JP2008064935A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus capable of specifying a third party who has obtained printed matter or has acquired the information printed in the printed matter. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus is provided with: a printing means 13 for carrying out printing based on a printing job requested by an outside equipment 9; a person detecting means 141 for detecting a person coming nearby a vicinity of a paper ejecting tray 14; a print job managing means 16 for managing the his story information of the print job until the printed matter is acquired; an imaging means 140 photographing a person coming nearby the paper ejecting tray 14; and an acquired information storing means 16 for storing imaging data by the imaging means 140 when the person detecting means 141 detects a nearby person and the acquired information linked with specific information of the printed matter which is acquired at this time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus including a printing unit that prints based on a print job requested from an external device, and a printed matter detection unit that detects that a printed matter output to a discharge tray is acquired.

  In an image forming apparatus that processes various documents, it is important to protect information written on the document.

  In Patent Document 1, in order to prevent a third party from knowing data printed on the output paper, a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the paper output on the discharge tray is provided so that the third party can touch. There has been proposed an image forming apparatus that prints and outputs the secret data when the sensor detects that there is no paper on the discharge tray when printing the secret data that is not desired.

In Patent Document 2, a copying machine and a photographing device for taking a picture of a user of the copying machine are provided in order to identify the improperly copied securities or banknotes which are important information. A copying machine management system has been proposed in which a user of the copying machine is photographed by the photographing apparatus when a predetermined mode is set.
JP 2004-221979 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-194688

  However, the image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1 prevents the acquisition of secret data by a third party by adjusting the output timing of the printed matter, and obtains the printed matter on which the secret data is printed in an ambush Or after a malicious third party who has acquired the secret data printed on the printed material, or when the printed material on which the confidential data is printed is output, the printed material cannot be obtained immediately due to an emergency, etc. The bona fide third party who acquired the printed material could not be identified.

  The copier management system described in Patent Document 2 captures a user of a copier when copying is performed in a predetermined mode, so that the person who obtains the printed material or knows the secret data printed on the printed material. The person could not be identified. Furthermore, even if the system is configured to take a picture when the printed material is acquired or when the secret data printed on the printed material is acquired, the acquirer acquires which printed material, or the acquired person acquires which printed material. It was not possible to determine whether the printed secret data was acquired.

  In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of specifying a third party who acquires a printed material or knows information printed on the printed material.

  In order to achieve the above object, the first characteristic configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is a printing means for printing based on a print job requested from an external device, as described in claim 1 of the document of the claims. A person detection means for detecting a person approaching the vicinity of the paper discharge tray, a print job management means for managing history information of the print job until a printed matter is acquired, and a person close to the paper discharge tray. Imaging means for photographing, and acquisition information storage means for storing acquisition information in which imaging data obtained by the imaging means when the person detection means detects a proximity person and specific information of the printed matter acquired at that time are stored It is in.

  A person who obtains the printed matter output to the discharge tray or knows the information printed on the printed matter needs to approach the vicinity of the discharge tray, and the person is photographed by the imaging means.

  According to the above-described configuration, the printed matter output to the paper discharge tray is obtained, or the image data obtained by photographing the person who has acquired the information printed on the printed matter is associated with the specific information of the printed matter. Since the information is stored by the acquired information storage means, the printed material can be acquired from the acquired information, or the third party who has learned the information printed on the printed material can be specified.

  The second characteristic configuration is that, as described in the second aspect, in addition to the first characteristic configuration described above, the person detecting means is configured by the imaging means or the human body detecting means.

  The imaging means or the human body detecting means can detect a person approaching the vicinity of the paper discharge tray.

  According to the above configuration, when the person approaching the vicinity of the paper discharge tray is detected by the person detection means, the imaging means acquires the printed matter output to the paper discharge tray in order to take a photograph. Alternatively, a person who may have learned the information printed on the printed material can be photographed. Further, if the person detecting means is constituted by the imaging means, it is not necessary to increase the number of parts constituting the person detecting means, and the cost can be suppressed.

