JP2007150882A - Network image forming system, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network image forming system capable of retaining the secrecy of an image data. <P>SOLUTION: In the network image forming system having an image forming apparatus 10 and an external storage device 21 connected through a network 30, the image forming apparatus 10 includes a system control portion 1 for preserving an image read in from a scanner portion 3 or a received image data, and for printing by a plotter portion 4 by calling the image data preserved in the external storage device 21. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a server having a large-capacity nonvolatile memory, a network image forming system in which a PC is network-connected, and an image forming apparatus constituting the network image forming system.

  Today, as security consciousness rises, image data read by a digital multi-function peripheral or the like remains in a storage device such as an HDD. Therefore, an image forming apparatus equipped with an image data erasing function for writing a random number to the HDD has appeared. In addition, services such as collecting and erasing HDDs are now available.

However, image forming apparatuses having such an image data erasing function are not so widespread, and even when the function is installed, it is necessary to restart the system after erasing the image data. Further, when the HDD is collected and erased, a complicated procedure for collecting the HDD is required.
Recently, a network image forming system in which an image forming apparatus, a server having a large-capacity nonvolatile memory, and a PC are connected via a network has become widespread and common.
The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and network image formation that can maintain confidentiality of image data by using an external storage device included in a server, a PC, or a removable external storage device. An object is to provide a system and an image forming apparatus.

To achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, in the network image forming system in which the image forming apparatus and the external storage device are connected via a network, the image forming apparatus reads an image read from the scanner unit or received image. A network image forming system including a system control unit that stores data in an external storage device and controls image data stored in the external storage device to be printed and printed by a plotter unit is the main feature.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus constituting the network image forming system according to the first aspect is the main feature.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, a removable external storage device can be mounted, the image read from the scanner unit or the received image data is stored in the external storage device, and the image data stored in the external storage device is called up. An image forming apparatus including a system control unit that performs control of printing by a plotter unit is the main feature.

  According to the present invention, in the network image forming system in which the image forming apparatus and the external storage device are connected via a network, the image forming apparatus stores the image read from the scanner unit or received image data in the external storage device, Since the system control unit for controlling the printing of the image data stored in the external storage device and printing the plotter unit is provided, the confidentiality of the image data can be maintained.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a system control unit 1 controls functions of the entire apparatus. The user I / F unit 2 has various keys and a display necessary for system setting and the like. The scanner unit 3 is a unit that reads a document. The plotter unit 4 is a unit that outputs stored images, received images, report lists, and the like on paper. The external I / F unit 5 is an interface with an external device.
The network I / F unit 6 is an interface with a LAN or the Internet, and has a function of network connection control and data transmission / reception to an external storage device on the network. The memory unit 7 is a buffer memory and a work memory for storing system setting information and the like in the secondary storage device. The image conversion unit 8 has a function of compressing / decompressing an image and performing scaling and linear density conversion. The format conversion unit 9 has a function of converting the file format of the image data.
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the network image forming system according to the embodiment of the present invention. A plurality of image forming apparatuses 10 (10-1, 10-2) having the functions of FIG. 1 and the server / PC 20 are connected by a network 30. The server / PC 20 has an external storage device (large capacity nonvolatile memory) 21.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of image data accumulation according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a printing flowchart of the first embodiment. In FIG. 3, the image data read by the scanner unit 3 is compressed by the image conversion unit (S1 to S3), and converted by the format conversion unit 9 so that one document can be handled as one file (S4). Here, as an example of the format to be converted, for example, conversion into the TIFF format is performed. That is, one document of a plurality of pages is converted into one TIFF file.
The format-converted file is written to the folder of the external storage device 21 connected to the network 30 through the network I / F unit 6 (S5, S6). In the external storage device 21 on the network 30, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, folders are prepared for each image forming apparatus 10, and one image forming apparatus 10 stores image data in the same folder. Therefore, a server name and a folder name are set in advance on the image forming apparatus side, and a unique image data file name is stored for each job, and the image file name is linked to the job file as shown in FIG. And remember.
Further, since the writing speed to the external storage device 21 on the network 30 is actually slower than the reading speed of the image data, a file system that is one of the basic services of the OS is a buffer provided in the memory unit 7. The network memory is efficiently used to write to the network drive through the network I / F unit 6. The buffer memory is a volatile memory that can be accessed at a higher speed than the HDD. If the power is turned off, data cannot be reproduced and information cannot be easily acquired.
As described above, control is performed so that matching can be achieved with the configuration of the buffer memory inside the image forming apparatus that can be accessed at high speed and the large-capacity HDD that is the storage destination of data, and image data is stored in the external storage device 21. .
In FIG. 4, the image file stored in the external storage device 21 is read again from the external storage device 21 on the network 30 in response to a print request from the system control unit 1 (S1 to S3), and the image file is read from the TIFF file. Data is extracted, decompressed by the image conversion unit (S4, S5), and printing processing is performed by the plotter unit 4 (S6 to S8).
As described above, image storage, printing, and transmission are performed without using the nonvolatile memory inside the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of image data accumulation according to the second embodiment. When storing the image data, the user first designates the external storage device 21 and folder of the server / PC 20 on the network 30 from the user I / F unit 2 and connects them to the storage destination (S1, S2). When connected to the designated external storage device 20, authentication processing such as login name and password is performed (S3).
If the login name and password input by the user are correct (Y in S4), the image data can be stored in the external storage device 21, so that the document can be read. When the original is set and the start key is pressed, the original is read from the scanner unit 3 (S5). Thereafter, the image data can be stored and printed or transmitted as in the first embodiment (S6 to S10).

