JP2006181874A - Image forming apparatus and method of processing image - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus capable of preventing a document from being unexpectedly leaked to the outside, and a method of processing an image. <P>SOLUTION: An operation input detection section 46 designates an output operation including printing to document data formed by including at least one of image data and character data. A sound data conversion section 64 acquires an ID number input from a microphone 17 by a voice as identification information of a user. A user determination section 82 generates user determination information for determining a user according to the acquired identification information. An information addition section 88 adds the generated user determination information to the document data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an image processing method for performing an output operation including a printing operation using document data including at least one of image data and character data.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image forming apparatus (so-called digital multifunction peripheral) having a plurality of functions such as a copying function and a printer function is known. This type of image forming apparatus is generally an image indicated by image data obtained by reading a document image with a scanner provided in the apparatus main body, or a print requested to be printed from an external apparatus connected via a network or the like. An image indicated by the data is printed on a recording sheet. Some image forming apparatuses of this type have a file conversion function for converting an image read from a scanner into a digitized file such as a PDF (Portable Document Format) file format. Some digital files can be output to an external device via a network.

  By the way, the image forming apparatus sometimes reads a confidential document from a scanner and prints it on a recording sheet, or converts it into an electronic file and outputs it to an external apparatus via a network or the like. Therefore, the image forming apparatus is required to improve security in order to prevent the confidential document from being lost to outsiders.

As a technique for enhancing the security of this image forming apparatus, Patent Document 1 discloses that a scanner and a printer connected to a network are each provided with a fingerprint reader, and a fingerprint of the user is read by the fingerprint reader when reading an original image from the scanner. Is added to the header of the image data of the original image, and when the image data is printed, it is added to the header of the user's fingerprint pattern and image data read by the fingerprint reader of the printer. A technique for permitting printing when a fingerprint pattern indicated by the fingerprint pattern data matches is disclosed. This technique can prevent image data obtained by reading a confidential document from the scanner from being printed by different users.
JP 2002-281277 A

  However, since the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 is a technique that allows image data read by a scanner to be printed only by the same person, even if the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 is used, it can be used for outsiders of confidential documents. It was difficult to prevent the outflow.

  That is, for example, there are still cases where a confidential document is printed by a plurality of users and flows out to outsiders, or a confidential document is converted into an electronic file and leaked out to outsiders.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above facts, and an object thereof is to provide an image forming apparatus and an image processing method capable of preventing an inadvertent outflow of a document.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is an instruction for inputting an instruction of an output operation including a printing operation on a recording paper by using document data including at least one of image data and character data. An input unit, an acquisition unit for acquiring identification information for identifying a user who inputs an instruction for the output operation, and user identification information for specifying the user based on the identification information acquired by the acquisition unit Specific information generating means, and adding means for adding the user specific information generated by the specific information generating means to the document data.

  The invention described in claim 1 is configured such that an output operation including printing is instructed to the document data including at least one of the image data and the character data by the instruction input unit. Here, in the present invention, identification information for identifying a user who inputs an output operation instruction is acquired by the acquisition unit, and the user is identified based on the identification information acquired by the acquisition unit by a specific information generation unit. User specifying information to be specified is generated, and the user specifying information generated by the specifying information generating unit is added by the adding unit to the document data.

  As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the identification information of the user who inputs the instruction for the output operation of the document data is acquired, and the user identification information for specifying the user is generated based on the acquired identification information. Since the user specifying information is added to the document data, the user who has instructed the output operation of the document data can be specified based on the added user specifying information. It is possible to call attention to the document data output by the instruction, and as a result, it is possible to prevent the document from being inadvertently leaked to the outside.

  In addition, in the instruction of the output operation with respect to the document data by the instruction input means, in addition to input devices such as a keyboard and a pointing device, a recording sheet by communication from an external device via a communication line such as a LAN, the Internet, an intranet Print instructions, and output instructions to external devices via a network such as a LAN, the Internet, or an intranet.

  The acquisition of identification information by the acquisition means includes acquisition through an input device such as a keyboard and a pointing device, as well as acquisition from an external device via a communication line such as a LAN, the Internet, or an intranet. It is.

  On the other hand, the invention described in claim 1 is a composite image obtained by combining the document image indicated by the document data and the image indicated by the user specifying information added to the document data, as in the invention described in claim 2. And a print means for printing the composite image generated by the composite image generation means on a recording sheet when an instruction for the print operation is input by the instruction input. It is also good.

  In particular, the invention described in claim 2 is the case where, as in the invention described in claim 3, the adding means receives condition information indicating a condition of the output as an instruction of the output operation by the instruction input means. In addition, the condition information may be further added to the document data, and the printing unit may perform printing according to the instruction content indicated by the output instruction information added to the document data.

