JP2010250593A - Division management system of image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of, when a password of division ID is not set yet or the password is in an initial state, properly determining and deleting an unused division counter, properly processing the password, and so on. <P>SOLUTION: The division management system is composed of: an image forming apparatus which includes a means for recording division ID information including a use state of division ID as division ID information for each division to which a user belongs, and a means for transmitting the recorded division ID information to a management apparatus; and the management apparatus which includes a means for receiving the division ID information transmitted from the transmitting means and recording the received division ID information in a management table, a means for determining division ID to be deleted on the basis of the recorded division ID information, and a means for transmitting a division ID deletion instruction for the division ID determined by the deletion target determination means to the image forming apparatus. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a management system that counts and sets department management information included in an image forming apparatus such as a printer.

  A technique is known in which an image forming apparatus is provided with a department counter and counts the number of prints for each department ID (department ID). In addition to the department counter, it is also known that a counter called a life counter is provided as a total counter. The department counter for each department can be reset, but the life counter is not reset. It is also known that a password can be set for each department ID by an administrator of the image forming apparatus. Furthermore, in a device that performs a department counter, for example, when a card reader or the like is attached, many department IDs (sequential IDs) may be assigned by default.

  An apparatus that monitors counters of departments of these image forming apparatuses by a management apparatus arranged on a network is also known. In this case, when each image forming apparatus receives a transmission request from the management apparatus, it is realized by sending each department ID information to the management apparatus as a server.

  In such a case, some managers have previously registered a number of department IDs. The following patent document 1 can be mention | raise | lifted as a prior art example.

JP 2008-83862 A

  However, in the case where many department IDs (sequential IDs) are assigned by default as described above, many of the assigned department IDs remain without being used. Sending the counter value of the department ID that is not used to the server is useless from the viewpoint of communication cost, communication time, traffic, and the like. In addition, there is a problem of visibility such that it is difficult to see the counter list display in the received management on the server side.

  Patent Document 1 describes a method in which, in department counter information, a department whose data has not been updated within a certain period is regarded as an invalid department and is not registered in the database. However, in situations where a large number of department IDs are assigned, there are many security concerns because no password is set or the initial password is easily set by the administrator.

  Therefore, a method of not transmitting unused department counters, a method of appropriately determining and deleting unused department counters, and a method of appropriately processing passwords are desired.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems,
When managing the department information of the image forming apparatus when the management apparatus and at least one image forming apparatus are connected via the network,
Department ID information recording means for recording department ID information including department ID usage status as department ID information for each department to which a user belongs, department ID information transmission means for transmitting the recorded department ID information to a management device, A department ID information recording means for receiving the department ID information transmitted by the transmission means and recording it in a management table, and a department ID to be deleted from the department ID by the recorded department ID information. A department comprising: a deletion target determining means for determining a deletion ID; and a management apparatus having a deletion command transmission means for transmitting a department ID deletion command to the image forming apparatus for the department ID determined by the deletion target determination means Management system,
I will provide a.

further,
When managing the department information of the image forming apparatus when the management apparatus and at least one image forming apparatus are connected via the network,
Department ID information recording means for recording department ID information including the password state of the department ID as department ID information for each department to which the user belongs, department ID information transmission means for transmitting the recorded department ID information to the management device, The department ID information recording means for receiving the department ID information transmitted by the transmission means and recording it in the management table, and the department ID for which the password is to be changed by the recorded department ID information. A password change target determining means for determining, and a management device having a password change command transmitting means for transmitting a password change command for the department ID to the image forming apparatus for the department ID determined by the deletion target determining means. Department management system,
I will provide a.

  As described above, according to the present invention, department IDs that remain unused are subject to deletion, and therefore it is possible to provide department management apparatuses that do not transmit counter information of unused department IDs. It becomes.

  Furthermore, the department ID password that has been left unchanged is subject to change. Therefore, it is possible to provide a department management device in consideration of security in which a password is not set or an initial password easily set by an administrator is not left as it is.

