JP2009045782A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable printing based on a print job even if an accounting server is in a stopped state and a shortage of memory capacity for storing the accounting information of the image forming device arises. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming device comprises a calculation section for calculating a charge amount for every print job based on the size and the number of sheets of a print medium used for printing at the time of the printing, a generating section for generating accounting information containing the calculated charge amount, a storage control section for storing the accounting information, an erasing section for erasing the corresponding accounting information from memory when a notice of the completion of acquisition of the accounting information transmitted from the accounting server is received, a usable capacity detecting section for detecting the usable capacity in the memory, and an accounting information print control section for causing a printing section to print out a plurality of the acquired accounting information when the data volume of the generated accounting information is larger than the usable capacity of the memory. When the data volume of the generated accounting information is equal to the usable capacity of the memory or less, the storage control unit stores the accounting information in the memory. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus connected to a charging server via a network.

Conventionally, as this type of image forming apparatus, for example, as disclosed in the cited document 1, a job history such as a print result is used for calculating a charge for rental use of the image forming apparatus. Is stored in the storage unit of the apparatus main body, and an image forming apparatus is proposed that transmits the charging information held in the storage unit to the charging server when a charging information transmission request is received from the charging server at regular intervals. In the image forming apparatus, when the charging information is transmitted to the charging server, the transmitted charging information held in the storage unit is deleted, thereby smoothly storing the charging information based on a new print job in the storage unit. To do.
JP 2001-350936 A

  However, in the image forming apparatus, if the charging server is in a stopped state due to a failure or the like, there is no request for transmitting charging information from the charging server, so that the charging information continues to be stored in the storage unit. In the image forming apparatus, when the charging information is accumulated, the usable memory capacity of the storage unit is reduced, and when new charging information cannot be stored, the reception of the print job is stopped and the printing process is stopped. There was a problem.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus connected to a charging server via a network in a storage unit in which the charging server is stopped and the charging information of the image forming apparatus is stored. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of executing a printing process based on a new print job even when a capacity shortage occurs.

The present invention adopts the following configuration in order to solve the above points.
An image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes an interface unit for connecting to a billing server over a network and a print processing unit that forms an image on a print medium based on the received print job. Then, a calculation unit that calculates a charge amount for each print job based on at least the size and number of print media used for the printing process, a generation unit that generates charge information including the calculated charge amount, and a storage in the generated charge information When a charging information transmission request is received from the storage control unit and the charging server, a transmission unit that transmits the charging information held in the storage unit to the charging server and a notification of acquisition completion for the charging information transmitted from the charging server Use of the erasure unit for erasing the corresponding billing information from the storage unit, the data amount detection unit for detecting the data amount of the generated billing information, and the storage unit An available capacity detecting unit for detecting the capacity, an acquisition unit for acquiring a plurality of charging information held in the storage unit when the data amount of the generated charging information is larger than an available capacity of the storage unit, and a plurality of acquired A charging information printing control unit for printing out the charging information by the print processing unit, and when the printing output of the charging information is completed, the erasing unit erases the plurality of acquired charging information from the storage unit, and When the data amount is less than or equal to the usable capacity of the storage unit, the storage control unit stores the charging information in the storage unit.

  According to the present invention, in an image forming apparatus connected to a charging server via a network, even if the charging server is stopped and the memory capacity of the storage unit for storing charging information of the image forming apparatus is insufficient The charging information held in the storage unit is converted into an optically readable code, printed on a print medium, and when printing is completed, the charging information to be coded is deleted from the storage unit. A printing process based on a new print job can be executed.

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

<Configuration of Example 1>
As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention is connected to a host computer 200 and a charging server 300 via a network 400. Here, the image forming apparatus 100 is, for example, an MFP (Multi Function Products) having functions such as image forming, printing processing, and image reading introduced into an office by a rental company. FIG. 2 shows an image forming apparatus in the case of an MFP. 100 is an external view.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 100 that is an MFP includes a paper feeding unit 10 that feeds an installed original, a paper tray 11 that accumulates and holds a print medium, and an image after printing processing is completed. It includes a discharge tray 12 for accumulating and holding the print medium discharged from the forming apparatus 100, a display (not shown) for displaying a message and the like for the user, and an operation button (not shown) for receiving settings and instructions from the user. The

  For the sake of simplicity, FIG. 1 shows only a configuration in which one host computer 200 is connected to the image forming apparatus 100 via the network 400, but the network 400 includes the host computer 200. A number of host computers having the same functions as are connected. Here, in the embodiment of the present invention, the host computer 200 is connected to the image forming apparatus 100 via the network 400. However, instead of the host computer 200, a plurality of PCs (Personal Computers) are connected. Also good.

  A host computer 200 is an information processing terminal used by a user to create image data. As shown in FIG. 1, a host computer 200 communicates with an image forming apparatus 100 connected via a network 400; A control unit 202 for controlling the entire apparatus, a temporary storage unit 203 for temporarily storing data, a display unit 204, an input unit 205, and an application storing various applications used for creating data A storage unit 206 and a printer driver 207 are provided.

  Then, a user who uses the host computer 200 presses a power button (not shown) of the host computer 200, refers to a login screen displayed on the display unit 204, and “user name” and “password” from the keyboard provided in the input unit 205. ”And pressing the“ login ”button on the login screen, the control unit 202 holds the user stored in the user management information storage unit (not shown) based on the acquired“ user name ”and“ password ”. Search the management information and determine whether the user's authentication matches or does not match. Here, the user management information is composed of “registered user name” and “registered password”. When it is determined that the user authentication matches, the control unit 202 activates each unit constituting the host computer 200.

  Next, when the user gives an instruction to start, for example, certain document creation application software using the keyboard and mouse provided in the input unit 205, the control unit 202 starts the corresponding application software stored in the application storage unit 206. Based on this application software, a document creation screen is displayed on a display provided in the display unit 204.

  When the user creates a document using the document creation screen displayed on the display unit 204 using the keyboard and mouse provided in the input unit 205 and presses a print command on the application software, the control unit 202 Instructs the driver to generate print data.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the printer driver 207 includes a spooler 2071 and a rasterize conversion unit 2072. Here, the printer driver 207 has a function for controlling the image forming apparatus 100 so that the image forming apparatus 100 performs a printing process based on a print instruction from the application software stored in the application storage unit 206.

  The spooler 2071 is a module for generating vector format print data from data created by using certain document creation application software stored in the application storage unit 206.

  When the printer driver 207 receives a print data generation instruction, the spooler 2071 generates print data from data created using application software. The print data is given “paper size”, “number of pages”, “file name” set by the user of the host computer 200 using the application software, and “user name” acquired at the time of login. The

  When the spooler 2071 generates print data, the control unit 202 stores the print data in the temporary storage unit 203. After storing the print data, the control unit 202 instructs the rasterization conversion unit 2072 to perform rasterization conversion.

  A rasterization conversion unit 2072 performs rasterization conversion on print data to generate bitmap format image data. In other words, when receiving a rasterize conversion instruction, the rasterize conversion unit 2072 generates image data by rasterizing the print data held in the temporary storage unit 203. Here, the “paper size”, “number of pages”, “file name”, “user name”, and the like given to the print data are given to the image data as they are.

  When the rasterize conversion unit 2072 generates image data, the control unit 202 stores the image data in the temporary storage unit 203 and transmits the image data to the image forming apparatus 100.

  The image forming apparatus 100 is an MFP having functions such as image formation, print output, and image reading. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 communicates with a host computer 200 and a billing server 300 connected via a network 400. Unit 101, control unit 102 for controlling the entire apparatus, temporary storage unit 103 for temporarily storing data, print control unit 104, printer engine 105, and accounting amount calculation information DB (database) 106 A billing information generation unit 107, a billing information data amount detection unit 108, a billing information storage unit 109, a billing information management unit 110, a usable capacity detection unit 111, a capacity comparison determination unit 112, and a conversion billing Information acquisition unit 113, code generation unit 114, feature extraction unit 115, feature information generation unit 116, feature information storage unit 117, It includes an information management unit 118, an image reading unit 119, a code analysis unit 120, and a decoding billing information collation judging section 121.

  When the control unit 102 of the image forming apparatus 100 receives image data from the host computer 200, the control unit 102 stores the image data in the temporary storage unit 103. When storing the image data, the control unit 102 transfers the corresponding image data held in the temporary storage unit 103 to the print control unit 104.

  The print control unit 104 is a control unit that controls image data print processing, and is connected to each part of the printer engine 105. That is, when receiving the image data, the print control unit 104 transfers a print instruction signal for instructing the start of printing and the image data to the printer engine 105 so as to control the printing process based on the image data.

  The printer engine 105 is an execution unit that executes a printing process based on image data. Upon receiving a print instruction signal and image data, the printer engine 105 performs a printing process based on the image data. Here, since the printing process in the printer engine 105 is well known, a detailed description is omitted.

  When the printer engine 105 completes the printing process based on the image data from the host computer 200, the print control unit 104 outputs a print completion signal indicating the completion of printing to the control unit 102. Here, the print completion signal includes “file name” and “user name” that are attributes of image data, “print paper size”, “number of print pages”, and “print output date / time” indicating the execution result of the print processing. And are given. Upon receiving the print completion signal, the control unit 102 transmits an accounting information generation instruction and the printing completion signal to the accounting information generation unit 107. The completion of the printing process means that a toner image based on the image data is formed on the print medium, and the toner image is fixed on the print medium, and then the discharge tray 12 of the image forming apparatus 100 (FIG. 2). ) To the end of the discharge process.

