JP2010211503A - Printer, print controller, printing method, and computer program for printing - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make printing using a printer connected via a network easier. <P>SOLUTION: This printer is connected to a computer of a user via the network. The printer acquires a mail address of the user, and transmits an electronic mail with the acquired mail address as a destination. When the user performs prescribed operation to the electronic mail transmitted from the printer, data are transmitted to the printer according to the operation. The printer performs the printing according to the transmitted data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for performing printing using a printing apparatus connected via a network.

  A printing apparatus is connected to a network, and printing is performed using a printing apparatus from a computer connected to the network. When printing is performed using a printing apparatus (network printer) capable of printing via such a network, the network is set so that data can be exchanged between the computer and the printing apparatus. At the same time, a device driver (printer driver) suitable for the printing apparatus is installed in the computer.

JP 2007-188192 A

  However, if the computer user does not have sufficient knowledge about the network, it is not always easy to set up the network. In addition, it is required to use a printer driver installed in the computer that is compatible with the operating system (OS) of the computer. For this reason, there are cases where printing cannot be performed by the printing apparatus, such as when a printer driver suitable for the operating system is not provided.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique that makes it easier to perform printing using a printing apparatus connected via a network.

  In order to solve at least a part of the above problems, the present invention can be realized as the following forms or application examples.

[Application Example 1]
A printing apparatus connected to a user's computer via a network, wherein an e-mail address acquisition unit that acquires the user's e-mail address and an e-mail that is sent to the e-mail address acquired by the e-mail address acquisition unit An e-mail transmission unit that performs printing, and a transmission data printing unit that performs printing according to data transmitted to the printing apparatus in response to the user's predetermined operation on the e-mail transmitted by the e-mail transmission unit Printing device.

  According to this application example, the printing apparatus transmits an e-mail addressed to the user's e-mail address, and performs printing according to data transmitted in response to the user's predetermined operation on the e-mail. Therefore, since the user can perform printing by performing a predetermined operation on the electronic mail, it is possible to perform printing more easily using a printing apparatus connected via a network.

[Application Example 2]
The printing apparatus according to the application example 1 further includes an image reading unit that reads an image of a document, and the mail address acquisition unit includes the user's mail address described as the document by the image reading unit. A printing apparatus that acquires a mail address of the user based on a document image obtained by reading a document.

  According to this application example, the user can receive an e-mail for printing by causing the image reading unit to read a document in which a mail address is described.

[Application Example 3]
The printing apparatus according to Application Example 1 or 2, further including a device address printing unit that prints a mail address of the printing device, wherein the mail address acquisition unit is printed by the device address printing unit. A printing apparatus that acquires a mail address of the user based on an e-mail transmitted from the user with respect to a mail address of the printing apparatus.

  According to this application example, even when the user does not have a document in which his / her mail address is described, an electronic mail for printing can be obtained by sending an email to the mail address of the printing apparatus. You can receive emails.

[Application Example 4]
4. The printing apparatus according to any one of application examples 1 to 3, wherein the transmission data printing unit performs printing according to data attached to a reply mail to the electronic mail.

  According to this application example, printing is performed by attaching data to an e-mail, so that printing by a printing apparatus becomes easier.

[Application Example 5]
The printing apparatus according to Application Example 4, further including a user registration unit that registers the email address acquired by the email address acquisition unit, wherein the transmission data printing unit is registered in the user registration unit. A printing device that prints only the data sent from an e-mail address.

  According to this application example, by printing only the data transmitted from the registered mail address, it is possible to suppress printing by an unintended e-mail from a third party.

[Application Example 6]
The printing apparatus according to any one of Application Examples 1 to 3, further including a web server that causes the computer to display a web page, and the e-mail includes web page information that identifies the web page. The transmission data printing unit performs printing according to data transmitted to the web server using the web page accessed by the user based on the web page information.

  According to this application example, if the computer can display the web page, printing can be performed more flexibly using the web page.

[Application Example 7]
The printing apparatus according to Application Example 6, further including a user registration unit that registers the email address acquired by the email address acquisition unit, wherein the email is a user registered in the user registration unit A printing apparatus that includes authentication information for authenticating the web page, and the web server denies access to the web page from a user other than the registered user by performing authentication using the authentication information.

  According to this application example, since access by an unauthenticated user is denied, the security of the printing apparatus can be further increased.

[Application Example 8]
The printing apparatus according to any one of Application Examples 1 to 7, further including a transmission data storage unit that stores the transmitted data, data stored in the transmission data storage unit, and related information related to the data, A printing apparatus comprising: a log registration unit that registers the data in association with each other; and a data specifying unit that specifies the stored data based on the related information.

  By storing the transmitted data and specifying the data based on the related information associated with the stored data, the stored data can be reused more easily.