FIG. 8 is an authentication flowchart of the third embodiment. The use of the image forming apparatus 10 is set so that only authenticated users are permitted. In addition, the external storage device 21 as the image data storage destination is registered in advance for each user. For this reason, the user I / F unit 2 first displays a request for inputting the login name and password of the user (S1). When the login name and password are input, the user I / F unit 2 is compared with the user administrator information (FIG. 9). Authentication is performed (S2).
If the user is permitted to use the image forming apparatus 10 as a result of the authentication, the external storage device 21 and the folder of the image data storage destination server / PC 20 corresponding to the user are read from the table (FIG. 10), and the network The image data storage destination folder on 30 is accessed.
Since it is necessary to authenticate the server / PC 20 in order to access the folder of the external storage device 21, the login name and password input first are remembered, and the same data is sent to the server / PC 20 for authentication (S 3). . If the server / PC 20 can also authenticate (Y in S4), the state transitions to a state where an operation such as document reading is possible (S5).
If user authentication or server / PC 20 authentication is not performed correctly (N in S2, N in S4), the screen will again transition to the login name and password input screen, and the user will be input for authentication from the beginning. (S6). After the operation becomes possible, processing similar to that in the first embodiment is executed.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of image data accumulation according to the fourth embodiment. For example, the user connects a portable USB memory as an external storage device to a USB port provided in the image forming apparatus 10 (S1). When the USB memory is connected, the system control unit 1 recognizes the connection and also recognizes the storage device.
Further, the user can designate a folder in the USB memory recognized as the image data storage destination from the user I / F unit 2, and if the storage destination is determined (S2), an operation for storing image data is possible. It becomes.
The image data read by the scanner unit 3 is compressed by the image conversion unit 8 (S3 to S5) as in the first embodiment, and converted by the format conversion unit 9 so that it can be handled as a document (S6). Image data is written to the USB memory (S7, S8).
The image data written in the USB memory is read again via the USB driver at the time of printing or transmission. If necessary, the USB memory is accessed using a volatile high-speed accessible buffer memory in the same manner as in the first embodiment, but it is faster than writing to the external storage device 21 on the network 30. Thus, the size of the buffer memory can be reduced, and accumulation, printing, transmission, etc. are performed without using the nonvolatile memory inside the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for reading an image file according to the fifth embodiment. Similar to the first embodiment, the image data stored in the external storage device (the external storage device 21 shown in FIG. 2 and the USB memory of the fourth embodiment) is stored in the system controller 1 for reuse such as printing or transmission. The file is read according to the command (S1). If the file can be read correctly (Y in S2), print processing or the like is executed (S3, S4), and the used file is deleted (S5, S6).
If a file access error or timeout error occurs when reading a file (N in S2), the administrator email address is read from the memory unit 7 (S7), and contents indicating that a failure has occurred in file access is set in the mail body The e-mail data is created (S8), and a failure notification mail is transmitted from the network I / F unit 6 to the mail server (server / PC 20) (S9). By receiving the failure mail, the administrator notices that a failure has occurred in file access, and recovers or resets the job and restores the image forming apparatus 10 and the network 30.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart for reading an image file according to the sixth embodiment. As in the fifth embodiment, the image file stored in the external storage device (the external storage device 21 shown in FIG. 2 and the USB memory in the fourth embodiment) is read (S1). (Y in S2) The read image data is printed or transmitted (S3 to S6).
When an error occurs in the reading process (N in S2), user information input at the start of use of the image forming apparatus and user management information (user registration address) registered in advance in the memory unit 7 (see FIG. 14) (S7), the corresponding user's mail address is read (S8), and if there is no user registration address, the administrator address is read (S9), and contents indicating that a failure has occurred in file access is set in the mail body. The created e-mail data is created (S9), and a failure notification mail is transmitted from the network I / F unit 6 to the mail server (S10).
By receiving the failure notification mail, the user notices that a failure has occurred in file access, and recovers or resets the job or restores the device and network.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of deleting a faulty job according to the seventh embodiment. When an error occurs in file reading as in the fifth and sixth embodiments, a failure notification mail is transmitted to the administrator or job execution user (see FIG. 16). In the mail body of the trouble notification mail, URL data for accessing the trouble-occurring device is set and transmitted.
The mail recipient accesses the URL set in the failure notification mail (S1), and obtains a job list from the image forming apparatus 1. A job of job number notified by the failure notification mail is selected from the job list, and a job deletion instruction is given (S2, S3). The image forming apparatus 10 deletes the job instructed via the network I / F unit 6 and displays the deletion result (S4).
In this embodiment, the job to be deleted is selected and deleted from the job list. However, it is also conceivable that only the failed job can be specified for deletion from the URL notified when the failure occurs.