  On the other hand, when the printing control unit 104 becomes unable to store in the billing information storage unit 109, the printer engine 105 is assigned a one-dimensional barcode to which an “ID” described later is added, or a two-dimensional barcode such as a QR code. When the printing process based on the billing code is completed, a code printing completion signal indicating completion of code printing is output to the control unit 102. Here, an “ID” to be described later is given to the code printing completion signal. Upon receiving the code printing completion signal, the control unit 102 transmits a feature information extraction instruction and the code printing completion signal to the feature information generation unit 116.

  The charge amount calculation information DB 106 is a database that holds charge amount calculation information for calculating a charge amount based on image data for each file. As shown in FIG. 3, the billing amount calculation information is composed of, for example, each sheet size and a billing amount per sheet in the printing process using each size sheet.

  The billing information generation unit 107 is a generation unit that generates billing information. Upon receiving a print completion signal together with a billing information generation instruction, the billing information generation unit 107 receives a “file name”, “user name”, “ Billing information is generated based on “print paper size”, “number of print pages”, and “print output date / time”. That is, when the billing information generation unit 107 receives the print completion signal, first, billing amount calculation information held in the billing amount calculation information DB 106 based on the “print paper size” given to the print completion signal. And the charge amount is calculated from the charge amount per sheet of the corresponding paper size and the “number of printed pages”.

  Then, when the charging information generation unit 107 calculates the charging amount, for example, charging information “% S% T = 07/05/10 / Fri / 17: 15: 30% P = PRI% U as shown in FIG. = Jiro% F = def.doc% C = 10.2% E ". Here, “% S” indicates the beginning of the billing data, and “% E” indicates the end of the billing data. “% T =” indicates that the print output date and time will follow, and the print output date and time of the accounting information is “17:15:30 on Friday, May 10, 2007”. “% P =” indicates that the printer name follows, and the printer name of the accounting information is “PRI”. “% U =” indicates that the user name follows, and the user name of the accounting information is “jiro”. “% F =” indicates that a file name follows, and the file name of the accounting information is “def.doc”. “% C =” indicates that the billing amount follows, and the billing amount of the billing information is “10.2 [yen]”. The print output date and time and the charge amount of the charge information are actually indicated in binary code. Further, the print output date and time and the charge amount of the charge information are actually shown in binary code, but are described as described above for easy explanation.

  When the charging information generation unit 107 generates charging information, the control unit 102 stores the charging information in the temporary storage unit 103. After storing the billing information, the control unit 102 instructs the billing information data amount detection unit 108 to detect the data amount of the billing information.

  The billing information data amount detection unit 108 is a detection unit having a function of detecting the data amount (size) of billing information. That is, when the billing information data amount detection unit 108 receives an instruction to detect the amount of billing information data, the billing information data amount detection unit 108 detects the amount of billing information data held in the temporary storage unit 103.

  When the billing information data amount detection unit 108 detects the amount of billing information data, the control unit 102 stores the billing information data amount in the temporary storage unit 103 and the usable capacity detection unit 111 in the billing information storage unit 109. Instructs the detection of the available capacity.

  The billing information management unit 110 is a management unit that manages billing information held in the billing information storage unit 109. That is, when the charging information management unit 110 receives an instruction to store charging information, which will be described later, the charging information stored in the temporary storage unit 103 is stored in the charging information storage unit 109 in ascending order. When charging information is stored, charging information management unit 110 generates a charging information stored signal and transmits the signal to control unit 102.

  On the other hand, upon receipt of an instruction to store decrypted billing information (to be described later), billing information management unit 110 decrypts the billing code printed on a print medium (to be described later) and sends the billing information acquired to billing server 300 via the normal route. For transmission, the decrypted billing information held in the temporary storage unit 103 is stored in the billing information storage unit 109 in ascending order. When the billing information management unit 110 stores the decrypted billing information, the billing information management unit 110 generates a decrypted billing information stored signal and transmits the signal to the control unit 102.

  When the charging information management unit 110 receives a charging information transmission request signal (to be described later) from the charging server 300 via the control unit 102, all the charging information held in the charging information storage unit 109 is stored in the “printer” of the image forming apparatus 100. Name ”is assigned and transmitted to the accounting server 300 via the control unit 102. When charging information is transmitted to charging server 300, charging information management unit 110 generates a charging information transmitted signal and transmits the signal to control unit 102. Here, the “printer name” is an apparatus name for identifying the image forming apparatus 100 held in a memory (not shown) of the image forming apparatus 100.

  In addition, the accounting information management unit 110 transmits all the accounting information held in the accounting information storage unit 109 to the accounting server 300 via the control unit 102 based on the accounting information transmission request signal, and then deletes accounting information described later. When the instruction is received, all the accounting information held in the accounting information storage unit 109 is deleted. When the charging information management unit 110 deletes all the charging information, the charging information management unit 110 generates a charging information all deleted signal and transmits the signal to the control unit 102.

  On the other hand, upon receiving an instruction to delete the accounting information to be encoded, which will be described later, the accounting information management unit 110 deletes the corresponding printed accounting information from the accounting information storage unit 109. If the accounting information to be encoded is deleted, the accounting information management unit 110 increases the storable capacity of the accounting information storage unit 109. Therefore, the accounting information management unit 110 uses the generated accounting information stored in the temporary storage unit 103 as the accounting information storage unit. 109 is stored in ascending order. When charging information is stored, charging information management section 110 generates a charging information stored signal and transmits the signal to control section 102.

  The usable capacity detection unit 111 is a detection unit having a function of detecting the usable capacity (size) of the storage area of the billing information storage unit 109. That is, when the usable capacity detection unit 111 receives an instruction to detect the usable capacity of the charging information storage unit 109, the usable capacity detection unit 111 uses the total storage capacity stored in advance in the charging information storage unit 109 to indicate whether the charging information storage unit 109 has been used. The available capacity value is calculated by subtracting the capacity of the area.

  When the usable capacity detection unit 111 detects the usable capacity of the charging information storage unit 109, the control unit 102 stores the usable capacity in the temporary storage unit 103. After storing the usable capacity, the control unit 102 instructs the capacity comparison / determination unit 112 to compare and determine the capacity.

  The capacity comparison / determination unit 112 compares the data amount of the billing information with the usable capacity of the billing information storage unit 109 to determine whether or not the billing information can be stored in the billing information storage unit 109. It is a judgment part. That is, upon receiving an instruction for capacity comparison determination, the capacity comparison determination unit 112 compares the amount of charging information held in the temporary storage unit 103 with the usable capacity of the charging information storage unit 109, and stores the charging information storage. If the usable capacity of the unit 109 is equal to or greater than the data amount of the charging information, it is determined that the data can be stored. When the capacity comparison / determination unit 112 determines that storage is possible, the control unit 102 instructs the charging information management unit 110 to store charging information.

  On the other hand, the capacity comparison / determination unit 112 determines that the storage is not possible if the available capacity of the charging information storage unit 109 is smaller than the data amount of the charging information. When the capacity comparison / determination unit 112 determines that the charging information cannot be stored, the control unit 102 instructs the conversion charging information acquisition unit 113 to acquire the charging information for code conversion.

  Conversion accounting information acquisition unit 113 is an acquisition unit that acquires accounting information to be subjected to code conversion, which will be described later, from accounting information storage unit 109. That is, when receiving the instruction for acquiring the charge information for code conversion, the conversion charge information acquisition unit 113 receives, for example, 100 KB (kilobytes) set in advance from the charge information held in the charge information storage unit 109 for printout. A plurality of pieces of billing information for the data amount are acquired in descending order. It is assumed that the conversion billing information acquisition unit 113 acquires a plurality of billing information with good separation in file units within a preset data amount.

  When the conversion charging information acquisition unit 113 acquires the charging information to be code-converted, the control unit 102 stores the charging information to be converted in the temporary storage unit 103. Then, after storing the accounting information to be converted, the control unit 102 instructs the code generation unit 114 to generate a code.

  The code generation unit 114 is a generation unit that converts the charging information to be converted into a code and generates an optically readable charging code. That is, when the code generation unit 114 receives a code generation instruction, the code generation unit 114 converts the charging information to be converted held in the temporary storage unit 103 and generates an optically readable charging code. Here, the billing code is a two-dimensional barcode such as a one-dimensional barcode or QR code made of image data.

  When the code generation unit 114 generates a charging code, the control unit 102 stores the charging code in the temporary storage unit 103. Then, when the charging code is stored, the control unit 102 generates “ID” which is a serial number used for managing the charging code, and assigns the “ID” to the charging code. Here, the control unit 102 has a counter function for generating the “ID”. Then, when “ID” is assigned to the charging code, the control unit 102 transfers the charging code to which the “ID” including the image data is added to the print control unit 104.

  Upon receiving the code printing completion signal to which the “ID” is assigned, the control unit 102 stores the “ID” in the temporary storage unit 103 and instructs the feature extraction unit 115 to generate feature information.

  The feature extraction unit 115 encodes the information printed on the print medium to identify whether or not the charge information indicated by the charge code printed on the print medium, which will be described later, belongs to the image forming apparatus 100 itself. It is an extraction unit that extracts features of billing information. That is, when receiving an instruction to extract feature information, the feature extraction unit 115 first performs “hash” on the encoded billing information held in the temporary storage unit 103 or the decrypted billing information described later using a hash function. Value "is calculated. Here, the hash function is, for example, an SHA-1 function, and a 160-bit “hash value” is calculated from information of 2 64 bits or less. However, since the hash function is well-known, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  Then, after calculating the “hash value”, the feature extraction unit 115 calculates the “data amount” of the encoded charging information held in the temporary storage unit 103 or the decoded charging information.