It is a department management system outline figure in the present invention. It is an internal structure of the management apparatus which manages and processes the department counter in this invention. 2 is an internal configuration of an image forming apparatus having a department counter in the present invention. It is a module structure of the management apparatus in this invention. 2 is a module configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an outline of processing performed by the image forming apparatus according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an outline of transmission processing of department management information of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process outline | summary of the management apparatus in the Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the department ID deletion process and password change process outline | summary of the management apparatus in the Example of this invention. It is a management table of the management apparatus in the Example of this invention.

  Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the relative arrangement, numerical values, and the like of the constituent elements described in this embodiment are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to those unless otherwise specified.

[Overall configuration of network system]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing one configuration example of this patent. This network system is assumed to be, for example, an HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) based network.

  Image forming apparatuses 104, 105, and 106 included in a specific network 102 can be connected to the Internet 101 from a gateway device 103 via an intranet LAN 107. The gateway device 103 includes a router, a proxy server, a firewall, and the like.

  In addition, the management apparatus 100 is connected to the Internet 101, and in response to a command request from the image forming apparatuses 104 to 106, instructs to transmit desired data, and a regular or irregular counter from the image forming apparatus. Receive information, error information, etc.

  Note that the number of image forming apparatuses may be connected instead of the three shown in FIG.

[Management device]
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the management apparatus 100 including the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The management apparatus 100 can be applied to an information processing apparatus such as a PC or a server, for example.

  The management apparatus 100 includes a CPU 201 that executes a program stored in the ROM 203 (including a program that implements each process of FIG. 4 to be described later), and comprehensively controls each device via an internal bus 206. Connected to the internal bus 206 are RAM 202, ROM 203, hard disk drive (hereinafter referred to as HDD) 204, and network interface 205.

  The network interface 205 bidirectionally exchanges data with an external network device or a personal computer (PC) via the local area network 107. The HDD 204 functions as an external storage device, stores registration information of the image forming apparatuses 104 to 106, and can store the counter information, system information, and status information in place of the backup RAM 202. The CPU 201 performs processing for recording image data on a recording medium such as the HDD 104.

[Image forming apparatus]
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the image forming apparatuses 104, 105, and 106 including the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. Since the configuration of the image forming apparatus is basically the same, only the image forming apparatus 104 will be described here.

  The image forming apparatus 104 can be applied to an image forming apparatus such as a digital multifunction peripheral, a facsimile machine, a laser beam printer, an ink jet printer, and a scanner device.

  The image forming apparatus 104 includes a CPU 301 that executes a program stored in the ROM 303 (including a program that implements each process of FIG. 5 described later), and comprehensively controls each device via an internal bus 306.

  Connected to the internal bus 306 are RAM 302, ROM 303, hard disk device (hereinafter referred to as HDD) 304, device control 307, printing unit 308, and network interface 305.

  The RAM 302 functions as a memory or work area for the CPU 301.

  The device control 307 controls the printing unit 308, and the network interface 305 exchanges data with an external network device or a personal computer (PC) bidirectionally via the local area network 107. The HDD 304 functions as an external storage device and stores image data and the like, and can store the counter information, system information, and status information instead of the backup RAM 302. The CPU 301 performs processing for recording image data on a recording medium such as the HDD 304.

[Software module configuration of management device]
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a software module configuration of the management apparatus 100.

  400 to 403 in the figure correspond to software modules of the management apparatus 100.

  First, the HTTP / SOAP client module 400 receives a transmission request from the SOAP function module 401 and creates a markup language description based on a predetermined schema. Here, it is assumed that the schema specification corresponding to each piece of information is stored in advance in the storage unit, ROM 203 or HDD 204 accessible by the HTTP / SOAP client module.

  Then, the HTTP / SOAP client module 400 transmits the created markup language description data to the designated image forming apparatuses 104 to 106. An example of the markup language description is XML (extensible Markup Language).