1 is a functional block diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a configuration diagram of a network image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of image data accumulation according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a printing flowchart of the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows the memory information of the file server of Example 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating image data information in the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment. FIG. 10 is an image data accumulation flow diagram of embodiment 2. FIG. 10 is an authentication flowchart of the third embodiment. It is a figure which shows the user management information of Example 3. It is a figure which shows the accumulation | storage information of Example 3. FIG. 10 is an image data accumulation flowchart according to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 10 is a flowchart when reading an image file according to the fifth exemplary embodiment. FIG. 20 is a flowchart when reading an image file according to the sixth embodiment. It is a figure which shows the user management information of Example 6. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of deleting a faulty job according to a seventh embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a failure notification mail of Example 5,6,7.

Explanation of symbols

1 System Control Unit 3 Scanner Unit 4 Plotter Unit 6 Network I / F Unit (Network Interface)
10 Image forming apparatus 20 Server / PC
21 external storage device 30 network

Claims (3)

  In a network image forming system in which an image forming apparatus and an external storage device are connected via a network, the image forming apparatus stores an image read from a scanner unit or received image data in an external storage device and also stores it in an external storage device A network image forming system, comprising: a system control unit that performs control for calling the image data and printing the plotter unit.   An image forming apparatus constituting the network image forming system according to claim 1.   A removable external storage device can be mounted, and the image read from the scanner unit or received image data is stored in the external storage device, and the image data stored in the external storage device is called and printed by the plotter unit An image forming apparatus comprising a system control unit.

Images