JP2008229913A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer capable of surely preventing leakage of information due to forgetting of take-out or erroneous take-out of a printed document. <P>SOLUTION: This image forming apparatus comprises a plurality of locking means for locking a plurality of paper discharge stackers, a plurality of take-out forgetting condition display means each for displaying a take-out forgetting condition of a printed result in the respective paper discharge stackers, a selection means for selecting a usable paper discharge stacker, a paper discharge means for discharging the printed result to the paper discharge stacker, a means for transmitting authentication information to a person who issued a printing request, a reception means for receiving an individual identification information radiowave output from a portion away from the printer at a prescribed distance, a confirmation means for confirming matching of a user with the person issuing the printing request, and a display control means which is adapted to turn on the take-out forgetting condition display means provided to the paper discharge stacker for a prescribed time period when the matching is confirmed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a function of preventing leakage of information due to misplacement or misplacement of a printed out document.

In general, in the office, a large number of people output each printed matter from the same image forming apparatus, but there are documents including personal information such as personnel information. In many cases, it is installed at a position away from the PC, and since it is via a LAN, it often takes time to launch. For this reason, there are cases where confidential documents are left in the image forming apparatus and cases where they are mistakenly taken, and improvements have been demanded from the aspect of confidentiality management.
As a conventional technique related to security, there is a technique (Patent Document 1) in which image data is stored together with a password and image formation is performed when a valid password is received. However, a large number of passwords must be stored and used. It was complicated.
In addition, as another conventional technique, there is a technique (Patent Document 2) that includes a means that can be locked to a paper discharge tray, but no countermeasure has been taken against forgetting to remove it.
As another prior art, as disclosed in Patent Document 3, an image forming apparatus capable of receiving print requests from a plurality of users has a plurality of paper discharge stackers, and the paper discharge stacker is provided with a lock mechanism. A technique for locking the paper discharge stacker and discharging the printout to the paper discharge stacker is disclosed.

As Patent Document 4, an authentication code is attached together with information to be printed from the host computer and transmitted to the image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus transmits the authentication code stored in the external memory (IC card) attached to the image forming apparatus. A technique for verifying an authentication code is disclosed.
Patent Document 5 discloses an image forming apparatus having an IC card reader, which includes storage means for storing image data in a file encrypted with a processing key, and output means for outputting the image data to an output medium. When outputting to the output means, it is possible to attach a mechanism for simple encryption by decrypting image data from the processing key by inserting an IC card into the IC card reader. A technique for ensuring security is disclosed.
Patent Document 6 discloses an image forming apparatus having an IC card reader, a storage unit that stores image data that is a file encrypted with a processing key, and an output that outputs the image data stored by the storage unit to an output medium. A technique for outputting image data decrypted by the processing key by inserting an IC card into the IC card reader when outputting to the output means. ing.
JP-A-60-25385 Japanese Patent Application No. 6-228210 Patent No. 3781202 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-305968 JP 2005-86563 A JP-A-2005-88244