  In the above description, the SOAP function module 401 has been described to notify the HTTP / SOAP client module 400 of various types of information.

  For example, the HTTP / SOAP client module 400 may acquire the above information from the SOAP function module 401 itself.

  Further, the HTTP / SOAP client module 400 receives the SOAP information, extracts data from the markup language description based on a predetermined schema, and passes the data to the SOAP function module 401.

  The database 404 stores fixed information and variable information necessary for processing, internal operation logs, communication history (success, failure), and the like. When the power is turned off, the stored data is read when the power is turned on again. In this way, the previous state is maintained. Here, the fixed information refers to information necessary for management such as output device specific or setting information (IP address, MAC address, device serial number, product name, product type, etc.).

  The database 404 stores and outputs information necessary for processing by the processing logic 403. The processing logic 404 executes various processes by the SOAP function manager 402.

[Software module configuration of image forming apparatus]
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a software module of the image forming apparatus 104.

  500 to 507 in the figure correspond to software modules of the image forming apparatus 104.

  The SOAP function module 501 requests the HTTP / SOAP client module 500 to create information and a markup language description received from the manager 502 and a communication request to transmit the created markup language description to the designated server. Here, the information of the designated server may be held in advance by the HTTP / SOAP client module 500, or may be set at the time of installation.

  The HTTP / SOAP client module 500 receives information from the SOAP function module 501 and creates a markup language description based on a predetermined schema. Here, it is assumed that schema specifications corresponding to each of variable information and fixed information are stored in advance in a storage unit accessible by the HTTP / SOAP client module.

  Then, the HTTP / SOAP client module 500 transmits the created markup language description data to the designated management apparatus 100. An example of the markup language description is XML (extensible Markup Language).

  In the above description, the SOAP function module 501 has been described to notify the HTTP / SOAP client module 500 of various types of information.

  For example, the HTTP / SOAP client module 500 may acquire the above information from the SOAP function module 500 itself.

  A device control 507 indicates an interface between the device control 307 and the printing unit 308 in FIG. Via the interface, various department ID information such as an image forming apparatus status and counter information including an error detected by the printing unit 308 is notified.

  The counter includes a billing counter indicating the number of used sheets, a component counter indicating the usage status of the components, and a function counter indicating the usage status.

  The various department ID information includes a department ID state and a password state, which will be described later.

  The error includes the state of the print job stored in the image forming apparatus, but a failure of the image forming apparatus is mainly assumed. The failure of the image forming apparatus includes a service call error such as a hard disk error or a billing counter error, an error such as a paper jam, or an error such as a warning such as a toner low, or a door open or a paper tray that is overloaded. .

  The status event module 504 notifies the manager 502 of the error information list (plural types of error information) notified from the device control 507. The error information list notified from the device control 507 is based on the image forming apparatus status detected by various sensors in the printing unit 308. Since this error information list changes in time series, it is classified as variable information.

  The periodic data module 505 notifies the manager 502 of counter information that can be acquired from the device control 507. Since the counter is periodically acquired, the manager 502 requests the counter based on the set time from the timer module 506.

  The acquired counter is temporarily stored in the storage area 508 such as the RAM 302 and the HDD 304 via the processing logic 503, and passed to the SOAP function 501 based on an instruction from the manager 502 and processed.

  In addition to the error information and counter information, the nonvolatile storage device 508 stores fixed information necessary for processing, variable information, internal operation logs, communication history (success, failure), and the like. Thus, even when the power is turned off, when the power is turned on again, the previous state is maintained by reading the stored data. Here, the fixed information refers to output device specific or setting information (IP address, MAC address, device serial number, product name, product type, etc.).

  Next, the operation method of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the tables and flowcharts of FIGS.

