JP2011155392A - Image formation device, output system, output method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image formation device or the like, performing both FAX transmission and e-mail transmission, or at least either of the FAX transmission and printing without being provided with software dedicated to a PC. <P>SOLUTION: This image formation device is equipped with: a reception means 11 to receive, from an apparatus 200, inputting image data and an output condition of the inputting image data for designating two or more outputting means 16; an image data storage means 15 to store the inputting image data; a format conversion means 14 to convert the format of the inputting image data on an output means basis to cause the image data storage means 15 to store outputting image data; and an output control means 12 to refer to the output condition to cause at least two of a print means 21, a facsimile transmission means 22 and an e-mail transmission means 23 to output the outputting image data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an output system, an output method, and a program including a plurality of output units, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus, an output system, an output method, and a program that output image data received from a device from an output unit.

  The facsimile apparatus is equipped with a document reading means, and the image data of the read document can be transmitted to the destination facsimile apparatus. Further, a facsimile apparatus that can be connected to a PC (personal computer) can transmit image data generated from a file received from the PC to a destination facsimile apparatus. In the latter case, the PC-FAX driver for FAX transmission needs to be installed in the PC in most cases.

In addition, the PC uses a printer driver suitable for the printer to convert the document data into PDL (
) And send it to the printer. This allows the printer to print the document. Here, direct printing in which document data is printed by a printer without using a printer driver has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Patent Document 1 discloses a printing method in which document data is converted into a PostScript command using an error that occurs when document data that is not PDL is transmitted to a printer, and the PostScript interpreter processes the job.

  With the printing method described in Patent Document 1, it is not necessary to install dedicated application software in a file such as a word processor on a PC, and there is no need to install a printer driver, and document data is transmitted to the printer. You can print just by doing.

  If direct printing is also applied to FAX transmission, it is considered that FAX transmission is possible only by transmitting a file from the PC to the facsimile apparatus without installing a PC-FAX driver in the PC.

  Incidentally, both printers and facsimile machines rarely have a single function, and many offices are equipped with MFPs (Multifunction Peripherals) equipped with printer functions, facsimile functions, scanner functions, and the like. In such an MFP, not only FAX transmission but also image data can be transmitted by e-mail.

  A user may want to send or print the same file by e-mail as well as fax transmission on the premise of the MFP, but until now, the file sent from the PC to the MFP is faxed and e-mail or print It was not considered to do.

  In view of the above problems, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus, an output system, and an output capable of at least one of FAX transmission and e-mail transmission, or FAX transmission and printing without installing dedicated software on a PC. An object is to provide a method and a program.

  In view of the above problems, the present invention is an image forming apparatus capable of outputting image data from a plurality of output means, communicating with a device via a network, and receiving image data for input and two or more of the output from the device Receiving means for receiving the output condition of the input image data specifying the means, image data storage means for storing the input image data, and output obtained by converting the format of the input image data for each output means Format conversion means for storing in the image data storage means, and output control means for causing the output image data to be output to at least two of the printing means, the fax transmission means or the e-mail transmission means with reference to the output condition And.

  According to the present invention, the image forming apparatus receives a plurality of input image data and an output condition of the input image data designating two or more output means from a device, so that a plurality of output requests can be made at one time. Image data can be output from the output means.

  It is possible to provide an image forming apparatus, an output system, an output method, and a program capable of performing FAX transmission and e-mail transmission or at least one of FAX transmission and printing without installing dedicated software on a PC. .

1 is an example of a diagram illustrating an outline of a printing system. 1 is an example of a hardware configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus. It is an example of the hardware block diagram of PC. It is a figure which shows an example of the output instruction | indication input screen displayed on the web browser of PC. It is a figure which shows an example of an output condition input screen. FIG. 4 is an example of a diagram schematically illustrating image data transmitted from a PC to an image forming apparatus and output conditions. 1 is an example of a functional block diagram of an image forming apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of a format conversion table. It is an example of the flowchart figure which shows the procedure in which an output control means controls an output means based on a format conversion table and output conditions. It is an example of the flowchart figure explaining the one aspect | mode which an output control means determines whether format conversion is performed. FIG. 3 is an example of a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure for requesting output of image data from a PC to an image forming apparatus. FIG. 3 is an example of a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure for requesting output of image data from a PC to an image forming apparatus. The output control means is an example of a flowchart showing a procedure for switching processing with reference to an e-mail transmission condition.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an example of a diagram illustrating an outline of the output system 300. A PC (personal computer) 200 and the image forming apparatus 100 are connected via a network.

  First, the PC 200 designates a plurality of output means for outputting image data, and transmits the image data to the image forming apparatus 100 as a file. The format of this image data is, for example, CMYK (image data rendered in the CMYK color space), PDL (Page Description Language), JPEG, TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), PDF (Portable Document Format), MH / MR / MMR or the like.

  The image forming apparatus 100 includes at least three output units (printing unit, e-mail transmission unit, and FAX transmission unit). The image forming apparatus 100 refers to a format conversion table to be described later, converts the file format of the received image data (hereinafter simply referred to as “format”), and outputs the file using output means designated by the PC 200.

