced.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the printer center sends both the information of the nearby printing device and the print data to the receiver, so that the printout can be quickly performed without complicating the processing. I can do it.

  According to the fourth aspect of the invention, in the system according to the first or second aspect, the encryption key is transmitted to the recipient when the printer center passes the data of the printing device near the recipient to the recipient. When the recipient selects the printing device and information on the selected printing device is received at the printer center, the encryption key is transmitted simultaneously with the data to be printed to the selected printing device.

  When the recipient wants to perform printing, he / she can perform printing by transmitting the encryption key to the printing apparatus or directly inputting the encryption key to the printing apparatus.

  By using an encryption key. The printing apparatus can specify the recipient twice, and can maintain security.

  According to the first to third aspects of the present invention, when the sender wants to pass the data on paper, the receiver recognizes the printing device near him and makes a selection easily by the data output system. Can be passed as paper data.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, the encryption key is sent to the data output system according to claims 1-2, the encryption key is sent from the receiver to the printing apparatus that the receiver wants to print, and the print By sending an encryption key from the center to the printing device selected by the recipient, the printing device compares the encryption key that came from the recipient with the encryption key that came from the print center. Done. If they are different, printing is not performed. As a result, security could be protected.

  Hereinafter, details of an embodiment of a data output system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  The configuration of the present embodiment and the first embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the entire data output system according to the first embodiment.

  The data output system according to the present embodiment is as follows. 1. mobile terminal (recipient); 2. radio base station; 3. mobile terminal center; 4. Service center Network, 6. 6. printing device; It consists of a terminal (sender).

  The portable terminal 1 can input and create data by key input and pen input, text creation function that can be created, clock function, personal data management such as scheduler, function that can execute programs, communication function (PHS etc.), It is a small portable terminal formed by a user, including position information.

  A large number of wireless base stations 2 are installed to receive radio waves from portable terminals.

  The mobile terminal center 3 is a mobile terminal service control station that serves as a master station for the radio base station 2, and if the mobile terminal 1 does not have the function of monitoring the positional information or the mobile terminal itself has the function of monitoring the positional information, With the registration function, the position information of the mobile terminal 1 is monitored, and the reception data from the mobile terminal 1 is transmitted to the print center 4 via the wireless base stations 2 distributed in the area, or the print center The data from 4 is transmitted to the portable terminal 1. Further, communication with the print center 4 may be performed via a network.

The print center 4 includes a database 16 of information related to the printing apparatuses 6 that perform printing output scattered in the region. The information of the printing device 6 near the recipient 1 can be created by combining the positional information of the receiving device 1 obtained and the positional information of the printing device 6 held in the print center 4. (Details of the print center will be described later in FIG. 2)
The printing device 6 is a printing device installed in a region. Further, the function of the print center 4 may be retained. The functions may be distributed with the print center 4 and communicated via a network.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of the print center 4, which is one of the components of the data output system according to this embodiment.

  The print center 4 includes a communication unit 11, a CPU 12, a RAM 13, a ROM 14, a storage medium 15, a database 16, and the like.

  The communication unit 11 receives the data transmitted from the mobile terminal 1 through the mobile terminal center 3 or from the mobile terminal center 3 and the position information data of the mobile terminal 1, and sends the received data to the information processing device 17. input.

  The information processing device 17 includes a CPU 12, a RAM 13, a ROM 14, a storage medium 17, and the like, and these devices are connected to each other via a bus 18.

  The CPU 12 executes processing of data from the communication unit 11 by executing an application program designated from among the ROM 14 and the program stored in the storage medium 15 and various application programs corresponding to the system program. Do.

  The RAM 13 includes a storage area that temporarily stores programs to be processed by the CPU 12, output data from the communication unit 11, and the like, and reads various stored programs and data. In addition, data retrieved from the database 16 and the like are temporarily stored in accordance with the stored various program codes.

  The ROM 14 and the storage medium 15 store programs and data. The storage medium 15 includes a system program and various application programs for the system program, a communication process, an input process, a data process, and the like.

  The storage medium 15 stores processed data and the like.