[Application Example 9]
The printing apparatus according to Application Example 8, wherein the transmission data printing unit records a related information image representing the related information on a printed medium, and the data specifying unit acquires the related information image, A printing apparatus that identifies the stored data based on an acquired related information image.

  According to this application example, the stored data can be specified based on the related information image recorded on the print medium, so that the desired data can be searched more easily.

[Application Example 10]
The printing apparatus according to Application Example 8, further including a specific data printing unit that performs printing according to the data specified by the data specifying unit.

  According to this application example, printing using stored data becomes easier.

[Application Example 11]
11. The printing apparatus according to any one of application examples 8 to 10, further comprising a specific data transmitting unit that transmits data specified by the data specifying unit to the computer.

  According to this application example, since the stored data is transmitted to the computer, the user can reuse the data.

[Application Example 12]
The printing apparatus according to any one of Application Examples 8 to 11, wherein the log registration unit associates the stored data with print image data representing a result printed using the stored data. A printing apparatus that displays the print image data associated with the data specified by the data specifying unit on the computer.

  According to this application example, it is easier to confirm whether or not the data specified by the print image data is desired data.

  It should be noted that the present invention can be realized in various modes, for example, a printing apparatus and a printing method, a control apparatus and a control method for the printing apparatus, a computer program for realizing these apparatuses and methods, The present invention can be realized in the form of a computer readable medium recording a computer program, a data signal including the computer program and embodied in a carrier wave, and the like.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a multifunction machine and a management server. The sequence diagram which shows the flow of the process in a 1st printing aspect. Explanatory drawing which shows a mode that a user scans his / her business card. Explanatory drawing which shows a mode that an invitation mail is transmitted to a user. Explanatory drawing which shows a mode that it prints by the reply to an invitation mail. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which printing is performed in a multifunction peripheral. The sequence diagram which shows the flow of the process in a 2nd printing aspect. Explanatory drawing which shows a mode that a user accesses a portal site. The sequence diagram which shows the flow of the process in the other aspect of user registration. Explanatory drawing which shows a mode that a user's own mail address is registered in the user's registration method using the business card of a multi-function peripheral. The block diagram which shows the structure of the multifunctional device and management server in 2nd Example. The sequence diagram which shows the flow of a process at the time of printing by a reply mail. Explanatory drawing which shows a mode that a user accesses a portal site in order to refer a print log. Explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the log reference screen is displayed in the display window. Explanatory drawing which shows the selection log display screen displayed when a thumbnail image is clicked on a log reference screen. The block diagram which shows the structure of the multifunctional machine and management server in 3rd Example The sequence diagram which shows the flow of a process when a print log is referred using a barcode. Explanatory drawing which shows a mode that a user scans the document on which the barcode was recorded. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the mail transmitted from a management server in 3rd Example. Explanatory drawing which shows the other aspect which identifies a file using a barcode.

Hereinafter, modes for carrying out the present invention will be described based on examples.
A. First embodiment:
A1. Printing system:
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system 10 according to the first embodiment. The printing system 10 includes a scanner / printer / copier multifunction peripheral 100 (hereinafter simply referred to as “multifunction peripheral 100”), a management server 200, and a personal computer 300. The multifunction peripheral 100, the management server 200, and the personal computer 300 are connected to the Internet INET via different local area networks LAN1 to LAN3, respectively. As the local area networks LAN1 to LAN3, various networks such as wired and wireless can be used. In the first embodiment, the multi-function device 100, the management server 200, and the personal computer 300 are connected to separate local area networks LAN1 to LAN3. Of these devices 100, 200, and 300, Any two devices may be connected to the same local area network, or all of these devices 100, 200, and 300 may be connected to the same local area network.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the multifunction peripheral 100 and the management server 200 included in the printing system 10. The personal computer 300 is a well-known computer having an e-mail (hereinafter simply referred to as “mail”) transmission / reception function and a web (Web) browser function.

  The MFP 100 includes a CPU 110, a RAM 120, a ROM 130, an operation panel interface (operation panel I / F) 140, a mechanism unit interface (mechanism unit I / F) 150, and a network interface (network I / F) 160. It has. The operation panel interface 140 is an interface for exchanging data with an operation panel (not shown) included in the multifunction peripheral 100. The mechanism unit interface 150 receives data from various mechanism units such as a print engine that is a mechanism for performing printing, a scan engine that is a mechanism for reading a document placed on a document table (not illustrated), and the like. It is an interface for sending and receiving. The network interface 160 is an interface for exchanging data with the local area network LAN1.

  The CPU 110 executes the program code stored in the ROM 130 or the program code transferred from the ROM 130 to the RAM 120. Thus, the CPU 110 realizes functions as a scan processing unit 510, a print processing unit 520, an OCR processing unit 530, an email address transmission unit 540, a business card printing unit 550, and a print instruction reception unit 560.