In this embodiment, each department is provided with a status flag, and when the counter value is 0 at the time of initial registration, the initial flag is “initial registration”. Set “In Use” when prompted. (When sending the counter value at the time of aggregation, only the counter value of the department ID whose status flag is “in use” and “initial registration” is sent if necessary.)
A management apparatus that manages a plurality of image forming apparatuses stores the usage status of each department ID of each device in the devices within the same management configuration. If it is determined that the specific department ID remains in the initial registration state and there is no change in the state for a certain period, all the image forming apparatuses in the management are prompted to delete the corresponding department ID. Furthermore, if it is determined that the specific department ID is in the initial registration state and the password of the specific department ID of the specific image forming apparatus remains in the initial state for a certain period of time, specify the default password that the management apparatus has in advance Update the password of the department ID. Alternatively, the password of the specified department ID is updated with a password acquired from the same department ID of another image forming apparatus.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing on the image forming apparatus side regarding processing for the department ID.

  First, in step S601, when an operation related to the department ID is performed, the process branches according to each operation. The process for the department ID includes a department ID addition process in which an operator or an administrator adds a department ID. Further, there is a counter-up process for increasing the counter of the corresponding department ID when printing in the image forming apparatus is performed. Furthermore, there is a counter reset process in which an operator or an administrator resets a department counter, a department ID deletion, a department ID deletion process, a password change process, and a password change process.

  First, when the department ID addition process is selected in step S601, the counter of the corresponding department ID is set to 0 in step S602. Next, proceeding to step S603, the state of the corresponding department ID is set to the initial registration state. In step S604, the password state is set to the initial state and the process ends.

  If the department ID counter-up process is performed in step S601, the process proceeds to step S605. In step S605, the corresponding department ID is counted up, and the process proceeds to step S606. In step S606, it is determined whether the department ID state is the initial registration state set in step S603. If it is determined that the department ID state is the initial registration state, the process advances to step S607 to update the department ID state during use. And it ends. If the department ID state is not the initial registration state in step S606, the process is also terminated.

  Next, when the department ID counter reset process is performed in step S601, the process proceeds to step S608. In step S608, a counter reset process for the corresponding department ID is performed, and the process proceeds to step S606.

  Next, when the department ID deletion process is performed in step S601, the process proceeds to step S609, where the corresponding department ID deletion process is performed and the process ends.

  Next, when the department ID password change process is performed in step S601, the process proceeds to step S610, the process of changing the password of the corresponding department ID is performed, and the process proceeds to step S611. In step S611, the password state of the department ID changed in step S610 is updated to the changed state, and the process ends.

  Further, the department ID information, department counter, department ID state, and password state described with reference to FIG. 6 are stored in the HDD 304 or the RAM 302 by each image forming apparatus and processed by each image forming apparatus by being called by the CPU 301.

  Next, a transmission method in a state related to the present embodiment when information on each image forming apparatus side is transmitted to the management apparatus will be described using the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step S701, the image forming apparatus receives a department ID transmission request. In step S702, it is determined whether the life counter has been updated. If it is determined that the life counter has been updated, the process advances to step S703 to determine whether the department ID state described with reference to FIG. 6 is in use. If it is determined in step S703 that the department ID state is in use, the process advances to step S704 to transmit a counter of the department in which the department ID state is in use. Then, the process proceeds to step S705. If the department ID state is not in use in step S703, the process proceeds to step S705 as it is.

  In step S705, it is determined whether or not the department ID state or the password state has been changed to determine whether or not the state has changed. Further, it may be determined whether or not a department ID has been added or deleted. If it is determined that the department ID state or the password state has been changed, the process advances to step S706 to transmit information on the image forming apparatus including the department ID state and the password state. Then, the process proceeds to step S707. If it is determined in step S705 that there has been no change, the process proceeds directly to step S707.

  In step S707, it is determined whether all department IDs have been checked. If all department IDs have been checked, the process ends. If all are not completed, the process returns to step S703 to check the next department ID.