  In the third feature configuration, as described in claim 2, in addition to the first feature configuration described above, the person detection unit is configured by a sheet sensor that detects a printed matter on the discharge tray. In the point.

  In the vicinity of the image forming apparatus, there is a person approaching to operate the apparatus or to obtain a printed matter output to the apparatus, and there is also a person who simply passes near the apparatus.

  According to the above-described configuration, when the printed matter on the paper discharge tray is acquired or returned by the paper sensor that detects the printed matter on the paper discharge tray, the image pickup unit performs photographing so that It is possible to reliably photograph the person who has acquired or returned the printed matter that has been output.

  In the fourth feature configuration, as described in claim 4, in addition to any one of the first to third feature configurations described above, the acquisition information storage means may store a specific print job set in advance. On the other hand, the acquired information is stored.

  According to the above configuration, the acquisition information storage means is requested by the user from an external device, and is printed based on the specific print job in order to store the acquisition information for a specific print job set in advance. It is possible to reliably identify a person who has acquired a printed material or who may have obtained information printed on the printed material. For example, a print job requested when printing confidential information is set as a specific print job, and the acquired information is stored only for the specific print job. Alternatively, photographing of a person other than the person who knows the confidential information printed on the printed matter is prevented, and the capacity of the storage medium for storing the acquired information can be reduced.

  In the fifth feature configuration, as described in claim 5, in addition to any of the first to fourth feature configurations described above, the acquired information stored in the acquired information storage means is used as a corresponding print. The acquisition information transmitting means for transmitting to the external device that is the job request source is provided.

  According to the above-described configuration, since the acquisition information of the printed material based on the requested print job is transmitted to the requesting external device, the user who requested the print job selects the acquisition information regarding the requested print job. There is no need to perform operation, and work efficiency for acquisition and confirmation of the acquired information can be improved.

  The seventh feature configuration is input by a password input means for inputting a password and the password input means in addition to any of the first to sixth feature configurations described above. Password determining means for determining whether the password is correct, and when the password determining means determines that the password is correct, the acquired information storage means stops storing the acquired information.

  According to the above configuration, the acquisition information storage unit can stop storing the acquisition information when the user who has input the correct password acquires the printed matter output to the paper discharge tray. Can be suppressed.

  In other words, by providing a password to the user who has requested the print job, when acquiring the printed matter output based on the print job, the person who did not enter the password is a third party, In order to specify a third party, imaging data by the imaging unit is necessary. However, since the user who entered the password is the user who requested the print job, and the imaging data by the imaging unit is unnecessary, the latter The acquisition information storage means stops storing the acquisition information.

  As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus capable of providing an image forming apparatus capable of acquiring a printed matter or identifying a third party who has acquired information printed on the printed matter. I was able to do that.

  A first embodiment of an electrophotographic digital multi-function peripheral as an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described below.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the digital multi-function peripheral 1 is an external device according to the present invention, and is connected to a plurality of clients 9 including personal computers via a network 8. The digital multi-function peripheral 1 performs printing based on the print job requested from the client 9 and outputs a printed matter.

  As shown in FIG. 3, each of the clients 9 includes a display unit 90 such as a monitor, an input unit 91 such as a keyboard and a mouse, a print request unit 92 that makes a print request to the digital multi-function device 1, and the digital composite unit. Receiving information processing means 93 for receiving and processing the information transmitted from the machine 1, the functions of the print requesting means 92 and the receiving information processing means 93 are the respective CPUs, and the operation program of the CPU Are stored in cooperation with a RAM serving as a work area.

  When the information processing means 93 receives the information output from the digital multi-function peripheral 1, it analyzes the information and displays the information on the display means 90.

  The print requesting unit 92 includes a print command for requesting the digital multifunction device 1 to output a print, generation information of output image data including, for example, a page description language, and a client IP address, a client name, and the like. The digital multi-function peripheral 1 is requested for a print job consisting of the client information of the transmission source and the file name of the output image data. Further, when it is desired to acquire a printed material or specify a third party who knows information printed on the printed material, the print job with the confidential flag added is requested.