  The scan processing unit 510 controls the scan engine via the mechanism unit interface 150 and acquires scan data output from the scan engine. The scan processing unit 510 generates image data in a predetermined format (for example, JPEG or TIFF) from the acquired scan data. Further, the scan processing unit 510 may be configured to generate document data in a predetermined format such as PDF format from the scan data or image data. The print processing unit 520 generates print data from image data or document data transferred via the network interface 160 or USB interface (not shown), or scan data acquired by the scan processing unit 510. The print processing unit 520 controls the print engine via the mechanism unit interface 150 and outputs print data generated to the print engine. As a result, the print engine executes printing. Note that the specific processing in the scan processing unit 510 and the print processing unit 520 and the specific configuration of the mechanism unit such as the scan engine and the print engine are not directly related to the present invention, and thus description thereof is omitted.

  The OCR processing unit 530 recognizes the characters described in the document by analyzing the scan data acquired by the scan processing unit 510 or the image data and document data generated by the scan processing unit 510. The functions of the mail address transmission unit 540, the business card printing unit 550, and the print instruction receiving unit 560 will be described later.

  The management server 200 includes a CPU 210, a RAM 220, a ROM 230, a hard disk drive (HDD) 240 that stores a user database, an input / output interface (I / F) 250, and a network interface (I / F) 260. ing. The input / output interface 250 is an interface for exchanging data with a display, a keyboard, etc. (none of which are shown) of the management server 200. The network interface 260 is an interface for exchanging data with the local area network LAN2.

  The CPU 210 of the management server 200 executes the program code stored in the ROM 230 or the program code transferred from the ROM 230 or the HDD 240 to the RAM 120. Thereby, the CPU 210 realizes functions as a mail transmission unit 610, a mail analysis unit 620, an HTTP processing unit 630, a user registration unit 640, and a print instruction transmission unit 650. Specific functions of these functional units 610 to 650 will be described later.

  In the first embodiment, the functions of the mail transmission unit 610, the mail analysis unit 620, the HTTP processing unit 630, the user registration unit 640, and the print instruction transmission unit 650 are realized by the CPU 210 of the management server 200. ing. In this case, the multifunction peripheral 100 and the management server 200 can be collectively referred to as a “printing apparatus”. Various functions realized by the CPU 10 can also be realized by the CPU 110 of the multifunction peripheral 100. In this case, the MFP 100 as a printing apparatus is provided with a hard disk drive for storing a user database, and the management server 200 is omitted.

A2. Printing mode 1:
FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating a flow of processing performed by the multifunction peripheral 100, the management server 200, and the personal computer 300 in one aspect in which printing is performed in the printing system 10.

  In the first printing mode, first, the user scans his / her business card (step [U102]). FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing how the user scans his / her business card. As shown in FIG. 4A, the user places his / her business card NCU on the document table 810 of the multifunction peripheral 100. Next, as shown in FIG. 4B, the user presses a mail transmission button 822 on the operation panel 820 provided in the multifunction peripheral 100. When the user presses the mail transmission button 822, the scan processing unit 510 (FIG. 2) of the multifunction peripheral 100 scans the business card NCU as a document and acquires an image of the business card NCU. Note that the original to be scanned does not necessarily have to be a business card. In general, the user may scan an arbitrary document as long as it is a document in which an e-mail address is described.

  In step [M104] of FIG. 3, the OCR processing unit 530 (FIG. 2) of the multifunction peripheral 100 recognizes characters from the scanned business card image and acquires the user's mail address. The user's e-mail address acquired by the OCR processing unit 530 is supplied to the e-mail address transmission unit 540 (FIG. 2). The mail address transmission unit 540 transmits the supplied mail address to the management server 200 (step [M106]).

  When the management server 200 receives the mail address, the user registration unit 640 (FIG. 2) registers the user's mail address and generates the user's portal site (step [S108]). Specifically, HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) data representing a web page serving as a portal site is generated, and the generated HTML data is stored in a predetermined area of the HDD 240. Further, the user's mail address and information indicating the storage location of the HTML data are registered in the user database stored in the HDD 240 in association with each other. Hereinafter, registering a user's email address is also referred to as “registering a user”.

  After generating the portal site (step [S108]), the mail transmission unit 610 (FIG. 2) transmits an email indicating that the user is registered with the user's mail address as the destination (step [S110]). This mail is a mail that invites a user from the multifunction peripheral 100 side. Therefore, in the following, the mail transmitted in step [S110] is also referred to as “invitation mail”.

  FIG. 5 shows how an invitation email is sent to the user in step [S110]. As shown in FIG. 5A, an email is transmitted to the user's personal computer 300. Note that the invitation mail transmitted from the management server 200 is recognized by the user as being transmitted from the multifunction device 100. FIG. 5B shows an example of an invitation email sent to the user in step [S110]. The invitation email includes the title SBI indicating that the user (“dekoboko” in the example of FIG. 5B) has been registered in the printer (ie, the multifunction device 100), and “printer 2F” indicating that the sender is the multifunction device 100. -A "and includes an address ADI indicating that the destination is the user" dekoboko "and a mail text TXI.

