JP2012253697A - Image processing system and job execution method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inform a user of a charging amount in a stage before one or more processing is performed.SOLUTION: MFP includes: a reference data acquiring section for acquiring reference data including a unit of data for calculating the charging amount and a processing content from a plurality of servers; a processing detecting section for detecting a group of a depending processing in which the charging amount is reduced before and after the specified processing is performed in one or more selected processing and the specified processing on the basis of the reference data of the plurality of servers; and a specified processing prioritizing section for determining an order in which the order of the specified processing is made prior to the order of the depending processing in the detected group. The MFP also includes a charging amount determining section for determining the charging amount of the one or more selected processing from the plurality of processing in a stage where the unit amount of data is acquired after the server setting the specified processing as a charging processing performs the specified processing among the plurality of servers.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing system and a job execution method, and more particularly to an image processing system and a job execution method having a function of executing a process for a plurality of jobs collectively.

  In recent years, a process that cannot be executed by a multifunction peripheral (hereinafter referred to as “MFP”) can be executed by using a service provided by an external server, for example, SaaS (Software as a Service). On the other hand, some external servers provide services for a fee, and are charged for using the services. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-67832 (Patent Document 1) stores in advance information for determining a mode selected by a user and a charge amount, and calculates the charge amount before image formation. Is disclosed. Further, the MFP can execute a workflow that combines a plurality of processes, and can cause a plurality of external servers to execute a plurality of processes. For example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-289500 (Patent Document 2) discloses a method for realizing an image processing function by combining a plurality of external services.

However, when a plurality of processes are combined, there are processes that can be executed only after a certain process is executed, and in order to determine a charge amount for a process executed later before and after a certain process is executed The unit amount may vary. For example, in order to execute the process of translating, it is a condition that character information is input. However, when the input data is an image, the image is converted to an OCR (optical character) before executing the translation process. Recognition) needs to be processed. In addition, when the unit for calculating the charge amount of the processing for sharpening the image is the area of the image, the processing for sharpening the image because the area of the image fluctuates before and after the processing for reducing the image is performed. The unit amount for calculating the billing amount changes. For this reason, in a workflow in which a plurality of processes are executed by an external server, there is a problem that the charge amount cannot be determined unless all of the plurality of processes are executed.
JP 2003-67832 A JP 2004-289500 A

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and one of the objects of the present invention is to notify the user of the charge amount before one or more processes selected by the user are executed. An image processing system is provided.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide an image processing method capable of notifying a user of a charge amount before one or more processes selected by the user are executed. It is to be.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, according to one aspect of the present invention, an image processing system includes a plurality of image processing apparatuses each capable of executing a responsible process selected from a plurality of processes, and a plurality of images. An image processing system including a control device capable of communicating with the processing device, wherein the control device charges the execution of the assigned process by the plurality of image processing devices, and each of the plurality of image processing devices Reference data acquisition means for acquiring reference data including a data unit for calculating a charge amount for execution of responsible processing by the image processing apparatus, and processing contents of the responsible processing by the image processing apparatus, and data to be processed A data accepting means for accepting, a process selecting means for selecting one or more processes from among a plurality of processes as a process to be executed on the accepted data, and a plurality of images A process detection means for detecting a combination of a dependent process and a specific process, the charge amount of which is reduced before and after the specific process is executed among the one or more selected processes based on the reference data of each of the physical devices; Specific processing priority means for determining the order in which the one or more processes performed are performed and the order of the specific processes in the detected set is made before the order of the dependent processes, and the one or more selected processes And a service configuration information generating means for generating service configuration information that defines the determined order, and each of the plurality of image processing devices performs a preceding process determined by the service configuration information among the plurality of image processing devices. In response to receiving the processed data from the image processing apparatus to be in charge of processing, processing execution means for executing the in charge processing on the received data and the charge amount for the data to be processed are calculated. The service configuration information transmitting means for transmitting the service configuration information to the image processing apparatus whose subsequent processing is determined by the service configuration information among the plurality of image processing devices, and the processing that has performed the processing in charge Billing means provided in the control device includes billing basic information transmitting means for transmitting billing basic information including a unit amount of the later data together with service configuration information, and billing amount calculating means for calculating a billing amount for the processing in charge. One or more processes selected from the plurality of processes at the stage when the unit amount of the data after the image processing apparatus in charge of the specific process among the plurality of image processing apparatuses executes the specific process is acquired Charge amount determining means for determining the charge amount of

  According to this aspect, the control apparatus and the dependent process in which the charge amount is reduced before and after the specific process is executed among the one or more selected processes based on the reference data of each of the plurality of image processing apparatuses. A combination with the processing is detected, an order in which the order of the specific processing is preceded by the order of the dependent processing in the detected pair is determined, and an image processing device that is in charge of the specific processing among the plurality of image processing devices is specified At the stage when the unit amount of the data after executing the process is acquired, the charge amount of one or more processes selected from the plurality of processes is determined. Therefore, it is possible to provide an image processing system capable of notifying the user of the charge amount before one or more processes selected by the user are executed.

