JP2008021233A - Printing upper limit value managing system and method, and recording medium with computer-readable program stored therein - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To construct a system for managing printing of the upper limit of each user in an environment, in which a plurality of users use a plurality of printers by using a printing upper limit management function of the existing device. <P>SOLUTION: The printing upper limit value managing system is provided with a printing upper limit management information setting means for setting a printing upper limit management identifier, a printing upper limit value and a printing result value, a printing means for printing processing, while the printing result value is updated, and a means for stopping printing, when the printing result value reaches the printing upper limit value. Each printer is provided with a printing result notifying means for transmitting the printing upper limit management identifier, to a printing job and a printing result value to a server, after completing the printing processing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention provides a printing upper limit for each user and user group in an environment in which a plurality of printing apparatuses (including a printer, a facsimile, a scanner, a copying machine, and a composite function copying machine) are used from a plurality of client terminals via a network. It relates to a system for managing values.

  In a conventional copying machine, for example, in order to manage the number of copies for each department of a company, a function for managing the number of copies for each ID number input from a user via an operation panel or a card reader provided in the copying machine. Had. For example, the copying machine internally manages the ID, the upper limit sheet number, and the actual value (printed sheet counter) as shown in FIG. 6, and the actual value is counted up every time printing is performed, and the actual value reaches the upper limit sheet number. Then it had a function to stop printing.

  Further, if the input ID number is not registered in the copying machine, the copying process is prohibited.

For example, Patent Literature 1 can be cited as a conventional example.
JP 2000-111262 A

  However, the department management function provided in the conventional copying machine only supports department management printing with the copying machine alone. For example, a plurality of copying machines connected to a network are used by a plurality of users. In order to support a system in which information such as the number of prints and copies of users and user groups (departments) is centrally managed by a server in an environment, and a plurality of copiers refers to the information of the server and performs department management printing However, there is usually a problem that a drastic change in the structure of the copying machine is required.

  Furthermore, since the number of department IDs that can be registered in a conventional copier is limited, more IDs can be registered in order to manage the upper limit of the number of prints / copies of individual users in a large-scale environment. Thus, there is a problem that the structure of the copying machine needs to be changed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and does not change the department management printing mechanism of an existing copying machine, and only requires a minimal function expansion to perform printing and printing of users and user groups (departments). It is an object of the present invention to propose a computer-readable recording medium storing a system, method, and program for centrally managing the upper limit of the number of copies.

In order to solve the above problem, the invention according to claim 1
In an environment in which a plurality of printing apparatuses are used from a plurality of client terminals via a network, a system for managing a printing upper limit value for each user and user group,
A printing device, a client terminal that uses the printing device, and a server for managing the user's printing upper limit value are connected to each other via a network.
The server includes user print upper limit management means for storing and managing user identification information, a user print upper limit value, and a user print record value,
The client terminal, the server, and the printing apparatus each include a print upper limit management identifier acquisition unit that acquires an identifier for managing a print upper limit value for one print job.
When the client terminal creates a print job, the client terminal has a print notification means for notifying the server of print,
When the server receives the print notification, the server includes a print upper limit management information notification unit that acquires a print upper limit value / print result value for the user and the user group and transmits the print upper limit value / print result value to the printing apparatus;
Printing upper limit management information for setting a printing upper limit management identifier, printing upper limit value, and printing actual value to a recording medium or a physical printing number counter inside the printing apparatus when the printing apparatus receives the printing upper limit value and the printing actual value. Comprising setting means,
When the client terminal transmits a print job to the printing apparatus, the client terminal includes a printing upper limit management identifier notifying unit that transmits a printing upper limit management identifier to the printing apparatus,
When the printing apparatus receives a printing upper limit management identifier and a print job from a client, the printing apparatus includes a printing unit that performs a printing process while updating a printing result value set in the printing upper limit management setting unit,
The printing apparatus includes a printing stop unit that stops printing when the printing result value reaches a printing upper limit value,
The printing apparatus includes a print result notifying unit that transmits a print upper limit management identifier and a print result value for the print job to the server after the print processing is completed.

In addition to the above features, the invention according to claim 2
The server has means for issuing a printing upper limit management identifier when receiving a printing notification and notifying the client and the printing apparatus.

The invention according to claim 3 is the system according to claim 1,
The printing apparatus has means for issuing a management identifier and notifying the server and the printing apparatus when the printing apparatus receives a print upper limit value / print result value for the user and the user group from the server.

  The invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that, in addition to the above features, identification information of a user and a user group is used as a print upper limit management identifier.

  The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that, in addition to the above features, the printing upper limit includes billing information.

  As described above, by implementing the present invention, the number of prints and copies of the user and the user group (department) can be reduced with only minimal function expansion without changing the department management printing mechanism of the existing copying machine. A system for centrally managing the upper limit can be constructed.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram showing a network system configuration in an office as an embodiment of the present invention. The client computers PC101, PC102, server S103, and MFPs (multifunction products) D104 and D105 can communicate with each other via a LAN (N106).