  The text TXI describes a method of printing with “Printer 2F-A”. Specifically, it is described that printing is possible by attaching a file to be printed and replying to the invitation email, and that printing is possible when the user accesses the portal site (MyPage). Yes.

  In step [U112] in FIG. 3, the user replies to the invitation mail with the file to be printed attached. FIG. 6 shows how the user replies to the invitation email. As shown in FIG. 6A, the user sends a reply from the personal computer 300 to the multifunction peripheral 100 as the sender of the invitation mail. When the user replies to the invitation mail on the personal computer 300, as shown in FIG. 3, the personal computer 300 transmits a reply mail to the management server 200 (step [P114]). The address of the reply mail is actually the management server 200, but the user recognizes that the mail is being sent back to the multi-function device 100.

  FIG. 6B shows an example of a reply mail that the user replies to the invitation mail. Similar to the invitation mail, the reply mail includes the title SBR, the address ADR, and the text TXR. In addition, a file to be printed (“figure.psd” in the example of FIG. 6B) is attached to the reply mail. In the title SBR of the reply mail, the character string “RE:” indicating that it is a reply is added to the title SBI of the invitation mail (FIG. 5B). In the address ADR, the sender and destination of the address ADI of the invitation mail are reversed. The text TXR of the reply mail includes a character string “A4, double-sided, three-part” representing the printing conditions.

  In step [S116] in FIG. 3, the mail analysis unit 620 (FIG. 2) of the management server 200 analyzes the body text TXR of the reply mail and acquires the printing conditions. In the example of FIG. 6B, the text TXR includes a character string “A4, double-sided, three-part” representing the printing conditions. Therefore, as a printing condition in the multifunction peripheral 100, a condition that the printing paper is A4, the printing surface is double-sided, and the number of printing copies is three is acquired.

  Next, in step [S118], the print instruction transmission unit 650 (FIG. 2) of the management server 200 transmits the file attached to the reply mail (“figure.psd” in the example of FIG. 6B) to the multifunction device. In addition, the MFP 100 is instructed to perform printing under the printing conditions acquired in step [S116]. In step [S118], the print instruction receiving unit 560 (FIG. 2) of the multi-function peripheral 100 receives the transferred file and the print instruction. These files and the print instruction are supplied to the print processing unit 520. In step [M120], the print processing unit 520 of the multifunction peripheral 100 prints the file transferred in step [S118]. As a result, the multifunction peripheral 100 prints the contents of the file on the print medium PMD such as paper as shown in FIG. In the first embodiment, the print instruction transmission unit 650 of the management server 200 transfers the file attached to the reply mail to the MFP 100 as it is (step [S118]), but the management server 200 attaches it. The file may be converted into a data format that can be processed by the multifunction device 100. Further, the management server 200 may generate print data to be supplied to the print engine of the multifunction peripheral 100.

A3. Printing mode 2:
FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating a flow of processing performed by the multifunction peripheral 100, the management server 200, and the personal computer 300 in the second printing mode. The processing flow in the second printing mode shown in FIG. 8 is that the user's operation on the personal computer 300 is replaced from step [U112] to step [U212], and steps [P114] and [S116] are steps. It is different from the flow of processing in the first printing form shown in FIG. 3 in that it is replaced with [H214]. Specifically, in the second printing mode, printing is performed when the user does not reply to the invitation mail and the user accesses the portal site (MyPage) described in the invitation mail. Other points are the same as in the first printing mode.

  In step [S212] in FIG. 8, the user accesses the portal site using a web browser. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a user accesses a portal site. FIG. 9A shows a state where a user (dekoboko) clicks a URL (Unified Resource Locator) of a portal site described in an invitation mail. FIG. 9A is the same as FIG. 5B except that a mouse cursor is displayed. When the user clicks the URL described in the invitation mail, a web browser is activated on the personal computer 300. Then, the web browser of the personal computer 300 exchanges data with the HTTP processing unit 630 of the management server 200 in accordance with HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) (step [H214]). As a result, the web page (dekoboko's MyPage) indicated by the clicked URL is displayed on the web browser. Various functions are realized by exchanging various messages between the personal computer 300 and the HTTP processing unit 630. The HTTP processing unit 630 displays a web page on the personal computer 300 that is a client by HTTP, and is also called an HTTP server. Moreover, since it has the function to display a web page generally, it can also be called a web server.

  FIG. 9B is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a portal site. On the screen WBS of the web browser, the title TTL of the web page (MyPage of dekoboko in the example of FIG. 9B), the address bar ABR, and the display window WND are displayed. The address bar ABR has a text box TBU indicating the URL of the web page being displayed. The display window WND includes a preview screen PVW, text boxes TBP, TBS, TBN for setting printing conditions, and a print button BNP.