  When the feature extraction unit 115 calculates the “hash value” and “data amount” of the encoded billing information, the control unit 102 instructs the feature information generation unit 116 to generate feature information.

  On the other hand, when the “hash value” and “data amount” of the billing information decrypted by the feature extraction unit 115 are calculated, the control unit 102 instructs the decryption billing information collation determination unit 121 to collate the decrypted billing information.

  The feature information generation unit 116 generates feature information with a small data amount indicating the feature of the billing information to be coded against, based on the “hash value” and “data amount” extracted by the feature extraction unit 115. Part.

  That is, when the feature information generation unit 116 receives an instruction to generate feature information, based on the “ID”, “hash value”, and “data amount” stored in the temporary storage unit 103, for example, as shown in FIG. The feature information “% S% I = 000010023% H = 51a504d7% B = 00001000% E” is generated. Here, “% S” indicates the beginning of the feature information, and “% E” indicates the end of the feature information. “% I =” indicates that an ID follows, and the ID of the feature information is “00001023”. “% H =” indicates that the hash value continues, and the hash value of the feature information is “51a504d7”. “% B =” indicates that the data amount continues, and the data amount of the feature information is “1000 bytes”.

  When the feature information generation unit 116 generates feature information, the control unit 102 stores the feature information in the temporary storage unit 103. After storing the feature information, the control unit 102 instructs the feature information management unit 118 to store the feature information.

  The feature information storage unit 117 is a storage unit that stores the feature information generated by the feature information generation unit 116 based on an instruction from the feature information management unit 118. Here, the feature information storage unit 117 includes a nonvolatile memory such as an HDD (Hard Disc Drive) or a flash memory.

  The feature information management unit 118 is a management unit that manages the feature information held in the feature information storage unit 117. In other words, when receiving an instruction to store feature information, the feature information management unit 118 stores the feature information held in the temporary storage unit 103 in the feature information storage unit 117 in ascending order. When the feature information management unit 118 stores the feature information, the control unit 102 instructs the charging information management unit 110 to delete the charging information to be coded.

  When the feature information management unit 118 receives an instruction to delete the feature information, the feature information management unit 118 searches the feature information storage unit 117 based on the “decoded ID” held in the temporary storage unit 103, and the feature information storage unit 117 Delete the relevant feature information. When the feature information management unit 118 deletes the feature information, the feature information management unit 118 generates a feature information deleted signal and transmits the signal to the control unit 102.

  When charging server 300 is restored and receives a charging information transmission request signal from charging server 300, control unit 102 transfers the signal to charging information management unit 110. Then, the control unit 102 transmits all the charging information held in the charging information storage unit 109 from the charging information management unit 110 to the charging server 300, and deletes all the charging information held in the charging information storage unit 109. When the accounting information all-deleted signal shown is received, the corresponding program stored in the ROM (not shown) is activated, and a notification screen for notifying that the accounting information storage unit 109 is empty is provided on a display unit (not shown). Display.

  With reference to the notification screen, the administrator decrypts the billing information from the print medium on which the billing code is printed, and transmits the decrypted billing information to the billing server 300 via the normal route. The print medium is placed on a document placing table made of a glass plate not to be read, and image reading is instructed via a button provided in an input unit (not shown). Here, FIG. 5 shows an example of a print medium on which a billing code including a QR code is printed. In the present embodiment, only the charging code is printed on the print medium. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the user can visually determine that the code printed on the print medium is the charging code. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, characters such as “printer name”, “number of data” indicating the number of charging information to be encoded, “data size” indicating the amount of data, “ID”, and the like are printed. You may make it the structure to carry out. When receiving an image reading instruction via the button, the control unit 102 instructs the image reading unit 119 to read an image.

  The image reading unit 119 is a generating unit that optically reads a document placed on the document placing table and generates image data. In other words, when receiving an image reading instruction, the image reading unit 119 optically reads a print medium on which a one-dimensional barcode or a two-dimensional barcode placed on a document placement table is printed, and reads image data. Generate.

  When the image reading unit 119 generates image data, the control unit 102 stores the image data in the temporary storage unit 103. After storing the image data, the control unit 102 instructs the code analysis unit 120 to perform code analysis.

  The code analysis unit 120 extracts a charging code image from the image data read by the image reading unit 119, decodes the charging code composed of a one-dimensional barcode or a two-dimensional barcode from the charging code image, and stores the charging information and ID It is an analysis part which decodes. That is, upon receiving a code analysis instruction, the code analysis unit 120 extracts a charge code including a one-dimensional barcode or a two-dimensional barcode from the image data held in the temporary storage unit 103, and charges the charge code image from the charge code image. Decode the billing information and ID by decrypting the code.

  When the code analysis unit 120 decrypts the billing information and ID, the control unit 102 stores the decrypted billing information and ID in the temporary storage unit 103. When storing the decrypted billing information and ID, the control unit 102 instructs the feature extraction unit 115 to extract the features of the decrypted billing information.

  Based on the “hash value” and “data amount” of the decrypted billing information extracted by the feature extraction unit 115, the decrypted billing information collation determination unit 121 transmits the decrypted billing information to the billing server 300 via the normal route. Is a determination unit that determines whether or not to store in the billing information storage unit 109. In other words, when receiving the instruction for collation judgment of the decrypted billing information, the decrypted billing information collation determining unit 121 is based on the decrypted ID held in the temporary storage unit 103 and the “hash value” that is the characteristic of the decrypted billing information. Then, the feature information storage unit 117 is searched, and if there is feature information that matches the ID and hash value, it is determined as matching. When the decrypted billing information collation determining unit 121 determines that the collation matches, the control unit 102 instructs the billing information managing unit 110 to store the decrypted billing information.

  On the other hand, if there is no feature information that matches the ID and the hash value, the decryption charging information collation determination unit 121 determines that the collation does not match. If the decrypted charging information verification determination unit 121 determines that the verification does not match, the control unit 102 activates a corresponding program held in a ROM (not shown) and stores the charging code on the print medium in the image forming apparatus 100 because it is not its own charging information. A notification screen for notifying that it is impossible is displayed on a display provided in a display unit (not shown).

  Upon receiving the decrypted billing information stored signal from the billing information management unit 110, the control unit 102 instructs the feature information management unit 118 to delete the feature information.

  When control unit 102 receives a total billing information stored signal from billing server 300, control unit 102 instructs billing information management unit 110 to delete billing information.

  The billing server 300 is a device that collects billing information held in the billing information storage unit 109 of the image forming apparatus 100, aggregates the billing information, generates aggregate billing information, and stores and manages the aggregate billing information. As shown in FIG. 1, a communication unit 301 for communicating with the image forming apparatus 100, a control unit 302 for controlling the server, a temporary storage unit 303, a total billing information storage unit 304, and a total billing information management unit 305.

  The control unit 302 generates a billing information request signal every predetermined period to collect billing information held in the billing information storage unit 109 of the image forming apparatus 100, and sends the signal to the image forming apparatus 100. Send.

  Then, when the charging server 300 is restored, the control unit 302 generates a charging information request signal in order to solve the shortage of storable capacity in the charging information storage unit 109 of the image forming apparatus 100, and the signal is output to the image forming apparatus. To 100.

  Further, when the control unit 302 receives billing information from the image forming apparatus 100 as a response to the billing information transmission request signal, the control unit 302 stores the billing information in the temporary storage unit 303. In addition, when storing the charging information, the control unit 302 instructs the total charging information management unit 305 to register the charging information.

  The total charging information storage unit 304 is a storage unit that stores the charging information acquired from the image forming apparatus 100 based on an instruction from the total charging information management unit 305. Here, the total charge information storage unit 304 distributes and stores the acquired charge information for each image forming apparatus and for each user name based on an instruction from the total charge information management unit 305. The total charge amount and the total charge amount for each user name are stored.

  The total billing information management unit 305 is a management unit that manages the total billing information held in the total billing information storage unit 304. Upon receiving a billing information registration instruction, the total billing information management unit 305 stores the billing information acquired from the image forming apparatus 100 in each file. Based on each user name, it is sorted and stored in the total billing information storage unit 304. The total billing information management unit 305 updates the total billing information storage unit 304 and recalculates the total billing amount for each image forming apparatus and the total billing amount for each user name.

  When the total charge information storage unit 304 stores the total charge information, the total charge information management unit 305 generates a total charge information stored signal indicating that the storage of the total charge information has been completed. To the image forming apparatus 100.

<Operation of Example 1>
Hereinafter, the operation of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to flowcharts. Here, the operation will be described on the assumption that the image forming apparatus 100 is an MFP.

  First, the operation of the image forming apparatus 100 when the accounting server 300 is stopped will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  A user using the host computer 200 presses a power button (not shown) of the host computer 200 and refers to a login screen displayed on the display unit 204 to enter “user name” and “password” from the keyboard provided in the input unit 205. When the user inputs and presses the “login” button on the login screen, the control unit 202 holds the user stored in the user management information storage unit (not shown) based on the acquired “user name: jiro” and “password”. Search the management information and determine whether the user's authentication matches or does not match. Here, the user management information is composed of “registered user name: jiro” and “registered password”. When it is determined that the user authentication matches, the control unit 202 activates each unit constituting the host computer 200.