  Among the above image data formats, JPEG, TIFF, PDF, and MH / MR / MMR are formats that can be generated by a general-purpose application even if a dedicated application is not installed in the PC 200. The dedicated application refers to an application that depends on the hardware of the image forming apparatus 100, and corresponds to, for example, a printer driver or a PC-FAX driver. That is, software dedicated to hardware is a dedicated application. The general-purpose application refers to an application that can be executed without depending on an external device, such as a word processor application or a CAD application, although it depends on an internal CPU or OS on the PC 200.

  Therefore, the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment can output image data by transmitting the image data as a file to the image forming apparatus 100 even if a dedicated application is not installed in the PC 200.

  In addition, since the PC 200 designates a plurality of output means for outputting image data and requests output of the image data, the image data can be output from the plurality of output means with a single output request of image data.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of a hardware configuration diagram of the image forming apparatus 100. 1 shows an example of a hardware configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus 100. FIG. The image forming apparatus 100 includes a controller 101, an operation panel 113, an FCU (fax control unit) 114, and an engine unit 115 that is hardware resources unique to image forming processing such as a printer and a scanner. The controller 101 includes a CPU 102, a system memory 103, an NB (North Bridge) 104, an SB (South Bridge) 108, an NIC (Network Interface Card) 109, a USB device 110, an IEEE 1394 device 111, and a Centronics. It has an interface 112, an ASIC 107, a local memory 105, and an HDD. The FCU 114 and the engine unit 115 are connected to the ASIC 107 of the controller 101 via the PCI bus 116. The engine unit 115 includes a scanner unit that optically reads a document and an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium.

  The HDD 106 stores a program 117. When the CPU 102 executes the program 117, the software block in FIG. 7 is realized. The program 117 may be distributed in a state of being stored in the storage medium 118 or may be distributed in a form that is downloaded from the server (not shown) via the NIC 109. The storage medium 118 is a flash memory such as an SD memory card or a USB memory, a semiconductor memory such as FeRAM / MRAM / PRAM / ReRAM, or an optical disk such as a CD-ROM.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of a hardware configuration diagram of the PC 200. The PC 200 may have any name such as a workstation, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a wireless LAN terminal, and a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) as long as it has a computer function.

  The PC 200 includes a CPU 201, a RAM 202, a ROM 203, a storage medium mounting unit 204, a display control unit 205, a communication device 206, an input device 207, and an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 208 that are mutually connected by a bus. The CPU 201 provides various functions by reading an OS (Operating System) and a program from the HDD 208 and executing them, and comprehensively controls processing performed by the PC 200.

  The RAM 202 is a working memory (main storage memory) that temporarily stores data necessary when the CPU 201 executes the program, and the ROM 203 stores a program (BIOS) and a setting file for starting up the OS (Basic Input Output System) and the OS. ing.

  A storage medium 210 is detachably attached to the storage medium mounting unit 204, and a program and image data recorded on the storage medium 210 are read and stored in the HDD 208. The storage medium mounting unit 204 can also write programs and image data stored in the HDD 208 into the storage medium 210. The storage medium 210 need not be the same as the storage medium 118 of FIG. 2, but is similarly an SD memory card or the like.

  The input device 207 is a keyboard, a touch pad (mouse), or the like, and accepts various operation instructions from the user of the PC 200. The display control unit 205 displays a window, a document, a frame, a character string, an image, a form, a link, and the like on a display 209 such as a liquid crystal with a predetermined resolution and number of colors based on screen information instructed by the program.

  The HDD 208 may be a nonvolatile memory such as an SSD (Flash Solid State Drive), and stores programs and image data. A program executed by the PC 200 is browser software (hereinafter referred to as a Web browser) for communicating with the image forming apparatus 100. The image data may be generated by a general purpose or dedicated application installed in the PC 200, or may be copied to the HDD 208 via the storage medium 118 or the network.

  The communication device 206 is an interface (for example, Ethernet (registered trademark) card) for connecting to a network 400 such as the Internet, and communicates with the PC 200 according to a protocol (physical layer, data link layer, network layer) below IP. .

  The Web browser communicates with the image forming apparatus 100 by providing processing (for example, calling a socket, encapsulating data, etc.) necessary for a protocol higher than TCP according to HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) or HTTPS (HTTP Security). To do.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an output instruction input screen 401 displayed on the Web browser of the PC 200. The user of the PC 200 starts up a Web browser and inputs the URL or IP address of the image forming apparatus 100 in the address field. When the Web browser accesses the image forming apparatus 100, the server function of the image forming apparatus 100 transmits the HTML file of the output instruction input screen 401 to the PC 200. The Web browser analyzes the HTML file and displays the output instruction input screen 401 shown in FIG.

  The output instruction input screen 401 includes a “print” button 403, a “send” button 404, a “print + send” button 405, an “email” button 406, a “print + email” button 407, a “send + email” button 408, And a “print + send + e-mail” button 409. Hereinafter, when these buttons are not distinguished, they are referred to as “operation mode” buttons 402.