  The file to be printed can be specified by, for example, dragging and dropping the selected file on the preview screen PVW. Here, drag and drop refers to selecting a specific file from the file list by pressing the mouse button, moving the mouse cursor while keeping the mouse button pressed, and clicking the mouse button at the destination. Say to release. The user sets printing conditions by inputting into the text boxes TBP, TBS, TBN on the web browser. In the example of FIG. 9B, the printing conditions are set such that the printing paper is A4, the printing surface is double-sided, and the number of copies is one.

  When the user clicks the print button BNP after setting the print conditions, in the same way as in the first print mode, in step [S118], the designated file is transferred to the multifunction peripheral 100 and set in step [H214]. In step [M120], the MFP 100 performs printing.

A4. Other aspects of user registration:
FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating a flow of processing performed by the multifunction peripheral 100, the management server 200, and the personal computer 300 in another aspect of user registration. The process flow in another mode shown in FIG. 10 is different from the process flow shown in FIG. 3 in that steps [U102] to [M106] are replaced with steps [U302] to [P308]. . Specifically, in the user registration in this aspect, the user registration is performed by printing the business card of the multifunction peripheral 100 instead of scanning the user's own business card and sending an email to the mail address printed on the business card. Is done. The other points are the same as the processing flow when the user's own business card is used. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing how a user registers his / her own mail address in the user registration method using the business card of the multifunction peripheral 100 shown in FIG.

  In step [U302] in FIG. 10, the user instructs the multifunction device 100 to print a business card. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 11A, the user presses a business card print button 824 provided on the operation panel 820 of the multifunction peripheral 100. When the user presses the business card print button 824, in step [M304], the business card printing unit 550 (FIG. 2) of the multi-function device 100 displays the mail address assigned to the multi-function device 100 as shown in FIG. Print the business card NCM that contains it. In the business card NCM shown in FIG. 11B, the mail address “2FA@printer.xxxxxx.co.jp” assigned to the multifunction device 100 and the name “printer 2F-A” of the multifunction device 100 are printed. Yes.

  Next, in step [U306] in FIG. 10, the user transmits an empty mail addressed to the mail address printed on the business card NCM. As a result, the personal computer 300 transmits an empty mail to the management server 200 (step [P308]). In this user registration method, as shown in FIG. 11C, the user recognizes the multi-function device 100 as a mail destination.

  In this way, by sending an empty mail, the management server 200 can obtain the user's mail address. Therefore, the user can print using the multi-function device 100 by the same processing (steps [S108] to [M120] in FIGS. 3 and 8) after the user registration with the user's own business card.

  In the first embodiment, both the user registration method using the user's own business card and the user registration method using the business card of the multifunction device 100 can be used, but at least one of the user registration methods is used. It only needs to be usable.

  In the first embodiment, the first print mode in which a user attaches a file to a reply mail for printing and the second print mode in which the user accesses a portal site to perform printing are two print modes. However, it is sufficient that at least one of the printing modes can be used.

  As described above, in the first embodiment, a mail is transmitted to the user, a predetermined operation state of the user with respect to the transmitted mail is acquired, and printing is performed based on the acquired operation state. Therefore, since the user can perform printing by performing an operation on the e-mail, setting for printing is not necessary, and printing can be performed even when the user does not have sufficient network knowledge. In addition, since printing is possible if electronic mail can be used, printing can be performed using a device that does not provide a printer driver.

  According to the first printing mode, the printing conditions can be set by writing an instruction in the body of the reply mail. According to the second printing mode, the printing conditions are set using a web browser. Therefore, it becomes easier to perform printing under desired conditions.

  In the first printing mode, printing is performed when a reply mail is received. In the second printing mode, when the user clicks on the URL of the portal site, the user can access the portal site for printing. Thus, in the first embodiment, user authentication is not performed, but user authentication can also be performed. In the first printing mode, for example, printing may be performed only for a reply mail from a registered mail address. Also, it is possible to embed a password in the invitation mail and authenticate access to the reply mail or portal site using the embedded password. The reply mail can be authenticated by embedding a password in the body or header of the reply mail. Authentication of access to the portal site can be performed by adding a password to a URL parameter or using a predetermined message (GET message) based on HTTP.

B. Second embodiment:
B1. Log registration:
FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the multifunction peripheral 100 and the management server 202 included in the printing system 12 according to the second embodiment. In the printing system 12 of the second embodiment, the CPU 210 of the management server 202 realizes the functions of the log registration unit 660 and the log reference unit 670, and the log database is stored in the HDD 240. This is different from the printing system 10 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. Other points are the same as in the first embodiment.

  FIG. 13 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of processing when the user performs printing by attaching a file to the reply mail in the printing system 12 of the second embodiment. The processing flow shown in FIG. 13 is that step [S122] performed in the management server 202 is added in parallel with printing (step [M120]) in the MFP 100 after step [S118]. This is different from the first embodiment.