  The program, data, and the like recorded in the storage medium 15 may be received from other devices connected via a communication line and stored.

  In addition, a storage device provided with the above storage medium may be provided in another device connected via a communication line or the like, and the program and data communication line stored in the storage medium may be used.

  The database 16 holds position data of the printing apparatus 6 provided by the print center 4 and map information.

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram in which the flow when the sender 7 passes the data to the receiver 1 as paper data is described in time series.

First, the location information of the receiver 1 is managed by the mobile terminal center 3. In addition, the location information of the receiver 1 can be inquired at an arbitrary time. (Step C10)
The mobile terminal center 3 sends the location information of the receiver 1 to the printer center 4 when an inquiry is received from the printer center 4. (Step C4)
The user transmits data to be printed on the portable terminal 1 and the destination information of the user to the print center 4. (Step C1) The destination information is information capable of recognizing the recipient's mobile terminal, such as an e-mail address, a mobile phone number, and individual information of the mobile terminal.

  The print center 4 receives data from the sender 7 (step C2), and can determine the position information of the receiver 1 and the printing device 6 near the receiver 1. As an indexing method, an object having a certain distance between the printing device 6 and the recipient may be output as a nearby printing device 6, or the printing device 6 in a certain building may be output. The same floor printing device may be provided. The user may be allowed to select how to determine the printing device 6. (Step C3) Details will be described later.

Thereafter, the information of the printing apparatus 6 determined by the print center 4 is transmitted from the printer center 4 to the receiver 1. (Step C5)
The receiver 1 selects the printing apparatus 6 that he / she wishes to print from the information of the printing apparatus 6 that has been sent. Then, the information is returned to the printer center 4. (Step C6)
The printer center 4 transmits the print data that has been transmitted from the sender 7 to the printer center 4 to the designated printing apparatus. (Step C7)
The selected printing device 6 receives the print data from the printer center 4 (step C8) and prints the mark. (Step C9)
Next, an example of how the recipient 1 selects the printing device 6 will be described with reference to FIG.

  When the application can be run on the portable terminal of the receiver 1, an inquiry screen as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the portable terminal.

The main information includes the location, distance, status of the printing device 6, and performance (monochrome / color, what ppm) of the printing device 7.
The user selects one of them and sends it.

  If the application cannot be run on the portable terminal, a telephone operator may be placed in the printer center 4 to make an inquiry to the receiver 1 by telephone. Inquiries to the recipient 1 may be made by other methods.

  Next, a method for managing the printing device 6 of the print center 4 and a method for creating printing device information to be sent to the recipient will be described with reference to FIG.

  The database of the print center 4 has information about the printing device 6 as shown in FIG. The information includes a printer name, function, location, and status. If the location has additional information such as the building name, the floor name of the building, and the floor number of the building, it should be possible to specify it.

  The operation of the print center 4 when an inquiry is made to the recipient will be described with reference to FIG.

  The print center 4 picks up the printing device 6 in the order of distance from the receiver 1 based on the position information of the receiver 1 and creates data as shown in FIG. In addition, the printer 6 may be picked up by the building name, the building floor name, the floor number of the building, and the like.

  Then, information of the printing device 6 is sent from the created data in order of increasing distance from the receiver 1. The number of printing apparatuses 6 to be sent is set so that any one of the sender 7, the receiver 1, and the printer center 4 can be set.

  As described above, in the first embodiment, when the sender 7 wants to send data to the receiver 1 by paper, the receiver 1 can easily select paper by selecting the printing device 6 near him. Data can be output.

  Next, the configuration of the second embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the second embodiment in a time series.

  The configuration of the second embodiment is different from the configuration of the first embodiment only in the following part.

When the sender 7 sends data to be printed to the receiver 1, the sender 7 first transmits the data of the receiver 1 (mobile terminal information (mobile phone number, e-mail address, mobile terminal individual information)). (Step D1)
Based on the information, steps D2 to D6 are performed.

After that, when the printing apparatus 6 that performs printout from the receiver 1 selects, information on the selected printing apparatus is transmitted from the print center 4. (Step D7)
When the sender 7 receives information about the printing device 6 selected by the receiver 1 from the printer center 4. (Step 8) Then, data to be printed is transmitted to the printing apparatus 6 selected by the receiver 1. (Step D9)
As a result, the print center 4 does not need to spool the print data, and the addition can be reduced.