  Next, when the user instructs activation of the document creation application software using the keyboard and mouse provided in the input unit 205, the control unit 202 activates the corresponding application software stored in the application storage unit 206. A document creation screen is displayed on a display provided in the display unit 204 based on the application software.

  When the user creates a document using the document creation screen displayed on the display unit 204 using the keyboard and mouse provided in the input unit 205 and presses a print command on the application software, the control unit 202 Instructs the driver to generate print data.

  When the printer driver 207 receives a print data generation instruction, the spooler 2071 generates print data from data created using application software. Here, the print data includes “paper size: A4”, “number of pages: 2”, “file name: def.doc” set by the user of the host computer 200 using application software, and at the time of login. The acquired “user name: jiro” or the like is given.

  When the spooler 2071 generates print data, the control unit 202 stores the print data in the temporary storage unit 203. After storing the print data, the control unit 202 instructs the rasterization conversion unit 2072 to perform rasterization conversion.

  When receiving a rasterize conversion instruction, the rasterize conversion unit 2072 generates image data by rasterizing the print data held in the temporary storage unit 203. Here, “paper size: A4”, “number of pages: 2”, “file name: def.doc”, “user name: jiro”, and the like given to the print data are directly given to the image data. .

  When the rasterize conversion unit 2072 generates image data, the control unit 202 stores the image data in the temporary storage unit 203 and transmits the image data to the image forming apparatus 100.

  When the control unit 102 of the image forming apparatus 100 is in a job waiting state and receives image data from the host computer 200 via the communication unit 101 (step S101), the control unit 102 stores the image data in the temporary storage unit 103. When storing the image data, the control unit 102 transfers the corresponding image data held in the temporary storage unit 103 to the print control unit 104.

  Upon receiving the image data, the print control unit 104 transfers a print instruction signal for instructing the start of printing and the image data to the printer engine 105 in order to control print processing based on the image data.

  The printer engine 105 is an execution unit that executes a printing process based on image data. Upon receiving a print instruction signal and image data, the printer engine 105 performs a printing process based on the image data (step S102).

  When the printer engine 105 completes the printing process based on the image data from the host computer 200, the print control unit 104 outputs a print completion signal indicating the completion of printing to the control unit 102. The print completion signal includes “file name: def.doc” and “user name: jiro” as attributes of the image data, “print paper size: A4” indicating the execution result of the printing process, and “number of printed pages: 2”. Sheet ”and“ print output date / time: 07/05/10 / Fri / 17: 15: 30 ”. Upon receiving the print completion signal, the control unit 102 transmits an accounting information generation instruction and the printing completion signal to the accounting information generation unit 107.

  Upon receipt of the print completion signal, the billing information generation unit 107 first stores billing amount calculation information held in the billing amount calculation information DB 106 based on “print paper size: A4” given to the print completion signal. Searching is performed, and the charge amount (10.2 yen) is calculated from the charge amount (5.1 yen) per sheet of the corresponding paper size and “number of printed pages: 2 sheets”.

  Then, when the charging information generation unit 107 calculates the charging amount, as shown in FIG. 4, the charging information “% S% T = 07/05/10 / Fri / 17: 15: 30% P = PRI% U = jiro% F = def.doc% C = 10.2% E "is generated (step S103).

  When the charging information generation unit 107 generates charging information, the control unit 102 stores the charging information in the temporary storage unit 103. After storing the billing information, the control unit 102 instructs the billing information data amount detection unit 108 to detect the data amount of the billing information.

  When receiving an instruction to detect the amount of billing information data, billing information data amount detection unit 108 detects the amount of billing information data stored in temporary storage unit 103 (step S104).

  When the billing information data amount detection unit 108 detects the amount of billing information data, the control unit 102 stores the billing information data amount in the temporary storage unit 103 and the usable capacity detection unit 111 in the billing information storage unit 109. Instructs the detection of the available capacity.

  When the usable capacity detection unit 111 receives an instruction to detect the usable capacity of the charging information storage unit 109, the usable capacity detection unit 111 calculates the used area of the charging information storage unit 109 from the total storage capacity stored in advance in the charging information storage unit 109. A usable capacity value is calculated by subtracting the capacity (step S105).

  When the usable capacity detection unit 111 detects the usable capacity of the charging information storage unit 109, the control unit 102 stores the usable capacity in the temporary storage unit 103. After storing the usable capacity, the control unit 102 instructs the capacity comparison / determination unit 112 to compare and determine the capacity.

  When the capacity comparison determination unit 112 receives an instruction for capacity comparison determination, the capacity comparison determination unit 112 compares the data amount of the charging information held in the temporary storage unit 103 with the usable capacity of the charging information storage unit 109, and the charging information storage unit 109 If the available capacity is equal to or greater than the data amount of the charging information (step S106), it is determined that storage is possible. When the capacity comparison / determination unit 112 determines that storage is possible, the control unit 102 instructs the charging information management unit 110 to store charging information.

  When receiving the charging information storage instruction, charging information management unit 110 stores the generated charging information held in temporary storage unit 103 in charging information storage unit 109 in ascending order (step S107). When charging information is stored, charging information management section 110 generates a charging information stored signal and transmits the signal to control section 102. Upon receiving the accounting information stored signal, the control unit 102 shifts to a print job waiting state.

  On the other hand, if the charging server 300 fails and the charging information is not transmitted, the capacity comparison / determination unit 112 determines that storage is impossible because the usable capacity of the charging information storage unit 109 is less than the data amount of the charging information. When the capacity comparison / determination unit 112 determines that the charging information cannot be stored, the control unit 102 instructs the conversion charging information acquisition unit 113 to acquire the charging information for code conversion.

  Upon receiving the instruction for acquiring the charging information for code conversion, the conversion charging information acquisition unit 113 has a data amount of 100 KB (kilobytes) set in advance from the charging information held in the charging information storage unit 109 for printout. A plurality of pieces of billing information are acquired in descending order (step S108).

  When the conversion charging information acquisition unit 113 acquires the charging information to be code-converted, the control unit 102 stores the charging information to be converted in the temporary storage unit 103. Then, after storing the accounting information to be converted, the control unit 102 instructs the code generation unit 114 to generate a code.

  Upon receiving the code generation instruction, the code generation unit 114 converts the charge information to be converted held in the temporary storage unit 103, and generates a charge code including an optically readable QR code (step S109). .

  When the code generation unit 114 generates a charging code, the control unit 102 stores the charging code in the temporary storage unit 103. Then, when the charging code is stored, the control unit 102 generates “ID” which is a serial number used for managing the charging code, and assigns the “ID” to the charging code including the QR code. When the control unit 102 assigns “ID” to the billing code composed of the QR code, the control unit 102 transfers the billing code appended with “ID” composed of the image data to the print control unit 104.

  When the print control unit 104 receives a charge code composed of a QR code to which “ID” composed of image data is received, a print instruction for instructing the start of printing in order to control print processing based on the charge code composed of the QR code The signal and the billing code are transferred to the printer engine 105.

  When the printer engine 105 receives the print instruction signal and the billing code including the QR code, the printer engine 105 performs a printing process based on the billing code (step S110). The print medium on which the billing code is printed is stored in a predetermined position until the billing server 300 is restored.

  When the printing control unit 104 completes the printing process based on the charging code including the QR code to which “ID” is assigned when the storage in the charging information storage unit 109 becomes impossible, the “ID” Is output to the control unit 102. Upon receiving the code printing completion signal, the control unit 102 transmits a feature information extraction instruction and the code printing completion signal to the feature information generation unit 116.

  When the control unit 102 receives the code printing completion signal assigned with the “ID”, the control unit 102 stores the “ID” in the temporary storage unit 103 and later decodes the charging information from the charging code printed on the printing medium. In order to identify whether or not the image forming apparatus 100 belongs to the image forming apparatus 100, the feature extraction unit 115 is instructed to extract the feature of the billing information to be coded.

  When the feature extraction unit 115 receives an instruction to extract the feature of the accounting information to be encoded, first, the feature extraction unit 115 uses the hash function to calculate the “hash value” for the accounting information to be converted held in the temporary storage unit 103. calculate.

  Then, after calculating the “hash value”, the feature extraction unit 115 calculates the “data amount” of the billing information to be converted and held in the temporary storage unit 103.

  When the feature extraction unit 115 calculates the “hash value” and “data amount” of the billing information to be converted, the control unit 102 instructs the feature information generation unit 116 to generate feature information.

  When the feature information generation unit 116 receives an instruction to generate feature information, based on the “ID”, “hash value”, and “data amount” stored in the temporary storage unit 103, the feature information “ % S% I = 000010023% H = 51a504d7% B = 00001000% E "is generated (step S111).

  When the feature information generation unit 116 generates the feature information, the control unit 102 stores the feature information in the temporary storage unit 103. After storing the feature information, the control unit 102 instructs the feature information management unit 118 to store the feature information.

  When receiving the instruction to store the feature information, the feature information management unit 118 stores the feature information held in the temporary storage unit 103 in the feature information storage unit 117 in ascending order (step S112). When the feature information management unit 118 stores the feature information, the control unit 102 instructs the charging information management unit 110 to delete the charging information to be coded.