  In step [S122], the log registration unit 660 of the management server 202 registers the print log in the log database stored in the HDD 240. Specifically, the printed file is stored in a predetermined area of the HDD 240, and the storage position of the file, the thumbnail image of the printed file, and the printing condition specified at the time of printing are associated with the printing date and time. Register in the log database. The registration of the print log is performed in the same manner as the processing in FIG. 13 even when the user accesses the portal site and performs printing. The HDD 240 may store not only data that has been printed, but also data that has been transmitted from the user and has not been printed. In this case, the storage location of the file and the thumbnail image are registered in the log database. Further, arbitrary information (for example, log ID) regarding the file may be registered in the log database as long as it can be used to specify the stored file.

B2. Log reference:
FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which a user accesses a portal site to refer to a print log. FIG. 14 (a) is the same diagram as FIG. 9 (a), and shows that the user (dekoboko) clicks the URL (Unified Resource Locator) of the portal site described in the invitation mail. FIG. 14B shows an example of a portal site (dekoboko's MyPage) in the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, two tabs of “print” and “log” are displayed in the display window WNDa displayed on the screen WBS of the web browser. As shown in FIG. 14B, when the tab “Print” for printing a file is selected, the same contents as the display window WND in the first embodiment are displayed.

  As illustrated in FIG. 14B, when the user clicks the “log” tab, the HTTP processing unit 630 of the management server 202 (FIG. 13) accesses the log database via the log reference unit 670. As a result, a thumbnail image of the file that has been printed recently (for example, two days before the access date) is acquired. Then, HTML data for displaying a log reference screen is generated in the display window WNDa so as to display the acquired thumbnail images in order of printing date, and is transmitted to the personal computer 300.

  FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing a state where the log reference screen WLR is displayed in the display window WNDa. In the log reference screen WLR, thumbnail images TN11 to TN34 of 11 files printed during the period from the day of access (July 3) to 2 days before (July 1) are displayed in a time series as the date DT1. ~ Displayed next to DT3. In addition, scroll buttons BS1 and BS2 for changing the display range of the print log are displayed above and below the dates DT1 to DT3. When the user clicks one of these scroll buttons BS1 and BS2, the range of the print log displayed on the log reference screen is changed. In the example of FIG. 15, since the thumbnail image on the access day (July 3) is displayed, the scroll button BS2 does not function. Therefore, the scroll button BS2 is displayed in a light color (grayed out).

  When the user clicks any of the thumbnail images TN11 to TN34 displayed on the log reference screen WLR, a print log corresponding to the clicked thumbnail image is selected, and a selection for downloading or printing a file registered in the print log The log display screen is displayed.

  FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing a selection log display screen WLD displayed when the user clicks the thumbnail image TN23 on the log reference screen WLR shown in FIG. The selection log display screen WLD includes a print status image IPS representing a print result, information IPC representing a print condition, a download button BND, and a print button BNP. When the user clicks the download button BND on the selection log display screen WLD, the file is transferred from the management server 200 to the personal computer 300. On the other hand, when the user clicks the print button BNP on the selection log display screen WLD, the file is printed according to the same procedure as in step [S118] in FIG.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, a printed file is stored, and printing and downloading can be performed when the file is used using the print log. As a result, data can be reused more easily.

C. Third embodiment:
C1. Barcode recording:
FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the multifunction peripheral 104 and the management server 204 included in the printing system 14 according to the third embodiment. In the printing system 14 of the third embodiment, the CPU 110 of the multifunction machine 104 realizes the function of the scan image transmission unit 570, and the mail transmission unit 614 and the print instruction transmission unit realized by the CPU 210 of the management server 204. This is different from the printing system 12 of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 12 in that the functions of 654 and the log reference unit 674 are different. Other points are the same as in the second embodiment.

  When the file attached to the reply mail is transferred to the multi-function peripheral 104 in step [M118] (FIG. 13), the print instruction transmission unit 654 embeds a barcode for specifying the printed file in the file to be transferred. The barcode is embedded so that the barcode is recorded at the end of the document on which the file is printed. When the attached file is converted into a data format that can be processed by the multifunction machine 104 on the management server 204 side, a barcode may be embedded in the data generated by the management server 204. Further, the barcode recording position does not necessarily have to be at the edge of the document, and can be recorded at any position that does not affect the printing of the document, such as the back side of the document.

C2. Refer to the print log by barcode:
FIG. 18 is a sequence diagram illustrating a processing flow when a print log is referred to using a barcode recorded in a document. FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a user scans a document on which a barcode is recorded.

  In step [U402], the user scans the document on which the barcode is recorded using the multi-function peripheral 104. FIG. 19A shows how the user scans a recorded document. As shown in FIG. 19A, the user places a document DCM on which a barcode is recorded on the document table 810 of the multifunction device 104 and presses a mail transmission button provided on the multifunction device 104.