  Further, according to the present invention, as in the invention described in claim 4, the acquisition unit acquires voice data indicating ID information input by the voice of the user, and the voice acquired by the acquisition unit Conversion means for performing voice recognition on the data and converting the ID information into character data; and storage means for storing user information data including a predetermined user name and ID information in advance, The identification information generation unit identifies the user who has input the instruction of the output operation by collating the ID information converted into character data by the conversion unit and the ID information included in the user information data, and The user specifying information may be generated as including at least one of name and ID information.

  The storage means includes an EEPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory), a semiconductor memory such as a flash memory, a portable storage medium such as a flexible disk, a fixed storage device such as a hard disk, A storage device of an external device connected through a network is included.

  Further, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, as in the fifth aspect of the present invention, the acquisition means further acquires facial feature data indicating facial features of the user and fingerprint feature data indicating features of the user's fingerprint. The user information data further includes the predetermined user face feature data and fingerprint feature data, and the specific information generating means is the face feature data and fingerprint feature data obtained by the obtaining means. Further, the user may be specified by collating face feature data and fingerprint feature data corresponding to the ID information converted into character data by the conversion means included in the user information data.

In particular, in the invention according to claim 4 or claim 5, as in the invention according to claim 6, the user information data is printed on the recording paper in color for each of the predetermined users. Display means for displaying an operation screen for inputting a print operation instruction, further including print operation information indicating whether the print is performed in black and white or the print is not permitted;
Display setting means for setting display contents of the operation screen to be displayed on the display means based on the print operation information corresponding to the user specified by the specific information generating means may be further provided.

  The display means includes display devices such as a CRT display device, a plasma display device, an organic EL display device, and a liquid crystal display device.

  Further, in the invention according to claim 4 or claim 5, as in the invention according to claim 7, the user information data determines whether or not to enlarge a character displayed for each predetermined user. Display means for displaying a predetermined operation screen, and display the operation screen displayed on the display means based on the character display information corresponding to the user specified by the specific information generation means. Display setting means for setting the size of characters may be further provided.

  On the other hand, in order to achieve the above object, an image processing method according to claim 8 is configured to include at least one of image data and character data in accordance with an output operation instruction including a print operation on a recording sheet from a user. An image processing method for an image indicated by document data, wherein identification information for identifying the user who inputs the output operation instruction is acquired, and the user is specified based on the acquired identification information Information is generated, and the generated user specifying information is added to the document data.

  Therefore, since the image processing method according to the eighth aspect operates in the same manner as the first aspect, attention to the document data output by the user's own output instruction is given to the user as with the first aspect. As a result, it is possible to prevent inadvertent outflow of documents.

  As described above, according to the present invention, identification information of a user who inputs an instruction to output document data is acquired, and user identification information for specifying the user is generated based on the acquired identification information. Since the user specifying information is added to the document data, the user who specified the output operation of the document data can be specified based on the added user specifying information. As a result, it is possible to call attention to the document data output, and as a result, it is possible to prevent an inadvertent outflow of the document.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 10 reads an image from a recording sheet placed at a predetermined reading position, acquires image data indicating the image, and image data acquired by the scanner 11. A device main body 12 that performs image forming processing using various image data such as image data acquired from the outside, and a touch panel display that displays an operation menu, a message, and the like, and a transmissive touch panel is integrally provided on the surface (Hereinafter referred to as “display”) 14, a camera 16 that captures the face of the user who operates the image forming apparatus 10, a microphone 17 that converts an operation instruction by a voice from the user into an electrical signal, and a fingerprint sensor In addition, the user touches the fingerprint sensor to read the fingerprint pattern of the user's finger. It has a fingerprint reading unit 18 for outputting fingerprint pattern data of a fingerprint pattern.

  Note that in the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, a pressure-sensitive touch panel is used as the touch panel, and image formation is performed when the user touches the display surface of the display 14 with a fingertip (touch operation). Various operations can be instructed to the apparatus 10.

  Further, in the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, a capacitance type sensor is employed as the fingerprint sensor built in the fingerprint reading unit 18, and electrostatic capacitance generated between the skin surface and the sensor surface is employed. The fingerprint pattern is detected by utilizing the fact that the capacitance changes according to the unevenness of the skin. Note that the fingerprint sensor is not limited to such a capacitive type, and other types such as an optical type and a thermal type may be used.

  Further, an image forming engine unit 15 (not shown in FIG. 1; see FIG. 2) that prints an image on a recording sheet by an electrophotographic method is provided inside the apparatus main body 12. The image forming engine unit 15 can form a full color image using toners of four colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K). Further, it is possible to form a black and white gradation image using only black toner.