However, there are image forming devices that start launching after entering a password in the main unit. However, in the case of a large number of documents, the launch time may not be waited and may be left unattended, and the password must be entered for each print job. In addition, it takes time and increases the waiting time.
SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus capable of reliably preventing leakage of information due to misplacement of printed documents, misuse, and the like. That is.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention described in claim 1 is an image forming apparatus that receives a print request from a plurality of users and outputs a printed result to a plurality of paper discharge stackers. A plurality of locking means provided for locking each of the paper stackers; and a plurality of provided for each of the plurality of paper discharge stackers for displaying forgetting to remove the print results in the plurality of paper discharge stackers. Forgetting to remove display means, selection means for selecting an available paper discharge stacker among the plurality of paper discharge stackers, paper discharge means for discharging the print result to the selected paper discharge stacker, and the selection A predetermined authentication is assigned to the discharged paper stacker, a means for sending the authentication to the person who issued the print request, and a solid identification radio wave transmitted from a user within a certain distance of the image forming apparatus is received. A communication means, a confirmation means for identifying a user from the individual identification radio wave and confirming a match between the user and the person who issued the print request, and a person who issued the print request matched by the collation A display control means for displaying a forgetting display means provided for a certain period of time, provided on the paper discharge stacker where the print result is discharged, and the printing by the authentication of the person who issued the print request It is characterized in that the lock means provided in the discharged paper output stacker is unlocked.
The invention described in claim 2 is characterized in that the forgotten display means displays forgetting to remove the print result by light or sound.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus for receiving a print request from a plurality of users and outputting a printed result to a plurality of paper discharge stackers, wherein each of the plurality of paper discharge stackers is locked. A plurality of lock means provided for each of the plurality of paper discharge stackers, and a plurality of forgetting display means provided in each of the plurality of paper discharge stackers for displaying forgetting to remove the print results in the plurality of paper discharge stackers, Selection means for selecting an available paper discharge stacker from among a plurality of paper discharge stackers, paper discharge means for discharging the print result to the selected paper discharge stacker, and a predetermined value for the selected paper discharge stacker A means for sending the authentication to the person who issued the print request, a detecting means for detecting whether the discharge stacker is unlocked within a predetermined time, and the discharge stacker being locked for a predetermined time. And a message transmission means for transmitting a message if not released, and unlocking the lock means provided in the paper discharge stacker to which the print result is discharged by the authentication of the person who issued the print request. It is characterized by that.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the authentication of the person who issued the print request is any one of a password, a character string stored in an IC card, a finger fingerprint pressed, a palm vein, or a retinal pattern. It is characterized by being.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reliably prevent leakage of information due to misplacement of printed documents, misuse, and the like.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a printer which is an example of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. Here, the image forming apparatus includes a printer, a multifunction peripheral, and the like.
As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 1 receives a printout from a printer unit 2 that prints print data supplied from a printer server on paper supplied from a paper supply tray, and receives the printout from the printer unit 2. Are stored in a plurality of paper discharge stackers 3, and each paper discharge stacker 3 is locked by a lock mechanism 4 to ensure safety.
The printer unit 2 includes a CPU 6, a primary storage memory 7, a printing device 8, a telephone function unit 9, a radio wave signal receiving device 10, a password input panel 11, an IC / fingerprint / vein / retinal reading device 12, and the like. The mail box 5 has a forget-to-remove display lamp 13 connected to the lock mechanism 4.
The CPU 6 is connected with a primary storage memory 7, a printing device 8, a telephone function unit 9, a radio wave signal receiving device 10, and an IC / fingerprint / vein / retinal reading device 12 for password input. The lock mechanism 4 is connected to the panel 11, the IC / fingerprint / vein / retinal reading device 12, and the forgetting to remove display lamp 13 is connected to the radio signal receiver 10.

FIG. 2 is a configuration block diagram of a printer system to which the printer 1 shown in FIG. 1 is applied.
As shown in FIG. 2, the printer system has a configuration in which a printer 1, a plurality of computers (PCs) 23, and a printer server 22 are connected to each other via a LAN 21.

Next, the operation of the printer 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described with reference to FIG. This operation is performed based on the control of the CPU 6 of the printer 1.
FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart of the printer 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
In step 100 of FIG. 3, first, when the user gives a print command to the computer 23 together with an instruction of print data to be printed, the printer command input by the computer 23 is sent to the printer server 22. The print job corresponding to the print command is spooled in the printer server 22 along with the corresponding data in the order of arrival, and then spooled when the printer 1 finishes the previous print job and is ready to process a new print job. One of the print data is transferred to the printer 1.
Next, in step 101, the printer 1 determines whether there is a usable paper discharge stacker 3. If there is a usable paper discharge stacker 3, in step 102, the printer 1 selects a paper discharge stacker 3 to be used. . When there is no usable paper discharge stacker 3, the print data is stored in the temporary storage memory 7 in the printer 1.

In step 103, the printer 1 sets a password for the selected paper discharge stacker 3 by a random combination of letters and numbers, stores the password, and discharges the stacker 3 used for the password and printout. In order to notify the user of the password, the password and the ID of the paper discharge stacker are transferred to the computer 23 of the user. This transfer can be realized by setting the mail address of each user in the printer 1 in advance. That is, the printer 1 reads the mail address corresponding to the user name from the user name included in the print command, and uses this mail address to give the user the password and the discharge stacker ID in the document in the mail. It is possible to describe and inform the user. In addition, a mail address is not set inside the printer 1, and a mail address reference destination may be provided on a server outside the printer 1. As described above, when referring to an e-mail address to an external server, a mechanism for transmitting a user name from the printer 1 to the external server and returning the e-mail address from the external server to the printer 1 may be provided. When this external server is used, it is not necessary to set a mail address for each printer, so that the burden on the person who manages the information system is reduced.
In step 104, the printer 1 is locked before the paper discharge stacker 3 selected by the lock mechanism 4 of the mail box 5 is discharged. In step 105, the printer 1 prints the print data on the paper. , Printouts are sent to the mail box 5, and the mail box 5 transfers them to the selected paper discharge stacker 3.

Next, the time from the printout is measured, and when the lock is not released for a certain time, for example, 1 hour or longer, the following forgetting prevention measures are taken.
First, when a person who has issued a print job approaches, the mobile phone or PHS that is being carried is identified using radio waves emitted for individual identification, and the owner is determined. That is, in step 106, the radio wave signal receiving device 10 receives a mobile phone or PHS solid identification radio wave approaching within a certain distance of the printer 1, and in step 107, issues a print job with the owner of the mobile phone or PHS. If the person who issued the print job matches the owner of the mobile phone or PHS, in step 108, the forgetting lamp attached to the paper discharge stacker 3 is determined. 13 is turned on for a certain period of time. Or you may make it emit a sound. This prevents forgetting to take a printout and makes it easy to always secure an empty sheet stacker.