  If it is not determined in step S702 that the life counter has been updated, the process proceeds to step S708. Here, the fact that it is not determined that the life counter has been updated means that the department counters of all department IDs have not been changed. In step S708, as in step S705, it is determined whether or not there is a change in the department ID state or the password state in order to determine whether or not the state has changed. If it is determined that the department ID state or the password state has been changed, the process advances to step S709 to transmit information on the image forming apparatus including the department ID state and the password state. Then, the process proceeds to step S710. If it is determined in step S708 that there has been no change, the process proceeds directly to step S710.

  In step S710, as in step S707, it is determined whether or not all department IDs have been checked. If not all, the process returns to step S708 to check the next department ID.

  Further, the department ID information, department counter, department ID state, and password state described in FIG. 7 are called by the CPU 301 from the HDD 304 or RAM 302 in each image forming apparatus. Thereafter, the processing is performed by the CPU 301 and transmitted to the management apparatus via the LAN 107 by the NWI / F 305.

  Next, the processing flow on the management apparatus side will be described using the flowcharts of FIGS.

  FIG. 8 illustrates a processing flow for information on the image forming apparatus received on the management apparatus side. Each step in FIG. 8 is started by receiving department ID information transmitted by each image forming apparatus after the management apparatus transmits a department ID transmission request to each image forming apparatus.

  Further, as will be described later, the management apparatus holds a management table for each image forming apparatus. The management apparatus holds a department ID state, a counter value, and a password state for each department ID received from each image forming apparatus. Furthermore, a change counter that counts up each time department ID information is received is held.

  First, in step S801, the change counter for all departments is incremented by one. In step S802, the process branches according to the received department ID information.

  If the department ID information indicates that the department ID is added, the process proceeds to step S803. The determination of the addition of the department ID is made based on whether there is information on the addition of the department ID as the department ID information. Alternatively, it is possible to determine whether or not a new department ID that is not in the management table has been received.

  In step S803, as department ID addition processing, a new department ID is added to the management table, and each department ID information is recorded. Then, the process proceeds to step S810.

  If the department ID information is incremented in the department counter in step S802, the process proceeds to step S804. It can be determined, for example, by comparing the newly acquired department counter with the department counter in the management table. In step S804, the corresponding department counter value is stored in the management table, and the process proceeds to step S805. In step S805, the change counter value corresponding to the department ID in the management table is set to zero. Then, the process proceeds to step S810.

  If the department ID information is counter reset of the department counter in step S802, the process proceeds to step S806. Since the value of the department counter decreases when the counter is reset, it can be determined, for example, by comparing the newly acquired department counter with the department counter in the management table. In step S806, the corresponding department counter value is stored in the management table, and the process proceeds to step S810.

  If the department ID information is the department ID deletion in step S802, the process proceeds to step S807. Whether the department ID is deleted is determined based on whether there is department ID deletion information as department ID information. In step S807, as the department ID deletion process, the corresponding department ID in the management table is deleted. Then, the process proceeds to step S810.

  If the department ID information is a password change in step S802, the process proceeds to step S808. The password change is determined based on whether there is password change information as department ID information. In step S808, the password status of the corresponding department ID is updated as password change processing. Then, the process proceeds to step S809. In step S809, the change counter value corresponding to the department ID in the management table is set to zero. Then, the process proceeds to step S810.

  In step S810, it is determined whether or not the processing has been completed for all the acquired information. If not all, the process returns to step S802 to check the next information.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating password processing in the management apparatus.

  Here, the management table is checked, and it is determined whether the department IDs of all the image forming apparatuses in the specific department ID are in the initial registration state and have no state change for a certain period. And about the specified department ID, the process which deletes department ID is demonstrated.

  Further, the management table is checked to determine whether the specific department ID is in the initial registration state and whether the password of the specific department ID of the specific image forming apparatus remains in the initial state for a certain period. For the specified department ID, a process for updating the password of the specified department ID with a default password that the management apparatus has in advance or a password acquired from the same department ID of another image forming apparatus will be described. is doing.