  The server S102 has a table as shown in FIG. 7 on the database, and has a function of managing the upper limit of the number of prints and the print result value for each user. The user information, the print upper limit value, and the like can be set in advance in the database of the server S102 by a system administrator using a dedicated management application, a Web browser, or the like. The database can be implemented using a general technique such as an SQL database or Active Directory.

  The MFPs (D104, D105) manage the print upper limit value and the actual value (print counter) by ID, and have a print upper limit management function for stopping printing when the number of printed sheets reaches the print upper limit value. A plurality of IDs, print upper limit values, and actual values can be simultaneously set in the MFPs (D104, D105).

  The host computers PC101, PC102, and server S103 in this embodiment can be realized by a general-purpose information processing apparatus such as a normal personal computer. The configuration as hardware is, for example, as shown in FIG. Reference numeral 2001 denotes a CPU that controls the entire apparatus, and reference numeral 2002 denotes a ROM that stores a BIOS and a boot program. Reference numeral 2003 denotes a RAM used as a work area for the CPU 2001. A hard disk device 2004 stores an OS, applications and drivers, various programs, data files, and the like. Reference numeral 2005 denotes a network interface, which is an Ethernet (registered trademark) card in the embodiment, but may be a wireless LAN card. Reference numeral 2006 denotes a display control unit which incorporates a video memory and a video controller that performs drawing under the control of the CPU 1001 and outputs image data stored in the video memory as a video signal. A display device 2007 is represented by a liquid crystal display or a CRT. Reference numeral 2008 denotes an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse.

  In the above configuration, when the apparatus is powered on, the CPU 2001 loads the OS from the hard disk 2004 to the RAM 2002 and loads various device drivers according to the boot program stored in the ROM 2002. Further, a program corresponding to the configuration shown in FIG. 2 is loaded into the RAM 2002 and executed.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the MFP (D104, D105). In the figure, reference numeral 3001 denotes a CPU that controls the entire MFP, and reference numeral 3002 denotes a ROM that stores an MFP control program executed by the CPU 3001 and font data. Reference numeral 3003 denotes a work area of the CPU 2001, a reception buffer, and a RAM used for image drawing. A hard disk (HDD) 3004 stores various programs, client information, a database, and the like. An operation panel 3005 includes various switches and buttons, and a liquid crystal display unit for displaying messages. Reference numeral 3006 denotes a network interface for connecting to a network; 3007, a printer engine for printing on recording paper; 3008, a scanner for reading a document; and 3009, a communication unit for sending and receiving facsimiles.

  Next, the operation of the system when printing is performed by the MFP (D104, D105) from the client PC (PC101, PC102) in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When the user designates print processing from the client PC, the printer driver of the client PC is activated by the OS. The printer driver notifies the server of user information (user name, user ID, security ID, group name, group ID, department ID, etc.) (S402). The server S103 that has received the user information issues a printing ID (S403). The issued ID is temporarily stored in the database in association with the user information. Next, the server S103 is notified of the issued ID, the user's print upper limit value, and the actual value to the MFP (S404). The MFP that has received the ID, print upper limit value, and actual value sets these pieces of information in the print upper limit management function (S405). Next, the server issues an ID issued to the client PC (S406). The printer driver of the client PC transmits the received ID and print job to the MFP (S407). The ID and the print job may be transmitted separately or simultaneously. Furthermore, the ID may be included in the print job itself. The MFP that has received the ID and the print job collates with the ID set in step S405, and if they match, performs the printing process (S408). At this time, the actual value (print counter) is counted up every time one page is printed in accordance with the print upper limit management function. If the actual value reaches the upper printing limit during printing, printing is stopped. After the printing process is completed, the MFP notifies the server S103 of the ID and the actual value (S410). The server S103 that has received the ID and the actual value collates the ID from the table in which the upper limit of the number of prints for each user, the actual print value, and the ID recorded in the internal database, and receives the actual print value of the user whose ID matches. The updated actual value is used (S410). After updating the actual value, the ID is deleted from the table.

  For example, the users “sato” and “tanaka” print almost simultaneously on the same MFP, and the server S103 issues ID “1” to “sato” and issues ID “2” to “tanaka”. In this case, immediately after the step S405, information as shown in FIG. 7 is set in the database of the server S103, and information as shown in FIG. 8 is set in the print upper limit management function of the MFP.

(Other examples)
In the first embodiment, the server S103 issues an ID for each client print, but a fixed ID that is set in advance may be used as the ID. Furthermore, user identification information such as a user name and a user ID can be used as it is as an ID for upper limit printing management.

  In the first embodiment, the server S103 issues an ID for each client print, but the ID may be issued on the MFP side. In this case, the flowchart is as shown in FIG. The ID issued on the MFP side is notified to the server S103 in step S507 (see FIG. 5).