  On the other hand, the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment is connected to a network 20. In the present embodiment, the Internet is applied as the network 20. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various networks such as an intranet, a LAN (Local Area Network), an Echonet, and a HomePNA are applied singly or in combination. You can also

  On the other hand, a terminal device 22 such as a personal computer or a workstation is connected to the network 20, and the image forming apparatus 10 and the terminal device 22 can communicate with each other via the network 20. The network 20 is also connected to another network (not shown), and the image forming apparatus 10 can communicate with a mail server (not shown) connected to the other network via the network 20. The image forming apparatus 10 is also connected to a general communication line 21 and can perform facsimile communication.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 2, the main configuration of the electrical system of the image forming apparatus 10 will be described.

  The image forming apparatus 10 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 40 that controls the operation of the entire apparatus, and an instruction information table 72 (see also FIG. 4) for specifying various programs including a control program and voice instructions from a user described later. .) And the like, a RAM 48 for temporarily storing various data, various data and various programs acquired by each device such as the scanner 11, and a user information table 70 described later (see also FIG. 4). )), A display driver 44 that controls display of various types of information on the display 14, an operation input detector 46 that detects a touch operation on the display 14, and a microphone 17. An analog audio signal connected and received by the microphone 17 is converted into digital audio data. An audio data converting unit 64 for converting comprises a.

  The audio data converter 64 includes a bandpass filter whose pass frequency band can be changed and an amplifier (both not shown) having a predetermined amplification factor, and the pass frequency preset by the bandpass filter. Only the digital audio data in the band is extracted, amplified with a predetermined amplification factor by an amplifier, and output.

  The HDD 56 stores a voice recognition program for converting digital voice data output from the voice data converter 64 into character data. This speech recognition program has a speech dictionary in which predetermined character string data (text data) and speech pattern data corresponding thereto are registered in advance in association with each other. In addition, as this voice recognition program, a known voice recognition program (for example, IBM Japan, ViaVoice (registered trademark)) may be installed and used.

  In the instruction information table 72, for example, “color copy” and “full-color copy start instruction”, “three sheets” and “three designated sheets” character data obtained by the voice recognition program, for example. Is stored in association with the character data corresponding to and the operation instruction content meaning the character data.

  The CPU 40, RAM 48, ROM 42, HDD 56, display driver 44, operation input detection unit 46, and audio data conversion unit 64 are connected to each other via a system bus BUS. Therefore, the CPU 40 can perform access to the RAM 48, the ROM 42, and the HDD 56 and display various information on the display 14 via the display driver 44, and can be performed by a user's touch operation on the operation input detection unit 46. The user by operating instructions, converting the digital voice data output from the voice data converter 64 by the voice recognition program described above into character data, and searching the character string registered in the instruction information table 72 from the converted character data It is possible to grasp each instruction content of the operation instruction by voice through the microphone 17.

  On the other hand, the image forming apparatus 10 is connected to a scanner driver 50 that controls reading of an optical image by the scanner 11, an image forming engine control unit 54 that controls the image forming engine unit 15, and a general communication line 21. A facsimile I / F (interface) unit 58 for transmitting / receiving facsimile telegrams to / from a facsimile apparatus connected to the general communication line 21 via the connector 57, and a connector connected to the network 20. 59, a network I / F (interface) unit 60 that transmits and receives communication data to and from the terminal device 22 connected to the network 20 via the connector 59, and the camera 16 by controlling the imaging operation of the camera 16. A camera control unit 62 for acquiring image data indicating a photographed image from 16 and fingerprint reading 18 controlled to a provided with a fingerprint reader controller 66 obtains the fingerprint pattern data.

  The scanner driver 50, the image forming engine control unit 54, the facsimile I / F unit 58, the network I / F unit 60, the camera control unit 62, and the fingerprint reading control unit 66 are also connected to the system bus BUS described above. Yes. Accordingly, the CPU 40 controls the operation of the scanner 11 via the scanner driver 50, controls the operation of the image forming engine unit 15 via the image forming engine control unit 54, and transmits / receives a facsimile message via the facsimile I / F unit 58. Control, transmission / reception control of communication data via the network I / F unit 60, control of imaging operation of the camera 16 via the camera control unit 62, control of operation of the fingerprint reading unit 18 via the fingerprint reading control unit 66 , Respectively.

  Note that in the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, software for transmitting an e-mail is installed in the HDD 56, and the e-mail is sent to the network I / F unit by a predetermined operation on the display 14 by the user using the software. 60 to the mail server (not shown) via the network 20.

  Further, the image forming apparatus 10 also has a file server function, and can transfer an electronic file of image data to a terminal device 22 connected to the network 20 via the network I / F unit 60. .