  An “operation mode” button 402 including “print” is a button for the web browser to accept printing of image data, and an “operation mode” button 402 including “transmission” is for the web browser to transmit image data by FAX. An “operation mode” button 402 that is a reception button and includes “E-mail” is a button for the Web browser to receive e-mail transmission of image data.

  Therefore, when the user presses any one of the “print + send” button 405, the “print + email” button 407, the “send + email” button 408, or the “print + send + email” button 409, the user Multiple output means can be specified at once.

  The output instruction input screen 401 includes an image data designation field 410, a name input field 411, and a “reference” button 412. When the user presses a “reference” button 412 displayed on the web browser, the web browser analyzes the JavaScript (registered trademark) described in the HTML file. Since the code for displaying the file selection dialog 421 is described in JavaScript (registered trademark), the file selection dialog 421 is displayed.

  The user can specify a file of image data stored in the PC 200 or the storage medium 210 from the file selection dialog 421 and input it to the file name column 422. The image data file selected here is uploaded to the image forming apparatus 100 as a conversion target file. The figure shows a case where the “test.tiff” file stored in the PC 200 is selected. When the user presses the “Open” button 423 of the file selection dialog 421, the output instruction input screen 401 becomes active again. In the image data designation field 410, the file name of the image data including the path is displayed.

  In the name input field 411 of the output instruction input screen 401, the user can input “name” for each selected file. The name specified here is used as the file name attached when sending a job log or mail. That is, the user can name the image data separately from the file name in the image data designation field 410. In the figure, the name “transmission document” is entered.

  In the illustrated output instruction input screen 401, the user can specify a plurality of image data. Therefore, the output instruction input screen 401 includes a plurality of image data specification sections 413 that include an image data specification field 410, a name input field 411, and a “reference” button 412. When the user transmits a plurality of image data, the plurality of image data is uploaded to the image forming apparatus 100 at a time.

  The output conditions will be described. When the user selects one of the “operation mode” buttons 402 after selecting a file, the Web browser displays a window (output condition input screen 431) for inputting an output condition on the display 209. The Web browser analyzes the description of JavaScript (registered trademark) linked to the “operation mode” button 402 and displays the output condition input screen 431.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the output condition input screen 431. In the conversion target file column 432 and the file name column 433, the values input on the output instruction input screen 401 are input as they are. When a plurality of “conversion target files” and “file names” are selected on the output instruction input screen 401, a plurality of “conversion target files” and “file names” are also displayed. Therefore, the output condition can be common to each image data. In this case, a plurality of image data can be output by setting the output condition once. Further, the output condition may be changed for each image data. In this case, a plurality of image data can be output under various output conditions.

  In the output instruction input screen 401, the “operation mode” button 402 including “printing” is linked with a description of JavaScript (registered trademark) displaying the input form 435 of “printing conditions”, and includes “send”. A description of Javascript (registered trademark) for displaying an input form 436 of “FAX transmission conditions” is linked to the “operation mode” button 402, and “operation mode” button 402 including “E-mail” is linked to “ A description of JavaScript (registered trademark) that displays an input form 437 of “e-mail transmission condition” is linked. Accordingly, the “print condition” input form 435, the “FAX transmission condition” input form 436, and the “email transmission condition” input form 437 on the output condition input screen 431 are “operation mode” buttons pressed by the user. It becomes selectively valid according to 402 (there may be an input form that cannot be input or displayed depending on the “operation mode” button 402 pressed by the user).

  For example, in the “print condition” input form 435, the conditions “number of copies”, “staple”, and “double-sided” can be input. These are merely examples of “printing conditions”. The HTML file of the output condition input screen 431 transmitted from the image forming apparatus 100 to the PC 200 includes print conditions that can be set in printing of the image forming apparatus 100. Therefore, the user can select all the printing conditions that can be set by the image forming apparatus 100 via the HTML file. In general, printing conditions are selected from printer drivers installed in the PC 200, but in this embodiment, printing conditions can be selected without a printer driver.

  Since the correct input format is displayed on the right side of the input forms 435, 436, and 437, the user can input each output condition correctly according to the input format. As shown in the figure, the user may use a selection formula selected by the user from a pull-down menu instead of inputting the input forms 435, 436, and 437 using the input device 207.

  The Web browser performs input check (whether the input format is correct) of each input form 435, 436, 437 based on the description of JavaScript (registered trademark) in the HTML file of the HTML file on the output condition input screen 431. Each output condition is accepted.

  When the correct output conditions are set in the input forms 435, 436, and 437 and the user presses the “execute” button 434, the Web browser transmits the image data and the output conditions to the image forming apparatus 100.

  FIG. 6 is an example of a diagram for schematically explaining image data transmitted from the PC 200 to the image forming apparatus 100 and output conditions. The “conversion target file” in FIG. 6 means image data. The other output conditions are “file name”, “print”, “fax transmission”, and “mail transmission”. As the “printing condition” input by the user from the output condition input screen 431, “number of copies: 5”, “staple: upper left”, “double-sided: yes” is set as “FAX transmission condition”, “destination: 03-1234-5678”, “destination” : 042-123-4567 ”,“ Destination: abc@def.co.jp ”,“ Destination: abc@efg.co.jp ”, and“ Format: TIFF ”are registered as“ E-mail transmission conditions ”.