In step 109, the user who has executed the print job inputs the password transmitted from the password input panel 11 to the computer 23 by e-mail or the like. In step 110, it is determined whether or not the input password matches the stored password. If the input password and the stored password match, in step 111, the selected paper discharge stacker is selected. 3 lock is released.
This unlocking can be performed by verifying the identity using a character string of IC card, fingerprint, palm vein, retina, etc. in addition to the password. In this case, character strings and patterns used for collation are registered in advance in a memory in the printer. Further, in this case, it is not necessary to inform the user of the password, and the security is further improved.

Next, the second measure for preventing forgetting will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of another embodiment of the printer 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
First, steps 200 to 205 in FIG. 4 are the same as the operations from steps 100 to 105 in FIG.
If the password input to the password input panel 11 is waited for several minutes in step 206 and there is no password input to the password input panel 11 for several minutes, in step 207, the telephone directory registered in the memory of the printer 1 in advance is stored. The telephone number of the person who has issued the print job is retrieved from the telephone number, and in step 208, the pre-recorded message indicating that the person has been forgotten is called from the attached telephone function unit 9 to the telephone owned by the person, and the printout is performed Prompt to collect and return to step 206.
If the password input to the password input panel 11 is within several minutes in step 206, it is determined in step 209 whether the input password and the stored password match, and the input password and If the stored passwords match, in step 210, the selected paper discharge stacker 3 is unlocked.
This prevents forgetting to take a printout and makes it easy to always secure an empty sheet stacker.

1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a printer according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a configuration block diagram of a printer system to which the printer 1 shown in FIG. 1 is applied. 3 is an operation flowchart of the printer 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. It is an operation | movement flowchart of other embodiment of the printer 1 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printer, 2 ... Printer unit, 3 ... Discharge stacker, 4 ... Lock mechanism, 5 ... Mailbox, 6 ... CPU, 7 ... Temporary storage memory, 8 ... Printing device, 9 ... Telephone function part, 10 ... Radio wave Signal receiving device, 11 ... password input panel, 13 ... forgotten display lamp, 21 ... LAN, 22 ... printer server, 23 ... computer

Claims (4)

An image forming apparatus that outputs a print result received from a computer used by a user to a plurality of paper discharge stackers,
A plurality of locking means provided for locking each of the plurality of paper discharge stackers;
A plurality of forgotten display means provided in each of the plurality of paper discharge stackers for displaying forgetting to remove the print results in the plurality of paper discharge stackers;
Selecting means for selecting an available paper discharge stacker among the plurality of paper discharge stackers;
Paper discharge means for discharging the printing result to the selected paper discharge stacker;
Means for assigning a predetermined authentication to the selected paper discharge stacker and sending the authentication to the person who issued the print request;
Receiving means for receiving solid identification radio waves transmitted from a user within a certain distance of the image forming apparatus;
A confirmation means for identifying a user from the solid identification radio wave and confirming a match between the user and the person who issued the print request;
Display control means for displaying a forgotten-to-remember display means for a certain period of time provided in the paper discharge stacker where the print results are discharged when the user and the person who issued the print request match. And
An image forming apparatus that unlocks a lock unit provided in a paper discharge stacker that discharges the print result by the authentication of the person who issued the print request.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the forgetting display unit displays that the printing result is forgotten by light or sound. An image forming apparatus that outputs printing results received from a plurality of users to a plurality of discharge stackers,
A plurality of locking means provided for locking each of the plurality of paper discharge stackers;
A plurality of forgotten display means provided in each of the plurality of paper discharge stackers for displaying forgetting to remove the print results in the plurality of paper discharge stackers;
Selecting means for selecting an available paper discharge stacker among the plurality of paper discharge stackers;
Paper discharge means for discharging the printing result to the selected paper discharge stacker;
Means for assigning a predetermined authentication to the selected paper discharge stacker and sending the authentication to the person who issued the print request;
Detecting means for detecting whether the lock of the paper discharge stacker is released within a predetermined time;
A message transmission means for transmitting a message when the discharge stacker is not unlocked within a predetermined time; and
An image forming apparatus that unlocks a lock unit provided in a paper discharge stacker in which the print result is discharged by authentication of a person who issued the print request.   2. The authentication of the person who issued the print request is one of a password, a character string stored in an IC card, a fingerprint of a finger pressed, a palm vein, or a retina pattern. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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