  Incidentally, the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment authenticates whether the user has the authority to operate the image forming apparatus 10 based on a user information table 70 described later when the user performs any operation. User authentication function. Further, the image forming apparatus 10 has an operation screen setting function for setting an operation screen displayed on the display 14 in accordance with the contents set for each user in the user information table 70.

  FIG. 3 schematically shows an example of the data structure of the user information table 70 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, in the user information table 70, the user ID number, name, face pattern, fingerprint pattern, operation permission setting, and screen display setting information are registered for each predetermined user. Yes. The ID number is for identifying a user, and unique information is assigned to each user. The name indicates the name of the corresponding user, and the face pattern indicates the feature of the user's face obtained by imaging the corresponding user with the camera 16. The fingerprint pattern indicates the fingerprint characteristics of the user's finger acquired by the fingerprint reading unit 18 from the corresponding user. Further, the operation permission setting indicates a restriction state with respect to the printing operation of the corresponding user. In this embodiment, “not permitted” is set when printing is not permitted, and “color” is set when color printing is permitted. When monochrome printing is permitted, “black and white” is registered. Further, the screen display setting indicates the size of the characters on the operation screen displayed on the display 14, and “enlarge” is displayed when the characters displayed on the operation screen are enlarged, while the characters are kept normal. Each of “normal” is registered.

  On the other hand, when the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment is authenticated as a user who is authorized to operate using the above-described user authentication function, the image forming apparatus 10 performs printing on a recording sheet in accordance with an instruction from the user. In addition, a user specifying information adding function for adding an ID number and a name to an image to be printed as information for specifying a user who has given a print instruction later is provided.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 for realizing the above-described user authentication function, operation screen setting function, and specific information addition function.

  As shown in the figure, the image forming apparatus 10 includes a voice recognition unit 80, a face pattern generation unit 81, a user identification unit 82, an operation screen control unit 84, an operation information creation unit 86, and an information addition unit 88. And an image synthesis unit 90 and an operation information analysis unit 92.

  The voice recognition unit 80 according to the present embodiment sequentially extracts and extracts one phrase or one word of voice data from the digital voice data output from the voice data conversion unit 64 using the voice recognition program stored in the HDD 58. Voice recognition is performed by matching the voice data with a voice pattern registered in the voice dictionary (pattern matching), and the voice data is converted into character data corresponding to a word generated by the user.

  In addition, the face pattern generation unit 81 according to the present embodiment is obtained by photographing with the camera 16 and is used by a user using a known face area detection technique from an image indicated by image data input via the camera control unit 62. , A facial feature existing in the facial region (for example, a feature indicating the positional relationship of eyes, nose, mouth, etc. based on the facial contour position) is obtained, and the user information table 70 is obtained. The face pattern data having the same format as the face pattern is generated.

  In addition, the user specifying unit 82 according to the present embodiment specifies the user by checking the character indicated by the character data obtained from the voice recognition unit 80 at the time of user authentication with the ID number of the user information table 70. That is, at the time of user authentication, the user utters the ID number assigned to himself / herself toward the microphone 17. Further, the user specifying unit 82 specifies the face pattern indicated by the user's face pattern data generated by the face pattern generation unit 81 and the fingerprint pattern indicated by the user's fingerprint pattern data acquired by the fingerprint reading unit 18. The face information and fingerprint pattern of the user information data corresponding to the user are collated (pattern matching) to authenticate the user.

  In addition, the operation screen control unit 84 according to the present embodiment controls the display driver 44 according to each information of the operation permission setting and the screen display setting of the user information data corresponding to the user specified by the user specifying unit 82, Set the display contents of the screen.

  On the other hand, the operation information creation unit 86 according to the present embodiment searches for a character string registered in the instruction information table 72 from the character data obtained by the voice recognition unit 80, and thereby the content of the operation instruction by the user's utterance. To figure out. Further, the operation information creation unit 86 acquires the state of the user's touch operation on the display 14 via the operation input detection unit 46, and grasps the content of the operation instruction by the user. Then, the operation information creation unit 86 determines whether the content of the operation instruction grasped from the operation permission setting content of the user information data corresponding to the user specified by the user specifying unit 82 is permitted to the user who instructed the operation. Judge whether or not.

  On the other hand, the information adding unit 88 according to the present embodiment adds the user ID number and name specified by the user specifying unit 82 to the image data read from the scanner 11 as user specifying information. The information adding unit 88 adds operation instruction data (output instruction information) indicating the operation instruction content grasped by the operation information creating unit 86 to the image data. Note that “addition” here refers to addition to the inside of image data (for example, header, footer, etc.), and data to be added using attribute information (tag) and image data as the same digitized file. It includes storing the image data, associating it with the image data, and storing it as an electronic file different from the image data. The operation instruction data may be a control code for controlling the apparatus or may be described as a script language.