  First, in step S901, information is called in order of department IDs in each management table of the image forming apparatus managed by the management apparatus, and a check is started. In step S902, it is checked whether all department ID states are in the initial state with the same department ID. If it is determined in step S902 that all department IDs are in the initial state with the same department ID, the process proceeds to step S903. In step S902, if all department ID states are not in the initial state with the same department ID, the process proceeds to step S905. In step S903, it is determined whether or not the change counter is equal to or greater than a certain threshold value for all the same department IDs. Details of the threshold will be described later. If it is determined in step S903 that the change counters of all the same departments are equal to or greater than the threshold value, the process proceeds to step S904. In step S904, the department ID determined to be equal to or greater than the threshold value in step S903 is regarded as not being used for a certain period, and is listed as a deletion target. Then, the process proceeds to step S907.

  If NO is determined in step S903, the process proceeds to step S905. In step S905, it is determined whether or not there is at least one image forming apparatus in which the change counter has a department ID equal to or greater than the threshold and the password state is in the initial state. If YES is determined here, the process proceeds to step S906. In step S906, in the department ID determined as YES in step S905, the corresponding image forming apparatus is listed as a password change target. Then, the process proceeds to step S906. If NO is determined in step S905, the process proceeds to step S907.

  In step S907, it is determined whether or not all department IDs have been checked. If all the department IDs have not been checked, the process advances to step S902 to check the next department ID. If it is determined in step S907 that all department IDs have been checked, the process proceeds to step S908. In step S908, processing is performed for the department ID to be deleted listed in step S904 and the department ID listed as the password change target listed in step S906. For example, for the deletion process, a department ID deletion command is transmitted together with the department ID from the management apparatus to each image forming apparatus. Each image forming apparatus that has received the department ID deletion command performs a process of deleting the indicated department ID. Alternatively, the management apparatus transmits an email that prompts the administrator of each image forming apparatus registered in advance to delete the department ID.

  As for the password change processing, for example, a department ID password change command is transmitted from the management apparatus to each department ID of each image forming apparatus together with a default password issued by the management apparatus. Each image forming apparatus that has received the department ID password change command performs processing for changing the password of the indicated department ID to the password issued by the management apparatus. The management apparatus can also send an email including a department ID password update message to the administrator of each registered image forming apparatus. Further, the default password issued by the management apparatus may be an image forming apparatus password in which the password status of the general department ID is not in the initial state in each image forming apparatus. In this case, the management apparatus acquires the password of the image forming apparatus with the same department ID and the password state that is not in the initial state, and sets the password as the default password. As a password acquisition method, for example, a password transmission command is transmitted to the identified representative image forming apparatus. Thereafter, the image forming apparatus that has received the password transmission command transmits the password information of the specified department ID to the management apparatus.

  When there are a plurality of image forming apparatuses whose password states are not in the initial state, it is possible to determine one representative image forming apparatus on the management apparatus side by an arbitrary method.

  Next, the steps described in the flowchart of FIG. 9 will be further described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 10 shows a management table in which the management apparatus acquires department ID information and manages the result. The management table is stored in the HDD 204 or RAM 202 of the management device, and is processed by the management device when called by the CPU 201.

  The management table includes a threshold and an individual management table for each image forming apparatus. In the figure, the threshold value is 25.

  Here, the threshold is a value for referring to the change counter and determining whether or not the change has been performed for a certain period. The change counter is a counter that is always counted up when processing the transmission data in step S801 in FIG. Therefore, it is determined how many times the transmission process has been performed and whether a certain period has passed. In this example, since the threshold value is 25, processing such as deletion of the department ID is not performed until the transmission process is performed 25 times or more.

  In FIG. 10, there are individual management tables for three image forming apparatuses. Here, 10-A is, for example, an image forming apparatus 104, 10-B is an image forming apparatus 105, and 10-C is an individual management table corresponding to the image forming apparatus 106.