  Therefore, FIG. 6 shows an example of output conditions when the “print + send + email” button 409 is pressed on the output instruction input screen 401. The “conversion target file” and “file name” in FIG. 6 are the same as “test.tiff” and “transmission document” set in the output instruction input screen 401, respectively.

  Note that “format: TIFF” in the email transmission condition is a format used when the image forming apparatus 100 attaches image data to two destination emails. The format type that can be specified by the user at the time of e-mail transmission is “TIFF / PDF / JPEG / no conversion” as shown in the output condition input screen 431. Therefore, “format: XX” of the e-mail transmission condition is It means to convert to the format of “XX”. Therefore, if the user wants to attach the image data uploaded by the user to the email as it is, by selecting “format: no conversion”, an arbitrary file (for example, a word profile) that is not limited to the image data is attached to the email. You can also.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of a functional block diagram of the image forming apparatus 100. The image forming apparatus 100 includes a request control unit 11, an output control unit 12, a format conversion unit 14, an initial setting storage unit 13, a file storage unit 15, and an output unit 16.

  The request control unit 11 receives the output condition and the conversion target file (image data) from the PC 200, stores the image data in the file storage unit 15, and sends the output condition and the storage destination of the image data to the output control unit 12. Further, the request control unit 11 notifies the PC 200 of a change in the state of the image forming apparatus 100 (for example, progress status, error status, etc. of each output unit 16). When the request control means 11 is notified from the output control means 12 that all the output means 16 designated for one image data have been output, the request control means 11 notifies the PC 200 of the output result. If there are other received output conditions and image data, the request control means 11 sends an output instruction to the output control means 12.

  The format conversion unit 14 converts the format of the image data stored in the file storage unit 15 into another format. The conversion will be described later.

  The file storage unit 15 stores the original format image data received by the request control unit 11 from the PC 200 and the format image data converted by the format conversion unit 14. The file storage unit 15 has, for example, the HDD 106 as a substance.

  The output unit 16 includes a printing unit 21, a FAX transmission unit 22, and an email transmission unit 23. These output means 16 are realized by cooperation of hardware and software. For example, the printing means 21 corresponds to a print application, firmware (not shown) and the engine unit 115, and the FAX transmission means 22 corresponds to a FAX application. The firmware and FCU 114 (not shown) correspond, and the email transmission means 23 corresponds to the email application, firmware (not shown), and NIC 109.

  The printing unit 21 reads the image data after format conversion from the file storage unit 15 and executes printing. The FAX 22 transmission means reads out the image data after format conversion from the file storage means 15 and sends it to the destination by FAX, and the E-mail transmission means 23 reads out the image data after format conversion from the file storage means 15 and attaches it to the email. Send.

  The output control means 12 controls each output means 16 in accordance with the output conditions, and causes the image data after format conversion to be printed, sent by FAX, and sent by e-mail. The output control unit 12 determines whether or not the format conversion of the image data is necessary according to the output condition, and requests the format conversion unit 14 to convert the format. The output control means 12 receives notification of the image data whose format has been completed from the format conversion means 14 and instructs each output means 16 to output.

  The initial setting storage unit 13 stores initial values of various parameters that define the operation of the image forming apparatus 100. The initial setting value is the operation of the image forming apparatus 100 when the image data received from the PC 200 cannot be converted into a format corresponding to the output unit 16. For example, when the format of the image data received from the PC 200 can be converted only for one or two of the three output units 16, the image forming apparatus 100 executes and outputs only the possible format conversion. In addition, the user can be inquired whether the image forming apparatus 100 executes and outputs only possible format conversion. The former setting is “automatic continuation”.

  Therefore, when “automatic continuation” is set in the initial setting storage unit 13, the image forming apparatus 100 determines whether the format of the image data received from the PC 200 can be converted for each output unit 16, and conversion is possible. If there is at least one output means 16, the format of the image data is converted and output for the output means 16. When “automatic continuation” is not set in the initial setting storage unit 13, the image forming apparatus 100 inquires of the user whether to continue the output, and can be converted only when an operation for continuing the output is received from the user. The format of the image data is converted and output for the output means 16.

  The printing unit 21, the FAX transmission unit 22, and the e-mail transmission unit 23 are examples of the output unit 16, and may include a media transmission unit and a folder transmission unit. The media transmission unit is a unit that transmits image data to a predetermined server, and the folder transmission unit is a unit that stores the image data in a folder of the image forming apparatus 100.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the format conversion table. The format conversion table is stored as a parameter or table by the output control means 12.

  This format conversion table has “CMYK”, “PDL”, “JPEG”, “TIFF”, “PDF”, and “MH / MR / MMR” as formats on the input side and the output side, respectively. If the conversion is possible, “◯” is registered in the corresponding cell, and if the conversion is impossible, “X” is registered in the corresponding cell. The format on the input side is a format of image data when transmitted from the PC 200 to the image forming apparatus 100.