  When the charging information management unit 110 receives an instruction to delete the charging information to be coded, the charging information management unit 110 deletes the corresponding printed accounting information from the charging information storage unit 109 (step S113). When the accounting information management unit 110 deletes the accounting information to be encoded, the storage capacity of the accounting information storage unit 109 increases. Therefore, the newly generated accounting information is stored in the accounting information storage unit 109 in ascending order. In step S107, when new billing information is stored, the billing information management unit 110 generates a billing information stored signal and transmits the signal to the control unit 102. Upon receiving the accounting information stored signal, the control unit 102 shifts to a print job waiting state.

  Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus 100 after the accounting server is restored will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When the billing server 300 is restored, the control unit 302 generates a billing information request signal in order to solve the shortage of storable capacity in the billing information storage unit 109 of the image forming apparatus 100, and sends the signal via the communication unit 301. To the image forming apparatus 100.

  When the accounting server 300 is restored and the accounting information transmission request signal is received from the accounting server 300, the control unit 102 of the image forming apparatus 100 transfers the signal to the accounting information management unit 110. Then, the control unit 102 transmits all the charging information held in the charging information storage unit 109 from the charging information management unit 110 to the charging server 300, and deletes all the charging information held in the charging information storage unit 109. When the accounting information all-deleted signal shown is received, the corresponding program stored in the ROM (not shown) is activated, and a notification screen for notifying that the accounting information storage unit 109 is empty is provided on a display unit (not shown). Display.

  When the user refers to the notification screen, the billing code, which is a QR code printed on the print medium, is decoded into billing information using the image forming apparatus 100, and the billing server 300 uses the normal billing for the decrypted billing information. In order to transmit the data to the image forming apparatus 100, a printing medium on which a billing code is printed is placed on a document placing table made of a glass plate (not shown) of the image forming apparatus 100, and an image reading is instructed via a button provided on an input unit (not shown). . When receiving an image reading instruction via the button, the control unit 102 instructs the image reading unit 119 to read an image.

  When the image reading unit 119 receives an image reading instruction, the image reading unit 119 optically reads the print medium on which the QR code placed on the document placing table is printed to generate image data.

  When the image reading unit 119 generates image data, the control unit 102 stores the image data in the temporary storage unit 103. After storing the image data, the control unit 102 instructs the code analysis unit 120 to perform code analysis.

  Upon receiving the code analysis instruction, the code analysis unit 120 extracts a charging code including a QR code from the image data held in the temporary storage unit 103, decodes the charging code from the charging code image, and stores the charging information and ID. Decoding is performed (step S201).

  When the code analysis unit 120 decrypts the billing information and ID, the control unit 102 stores the decrypted billing information and ID in the temporary storage unit 103. Then, after storing the decrypted charging information and ID, the control unit 102 instructs the feature extracting unit 115 to extract the characteristics of the charging information.

  When the feature extraction unit 115 receives a feature extraction instruction, the feature extraction unit 115 first calculates a “hash value” for the decrypted billing information held in the temporary storage unit 103 using a hash function.

  Then, after calculating the “hash value”, the feature extraction unit 115 calculates the “data amount” of the decrypted billing information held in the temporary storage unit 103 (step S202).

  When the “hash value” and “data amount” of the billing information decrypted by the feature extraction unit 115 are calculated, the control unit 102 instructs the decrypted billing information collation determination unit 121 to collate the decrypted billing information.

  Decrypted billing information collation determination unit 121, when receiving an instruction for collation determination of the decrypted billing information, features based on the decrypted ID held in temporary storage unit 103 and the “hash value” that is the characteristic of the decrypted billing information. The information storage unit 117 is searched, and if there is feature information that matches the ID and the hash value, it is determined that the matching matches. When the decrypted billing information collation determining unit 121 determines that the collation coincides (step S203), the control unit 102 instructs the billing information managing unit 110 to store the decrypted billing information.

  On the other hand, if there is no feature information that matches the ID and the hash value, the decryption charging information collation determination unit 121 determines that the collation does not match. When the decryption charging information verification determination unit 121 determines that the verification does not match, the control unit 102 activates a corresponding program held in a ROM (not shown) and notifies the image forming apparatus 100 that the charging code on the print medium cannot be stored. A notification screen for the display is displayed on a display provided in a display unit (not shown) (step S204).

  When receiving the instruction to store the decrypted billing information, billing information management unit 110 stores the decrypted billing information held in temporary storage unit 103 in billing information storage unit 109 in ascending order (step S205). Then, when the billing information management unit 110 stores the decrypted billing information, the billing information management unit 110 generates a decrypted billing information stored signal and transmits the signal to the control unit 102.

  Upon receiving the decrypted billing information stored signal from the billing information management unit 110, the control unit 102 instructs the feature information management unit 118 to delete the feature information.

  When the feature information management unit 118 receives an instruction to delete the feature information, the feature information management unit 118 searches the feature information storage unit 117 based on the “decoded ID” held in the temporary storage unit 103, and the feature information management unit 118 corresponds to the feature information storage unit 117. The feature information is deleted (step S206). When the feature information is deleted, the feature information management unit 118 generates a feature information deleted signal and transmits the signal to the control unit 102. Upon receiving the feature information deleted signal, the control unit 102 shifts to a print job waiting state.

  Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus 100 in response to a charging information transmission request from the charging server 300 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  The control unit 302 of the billing server 300 generates a billing information request signal every predetermined period and collects the billing information held in the billing information storage unit 109 of the image forming apparatus 100 and communicates the signal. The image is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 100 via the unit 301.

  When the control unit 102 of the image forming apparatus 100 receives the billing information request signal via the communication unit 101, the control unit 102 transfers the signal to the billing information management unit 110.

  When the charging information management unit 110 receives the charging information transmission request signal, the charging information management unit 110 controls by assigning a “printer name” that holds all charging information held in the charging information storage unit 109 in a memory (not shown) of the image forming apparatus 100. It transmits to the accounting server 300 via the unit 102 (step S301).

  When the control unit 302 of the accounting server 300 receives the accounting information from the image forming apparatus 100 as a response to the accounting information transmission request signal via the communication unit 301, the accounting information is stored in the temporary storage unit 303. After storing the billing information, the control unit 302 instructs the total billing information management unit 305 to register the billing information.

  When receiving the billing information registration instruction, the total billing information management unit 305 distributes the billing information acquired from the image forming apparatus 100 based on the user name for each file and stores it in the total billing information storage unit 304. The total billing information management unit 305 updates the total billing information storage unit 304 and recalculates the total billing amount for each image forming apparatus and the total billing amount for each user name.

  Then, the total charge information management unit 305 stores the total charge information in the total charge information storage unit 304, generates a total charge information stored signal indicating that the storage of the total charge information is completed, and transmits the signal to the control unit The image is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 100 via 302.

  When the control unit 102 of the image forming apparatus 100 receives the total billing information stored signal from the billing server 300, the control unit 102 instructs the billing information management unit 110 to delete the billing information.

  When the charging information management unit 110 receives an instruction to delete the charging information, the charging information management unit 110 deletes all the charging information held in the charging information storage unit 109 (step S302). When the charging information management unit 110 deletes all the charging information, the charging information management unit 110 generates a charging information all deleted signal and transmits the signal to the control unit 102. Upon receiving the accounting information all deleted signal, the control unit 102 activates a corresponding program held in a ROM (not shown) and displays a notification screen (not shown) for notifying that the accounting information storage unit 109 is empty. To be displayed on a display provided in the department. Then, the control unit 102 displays the notification screen on the display, and then shifts to a print job waiting state.

<Effect of Example 1>
In the image forming apparatus 100 according to the first exemplary embodiment, even when the charging server 300 is in a stopped state and the available capacity of the charging information storage unit 109 of the image forming apparatus 100 is insufficient, the charging information storage unit 109 holds it. The billing information is converted into a billing code such as an optically readable one-dimensional barcode or two-dimensional barcode, printed on a print medium, and when the printing is completed, the billing information is stored in the billing code from the billing information storage unit 109. Since the converted accounting information is deleted, the printing process based on the new print job can be executed.

  In the image forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment, when the charging server 300 is restored, the code analysis unit 120 of the image forming apparatus 100 optically reads the charging code printed on the print medium to generate image data. Then, the code analyzing unit 120 decodes the charging code image included in the image data, decodes the charging information, and stores the decoded charging information in the charging information storage unit 109. Therefore, the decoded charging information is stored in the charging server. 300 can be transmitted.

  In the first embodiment, after the accounting server 300 is restored, the administrator places a printing medium on which an accounting code is printed on a document placing table (not shown) of the image forming apparatus 100, and a button provided in an input unit (not shown). The image reading unit 119 of the image forming apparatus 100 optically reads the print medium to generate image data, and the code analysis unit 120 analyzes the image data generated to obtain charging information. However, the present invention is not limited to this. When the accounting server 300 is stopped and the storage capacity of the accounting information storage unit 109 is insufficient, the accounting information is printed and stored on the print medium without being encoded. When the accounting server 300 is restored, the administrator may manually input the accounting information printed on the print medium using an input unit (not shown) of the image forming apparatus 100.

<Configuration of Example 2>
The image forming apparatus 100a according to the second embodiment of the present invention generates billing information by decoding the billing code when the billing code cannot be read due to distortion of the print medium on which the billing code is printed or when the print medium is lost. In order to cope with the case where it is not possible to do so, the function extracting unit 115a is added with a function of counting the charging amount for each user from the charging information to be encoded, and each “user name” is added to the feature information generating unit 116a. And a function for generating feature information including “coded charge total information” composed of “coded charge amount” indicating the charge amount for each user, and the feature information generated by the feature information management unit 118a is converted into feature information. It is configured to be stored in the storage unit 117a.