  Specifically, the print request unit 92 reads print request screen data stored in the ROM or the like, and displays a print request screen for requesting a print job from the digital multifunction device 1 on the display unit 90. The user performs an input operation on the print request screen with the input unit 91, and the print request unit 92 requests a print job based on the input content. Further, the print request screen is provided with a secret flag adding means for adding a secret flag to the print job, for example, a check box, etc., to obtain a printed matter printed based on the print job, or to print on the printed matter A user who wants to identify a third party who has learned the information sets the secret flag adding means in advance, so that the print requesting means 92 requests the digital multifunction device 1 for a print job with the secret flag added. . That is, the print job to which the confidential flag is added is a specific print job set in advance in the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the digital multi-function peripheral 1 includes an operation unit 10 in which a color display unit 100 and hardware keys 101 are arranged, and a network unit 11 that receives a print job from a client 9 connected to a network 8. An image reading unit that performs predetermined processing on the image data generated by reading the document on the document placing unit 120 or analyzes the print job received by the network unit 11 to generate image data for output 12 is a printing unit according to the present invention, which forms a toner image based on output image data generated by the image reading unit 12 and discharges a printed matter made of paper on which the toner image is fixed. An image forming unit 13, a paper discharge tray 14 on which printed materials discharged from the image forming unit 13 are stacked, and a sheet of recording material are accommodated. And a paper feed cassette 15, and includes a system controller 16 for generally controlling the digital multifunction peripheral 1.

  In the digital multi-function peripheral 1, based on the print job requested from the client 9 by the network unit 11, the image reading unit 12 analyzes the print job and generates image data for output, and the image forming unit 13 outputs the output data. A toner image is formed based on the image data for use, and further, the toner image is transferred and fixed on a sheet, and a printed matter made of the sheet is discharged to a discharge tray 14. A user who operates the client and requests the print job can obtain a printed material printed based on the print job requested by the user from the printed material stacked on the paper discharge tray 14.

  Here, the operation unit 10, the network unit 11, the image reading unit 12, and the image forming unit 13 include a control unit that controls each of the operation unit 10, the system control unit 16, and the control unit 10. , A CPU, a ROM storing an operation program of the CPU, a RAM serving as a work area, and the like. Each control unit and the system control unit 16 are connected to the internal bus of the digital multi-function peripheral 1 and can transmit and receive each information.

  When the control unit of the network unit 11 receives a print job from the client 9, the control unit 16 outputs the print job to the system control unit 16, and the system control unit 16 causes the digital multi-function peripheral 1 to execute the print job. It manages the history information of the print job until the printed matter printed and discharged based on the job is acquired. That is, the system control unit 16 includes a print job management unit according to the present invention, and displays the print job transmission source client information requested from the client 9, the corresponding file name, the reception date and time of the print job, and the like. Manage as job history information. When the confidential flag is added to the print job, the confidential flag is also managed as the history information.

  The paper discharge tray 14 is composed of a still image capturing means such as a digital camera on the front side of the digital multi-function peripheral 1, and a human body detecting means including an image capturing means 140 for photographing the vicinity of the paper discharge tray 14 and an infrared sensor. 141. The human body detection means 141 is a human detection means in the present invention. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, a human body detection range 143 is provided in the vicinity of the paper discharge tray 14. The human body detection unit 141 is configured to detect a person approaching the vicinity of the paper discharge tray 14 by detecting the entry of a person into the human body detection range 143. Furthermore, a paper sensor 142 is provided on the mounting surface of the paper discharge tray 14 on which the discharged printed material is stacked, and includes an infrared sensor or the like, and detects the printed material on the paper discharge tray.

  The imaging unit 140, the human body detection unit 141, and the paper sensor 142 are controlled by the system control unit 16. In this embodiment, the human body detecting means 141 or the paper sensor 142 is composed of an infrared sensor having an infrared light emitting part and a light receiving part, and the infrared light emitted from the light emitting part is reflected by a person or printed matter. The reflected light is received by the light receiving unit so that the presence of a person or printed matter can be detected.