  For example, when the printing unit 21 is the output unit 16, the format conversion unit is used regardless of whether the format of the image data on the input side is “CMYK”, “PDL”, “JPEG”, “TIFF”, “PDF”, or “MH / MR / MMR”. 14 can be converted into any of “CMYK”, “PDL”, “JPEG”, “TIFF”, “PDF”, and “MH / MR / MMR”.

  When the e-mail transmission unit 23 is the output unit 16, if the format of the image data on the input side is “CMYK”, the format conversion unit 14 can convert it to “JPEG”. In the case of “PDL”, the format conversion means 14 cannot be converted. In the case of “JPEG”, the format conversion means 14 can be converted to “JPEG”. In the case of “TIFF”, the format conversion means 14 can be converted to “TIFF”. In the case of “PDF”, the format conversion means 14 can convert to “PDF”, and in the case of “MH / MR / MMR”, the format conversion means 14 can convert to “TIFF” and “PDF”.

  When the FAX transmission unit 22 is used as the output unit 16, if the format of the image data on the input side is “CMYK”, the format conversion unit 14 cannot convert it into “MH / MR / MMR”. In the case of “PDL”, the format conversion means 14 cannot convert to “MH / MR / MMR”, and in the case of “JPEG”, the format conversion means 14 cannot convert to “MH / MR / MMR”, and the “TIFF” In this case, the format converting means 14 can convert to “MH / MR / MMR”, and in the case of “PDF”, the format converting means 14 cannot convert to “MH / MR / MMR”, but in the case of “MH / MR / MMR”. The format conversion means 14 can convert to “MH / MR / MMR”.

  Accordingly, the output control unit 12 refers to the format conversion table and determines whether or not the format of the image data received from the PC 200 is to be converted into a format of image data that can be handled by the output unit 16. That is, the output control unit 12 extracts the output unit 16 from the output condition, and checks whether or not the format of the image data before the format conversion can be converted into the format of the image data handled by the output unit 16 by referring to the format conversion table. Determine.

  When the format of the image data (test.tiff) is “TIFF” and the output unit 16 is the printing unit 21, FAX transmission unit 22, and e-mail transmission unit 23 as in the above output conditions, the input “TIFF” The cell corresponding to the “CMYK” format of the printing means 21 is “◯”, so the output control means 12 determines that the printing means 21 can convert to the “CMYK” format.

  Since the cell corresponding to the input “TIFF” format and the “MH / MR / MMR” format of the FAX transmission means 22 is “◯”, the output control means 12 sends “MH / MR / MMR” to the FAX transmission means 22. It is determined that the format can be converted.

  Since the cell corresponding to the input “TIFF” format and the “TIFF” format of the e-mail transmission means 23 is “◯”, the output control means 12 can convert the e-mail transmission means 23 into the “TIFF” format. Is determined. In this way, when the format of the image data on the input side and the output side is the same, there is no need for conversion, so the output control means 12 does not actually determine whether or not conversion is possible.

  Further, the output control means 12 notifies the format conversion means 14 of the converted format for each output means 16.

  FIG. 9 is an example of a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the output control unit 12 controls the output unit 16 based on the format conversion table and the output conditions. The flowchart of FIG. 9 starts when the image forming apparatus (request control unit 11) 100 receives image data and output conditions from the PC 200. The request control unit 11 stores the image data received from the PC 200 in the file storage unit 15.

  First, the output control unit 12 determines whether or not the format of the received image data can be converted into the format of image data handled by all the output units 16 specified in the output condition (S1). That is, the output control unit 12 specifies the conversion destination output unit 16 based on the output condition, and indicates whether or not the format of the received image data can be converted into the format of the image data handled by the output unit 16. To determine for each output means 16.

  FIG. 10 is an example of a flowchart illustrating an aspect in which the output control unit 12 determines whether or not to convert the format. The output control means 12 determines whether or not the format of the image data received from the PC 200 is different from the format of the image data handled by the specified output means 16 (S2010).

  If the format of the received image data and the format of the image data handled by the identified output means 16 are the same (No in S2010), the format conversion means 14 does not need to convert, so the output control means 12 converts the format. do not do. Thereby, if format conversion is unnecessary, conversion can be omitted.

  If the format of the received image data is different from the format of the image data handled by the specified output means 16 (Yes in S2010), the output control means 12 determines that the format is to be converted because the format conversion means 14 needs to convert it. (S2020).

  Returning to FIG. 9, when conversion to the image data format handled by all output means 16 is possible (Yes in S <b> 1), the output control means 12 controls the output for each output means 16 (S <b> 7 to 9). Processing in steps S7 to S9 will be described with reference to a sequence diagram.

  If conversion to the image data format handled by all the output means 16 is not possible (No in S1), whether the output control means 12 can be converted to the image data format handled by some (one or more) output means 16 Is determined (S2).