  In addition, the image composition unit 90 according to the present embodiment generates a composite image in which an image indicating an ID number and a name added as user identification information to the image data is combined with a predetermined area of the image indicated by the image data. To do.

  Further, the operation information analysis unit 92 according to the present embodiment controls the image forming engine control unit 54 based on the instruction content indicated by the operation instruction data added to the image data.

  By the way, the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment has a user authentication function and an operation screen setting function by an authentication / screen setting processing program, and a specific information addition function by a specific information addition / print processing program, respectively by software. Realized.

  Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus 10 when executing the user authentication function, the operation screen setting function, and the specific information addition function will be described.

  First, the operation of the image forming apparatus 10 when executing the user authentication function and the operation screen setting function according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of the authentication / screen setting processing program executed by the CPU 40 at this time, and the program is stored in a predetermined area of the ROM 42 in advance.

  In step 100 of FIG. 6, the user waits for voice data to be input through the microphone 17. In step 102, the analog voice signal input from the microphone 17 is converted into digital voice data by the voice data converter 64. The digital voice data is converted into character data by a voice recognition program.

  In the next step 104, it is determined whether or not the character string indicated by the character data obtained by the above processing is registered as the ID number of the user information data. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 106. In the case of determination, the routine proceeds to step 114. That is, if the determination in step 104 is affirmative, the user having the ID number indicated by the character data (the user using the image forming apparatus 10) is specified from the user information data.

  In step 106, image data of an image including the user's face is obtained by photographing with the camera 16, and a face area is recognized from the image data to generate face pattern data.

  Here, in the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present exemplary embodiment, a message prompting the user to touch the fingerprint reading unit 18 with the fingertip is displayed on the display 14.

  Therefore, in the next step 108, the process waits for fingerprint pattern data to be acquired when the user's fingertip touches the fingerprint reading unit 18, and in the next step 110, it is indicated by the face pattern data obtained by the above processing. Pattern matching is performed between the fingerprint pattern indicated by the face pattern and the fingerprint pattern data and the face pattern indicated by the user face pattern data specified in step 104 of the user information table 70 and the fingerprint pattern indicated by the fingerprint pattern data. In the next step 112, it is determined as a result of pattern matching whether or not the user is the same person as the user registered in the user information table 70. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 116. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 116. 114. That is, whether or not the user is a valid user who can operate the image forming apparatus 10 is authenticated based on whether or not the pattern matching using the user information table 70 matches.

  In step 114, an error message indicating that the user cannot be authenticated is displayed on the display 14, and then the process returns to step 110.

  On the other hand, in step 116, the operation permission setting and screen display setting of the authenticated user are read from the user information table 70, and the state of the operation screen displayed on the display 14 is set based on the contents set by these settings. The authentication / screen setting processing program is terminated.

  As described above, according to the authentication / screen setting processing according to the present embodiment, the user is authenticated using the face pattern and the fingerprint pattern, so that the security can be improved. Moreover, the function which can be operated for every user can be restrict | limited and the suitable function according to the user can be provided.

  Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus 10 when executing the specific information adding function will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 shows the processing of the specific information addition / print processing program executed by the CPU 40 at a predetermined timing (here, the timing at which the user places a document image at a predetermined reading position and issues a copy operation instruction). The program is also stored in a predetermined area of the ROM 42 in advance.

  In step 150 of the figure, it is determined whether an operation instruction by voice is performed by the user from the microphone 17 or an operation instruction by touch operation is performed on the operation screen displayed on the display 14. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 152. If the determination is negative, the process returns to step 150.

  In step 152, it is determined whether or not an operation instruction is issued from the microphone 17. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 154. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 156.

  In step 154, the analog voice signal output from the microphone 17 is converted into digital voice data by the voice data converter 64, and the digital voice data is converted into character data by a voice recognition program. Then, the contents of the operation instruction by the voice data are grasped by searching the character string registered in the instruction information table 72 from the converted character data. That is, for example, when the user utters “three sheets, color copy” into the microphone 17 as a voice, the original image is read from the scanner 11 as an operation instruction, and the read image is printed in full color on a recording sheet. Is determined to have been instructed.

  In the next step 156, a touch operation is performed on the operation screen displayed on the display 14, and an operation instruction acquired via the operation input detection unit 46 or an operation instruction input by voice from the microphone 17 is received. Then, it is determined whether or not the operation is permitted by the operation permission setting of the user information table 70 corresponding to the user authenticated by the authentication / screen setting process described above. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 160; Control goes to step 158. This process corresponds to the case where an operation instruction that is not permitted by the voice from the microphone 17 may be input.