  On the other hand, when the charging information cannot be decoded in the image forming apparatus 100a due to the above situation, the charging server 300a makes the image forming apparatus 100a generate the total charging information from the feature information, for example, on the first day of every month. A function for requesting transmission of feature information is added, and when feature information is acquired, a function for analyzing the feature information and generating alternative billing information that substitutes for regular billing information is added. .

  Further, the accounting server 300a is configured to add a function of distributing the alternative charging information generated in the total charging information management unit 305a based on the user name and storing it in the total charging information storage unit 304a.

  The image forming apparatus 100a is, for example, an MFP having functions such as image formation, print output, and image reading. As shown in FIG. 11, the image forming apparatus 100a communicates with a host computer 200 and a charging server 300a connected via a network 400. A communication unit 101; a control unit 102a that controls the entire apparatus; a temporary storage unit 103 for temporarily storing data; a print control unit 104; a printer engine 105; a charge amount calculation information DB 106; Information generation unit 107, billing information data amount detection unit 108, billing information storage unit 109, billing information management unit 110, usable capacity detection unit 111, capacity comparison determination unit 112, and conversion billing information acquisition unit 113, a code generation unit 114, a feature extraction unit 115a, a feature information generation unit 116a, a feature information storage unit 117a, It includes a feature information management unit 118a, an image reading unit 119, a code analysis unit 120, and a decoding billing information collation judging section 121.

  The feature extraction unit 115a identifies whether or not the billing information decoded from the billing code printed on the print medium, which will be described later, is that of the own image forming apparatus 100a, and the bill printed on the print medium. This is an extraction unit that extracts the characteristics of the accounting information that is encoded and printed on the print medium in order to save information. That is, when the feature extraction unit 115a receives an instruction to extract feature information, first, the hash value is used for the encoded billing information stored in the temporary storage unit 103 or the decrypted billing information using a hash function. Is calculated. Here, the hash function is, for example, an SHA-1 function, and a 160-bit “hash value” is calculated from information of 2 64 bits or less. However, since the hash function is well-known, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  Then, when calculating the “hash value”, the feature extraction unit 115a calculates the “data amount” of the encoded charging information held in the temporary storage unit 103 or the decoded charging information.

  When the feature extraction unit 115a calculates the “data amount” based on the encoded charging information, the feature extraction unit 115a indicates “each user name” and the charging amount for each user from the encoded charging information. “Coded charge total information” consisting of “amount” is calculated. When the feature extraction unit 115 a calculates the “hash value”, “data amount”, and “coded charge information total amount” of the encoded charging information, the control unit 102 a stores these in the temporary storage unit 103, The feature information generation unit 116a is instructed to generate feature information.

  On the other hand, when the “hash value” and “data amount” are calculated based on the billing information combined by the feature extraction unit 115a, the control unit 102a instructs the decryption billing information collation determination unit 121 to collate the decrypted billing information. .

  The feature information generation unit 116a, based on the “hash value”, “data amount”, and “coded billing total information” extracted by the feature extraction unit 115a, the data amount indicating the feature of the billing information to be coded It is a production | generation part which produces | generates small feature information. Here, the characteristic information is stored in the image forming apparatus 100a by the decrypted billing information collation determining unit 121 after the billing information decrypted from the billing code on the print medium by the code analyzing unit 120 is read. It is used to determine whether or not.

  That is, when the feature information generation unit 116a receives an instruction to generate feature information, the “ID” generated by the code generation unit 114 held in the temporary storage unit 103, the “hash value”, the “data amount”, the “code” 12, for example, feature information “% S% I = 000010023% H = 51a504d7% B = 00001000% U = taro & C = 625.5% U = jiro & C = 758.8% as shown in FIG. U = hanako & C = 256.8% E "is generated.

  In the feature information, “% S” indicates the beginning of the feature information, and “% E” indicates the end of the feature information. “% I =” indicates that an ID follows, and the ID of the feature information is “00001023”. “% H =” indicates that the hash value continues, and the hash value of the feature information is “51a504d7”. “% B =” indicates that the data amount continues, and the data amount of the feature information is “1000 bytes”. “% U =” indicates that the user name follows, and the user names of the above characteristic information are “taro”, “jiro”, “hanako”, and “&” connected by “&” after each user name. = "Indicates that the billing amount of each user continues, and the billing amount for each user of the feature information is 625.5 [yen] for taro, 758.8 [yen] for jiro, and 256.8 for hanako. [Yen].

  When the feature information generation unit 116 a generates feature information, the control unit 102 a stores the feature information in the temporary storage unit 103. After storing the feature information, the control unit 102a instructs the feature information management unit 118a to store the feature information.

  The feature information management unit 118a is a management unit that manages the feature information held in the feature information storage unit 117a. That is, when receiving a feature information storage instruction, the feature information management unit 118a stores the feature information held in the temporary storage unit 103 in the feature information storage unit 117a in ascending order. When the feature information management unit 118a stores the feature information, the control unit 102a instructs the charging information management unit 110 to delete the charging information to be coded.

  When the feature information management unit 118a receives a residual feature information request signal (to be described later) from the accounting server 300a on the first day of every month via the control unit 102a, for example, feature information for the previous month held in the feature information storage unit 117a exists. In this case, the “printer name” that is the device name of the image forming apparatus 100a held in the storage unit (not shown) and the “feature information generation date and time” indicating the date and time when the feature information was generated are assigned to the corresponding feature information. Residual feature information is generated, and the residual feature information is transmitted to the accounting server 300a via the control unit 102a. Here, the feature information stored in the feature information storage unit 117a is given a "feature information generation date and time" indicating the date and time when the feature information was generated. The feature information management unit 118a It is assumed that the above processing is performed based on “generation date”.

  On the other hand, if there is no feature information for the previous month, the feature information management unit 118a generates a feature information no signal, and “printer name” which is the device name of the image forming apparatus 100a held in the storage unit (not shown) in the signal. And the signal with “printer name” is transmitted to the accounting server 300a via the control unit 102a.

  When receiving a substitute billing information stored signal (to be described later) from billing server 300a as a response to the transmission of the remaining feature information, control unit 102a instructs feature information management unit 118a to delete feature information.

  When the feature information management unit 118a receives the instruction to delete the feature information, the feature information management unit 118a stores the feature information based on the “decoding ID” decoded by the code analysis unit 120 held in the temporary storage unit 103 described in the first embodiment. The unit 117a is searched, and the corresponding feature information is deleted from the feature information storage unit 117a. When the feature information is deleted, the feature information management unit 118a generates a feature information deleted signal, and transmits the signal to the control unit 102a.

  Other configurations are the same as those of the image forming apparatus 100 of the first embodiment.

  The billing server 300a collects billing information held in the billing information storage unit 109 of the image forming apparatus 100a or feature information held in the feature information storage unit 117a, and collects billing information based on the billing information or feature information. As shown in FIG. 11, a communication unit 301 for communicating with the image forming apparatus 100a, a control unit 302a for controlling the server, and a temporary storage unit 303. A total billing information storage unit 304a, a total billing information management unit 305a, a remaining feature information analysis unit 306, and a proxy billing information generation unit 307.

  The control unit 302a generates a billing information request signal every predetermined period to collect billing information held in the billing information storage unit 109 of the image forming apparatus 100a, and sends the billing information request signal to the image forming apparatus 100a. Send.

  Then, when the accounting server 300a is restored, the control unit 302a generates a charging information request signal in order to solve the shortage of storable capacity in the charging information storage unit 109 of the image forming apparatus 100a. To 100a.

  Further, when the control unit 302a receives the billing information from the image forming apparatus 100a as a response to the billing information transmission request signal, the control unit 302a stores the billing information in the temporary storage unit 303. When storing the charging information, the control unit 302a instructs the total charging information management unit 305a to register the charging information.

  An administrator who manages the billing server 300a operates the input unit (not shown) of the billing server 300a on the first day of each month to create a bill based on billing information on a monthly basis. Since the charged billing code is not restored, the remaining feature information is acquired via a button provided in an input unit (not shown) in order to search whether there is feature information remaining in the image forming apparatus 100a. Instruct. Upon receiving an instruction to acquire remaining feature information via the button, the control unit 302a generates a remaining feature information request signal and transmits the signal to the image forming apparatus 100a.

  Upon receiving the remaining feature information from the image forming apparatus 100a as a response to the remaining feature information request signal, the control unit 302a stores the remaining feature information in the temporary storage unit 303. After storing the remaining feature information, the control unit 302a instructs the remaining feature information analysis unit 306 to analyze the remaining feature information.

  On the other hand, when the control unit 302a receives the feature information no signal from the image forming apparatus 100a as a response to the remaining feature information request signal, for example, the feature information remaining in the image forming apparatus 100a is displayed on a display unit (not shown) of the charging server 300a. A notification screen for notifying that there is no message is displayed. The administrator who manages the accounting server 300a refers to the notification screen and grasps that there is no feature information remaining in the image forming apparatus 100a.

  The residual feature information analysis unit 306 analyzes the residual feature information acquired from the image forming apparatus 100a, and adds the “printer name” and “coded charge information total amount” included in the residual feature information to the feature information. It is an analysis unit that acquires the given “feature information generation date and time”. That is, when the remaining feature information analysis unit 306 receives an instruction to analyze the remaining feature information, the remaining feature information analysis unit 306 first acquires “printer name” from the remaining feature information held in the temporary storage unit 303.