  If conversion to the image data format handled by some of the output means 16 is not possible (No in S2), the image data received from the PC 200 cannot be converted at all (cannot be output). The request control unit 11 is requested to notify the user that the image data received from the PC 200 is in an unacceptable format (S3).

  The request control means 11 transmits an HTML file including a message “The format of this image data (test.tiif) cannot be converted” to the PC 200. Thus, the user can take appropriate measures such as selecting another image data or converting the image data into another format and transmitting it.

  Further, the process of the output control unit 12 proceeds to step S9, and the output control unit 12 deletes the received image data stored in the file storage unit 15 (S9).

  If the image data can be converted into the format of image data handled by some output means 16 (Yes in S2), the output control means 12 refers to the initial setting storage means 13 to determine whether or not “automatic continuation” is set. (S4). When “automatic continuation” is set in the initial setting storage means 13 (Yes in S4), only the output means 16 capable of outputting needs to output, so the output control means 12 outputs the output for each output means 16. Control (S7-9). As a result, it is possible to prevent all the outputs from being stopped because some of the output means 16 cannot execute the output. Further, it is possible to omit the process of continuously confirming to the user.

  When “automatic continuation” is not set in the initial setting storage unit 13 (No in S4), it is necessary to inquire the user whether or not to output only to the output unit 16 capable of output. Then, the request control means 11 is requested to inquire the user whether or not only the output possible output means 16 is to output (S5).

  The request control means 11 says, “This image data (test.tiif) can be converted into a format for printing and an e-mail format, but cannot be converted into a format for FAX transmission. Only printing and e-mail transmission Send an HTML file containing the message “Please select yes or no”, “Yes” button and “No” button to the PC 200. Accordingly, the user selects “Yes” or “No”, and transmits the selection result accepted by the Web browser to the image forming apparatus 100. If the selection result is “Yes”, the user has transmitted an output continuation request.

  The output control means 12 determines whether a continuation request has been received from the user (S6).

  When the request control means 11 receives a continuation request from the user (Yes in S6), the user wants to output only the output means 16 that can output, so the output control means 12 is provided for each output means 16. The output is controlled (S7-9). Accordingly, it is possible to prevent all outputs from being stopped due to the inability to execute some output means, and the user confirms that some output (for example, only printing and email transmission) is executed. Can do.

  If the request control means 11 does not receive a continuation request from the user (No in S6), the user does not want to output only the output means 16 that can output, so the processing of the output control means 12 proceeds to step S9. The output control unit 12 deletes the received image data stored in the file storage unit 15 (S9). By canceling all the output processes, it is possible to prevent a result that is not intended by the user from executing only a part of the output.

  Based on FIG. 11, a procedure until the PC 200 outputs image data using the image forming apparatus 100 will be described. FIG. 11 is an example of a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure for requesting the image forming apparatus 100 to output image data from the PC 200.

  The user starts up a Web browser, selects image data from the output instruction input screen 401, and inputs output conditions from the output condition input screen 431. When the user presses the “execute” button 434, the Web browser transmits an output request to the image forming apparatus 100 (S10). The output request includes an output condition and image data. The request control unit 11 receives the output condition and the image data. The output conditions and image data are as shown in FIG.

  The request control unit 11 stores the image data before format conversion in the file storage unit 15 (S20).

  Next, when the image data is stored in the file storage unit 15, the request control unit 11 notifies the output control unit 12 of the output condition and the storage destination (file path) of the stored image data (test.tiff) (S30).

  The following processing is executed for each output unit 16. The output control unit 12 determines whether the format of the image data received from the PC 200 can be converted for each output unit 16 and controls the output for each output unit 16.

  First, printing by the printing unit 21 will be described. However, the printing may be executed from the e-mail transmission by the e-mail transmission unit 23 or may be executed from the FAX transmission by the FAX transmission unit 22.

  The output control means 12 determines that printing by the printing means 21 is included from the output conditions. The output control means 12 refers to the format conversion table to determine whether or not the image data format (TIFF) can be converted into a print format (CMYK).

  The output control means 12 determines that the format of the image data (TIFF) can be converted into the format for printing, and the storage destination format (file path) of the conversion destination format (“CMYK” format) and the image data (test.tiff) ) Is notified to the format conversion means 14 (S40).

  The format conversion unit 14 refers to the storage location of the image data notified from the output control unit 12, and reads the image data from the file storage unit 15 (S50).

  When the image data is read, the format conversion unit 14 converts the image data in the “TIFF” format into the image data in the “CMYK” format for the printing unit 21 (S60).

  The format conversion unit 14 stores the image data after the format conversion in the file storage unit 15 (S70). When the format conversion unit 14 can normally convert the format and save the file in the file storage unit 15, the format conversion unit 14 notifies the output control unit 12 of the completion of the conversion and the storage destination (file path) of the image data after the format conversion ( S80). The processing in steps S50 to S80 corresponds to the processing in step S7 in FIG.

  Upon receiving the notification of conversion completion, the print control unit sends a print request to the printing unit 21 (S90). The print request includes the storage destination and print conditions of the image data after format conversion.