  Next, the configuration of the third embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the third embodiment of the present invention in time series.

  The configuration of the third embodiment is different from the configuration of the first embodiment only in the following part.

When the print center 4 sends information of the printing device 6 near the receiver 1 to the receiver 1, data to be printed is also transmitted at the same time. (Step E3)
The receiver 1 receives information on the printing apparatus to be printed out and print data (step E5), and when the printing apparatus is selected, transmits data to the printing apparatus (step E6).

  Thus, sending data to the receiver 1 eliminates the complexity of data exchange.

  Next, the configuration of the fourth embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the fourth embodiment of the present invention in time series.

  The configuration of the fourth embodiment is different from the configurations of the first and second embodiments only in the following part.

  When the print center 4 sends the information of the printing device 6 near the receiver 1 to the receiver 1, the print center 4 also sends the encryption key (step F3).

Further, when the recipient 1 designates the printing device 6, the print center 4 sends the encryption key passed to the recipient 1 to the selected printing device 6 at the same time as sending image data. (Step F7)
The receiver 1 transmits to the printing apparatus 6 that designates the encryption key or directly inputs it. (Step F11) If the encryption keys sent from the printer center 4 and the receiver 1 are equal, printing is performed. (Step F9)
As a result, printing is performed only when the receiver 1 puts the encryption key into the printing device 6, so that security is maintained.

1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a data output system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a print center according to the present exemplary embodiment. It is the figure which showed the flow of the process of this Embodiment 1 in time series. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating how a recipient selects a printing apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment. It is the figure which showed the contents of the database of the print center of this embodiment. It is the figure which showed the structure of the whole data output system of this Embodiment 2. FIG. It is the figure which showed the structure of the whole data output system of this Embodiment 3. FIG. It is the figure which showed the whole structure of the data output system of this Embodiment 4.

Explanation of symbols

1 Mobile device (recipient)
2 Mobile base station 3 Mobile terminal center 4 Print center 5 Network 6 Printing device 7 Terminal (sender)
11 Communication unit 12 CPU
13 RAM
14 ROM
15 Storage medium 16 Database 17 Information processing device 18 Bus

Claims (4)

A portable terminal having a document creation function, a data storage function, and a communication function;
When there is a person who passes data from the device (hereinafter “sender”) and a mobile device holder (hereinafter “receiver”) who receives the data on paper,
Monitoring means for monitoring position information of the mobile terminal;
A database for storing information relating to the position of the printing apparatus (hereinafter, print center);
Means for detecting printing device information near the portable terminal from the positional information of the portable terminal and the positional information of the printing device stored in the print center;
Means for transmitting information of the detected printing device to a portable terminal holder;
Means for the recipient to select a printing device to be printed from information on the printing device;
Means for sending information of the selected printing device to the print center;
Means for spooling the data to the print center when the sender tries to send the data;
Means for outputting data from the print center to the printing device when information about the selected printing device is received by the print center;
A data output system comprising: 2. The system according to claim 1, wherein when the sender sends data to the print center, the sender prints personal information (information on the portable terminal) of the receiver instead of sending the data to be printed to the print center 4. Means for center transmission;
Means for instructing the sender to send data to be printed to the sender from the printer center when the recipient selects the printing device and sends the information to the printer center;
Means for transmitting data from the printer center to the printing device selected by the recipient;
A data output system as described above, comprising: 2. The data output system according to claim 1, further comprising means for simultaneously sending data to be printed when the print center transmits information about a nearby printing apparatus to the recipient. 3. The system according to claim 1, wherein means for transmitting an encryption key to the recipient when passing data of a printing device near the recipient from the printer center to the recipient;
Means for transmitting the encryption key simultaneously with the data to be printed when the recipient selects the printing device and information on the selected printing device is received by the printer center;
The receiver can start printing by sending the encryption key to the printing device or inputting the encryption key to the printing device; and
A data output system as described above, comprising:

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