  Then, when the “printer name” is acquired, the remaining feature information analysis unit 306 acquires “coded charge total information” from the remaining feature information held in the temporary storage unit 303, and from the “coded charge total information”. Each “user name” and “coded charge amount” indicating the charge amount of each user name are acquired.

  Also, when the “user name” and “coded charge amount” are acquired, the remaining feature information analysis unit 306 acquires “feature information generation date / time” from the remaining feature information held in the temporary storage unit 303.

  When the remaining feature information analysis unit 306 acquires the “printer name”, each “user name”, “encoded charge amount”, and “feature information generation date and time”, the control unit 302a stores them in the temporary storage unit 303. To remember. After storing the “printer name”, each “user name”, “encoded charge amount”, and “feature information generation date / time”, the control unit 302a stores the replacement charge information in the replacement charge information generation unit 307. Directs generation.

  The alternative charging information generation unit 307 is based on the “printer name” analyzed from the remaining feature information by the remaining feature information analysis unit 306, each “user name”, “encoded charging amount”, and “feature information generation date and time”. Thus, the generating unit generates alternative charging information that substitutes for the regular charging information that could not be acquired. That is, when the alternative charging information generation unit 307 receives an instruction to generate alternative charging information, for example, the alternative charging information “% S% T as shown in FIG. 13 is stored for each“ user name ”held in the temporary storage unit 303. = 07/05/10 / Fri / 17: 30: 30% P = PRI% U = taro% F = substitute.doc% C = 625.5% E ″. Here, “% F =” indicates that the file name follows, and the file name of the alternative charging information is “substitute.doc”, which is stored in a ROM (not shown) to indicate that it is alternative charging information. It is automatically generated by a preset program. The other configuration of the alternative billing information is the same as the billing information described in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  When the alternative charging information generation unit 307 generates alternative charging information for each “user name”, the control unit 302 a stores the alternative charging information in the temporary storage unit 303. Then, when the alternative charging information is stored, the control unit 302a instructs the total charging information management unit 305a to register the alternative charging information.

  The total charging information storage unit 304a is a storage unit that stores the charging information acquired from the image forming apparatus 100a or alternative charging information based on an instruction from the total charging information management unit 305a. In other words, the total billing information storage unit 304a distributes and stores the billing information held in the temporary storage unit 303 or alternative billing information for each image forming apparatus and for each user based on an instruction from the total billing information management unit 305a. The total amount for each image forming apparatus and the total charge amount for each user name are stored.

  The total billing information management unit 305a is a management unit that manages the total billing information held in the total billing information storage unit 304a. Upon receiving an instruction for registration of billing information or alternative billing information, the total billing information management unit 305a receives an instruction from the image forming apparatus 100a. The acquired charging information or alternative charging information is sorted based on the user name for each file and stored in the total charging information storage unit 304a. Here, the total charge information management unit 305a updates the total charge information storage unit 304a and recalculates the total charge amount for each image forming apparatus and the total charge amount for each user name.

  Then, when the total charge information storage unit 304a is updated based on the charge information, the total charge information management unit 305a generates a total charge information stored signal indicating that the storage of the total charge information is completed, and controls the signal The image is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 100a via the unit 302a.

  On the other hand, the total billing information management unit 305a, when updating the total billing information storage unit 304a based on the alternative billing information, generates an alternative billing information stored signal indicating that the storage of the total billing information based on the alternative billing information has been completed. Then, the signal is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 100a via the control unit 302a.

<Operation of Example 2>
Hereinafter, the operation of the image forming apparatus 100a according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to flowcharts. Here, the operation will be described on the assumption that the image forming apparatus 100a is an MFP.

  First, the operation of the image forming apparatus 100a when the accounting server 300a is stopped will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  The operations in steps S401 to S410 in the second embodiment are the same as the operations in steps S101 to S110 in the first embodiment.

  When receiving a feature extraction instruction, the feature extraction unit 115 a first calculates a “hash value” for the accounting information to be converted held in the temporary storage unit 103 using a hash function.

  Then, when calculating the “hash value”, the feature extraction unit 115 a calculates the billing information to be converted held in the temporary storage unit 103 or the “data amount” of the decrypted billing information.

  When the feature extraction unit 115a calculates the “data amount” based on the encoded charging information, the feature extraction unit 115a indicates “each user name” and the charging amount for each user from the encoded charging information. “Coded charge total information” consisting of “amount” is calculated. When the feature extraction unit 115 a calculates the “hash value”, “data amount”, and “coded charge information total amount” of the encoded charging information, the control unit 102 a stores these in the temporary storage unit 103, The feature information generation unit 116a is instructed to generate feature information.

  When the feature information generation unit 116 a receives an instruction to generate feature information, the “ID” generated by the code generation unit 114 held in the temporary storage unit 103, the “hash value”, the “data amount”, the “coded charge” Based on the “total information”, for example, feature information “% S% I = 00001023% H = 51a504d7% B = 00001000% U = taro & C = 625.5% U = jiro & C = 758.8% U = Hanako & C = 256.8% E ″ is generated (step S411).

  When the feature information generation unit 116 a generates feature information, the control unit 102 a stores the feature information in the temporary storage unit 103. After storing the feature information, the control unit 102a instructs the feature information management unit 118a to store the feature information.

  When receiving the instruction to store the feature information, the feature information management unit 118a stores the feature information held in the temporary storage unit 103 in the feature information storage unit 117a in ascending order (step S412). When the feature information management unit 118a stores the feature information, the control unit 102a instructs the charging information management unit 110 to delete the charging information to be coded.

  The operation in step S413 in the second embodiment is the same as the operation in step S113 in the first embodiment.

  Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus 100a after the charging server 300a is restored will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When the billing server 300a is restored, the control unit 302a generates a billing information request signal in order to solve the shortage of the storable capacity in the billing information storage unit 109 of the image forming apparatus 100a, and sends the signal via the communication unit 301. To the image forming apparatus 100a.

  The operation in step S501 in the second embodiment is the same as the operation in step S201 in the first embodiment.

  When the feature extraction unit 115 a receives a feature extraction instruction, the feature extraction unit 115 a first calculates a “hash value” using the hash function for the decrypted billing information held in the temporary storage unit 103.

  After calculating the “hash value”, the feature extraction unit 115a calculates the “data amount” of the decrypted billing information held in the temporary storage unit 103 (step S502).

  When the “hash value” and “data amount” are calculated based on the billing information combined by the feature extraction unit 115a, the control unit 102a instructs the decryption billing information collation determination unit 121 to collate the decrypted billing information.

  The operations in steps S503 to S505 in the second embodiment are the same as the operations in steps S203 to S205 in the first embodiment.

  When the feature information management unit 118a receives an instruction to delete the feature information, the feature information management unit 118a searches the feature information storage unit 117a based on the “decryption ID” stored in the temporary storage unit 103, and the feature information management unit 118a corresponds to the feature information storage unit 117a. The feature information is deleted (step S506). Then, when the feature information is deleted, the feature information management unit 118a generates a feature information deleted signal and transmits the signal to the control unit 102a. Upon receiving the feature information deleted signal, the control unit 102a shifts to a print job waiting state.

  Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus 100a from the reception of the charging information transmission request from the charging server 300a to the transmission of the charging information held in the charging information storage unit 109 to the charging server 300a is shown in the flowchart of FIG. Since the operation is the same as that of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment described above, the description thereof is omitted.

  Finally, the operation of the image forming apparatus 100a in response to the feature information transmission request from the accounting server 300a will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  An administrator who manages the billing server 300a operates the input unit (not shown) of the billing server 300a on the first day of each month to create a bill based on billing information on a monthly basis. Since the charged billing code is not restored, the remaining feature information is acquired via a button provided in an input unit (not shown) in order to search whether there is feature information remaining in the image forming apparatus 100a. Instruct. Upon receiving an instruction to acquire remaining feature information via the button, the control unit 302a generates a remaining feature information request signal and transmits the signal to the image forming apparatus 100a.

  When the feature information management unit 118a of the image forming apparatus 100a receives the remaining feature information request signal from the accounting server 300a on the first day of every month via the control unit 102a (step S601), the feature information management unit 118a stores the last month's amount held in the feature information storage unit 117a. If feature information exists (step S602), “printer name” that is the device name of the image forming apparatus 100a held in the storage unit (not shown) in the corresponding feature information, and “feature” indicating the date and time when the feature information was generated. The remaining feature information to which “information generation date and time” is assigned is generated, and the remaining feature information is transmitted to the accounting server 300a via the control unit 102a (step S603). Here, “feature information generation date and time” indicating the date and time when the feature information is generated is assigned to the feature information held in the feature information storage unit 117a.

  On the other hand, if there is no feature information for the previous month, the feature information management unit 118a generates a feature information no signal, and “printer name” which is the device name of the image forming apparatus 100a held in the storage unit (not shown) in the signal. And the signal with “printer name” is transmitted to the accounting server 300a via the control unit 102a (step S604).

  When the accounting server 300 a receives the remaining feature information from the image forming apparatus 100 a via the communication unit 301, the accounting server 300 a stores the remaining feature information in the temporary storage unit 303. After storing the remaining feature information, the control unit 302a instructs the remaining feature information analysis unit 306 to analyze the remaining feature information.