  When a person enters the human body detection range 143, the human body detection unit 141 outputs it to the system control unit 16, and the system control unit 16 causes the imaging unit 140 to perform shooting.

  The system control unit 16 deletes the image data when the history information does not include a confidential flag, and when the history information includes a confidential flag, the system control unit 16 captures an image captured by the imaging unit 140. The data is associated with the specific information of the printed material acquired at that time, in other words, the printed material that has been discharged onto the paper discharge tray 14 at that time, and is stored as acquired information. That is, the system control unit 16 includes an acquisition information storage unit according to the present invention.

  Here, the specific information includes the output date and time of the printed matter, the client information and the file name of the print output information corresponding to the printed matter included in the history information of the print job managed by the system control unit 16, and The image data of the person approaching the paper discharge tray 14 photographed by the means 140 is associated with the specific information of the printed matter, and is stored by the system control unit 16 as the acquisition information of the printed matter.

  By operating the operation unit 10 of the user, the control unit of the operation unit 10 reads the acquisition information machine confirmation screen data stored in the ROM, and displays the acquisition information confirmation screen that displays the acquisition information stored by the system control unit 16. The user can confirm the acquirer of the printed matter by displaying on the color display unit 100 of the operation unit 10 and confirming the acquisition information.

  Specifically, when the user operates the color display unit 100, the hardware key 101, or the like of the operation unit 10, the control unit of the operation unit 10 reads the acquired information confirmation screen data stored in the ROM, and the system control unit 16 The acquired acquisition information is acquired and displayed on the color display unit 100 as an acquisition information confirmation screen.

  Further, the system control unit 16 transmits the acquisition information to the client 9 that requested the corresponding print job via the network unit 11 based on the client information included in the acquisition information, and has received the acquisition information. The reception information processing unit 93 of the client 9 displays the acquired information on the display unit 90. That is, the system control unit 16 includes an acquisition information transmission unit according to the present invention.

  When the printed material discharged on the paper discharge tray 14 is acquired, the paper sensor 142 outputs it to the system control unit 16, and the system control unit 16 erases the print job history information of the printed material.

  The operation of the digital multi-function peripheral 1 in the first embodiment until the printed matter is printed based on the print job requested from the client 9 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  Upon receiving the print job requested from the client 9 (SA1), the digital multi-function peripheral 1 performs printing based on the print job (SA2), discharges the printed matter to the discharge tray 14 (SA3), and prints the print job. Is stored (SA4).

  The operation of the digital multi-function peripheral 1 in the first embodiment until the printed matter discharged to the paper discharge tray 14 is acquired will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When a person enters the human body detection range 143 (SB1), a person close to the paper discharge tray 14 is photographed (SB2).

  When the history information does not include a confidential flag (SB3), the captured imaging data is deleted (SB4). When the history information includes a confidential flag (SB3), the captured imaging data and the printed matter are recorded. Is acquired (SB5), and the acquired information is transmitted to the print job requesting client 9 (SB6).

  When the printed material is not acquired from the paper discharge tray 14 (SB7), the operation from SB1 is repeated, and when the printed material is acquired from the paper discharge tray 14 (SB7), the history information is deleted (SB8).

  In the first embodiment described above, an image of a person approaching the paper discharge tray 14 is captured, and the acquisition information in which the imaging data is associated with the specific information of the printed material acquired at that time is stored. Is the user who requested the print job, it is not necessary to store the acquired information.

  The operation of the digital multi-function peripheral 1 according to the second embodiment configured so as not to store the acquired information even if the user who requested the print job acquires the printed matter printed based on the print job will be described below. To do. Here, the digital multi-function peripheral 1 is the same as the configuration in the first embodiment except for the configuration described below.

  When the client 9 requests a print job, the digital multi-function peripheral 1 receives the print job and transmits a password corresponding to the print job to the requesting client 9, and the client 9 displays the password on the display unit 90. Is displayed.