  The printing unit 21 reads out image data in the “CMYK” format from the file storage unit 15 based on the notified storage destination (S100). Then, the printing unit 21 sets printing conditions based on the printing conditions (number of copies: 5, staple: upper left both sides: yes), and executes printing (S110). When the series of printing processes is completed, the output unit 16 notifies the output control unit 12 of the completion of printing (S120). The processing in steps S90 to S120 corresponds to the processing in step S8 in FIG.

  When the output control unit 12 obtains the print completion notification, the output control unit 12 deletes image data in the “CMYK” format that is no longer necessary and is stored in the storage destination of the file storage unit 15 (S130). The process of step S130 corresponds to the process of step S9 in FIG.

  This completes the process of converting the format of the image data received by the image forming apparatus 100 from the PC 200 and printing by the printing unit 21.

Next, a procedure up to FAX transmission by the FAX transmission unit 22 will be described with reference to FIG.
The output control means 12 determines that transmission by the FAX transmission means 22 is included from the output conditions. The output control means 12 refers to the format conversion table to determine whether or not the image data format (TIFF) can be converted into a FAX transmission format (MH / MR / MMR). The output control unit 12 determines that the format of the image data (TIFF) can be converted into the format (MH / MR / MMR) for the FAX transmission unit 22, and the conversion destination format ("MH / MR / MMR" format) And the storage location (file path) of the image data (test.tiff) is notified to the format conversion means 14 (S240).

  The format conversion unit 14 refers to the storage location of the image data notified from the output control unit 12, and reads the image data from the file storage unit 15 (S250).

  When the image data is read, the format conversion unit 14 converts the image data in the “TIFF” format into the image data in the “MH / MR / MMR” format for the FAX transmission unit 22 (S260).

  The format conversion unit 14 stores the image data after the format conversion in the file storage unit 15 (S270). When the format conversion unit 14 can normally convert the format and save the file in the file storage unit 15, the format conversion unit 14 notifies the output control unit 12 of the completion of the conversion and the storage destination (file path) of the image data after the format conversion ( S280).

  The output control means 12 receives the notification of conversion completion and sends a FAX transmission request to the FAX transmission means 22 (S290). The FAX transmission request includes a storage destination of image data after format conversion and FAX transmission conditions.

  The FAX transmission unit 22 reads the image data in the “MH / MR / MMR” format from the “file storage unit 15” based on the notified storage destination (S300). Then, the FAX transmission unit 22 sets a destination based on the FAX transmission conditions (destination: 03-1234-5678, destination: 042-1123-4567), and transmits a FAX to each destination (S310).

  When the series of FAX transmission processing is completed, the FAX transmission unit 22 notifies the output control unit 12 of the completion of FAX transmission (S320).

  Upon receiving the FAX transmission completion notification, the output control unit 12 deletes the unnecessary “MH / MR / MMR” format image data stored in the storage destination of the file storage unit 15 (S330).

  Thus, the process of converting the format of the image data received by the image forming apparatus 100 from the PC 200 and the FAX transmission unit 22 performing FAX transmission is completed.

  Next, the procedure up to e-mail transmission by the e-mail transmission means 23 will be described.

The output control means 12 determines that transmission by the e-mail transmission means 23 is included from the output conditions. The output control means 12 determines whether format conversion is necessary based on the e-mail transmission conditions.
FIG. 13 is an example of a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the output control unit 12 switches processing with reference to the email transmission condition.

  As described above, the e-mail transmission condition includes “format”. Either “TIFF JPEG PDF conversion not possible” can be set in “format”, but in the case of “no conversion”, the output control means 12 does not need to convert the format.

  Accordingly, the output control means 12 determines whether or not the “format” of the email transmission condition is “no conversion” (S1010). When the “format” is “no conversion” (Yes in S1010), the output control unit 12 determines that the format conversion is possible without referring to the format conversion table (S1020). As a result, it is possible to send image data in any format without depending on the “format conversion table”.

  When the “format” is not “no conversion” (No in S1010), the output control unit 12 refers to the format conversion table and determines whether the image data received from the PC 200 can be converted (S1030).

  Returning to FIG. 12, since the e-mail transmission condition is “format: TIFF” and the format of the image data before format conversion is “TIFF”, the output control means 12 converts the format of the image data (TIFF). Judge that there is no need to do.

  For this reason, the output control means 12 sends an e-mail transmission request to the e-mail transmission means 23 without requesting the format conversion means 14 to return the format (S490). The e-mail transmission request includes the storage destination and output conditions of the image data before format conversion.

  The e-mail transmission unit 23 reads the image data in the TIFF format from the “file storage unit 15” based on the notified storage destination (S500). Then, the e-mail transmission means 23 sets a destination based on the e-mail transmission condition (destination: abc@def.co.jp, destination: abc@efg.co.jp) included in the output condition, and sets the E for each destination. A mail is transmitted (S510).

  The e-mail transmission unit 23 notifies the output control unit 12 of the completion of e-mail transmission when a series of e-mail transmission processes is completed (S520).