  In step 158, an error message indicating that the operation instruction is not permitted is displayed on the display 14, and then the process returns to step 150.

  On the other hand, in step 160, the scanner 11 is operated to read the original image, and the image data of the original image is acquired.

In the next step 162, the ID number and name of the user authenticated by the above-described authentication / screen setting processing program are added to the acquired image data, and operation instruction data indicating the content of the print operation instruction by the user is added. . For example, when the user utters “3 sheets, color copy” to the microphone 17, the operation instruction data becomes control information for printing the image indicated by the image data on three recording sheets. In the specific information addition / print processing according to the present embodiment, the case where image data is printed on a recording sheet has been described. However, the image data is composed of image data such as PDF and character data, for example. When converting to a digitized file and outputting it to the network 20, an ID number, name, and operation instruction data may be added to the digitized file. By adding the ID number and name to this digitized file, it is possible to specify which user generated the digitized file. In the next step 164, the ID number and name added to the image data are read. Thus, composite image data is generated in which an image indicating the ID number and name is combined in a size that can be visually recognized in a predetermined area of the image indicated by the image data. The predetermined area is preferably an area at any one of the four corners of the image indicated by the image data and an area that does not overlap the pattern or character of the image indicated by the image data.

  In the next step 166, based on the composite image data generated in step 164, the image forming engine unit 15 is controlled according to the instruction content indicated by the operation instruction data added to the image data, and the image is recorded on the recording paper. Then, the specific information addition / print processing program is terminated.

  As described above, according to the specific information addition / print processing program according to the present embodiment, the ID number and name are printed together with the image based on the image data on the recording sheet. It is possible to specify whether an instruction has been given. That is, since the user's own ID number and name are printed on the printed recording paper, the user can be alerted not to inadvertently distribute the information, and security is improved. In addition, since operation instruction data for printing is added to the image data, control information for printing can be acquired from only the image data, and it is not necessary to receive control information from other, so printing is performed. It becomes easy to control. Therefore, for example, even when image data is transferred to another image forming apparatus 10 and printed by another image forming apparatus 10, printing can be performed based on operation instruction data added to the image data.

  As described above, in the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present exemplary embodiment, the instruction input unit (here, the microphone 17 and the display 14) is recorded by document data including at least one of image data and character data. An instruction for an output operation including a print operation on paper is input, and an acquisition unit (here, the microphone 17) is a specific information generation unit (here, a user specifying unit 82) is a user who inputs the instruction for the output operation. Identifying information for identifying the user, generating user specifying information for identifying the user based on the identification information acquired by the acquiring means, and adding means (here, the information adding unit 88) Since the user specific information generated by the specific information generating means is added to the document data, it is output according to the user's own output instruction to the user. Note to the document data can be urged to have, it is possible to prevent inadvertent flowing outside of the document as a result.

The composite image generation means (here, the image composition unit 90) generates a composite image by combining the document image indicated by the document data and the image indicated by the user specifying information added to the document data. The printing means (here, the image forming engine unit 54) prints the composite image generated by the composite image generation means on a recording sheet when the instruction of the printing operation is input by the instruction input. Therefore, the user specific information is printed on the recording paper. For this reason, the user who instructed the output operation can be specified based on the printed user specifying information. Therefore, the user is urged to pay attention to the recording paper printed by the user's own output instruction, and the security can be improved. Further, the adding means uses the instruction input means as an instruction of the output operation, When the condition information indicating the output condition is also input, the condition information is further added to the document data, and the printing unit responds to the instruction content indicated by the output instruction information added to the document data. Since printing is performed, output control can be performed based only on the output instruction information added to the document data without receiving control information from others, and control becomes easy.

  In addition, the acquisition unit acquires voice data indicating ID information (ID number) input by the user's voice, and the conversion unit (here, the voice recognition unit 80) is acquired by the acquisition unit. The voice information is recognized, and the ID information is converted into character data. The storage means (here, the HDD 56) stores user information data including a predetermined user name and ID information in advance. And the specific information generating means specifies the user who inputs the instruction of the output operation by comparing the ID information converted into character data by the converting means and the ID information included in the user information data, Since the user identification information is generated as including at least one of the identified user name and ID information, the ID number can be input by voice. Can be, input operation is facilitated.