  More specifically, the system control unit 16 of the digital multi-function peripheral 1 that has received the print job requested from the client 9 via the network unit 11 associates one print password stored in advance with the print job. The password is stored as correctness determination information, and the password is transmitted to the client 9 requesting the print job via the network unit 11. The reception information processing means 93 of the client 9 displays the received password on the display means 90.

  A user who has requested the print job by operating the client 9 operates the operation unit 10 of the digital multi-function peripheral 1 to display a password input screen on the color display unit 100 before acquiring the corresponding printed matter. The hardware key 101 is operated to input the password. That is, the hardware key 101 is a password input means in the present invention.

  The input password is output from the control unit of the operation unit 10 to the system control unit 16, and the system control unit 16 determines whether the password is correct based on the stored correctness determination information. If it is determined that the image is taken, the photographing by the imaging means 140 is stopped. That is, the system control unit 16 is a password determination unit in the present invention, and when the user inputs a correct password, the imaging unit 140 does not shoot, and then acquires the corresponding printed matter from the paper discharge tray 14, Acquired information is not stored.

  The operation of the digital multi-function peripheral 1 in the second embodiment until the printed matter is printed based on the print job requested from the client 9 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  Upon receiving the print job requested from the client 9 (SC1), the digital multi-function peripheral 1 transmits a password to the client 9 requesting the print job (SC2), and whether the password is associated with the print job. The discrimination information is stored (SC3).

  Subsequently, printing is performed based on the print job (SC4), the corresponding printed matter is discharged to the discharge tray 14 (SC5), and the history information of the print job is stored (SC6).

  Hereinafter, the operation of the digital multi-function peripheral 1 in the second embodiment until the printed matter discharged to the discharge tray 14 is acquired will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When a password is input by the user who obtains the printed matter (SD1) and the password is not positive (SD2), the digital multi-function peripheral 1 again waits for a password input from the user (SD1), and when the password is positive (SD2), the digital multi-function peripheral 1 stops the photographing of the proximity person to the paper discharge tray 14 (SD3).

  If the password is not input (SD1) and a person does not enter the human body detection range 143 (SD4), the digital multi-function peripheral 1 again waits for a password input from the user (SD1), and the person is detected in the human body detection range 143. If it enters (SD4), a person close to the paper discharge tray 14 is photographed (SD5).

  After the shooting (SD5), when the history information does not include a confidential flag (SD6), the digital multi-functional peripheral 1 deletes the shot imaging data (SD9) and again inputs a password from the user. When waiting (SD1) and the history information includes a confidential flag (SD6), the digital multi-functional peripheral 1 stores acquired information in which the captured image data is associated with specific information of the printed matter (SD7). Further, the acquired information is transmitted to the client 9 that requested the corresponding print job (SD8).

  After the shooting of the proximity person to the discharge tray 14 is stopped (SD3) or after the acquisition information is transmitted to the client 9 (SD8), when the printed matter is acquired from the discharge tray 14 (SD10), the stored said The history information is deleted (SD11).

  In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, when a user who has requested a print job corresponding to the printed matter discharged to the discharge tray 14 obtains the printed matter, a new print job is requested. On the paper discharge tray 14, the previously discharged printed material and a printed material based on a new print job are stacked, and the system control unit 16 stores history information of a plurality of print jobs.

  When the system control unit 16 stores a plurality of history information, in other words, when a printed material is stacked on the paper discharge tray 14, the system control unit 16 takes an imaging unit when a person enters the human body detection range 143. An image is taken at 140, and the captured image data is stored as acquired information in association with specific information of a plurality of printed materials stacked on the paper discharge tray 14 based on the plurality of history information. As a result, it is possible to acquire any printed matter discharged onto the paper discharge tray 14 or specify a person who knows information printed on any of the printed matter.