  When the output control means 12 receives the e-mail transmission completion notification, the output control means 12 deletes the unnecessary TIFF format image data stored in the storage destination of the file storage means 15 (S530).

  Since the TIFF format image data transmitted by the e-mail transmission unit 23 is image data received from the PC 200, the output control unit 12 does not prevent the output control unit 12 from executing TIFF format image data even if the e-mail transmission is completed before printing or FAX transmission is completed. Do not delete If the output control means 12 deletes the image data in the TIFF format, depending on the timing, the image data may be deleted before the conversion to the “CMYK” format or before the conversion to the “MH / MR / MMR” format. It is. That is, when the output control unit 12 acquires the print completion notification from the printing unit 21 and the FAX transmission completion notification from the FAX transmission unit 22, the output control unit 12 deletes the image data before format conversion. When the output control unit 12 receives the mail transmission completion notification and determines that all the outputs have been completed, the output control unit 12 deletes the TIFF format image data received from the PC 200 from the file storage unit 15.

  As described above, the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present exemplary embodiment can receive requests for printing, e-mail transmission, and FAX transmission at a time from the PC 200 and execute the respective outputs. Since the PC 200 does not require a dedicated application such as a printer driver, the image forming apparatus 100 can output only by updating the image data file to the image forming apparatus 100.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Request control means 12 Output control means 13 Initial setting preservation | save means 14 Format conversion means 15 File preservation means 16 Output means 21 Printing means 22 FAX transmission means 23 E-mail transmission means 100 Image forming apparatus 200 PC (personal computer)
300 output system

JP 2002-351537 A

Claims (11)

An image forming apparatus capable of outputting image data from a plurality of output means,
Receiving means for communicating with a device via a network and receiving the input image data and the output condition of the input image data specifying two or more output means from the device;
Image data storage means for storing the input image data;
Format conversion means for converting the format of the input image data into output image data for each output means and storing the output image data in the image data storage means;
An output control unit that refers to the output condition, and causes at least two of a printing unit, a fax transmission unit, or an e-mail transmission unit to output the output image data;
An image forming apparatus comprising: A format conversion table that registers whether the format of the input image data can be converted into the format of the output image data that can be output by the output means;
The output control means refers to the format conversion table to determine whether or not the input image data can be converted into the format of the output image data.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. Initial setting storage means in which a processing procedure is registered when the input image data cannot be converted into the output image data format;
When the output control means determines that the input image data cannot be converted into the output image data format for some of the output means, the input image data is output for the output based on the processing procedure. Only the output means determined to be able to convert to the image data format executes the output of the output image data.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 2. Initial setting storage means in which a processing procedure is registered when the input image data cannot be converted into the output image data format;
When the output control unit determines that the input image data cannot be converted into the format of the output image data for some of the output units, the input image data is sent to the user based on the processing procedure. Queries whether or not to execute the output of the output image data only for the output means that can be converted into the format of the output image data.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 2. When the output control means receives a request from the user not to execute the output of the output image data only for the output means that can convert the input image data into the output image data format,
Do not cause all the output means to output the output image data;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4. When the output control unit determines that the input image data cannot be converted into the format of the output image data for all the output units,
Notifying the user that the input image data is in a format that cannot be output.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. If it is registered in the output condition that no format change is required,
The output control means determines that the input image data can be converted into the format of the output image data without referring to the format conversion table, and executes the output of the input image data to the output means Let
The image forming apparatus according to claim 2. When the output control means refers to the format conversion table and determines that the format of the input image data and the output image data are the same,
Omitting format conversion by the format conversion means;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 2. An output system in which a device and an image forming apparatus are connected via a network,
The equipment is
Transmitting means for transmitting the input image data and the output conditions of the input image data specifying two or more output means to the image forming apparatus,
The image forming apparatus includes:
Receiving means for receiving the input image data and the output condition from the device;
Image data storage means for storing the input image data;
Format conversion means for converting the format of the input image data into output image data for each output means and storing the output image data in the image data storage means;
An output control unit that refers to the output condition, and causes at least two of a printing unit, a fax transmission unit, or an e-mail transmission unit to output the output image data;
An output system characterized by comprising: An image forming apparatus output method capable of outputting image data from a plurality of output means,
Receiving means communicates with a device via a network and receives the input image data and the output condition of the input image data specifying two or more output means from the device;
An image data storage means for storing the input image data;
A format conversion unit that converts the format of the input image data into output image data for each output unit and stores the output image data in the image data storage unit;
An output control unit, referring to the output condition, causing at least two of the printing unit, the fax transmission unit, or the email transmission unit to output the output image data;
An output method comprising: An image forming apparatus capable of outputting image data from a plurality of output means,
Receiving means for communicating with a device via a network and receiving the input image data and the output condition of the input image data specifying two or more output means from the device;
Image data storage means for storing the input image data;
Format conversion means for converting the format of the input image data into output image data for each output means and storing the output image data in the image data storage means;
An output control unit that refers to the output condition, and causes at least two of a printing unit, a fax transmission unit, or an e-mail transmission unit to output the output image data;
Program to function as.

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