The acquisition means (here, the camera 16 and the fingerprint reading unit 18) receives facial feature data (face pattern data) indicating the facial features of the user and fingerprint feature data (fingerprint pattern data) indicating the features of the user's fingerprint. Further, the user information data further includes the predetermined user face feature data and fingerprint feature data, and the specific information generating means includes the face feature data and fingerprint obtained by the obtaining means. Since the user is identified by collating feature data and face feature data and fingerprint feature data corresponding to ID information included in the user information data and converted into character data by the conversion means, Security is further improved. The user information data can be printed on the recording paper for each predetermined user. Printing operation information indicating whether the printing is to be performed by the printer, the printing is to be performed in black and white, or the printing is not permitted, and the display means (here, the display 14) The operation screen is displayed, and the display setting unit (here, the operation screen control unit 84) displays the operation on the display unit based on the print operation information corresponding to the user specified by the specific information generation unit. Since the display content of the screen is set, it is possible to set the operable function of the operation screen displayed on the display 14 for each user, and change the operable function for each user.

  Further, the user information data further includes character display information indicating whether or not to enlarge a character displayed for each predetermined user, and the display means displays a predetermined operation screen, and displays settings. The means sets the character size of the operation screen to be displayed on the display means based on the character display information corresponding to the user specified by the specific information generation means. The size can be changed according to the user, and the visibility of the operation screen is improved.

  In the present embodiment, a configuration is shown in which a user's face is generated by the camera 16 to generate a face pattern and the fingerprint reading unit 18 acquires the user's fingerprint pattern and performs user authentication. 16, the fingerprint reading unit 18, the camera control unit 62, the fingerprint reading control unit 66, and the face pattern generation unit 81 may be omitted. When any one of the camera 16, the camera control unit 62, and the face pattern generation unit 81 is excluded, the user authentication may be performed only with the fingerprint pattern. When either the fingerprint reading unit 18 or the fingerprint reading control unit 66 is omitted, the user authentication may be performed only with the face pattern. When the camera 16, the fingerprint reading unit 18, the camera control unit 62, the fingerprint reading control unit 66, and the face pattern generation unit 81 are excluded, the ID number corresponding to the ID number input from the microphone 17 by voice is the user information. User authentication may be performed based on whether or not the table 70 exists.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the user inputs a number as an ID number has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a combination of numbers and characters may be configured as ID information. Good.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the user inputs the ID number by voice from the microphone 17 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the numeric keypad is displayed on the display 14 and the display 14 is displayed. It is also possible to enter an ID number by performing a touch operation, or to provide an operation panel having a numeric keypad on the apparatus main body 12 and input the ID number using the operation panel. Also in this case, as in the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not the ID number input by the touch operation on the display 14 or the button operation on the numeric keypad of the operation panel and the ID number of the user information table 70 are registered. do it.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the user identification information is the user ID number and the name has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the information such as a telephone number or an e-mail address is included in the information. Any information that can identify the user based on the information may be used. Also in this case, the same effects as in the present embodiment can be obtained.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the image data read by the scanner 11 is printed on the recording paper has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the file is transferred from the terminal device 22 in advance. The document data is stored in the HDD 56, and the image data is printed on a recording sheet in response to an operation instruction from the user, or is sent to another terminal device as a file transfer or attached to an e-mail. User specifying information that can specify the user who has given the operation instruction may be added to the document data. Also in this case, the same effects as in the present embodiment can be obtained.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the operation permission setting has been described with respect to the setting for performing operation restriction such as “non-permission”, “color”, and “monochrome” for each user, but the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, for example, for each user in the user information table 70, permission / non-permission of facsimile transmission, permission / non-permission of file transfer of an electronic file of document data created by reading a document image with the scanner 11, document data Transmission / non-permission of transmission attached to the e-mail of the digitized file, permission / non-permission of reading of the original image by the scanner 11, power on / off of the image forming apparatus 10, permission / non-permission of the off operation, May be added so that only permitted settings can be made. As a result, the functions that can be used by the image forming apparatus 10 can be restricted for each user, so that security is improved. In this case, it is preferable that the operation screen displayed on the display 14 in the operation screen control unit 84 can be used for each user or has only a function.

  In addition, whether or not to charge for the maximum number of sheets that can be specified in one printing, monochrome or color printing for each user in the user information table 70 (for example, 30 sheets for color printing) You may add a fee to charge a yen and store it as charging data for each user. Accordingly, it is possible to limit the number of recording media that can be designated by one printing for each user, or to charge for the amount of use.

  In the present embodiment, the case has been described in which the character size of the operation screen displayed on the display 14 is set for each user as the screen display setting. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, for each user, a setting indicating whether the user is a child, a foreigner, or presbyopia is added to the user information table 70. 14 changes the characters displayed on the operation screen to hiragana, and if it is set as a foreigner, the message displayed on the operation screen displayed on the display 14 is changed to a foreign language (for example, English), and presbyopia May be set to enlarge the font of characters displayed on the display 14. Also, sex and age settings are added to the user information table 70 for each user, and the operation screen controller 84 changes the color of the operation screen displayed on the display 14 according to the content set by sex. (For example, if you are a woman, the background of the operation screen is pink) If the age is above a certain level (for example, 60 years or older), the font of the characters on the operation screen displayed on the display 14 should be increased. Also good. Thereby, since the operation screen suitable for the user can be displayed on the display 14, operability is improved.