  Hereinafter, another embodiment will be described. In the second embodiment described above, when it is determined that the input password is positive, the acquisition information is not stored by stopping the imaging by the imaging unit 140. However, the input password is positive. It is also possible to configure so that the acquired information is not stored regardless of whether or not the imaging unit 140 has performed shooting. In this case, the control of the imaging unit 140 can be simplified.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the stored acquisition information is transmitted to the client 9 that is the transmission source of the corresponding print job, but the system control unit 16 is the acquisition information transmission unit or the client 9 is the reception information. The processing unit 93 may not be provided, and the user may check the acquired information only by operating the digital multi-function peripheral 1. In this case, the parts for transmitting and receiving the acquired information can be reduced, the cost can be reduced, the traffic charge flowing on the network 8 can be suppressed, and further, the workload of the CPU of the system control unit 16 and the client 9 can be reduced. can do.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, when a specific print job is requested and a person enters the human body detection range 143, the imaging unit 140 performs the shooting. However, the print job other than the specific print job is used. May be configured such that when the person enters the human body detection range 143, the imaging unit 140 performs imaging. In this case, even when a specific print job cannot be set in advance, a printed material can be acquired, or a person who has acquired information printed on the printed material can be specified.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the human detection unit is configured by the human body detection unit 141 including an infrared sensor. However, the human detection unit is configured by the imaging unit 140 instead of the human body detection unit. Also good. In this case, it is not necessary to separately provide human body detection means, and costs can be reduced.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the person detection unit is configured by the human body detection unit 141 including an infrared sensor, but may be configured by the sheet sensor 142 on the paper discharge tray 14. In this case, it is not necessary to separately provide human body detection means, and costs can be reduced. In addition, since the image pickup unit 140 takes an image when the printed material on the paper discharge tray 14 is acquired, the person who has acquired the printed material can be reliably imaged.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the imaging unit 140 is configured by a still image imaging unit such as a digital camera, but may be configured by a moving image imaging unit such as a digital video camera. . For example, when the moving image capturing unit always captures a person close to the paper discharge tray 14 and stores moving image data, and when the person detecting unit detects the proximity to the paper discharge tray 14, at least the printed matter If the acquisition date and time is stored as specific information of the printed matter, and further acquired information, the printed matter is acquired by checking the acquisition date and time of the printed matter of the imaging data composed of the moving image data, or the printed matter is stored in the printed matter. A person who knows the printed information can be identified.

  It is also possible to combine each embodiment mentioned above suitably in the range with which the effect by this invention is show | played.

  Each functional block described in the above embodiment is merely an example of the present invention, and it is needless to say that the specific configuration can be changed as appropriate within the range where the effects of the present invention are exhibited.

External view of digital multifunction device Network diagram with digital MFP and client connected Functional block diagram of the client Illustration of human body detection range Flow chart used to explain the first embodiment Flow chart used to explain the first embodiment Flow chart used to explain the second embodiment Flow chart used to explain the second embodiment

Explanation of symbols

1: Digital MFP 10: operation unit 11: network unit 12: image reading unit 13: printing means (image forming unit)
14: Paper discharge tray 16: Print job management means, acquisition information storage means, acquisition information transmission means (system control unit)
140: Imaging means (digital camera)
141: Human body detection means, person detection means (infrared sensor)
142: Paper sensor (infrared sensor)

Claims (6)

  Print means for printing based on a print job requested from an external device, person detection means for detecting a person approaching the vicinity of the paper discharge tray, and print for managing history information of the print job until the printed matter is acquired Job management means, imaging means for photographing a proximity person to the paper discharge tray, imaging data obtained by the imaging means when the person detection means detects the proximity person, and specific information of the printed matter acquired at that time An image forming apparatus comprising acquisition information storage means for storing associated acquisition information.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the person detection unit includes the image pickup unit or the human body detection unit.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the person detection unit includes a paper sensor that detects a printed matter on the paper discharge tray.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition information storage unit stores the acquisition information for a specific print job set in advance.   5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an acquisition information transmission unit configured to transmit the acquisition information stored in the acquisition information storage unit to an external device that is a request source of the corresponding print job.   A password input unit that inputs a password; and a password determination unit that determines whether the password input by the password input unit is correct. When the password determination unit determines that the password is correct, the acquired information storage unit The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein storage of the acquired information is stopped.

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