  When the user presses the mail transmission button, it is determined whether or not the document placed on the document table 810 is a business card. If it is determined that the document is a business card, an e-mail address is acquired from the business card image in step [M104] in FIG. When it is determined that the document is not a business card, the scan processing unit 510 (FIG. 17) of the multi-function peripheral 104 scans the document DCM as the document, and acquires an image (scanned image) obtained by scanning the document DCM. The acquired scan image is transmitted to the management server 204 by the scan image transmission unit 570 of the multi-function peripheral 104 in step [M404]. Whether or not the document placed on the document table 810 is a business card can be determined based on, for example, the size of the document. However, a separate button for scanning the document DCM may be provided on the multifunction device 104.

  When the management server 204 receives the scanned image, the log reference unit 674 of the management server 204 analyzes the scanned image, reads the barcode, and specifies the print log based on the recorded content of the barcode (step [S406]). . Next, in step [S408], the mail transmission unit 614 of the step management server 204 transmits a mail for downloading a file associated with the specified print log to the user's personal computer 300. As a result, the user receives the mail as shown in FIG. Also in this case, the mail transmitted from the management server 204 is recognized as being transmitted from the multi-function peripheral 104 to the user, like the invitation mail.

  FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of mail transmitted from the management server 204 in step [S408]. FIG. 20A shows an email transmitted when the size of the file specified using the barcode is a predetermined size (for example, 1 MByte) or less. The mail in FIG. 20A includes the title SBD that the file can be acquired, the address “ADD” indicating that the sender is “printer 2F-A” representing the MFP 104, and the destination is the user “dekoboko”. And a text TXA indicating that the file is attached to the mail. A file “figure.psd” specified using a barcode is attached to the mail. In this case, for example, the user can acquire the attached file by clicking an icon indicating the attached file.

  On the other hand, when the size of the specified file is larger than the predetermined size, the mail shown in FIG. 20B is transmitted. The mail in FIG. 20B is different from the mail in FIG. 20A in that no file is attached and that the text TXD indicates the URL to which the file is downloaded. The other points are the same as the mail in FIG. In this case, when the user clicks on the URL of the download destination described in the text TXD, the web browser is activated. The user can then download the file using a web browser.

  In the third embodiment, when a file is large, it is possible not to receive a mail due to a large data size of the mail by not attaching the file to the mail. In the third embodiment, when the file size is equal to or smaller than the predetermined size, the file is attached to the mail as shown in FIG. 20 (a), but regardless of the file size, As shown in FIG. 20B, the file may not be attached.

C3. Other embodiments using barcodes:
FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram showing another mode of specifying a file using a barcode. In FIG. 21A, a user holds a document DCM on which a barcode is recorded over a personal computer 306 equipped with a camera CAM. When the log browsing screen WLR shown in FIG. 15 is displayed by the web browser of the personal computer 306, the image acquired by the camera CAM is transmitted to the HTTP processing unit 630 of the management server 204. The acquisition of the image by the camera CAM and the transmission of the acquired image to the HTTP processing unit 630 are realized by an applet embedded in HTML data representing the log reference screen WLR or an application program installed in the personal computer 306. The

  The image received by the HTTP processing unit 630 is supplied to the log reference unit 674. The log reference unit 674 performs processing similar to the above-described processing for specifying a print log from the scanned image acquired by the multi-function peripheral 104, and specifies the print log.

  The print log specified in this way is supplied to the HTTP processing unit 630. Then, the HTTP processing unit 630 acquires the date registered in the print log, and changes the range of the print log displayed on the log reference screen WLR. Specifically, a screen similar to the screen displayed when the scroll buttons BS1 and BS2 are clicked is sequentially displayed, and the log reference screen is displayed so that the print date of the specified file is displayed on the log reference screen WLR. The WLR is scrolled. However, the print log range may be changed so that the print date of the identified file is immediately displayed on the log reference screen WLR without scrolling the log reference screen WLR.

  FIG. 21B shows a state in which the log reference screen WLR is scrolled in this way and the thumbnail image TND of the file specified by the barcode is displayed. As shown in FIG. 21B, the date (June 12) when the file specified by the barcode is printed is located at the center of the log reference screen WLR. Then, the thumbnail image TND of the file is displayed on the right side of the printing date DTD. At this time, when the user clicks on the thumbnail image TND, a selection log display screen WLD (FIG. 16) for downloading or printing the file specified by the barcode is displayed.

  In the third embodiment, a barcode is embedded in a print document, and the print log is specified using the embedded barcode. However, various methods can be used as long as the print document can be specified. It is. For example, instead of a barcode, a two-dimensional code such as a QR code (registered trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED) or a specific character string may be embedded in a document. Further, it is possible to specify a print log by recognizing the type itself. For example, it is possible to recognize characters described in a print document and specify a print log using the recognized characters. It is also possible to evaluate the similarity between the image of the print document and the stored file image or thumbnail image, and specify the print log based on the evaluated similarity. The similarity ratio can be evaluated by, for example, adjusting the position by shaking the image of the print document and the image of the file and taking the exclusive OR. Here, the shaking process refers to a process of aligning the positions of the two images by shifting the positional relationship between the two images.