The network block diagram in the Example of this invention. The block diagram which simplified the hardware constitutions of the host computer in the Example of this invention. 1 is a block diagram showing a simplified hardware configuration of an MFP according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the system during printing in the first embodiment. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the system during printing in another embodiment. The table which shows the value set to the copier which has the printing upper limit management function for every department in the prior art. The table showing the information managed by the database of server S103 in the Example of this invention. 6 is a table showing values set in the MFP in the embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (11)

In an environment in which a plurality of printing apparatuses are used from a plurality of client terminals via a network, a system for managing a printing upper limit value for each user and user group,
A printing device, a client terminal that uses the printing device, and a server for managing the user's printing upper limit value are connected to each other via a network.
The server includes user print upper limit management means for storing and managing user identification information, a user print upper limit value, and a user print record value,
The client terminal, the server, and the printing apparatus each include a print upper limit management identifier acquisition unit that acquires an identifier for managing a print upper limit value for one print job.
When the client terminal creates a print job, the client terminal has a print notification means for notifying the server of print,
When the server receives the print notification, the server includes a print upper limit management information notification unit that acquires a print upper limit value / print result value for the user and the user group and transmits the print upper limit value / print result value to the printing apparatus;
Printing upper limit management information for setting a printing upper limit management identifier, printing upper limit value, and printing actual value to a recording medium or a physical printing number counter inside the printing apparatus when the printing apparatus receives the printing upper limit value and the printing actual value. Comprising setting means,
When the client terminal transmits a print job to the printing apparatus, the client terminal includes a printing upper limit management identifier notifying unit that transmits a printing upper limit management identifier to the printing apparatus,
When the printing apparatus receives a printing upper limit management identifier and a print job from a client, the printing apparatus includes a printing unit that performs a printing process while updating a printing result value set in the printing upper limit management setting unit,
The printing apparatus includes a printing stop unit that stops printing when the printing result value reaches a printing upper limit value,
A system for managing a print upper limit value, characterized in that the printing apparatus includes a print result notification means for sending a print upper limit management identifier and a print result value for the print job to the server after the print processing is completed.   The system for managing a print upper limit value according to claim 1, wherein the server has means for issuing a print upper limit management identifier when receiving a print notification and notifying the client and the printing apparatus.   2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for issuing a management identifier and notifying the server and the printing apparatus when the printing apparatus receives a print upper limit value / print result value for the user and the user group from the server. A system to manage the upper limit of printing.   4. The system for managing print upper limit values according to claim 1, wherein identification information of a user and a user group is used as a print upper limit management identifier.   5. The system for managing a print upper limit value according to claim 1, wherein the print upper limit value includes billing information. In an environment where a plurality of printing apparatuses are used from a plurality of client terminals via a network, there is a method for managing a printing upper limit value for each user and user group,
A printing device, a client terminal that uses the printing device, and a server for managing the user's printing upper limit value are connected to each other via a network.
The server has a user print upper limit management method that stores and manages user identification information, user print upper limit value, and user print record value, and each of the client terminal, server, and printing device has a print upper limit value for one print job. A printing upper limit management identifier acquisition method for acquiring an identifier to be managed;
When the client terminal creates a print job, it has a print notification step for notifying the server of print,
When the server receives the print notification, the server includes a print upper limit management information notification step of acquiring a print upper limit value / print result value for the user and the user group and transmitting the acquired print upper limit value / print result value to the printing apparatus;
Printing upper limit management information for setting a printing upper limit management identifier, printing upper limit value, and printing actual value to a recording medium or a physical printing number counter inside the printing apparatus when the printing apparatus receives the printing upper limit value and the printing actual value. With setup steps,
When the client terminal transmits a print job to the printing apparatus, the client terminal includes a printing upper limit management identifier notifying step for transmitting a printing upper limit management identifier to the printing apparatus,
When the printing apparatus receives a printing upper limit management identifier and a print job from the client, the printing apparatus includes a printing step for performing a printing process while updating the actual printing value set in the printing upper limit management setting step,
The printing apparatus includes a printing stop step for stopping printing when the printing result value reaches a printing upper limit value,
A method for managing a printing upper limit value, comprising: a printing result notifying step in which the printing apparatus transmits a printing upper limit management identifier and a printing result value for the print job to a server after the printing process is completed.   7. The method for managing a print upper limit value according to claim 6, further comprising a step of issuing a print upper limit management identifier to the client and the printing apparatus when the server receives a print notification.   7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising a step of issuing a management identifier and notifying the server and the printing apparatus when the printing apparatus receives a print upper limit value / print result value for the user and the user group from the server. To manage the upper limit of printing.   9. The method for managing a print upper limit value according to claim 6, wherein identification information of a user and a user group is used as a print upper limit management identifier.   9. The method for managing a print upper limit value according to claim 6, wherein the print upper limit value includes billing information.   A computer-readable recording medium storing a program that implements the method according to claim 6.

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