  In the present embodiment, the case where various settings such as operation permission settings and screen display settings are provided for each user in the user information table 70 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, for example, A plurality of groups may be provided in advance, the user may be registered in any group, and various settings may be performed for each group. This eliminates the need for individual settings for each user, facilitating setting operations.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the case where an image read by the scanner 11 is converted into text data has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the user information table 70 is presbyopia for each user. If some setting is added, and the presbyopia is set, the font of the character data included in the document data may be increased so as to increase the character size.

  In addition, the configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 described in the present embodiment (see FIGS. 1, 2, and 4) is an example, and can be appropriately changed without departing from the gist of the present invention. Needless to say.

  Further, the processing flow of the authentication / screen setting process and the specific information addition / print process (see FIGS. 5 and 6) described in this embodiment is also an example, and is appropriately selected within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention. Needless to say, it can be changed.

  Furthermore, the user information table (see FIG. 4) described in the present embodiment is also an example, and it is needless to say that the user information table can be changed as appropriate without departing from the gist of the present invention.

1 is a configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a main part of an electric system of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the information set as a user information table which concerns on embodiment. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment. It is a flow which shows the flow of a process of the authentication / screen setting process which concerns on embodiment. It is a flow which shows the flow of the process of the specific information addition / print process which concerns on embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 14 Display 15 Image forming engine part 17 Microphone 18 Fingerprint reading part 40 CPU
46 Operation Input Detection Unit 50 Image Forming Engine Unit 56 HDD
80 voice recognition unit 81 face pattern generation unit 82 user identification unit 84 operation screen control unit 88 information addition unit 90 image synthesis unit

Claims (8)

An instruction input means for inputting an instruction of an output operation including a printing operation on a recording sheet by using document data including at least one of image data and character data;
Obtaining means for obtaining identification information for identifying a user who inputs an instruction for the output operation;
Specific information generating means for generating user specifying information for specifying the user based on the identification information acquired by the acquiring means;
An adding means for adding the user specifying information generated by the specifying information generating means to the document data;
An image forming apparatus. A composite image generating means for generating a composite image obtained by combining the document image indicated by the document data and the image indicated by the user specifying information added to the document data;
Printing means for printing the composite image generated by the composite image generation means on a recording paper when an instruction for the print operation is input by the instruction input;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: The adding means further adds the condition information to the document data when condition information indicating an output condition is also input as an instruction of the output operation by the instruction input means,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the printing unit performs printing in accordance with an instruction content indicated by the output instruction information added to the document data. The acquisition means acquires audio data indicating ID information input by the voice of the user,
Conversion means for performing voice recognition on the voice data acquired by the acquisition means and converting the ID information into character data;
Storage means for storing user information data including a predetermined user name and ID information in advance;
Further comprising
The specific information generating means specifies the user who inputs the instruction for the output operation by collating the ID information converted into character data by the conversion means and the ID information included in the user information data, and specifies the specified user The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the user specifying information is generated as including at least one of name and ID information. The acquisition means further acquires facial feature data indicating the facial features of the user and fingerprint feature data indicating the features of the user's fingerprint;
The user information data further includes facial feature data and fingerprint feature data of the predetermined user,
The specific information generating unit includes facial feature data and fingerprint feature data acquired by the acquiring unit, and facial feature data corresponding to ID information included in the user information data and converted into character data by the converting unit; The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the user is identified by collating with fingerprint feature data. The user information data further includes print operation information indicating whether the printing on the recording paper is performed in color, the printing is performed in black and white, or the printing is not permitted for each predetermined user. ,
Display means for displaying an operation screen for inputting a print operation instruction;
Display setting means for setting display contents of the operation screen to be displayed on the display means based on the print operation information corresponding to the user specified by the specific information generating means;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: The user information data further includes character display information indicating whether to enlarge a character displayed for each predetermined user,
Display means for displaying a predetermined operation screen;
Display setting means for setting a character size of the operation screen displayed on the display means based on the character display information corresponding to the user specified by the specific information generating means;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: An image processing method for an image indicated by document data configured to include at least one of image data and character data according to an output operation instruction including a print operation on a recording sheet from a user,
Obtaining identification information for identifying the user who inputs the output operation instruction;
Generating user identification information for identifying the user based on the acquired identification information;
An image processing method for adding the generated user identification information to the document data.

Images