10, 12, 14 ... Printing system 100, 104 ... Multifunction machine 110 ... CPU
120 ... RAM
130 ... ROM
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 140 ... Operation panel interface 150 ... Mechanism part interface 160 ... Network interface 200,202,204 ... Management server 210 ... CPU
220 ... RAM
230 ... ROM
240 ... HDD
250 ... Input / output interface 260 ... Network interface 300,306 ... Personal computer 510 ... Scan processing unit 520 ... Print processing unit 530 ... OCR processing unit 540 ... Mail address transmission unit 550 ... Business card printing unit 560 ... Print instruction reception unit 570 ... Scan Image transmission unit 610, 614 ... Mail transmission unit 620 ... Mail analysis unit 630 ... HTTP processing unit 640 ... User registration unit 650, 654 ... Print instruction transmission unit 660 ... Log registration unit 670, 674 ... Log reference unit 810 ... Document table 820 ... Operation panel 822 ... Mail transmission button 824 ... Business card print button CAM ... Camera DCM ... Document INET ... Internet NCM, NCU ... Business card PMD ... Print medium

Claims (15)

A printing device connected to a user's computer via a network,
An email address acquisition unit for acquiring the email address of the user;
An e-mail transmission unit that transmits an e-mail to the e-mail address acquired by the e-mail address acquisition unit;
A printing apparatus comprising: a transmission data printing unit that performs printing according to data transmitted to the printing device in response to a predetermined operation of the user with respect to the electronic mail transmitted by the electronic mail transmission unit. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:
It has an image reading unit that reads the image of the document,
The printing apparatus, wherein the mail address acquisition unit acquires the user's mail address based on an image of the document obtained by reading the document on which the user's mail address is described as the document. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:
A device address printing unit for printing the mail address of the printing device;
The e-mail address acquisition unit acquires the e-mail address of the user based on an e-mail transmitted from the user to the e-mail address of the printing apparatus printed by the apparatus address printing unit. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The transmission data printing unit is a printing apparatus that performs printing according to data attached to a reply mail to the electronic mail. The printing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising:
A user registration unit for registering the email address acquired by the email address acquisition unit;
The transmission data printing unit is a printing apparatus that prints only data transmitted from an e-mail address registered in the user registration unit. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:
A web server for displaying a web page on the computer;
The email includes web page information that identifies the web page;
The transmission data printing unit performs printing in accordance with data transmitted to the web server using the web page accessed by the user based on the web page information. The printing apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising:
A user registration unit for registering the email address acquired by the email address acquisition unit;
The e-mail includes authentication information for authenticating a user registered in the user registration unit,
The printing apparatus, wherein the web server rejects access to the web page from a user other than the registered user by performing authentication using the authentication information. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising:
A transmission data storage unit for storing the transmitted data;
A log registration unit for registering the data stored in the transmission data storage unit and related information related to the data in association with each other;
A printing apparatus comprising: a data specifying unit that specifies the stored data based on the related information. The printing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein
The transmission data printing unit records a related information image representing the related information on a printed medium,
The data specifying unit acquires the related information image, and specifies the stored data based on the acquired related information image. The printing apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising:
A printing apparatus including a specific data printing unit that performs printing according to data specified by the data specifying unit. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 10, further comprising:
A printing apparatus comprising a specific data transmitting unit that transmits data specified by the data specifying unit to the computer. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 11,
The log registration unit registers the stored data in association with print image data representing a result printed using the stored data;
A printing apparatus that displays print image data associated with data specified by the data specifying unit on the computer. A printing control device that is connected to a user's computer via a network and controls the printing device,
An email address acquisition unit for acquiring the email address of the user;
An e-mail transmission unit that transmits an e-mail to the e-mail address acquired by the e-mail address acquisition unit;
A transmission data print control unit that causes the printing apparatus to perform printing according to data transmitted to the print control apparatus in response to a predetermined operation of the user with respect to the electronic mail transmitted by the electronic mail transmission unit. A printing control apparatus provided. A printing method for executing printing by communicating with a user's computer connected via a network,
Get the user's email address,
Send an e-mail addressed to the acquired e-mail address,
A printing method for performing printing in accordance with data transmitted in response to a predetermined operation of the user with respect to the transmitted e-mail. A computer program for executing printing by communicating with a user's computer connected via a network,
A function of acquiring the user's email address, a function of transmitting an email addressed to the acquired email address,
A computer program for causing a computer to execute a function of performing printing according to data transmitted in response to a predetermined operation of the user with respect to the transmitted e-mail.

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