  The individual management table corresponding to the image forming apparatus 104 in FIG. 10A shows a state in which five department IDs with department IDs from 0001 to 0005 are managed. In the figure, for example, for the department ID 0003, the department ID state is initial registration, the counter value is 0, the password state is initial state, and the change counter is 30.

  In 10-B, in the individual management table corresponding to the image forming apparatus 105, the department ID 0003 has the department ID state initially registered, the counter value is 0, the password state is the initial state, and the change counter is 25.

  In 10-C, in the individual management table corresponding to the image forming apparatus 106, the department ID 0003 has an initial registration of the department ID state, a counter value of 0, a password state of the initial state, and a change counter of 30. Yes.

  Therefore, it is determined that the department ID 0003 has the same department ID and all department ID states are in the initial state in step S902 of FIG. Further, in step S903, it is determined that the change counters of all the same departments are equal to or greater than the threshold value. Therefore, in the management table shown in FIG. 10, the general department ID 0003 is regarded as a deletion target and is listed in the step S904.

  In the management table of FIG. 10, pay attention to the department ID 0004.

  In the individual management table corresponding to the image forming apparatus 104 of 10-A, the department ID 0004 has the department ID state initially registered, the counter value is 0, the password state is the initial state, and the change counter is 25.

  Further, in 10-B, in the individual management table corresponding to the image forming apparatus 105, the department ID 0004 has the department ID state in use, the counter value is 50, the password state is changed, and the change counter is 2.

  Further, in 10-C, in the individual management table corresponding to the image forming apparatus 106, the department ID 0004 has the department ID state in use, the counter value is 50, the password state is changed, and the change counter is 3. .

  Therefore, it is determined that the department ID 0004 is the same department ID and the department ID state is not all in the initial state in step S902 of FIG. Then, the process proceeds to step S905. Here, it is determined that there is an image forming apparatus whose password is to be changed in the step of determining whether or not there is at least one image forming apparatus whose department counter is greater than or equal to the threshold value and whose password state is the initial state. . In step S906, the image forming apparatus 104 is listed as a password change target in the management table of FIG.

100 Management device 101 Network, Internet 103 Gateway (router, firewall, proxy)
104, 105, 106 Image forming apparatus 107 Local area network, LAN
201 CPU
202 RAM
203 ROM
204 HDD
205 Network I / F
206 Internal bus 301 CPU
302 RAM
303 ROM
304 HDD
305 Network I / F
306 Internal bus 307 Printing unit 308 Device control

Claims (2)

In a department management system of an image forming apparatus that connects a management apparatus and at least one image forming apparatus via a network and manages department information of the image forming apparatus.
Department ID information recording means for recording department ID information including the use status of the department ID as department ID information for each department to which the user belongs;
Department ID information transmitting means for transmitting the recorded department ID information to a management device;
An image forming apparatus having
Department ID information recording means for receiving department ID information transmitted by the transmission means and recording it in a management table;
Deletion target determining means for determining a department ID to be deleted from the department ID based on the recorded department ID information; (S904)
Deletion command transmission means for transmitting a department ID deletion command to the image forming apparatus for the department ID determined by the deletion target determination means (S908).
A department management system comprising a management device having In a department management system of an image forming apparatus that connects a management apparatus and at least one image forming apparatus via a network and manages department information of the image forming apparatus.
Department ID information recording means for recording department ID information including the password status of the department ID as department ID information for each department to which the user belongs;
An image forming apparatus having department ID information transmission means for transmitting the recorded department ID information to a management apparatus;
Department ID information recording means for receiving the department ID information transmitted by the transmission means and recording it in a management table; and password change target determining means for determining a department ID for which a password is to be changed based on the recorded department ID information. (S906)
Password change command transmission means for transmitting a password change command for the department ID to the image forming apparatus for the department ID determined by the deletion target determination means (S908).
A department management system comprising a management device having