  On the other hand, when the control unit 302a receives the feature information non-signal from the image forming apparatus 100a as a response to the remaining feature information request signal, there is no feature information remaining in the image forming apparatus 100a on a display unit (not shown) of the accounting server 300a. A notification screen for notifying the fact is displayed. The administrator who manages the accounting server 300a refers to the notification screen and grasps that there is no feature information remaining in the image forming apparatus 100a.

  When the residual feature information analysis unit 306 receives an instruction to analyze the residual feature information, the residual feature information analysis unit 306 first acquires a “printer name” from the residual feature information held in the temporary storage unit 303.

  Then, when the “printer name” is acquired, the remaining feature information analysis unit 306 acquires “coded charge total information” from the remaining feature information held in the temporary storage unit 303, and from the “coded charge total information”. Each “user name” and “coded charge amount” indicating the charge amount of each user name are acquired.

  Also, when the “user name” and “coded charge amount” are acquired, the remaining feature information analysis unit 306 acquires “feature information generation date / time” from the remaining feature information held in the temporary storage unit 303.

  When the remaining feature information analysis unit 306 acquires the “printer name”, each “user name”, “encoded charge amount”, and “feature information generation date and time”, the control unit 302a stores them in the temporary storage unit 303. To remember. After storing the “printer name”, each “user name”, “encoded charge amount”, and “feature information generation date / time”, the control unit 302a stores the replacement charge information in the replacement charge information generation unit 307. Directs generation.

  When the alternative charging information generation unit 307 receives an instruction to generate the alternative charging information, the alternative charging information “% S% T = 07” as illustrated in FIG. 13, for example, for each “user name” held in the temporary storage unit 303. / 05/10 / Fri / 17: 30: 30% P = PRI% U = taro% F = substitute.doc% C = 625.5% E ″.

  When the alternative charging information generation unit 307 generates alternative charging information for each “user name”, the control unit 302 a stores the alternative charging information in the temporary storage unit 303. Then, when the alternative charging information is stored, the control unit 302a instructs the total charging information management unit 305a to register the alternative charging information.

  Upon receiving an instruction to register alternative charging information, total charging information management unit 305a sorts alternative charging information acquired from image forming apparatus 100a for each "user name" and stores it in total charging information storage unit 304a. Here, the total charge information management unit 305a updates the total charge information storage unit 304a and recalculates the total charge amount for each image forming apparatus and the total charge amount for each user name.

  When the total charging information storage unit 304a is updated based on the alternative charging information, the total charging information management unit 305a generates an alternative charging information stored signal indicating that the storage of the total charging information based on the alternative charging information is completed, The signal is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 100a via the control unit 302a.

  When the control unit 102a of the image forming apparatus 100a receives the alternative billing information stored signal from the billing server 300a as a response to the transmission of the remaining feature information, the communication unit instructs the feature information management unit 118a to delete the feature information.

  When the feature information management unit 118a receives an instruction to delete the feature information, the feature information management unit 118a searches the feature information storage unit 117a based on the “decoding ID” decoded by the code analysis unit 120 held in the temporary storage unit 103, and the feature information The corresponding feature information is deleted from the information storage unit 117a (step S605). Then, when the feature information is deleted, the feature information management unit 118a generates a feature information deleted signal and transmits the signal to the control unit 102a. Upon receiving the feature information deleted signal, the control unit 102a shifts to a print job waiting state.

<Effect of Example 2>
In the image forming apparatus 100a of the second embodiment, the feature extraction unit 115a extracts “coded charge total information” composed of “coded charge amount” for each “user name” from the charge information to be encoded, Since the feature information including the “coded billing summary information” is stored in the feature information storage unit 117a, the billing code cannot be read due to distortion of the print medium on which the billing code is printed, or the print medium is lost. Even when the billing code cannot be decoded and the billing information cannot be generated, the billing server 300a is notified of the correct billing amount by transmitting the feature information held in the feature information storage unit 117a to the billing server 300a. be able to.

  In the above-described embodiment, the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention prints and outputs a one-dimensional barcode or a two-dimensional barcode such as a QR code on a print medium as a billing code, and the one-dimensional barcode or two-dimensional The barcode is optically read and the code analysis is performed. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the multidimensional barcode is printed on the printing medium, and the multidimensional barcode is optically read to perform the code analysis. It can be adapted to the configuration.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 1 is an external view of an image forming apparatus in the case of an MFP according to the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of information DB for accounting amount calculation concerning this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the accounting information which concerns on this invention. It is FIG. (1) which shows an example of the accounting code printed on the printing medium based on this invention. It is FIG. (2) which shows an example of the accounting code printed on the printing medium based on this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the characteristic information of Example 1 which concerns on this invention. 5 is a flowchart of the operation of the image forming apparatus when the accounting server according to the first embodiment of the present invention is in a stopped state. 6 is a flowchart of the operation of the image forming apparatus after the recovery of the accounting server according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart of an operation in response to a charging information transmission request from a charging server of the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the image forming apparatus of Example 2 which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the characteristic information of Example 2 which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the alternative billing information of Example 2 which concerns on this invention. 10 is a flowchart of the operation of the image forming apparatus when the accounting server according to the second embodiment of the present invention is in a stopped state. 10 is a flowchart of the operation of the image forming apparatus after the recovery of the accounting server according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart of an operation in response to a feature information transmission request from the accounting server of the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Image forming apparatus 101 Communication part 102 Control part 103 Temporary storage part 104 Print control part 105 Printer engine 106 Charge amount calculation information DB (database)
107 Accounting Information Generation Unit 108 Accounting Information Data Amount Detection Unit 109 Accounting Information Storage Unit 110 Accounting Information Management Unit 111 Usable Capacity Detection Unit 112 Capacity Comparison Determination Unit 113 Conversion Accounting Information Acquisition Unit 114 Code Generation Unit 115 Feature Extraction Unit 116 Features Information generation unit 117 Feature information storage unit 118 Feature information management unit 119 Image reading unit 120 Code analysis unit 121 Decrypted billing information collation determination unit 200 Host computer 201 Communication unit 202 Control unit 203 Temporary storage unit 204 Display unit 205 Input unit 206 Application storage Unit 207 printer driver 300 charging server 301 communication unit 302 control unit 303 temporary storage unit 304 total charging information storage unit 305 total charging information management unit 306 remaining feature information analysis unit 307 alternative charging information generation unit

Claims (4)

In an image forming apparatus comprising an interface unit for network connection with a billing server, and a print processing unit that forms an image on a print medium based on a received print job,
When the printing process is completed, a calculation unit that calculates a charge amount for each print job based on at least the size and number of print media used for the printing process;
A generating unit that generates charging information including the calculated charging amount;
A storage control unit for storing the generated billing information;
When a charging information transmission request is received from the charging server, a transmitting unit that transmits the charging information held in the storage unit to the charging server;
Upon receiving a notification of completion of acquisition for the transmitted charging information from the charging server, an erasing unit that deletes the corresponding charging information from the storage unit;
A data amount detection unit for detecting a data amount of the generated billing information;
An available capacity detection unit for detecting an available capacity of the storage unit;
An acquisition unit for acquiring a plurality of charging information held in the storage unit when a data amount of the generated charging information is larger than an available capacity of the storage unit;
A charging information print control unit that prints out the plurality of acquired charging information by the print processing unit;
When the printing of the billing information is finished, the erasing unit erases the acquired plurality of billing information from the storage unit,
The image forming apparatus, wherein the storage control unit stores the charging information in the storage unit when a data amount of the generated charging information is equal to or less than a usable capacity of the storage unit. A code generation unit that generates a charging code by encoding the plurality of acquired charging information;
The billing information print control unit causes the print processing unit to print out the generated billing code,
And a code analyzing unit for decoding the charging information obtained by optically reading the charging code printed out after the charging server is restored,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage control unit stores the decrypted charging information in the storage unit. A code generation unit that generates a charging code by encoding the plurality of acquired charging information;
The billing information print control unit causes the print processing unit to print out the generated billing code,
And when the printout of the billing code is finished, a feature information generating unit that extracts features from the plurality of billing information and generates feature information;
A feature information storage unit for storing the generated feature information;
A code analysis unit for decoding billing information obtained by optically reading the billing code printed out after the billing server is restored;
When the billing information is decoded, the feature information generation unit extracts features from the decoded billing information to generate decoded feature information,
Furthermore, a determination unit that searches the feature information storage unit based on the generated decoded feature information and determines whether or not the corresponding feature information is held,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage control unit stores the decrypted billing information in the storage unit when corresponding feature information is held. A code generation unit that generates a charging code by encoding the plurality of acquired charging information;
The billing information print control unit causes the print processing unit to print out the generated billing code,
And when the printout of the billing code is finished, a feature information generating unit that extracts a feature including a billing amount from the plurality of billing information and generates feature information;
A feature information storage unit for storing the generated feature information;
A code analysis unit for decoding billing information obtained by optically reading the billing code printed out after the billing server is restored;
When the billing information is decoded, the feature information generation unit extracts features from the decoded billing information to generate decoded feature information,
Furthermore, a determination unit that searches the feature information storage unit based on the generated decoded feature information and determines whether or not the corresponding feature information is held,
When the corresponding feature information is held, the storage control unit stores the decrypted charging information in the storage unit,
2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein upon receiving a feature information transmission request from the accounting server, the transmission unit transmits the feature information held in the feature information storage unit to the accounting server.

Images