  Preferably, the process detection unit includes a first specific process detection unit that detects, as the specific process, a process in which the value of the document surface or the document area differs before and after the process is executed.

  According to this aspect, since the process of changing the value of the document surface or the document area of the data is detected as the specific process, the order is determined before the process using the document surface or the document area as a unit for calculating the charge amount. Can be determined in the order that the billing amount is reduced.

  Preferably, the process detection unit includes a second specific process detection unit that detects, as the specific process, a process in which the value of the number of characters of data differs before and after the process is executed.

  According to this aspect, since the process of changing the number of characters in the data is detected as the specific process, the order can be determined before the process using the number of characters as a unit for calculating the charge amount, and the charge amount is accurately calculated. be able to.

  Preferably, the specifying process includes a first specifying process in which the value of the document surface or the document area of the data is different before and after executing the process, and a second specifying process in which the value of the number of characters of the data is different before and after executing the process. In addition, the specific process priority unit determines an order in which the order of the first specific process precedes the order of the second specific process.

  According to this aspect, since the order of the first specifying process for changing the document surface or the document area is made before the order of the second specifying process for changing the number of characters, the data after the document surface or the document area is changed The second specifying process is executed for the above. For this reason, since the data amount of a 2nd specific process can be decreased, a some process can be performed efficiently.

  Preferably, the charging basic information transmitting means included in each of the plurality of image processing apparatuses includes a control apparatus transmitting means that transmits charging basic information to the control apparatus when the assigned process is a specific process, and the charging means included in the control apparatus includes Further, basic information receiving means for receiving charging basic information from the image processing apparatus that is in charge of the specific processing is further included. Since the basic charging information is received from the image processing apparatus that is in charge of the specific processing, the charging amount can be calculated at an early stage. It is possible to charge before the processing is executed by the image processing apparatus that is in charge of processing after the specific processing.

  Preferably, the service configuration information transmitting unit transmits service configuration information including the billing amount calculated by the billing amount calculating unit, and the billing amount determining unit includes the last processing order in the service configuration information among the plurality of image processing apparatuses. The service configuration information is received from the image processing apparatus whose responsible process is the process set in (1).

  Preferably, each of the plurality of image processing apparatuses further includes post-processing charge amount determination means for calculating a charge amount of each of all processes after the specific process when the assigned process is the specific process, and the service configuration information transmission means When the process in charge is a specific process, the service configuration information including the billing amount calculated by the post-processing billing amount determination unit is transmitted to the control device, and the billing amount determination unit includes the service configuration among the plurality of image processing devices. In the information, service configuration information is received from an image processing apparatus whose specific process is a charge process.

  The control device further includes a billing amount display unit that displays a billing amount for each of the selected one or more processes in response to the billing amount being determined by the billing amount determination unit.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, an image processing method includes a plurality of image processing apparatuses each capable of executing a responsible process selected from a plurality of processes, and a control apparatus capable of communicating with the plurality of image processing apparatuses. And a charge step for charging the control device for execution of responsible processing by the plurality of image processing devices, and responsible processing by the image processing device from each of the plurality of image processing devices. Acquiring reference data including a unit of data for calculating a charge amount for execution of the image, and processing contents of the processing in charge by the image processing apparatus; receiving data to be processed; and receiving data A step of selecting one or more processes from among a plurality of processes as a process to be executed, and one selected based on reference data of each of the plurality of image processing apparatuses Among the above processes, a step of detecting a combination of a dependency process and a specific process in which the charge amount decreases before and after the specific process is executed, and an order in which one or more selected processes are executed. A step of determining an order in which the order of the specific processes is made before the order of the dependent processes in the set, and a step of generating service configuration information that defines the selected one or more processes and the determined order. In response to receiving the processed data from the image processing apparatus that is in charge of the preceding process determined by the service configuration information among the plurality of image processing apparatuses. A post-stage determined by service configuration information among a plurality of image processing devices, on the condition that a charge process is performed on the processed data and a charge amount for the data to be processed is calculated Transmitting service configuration information to an image processing apparatus that is in charge of processing, transmitting billing basic information including a unit amount of data after the execution of the processing in charge together with service configuration information, And a charging step executed by the control device is a unit amount of data after the image processing device having the specific process in charge among the plurality of image processing devices executes the specific processing. The method includes a step of determining a billing amount for one or more processes selected from the plurality of processes at the stage of obtaining.

  According to this aspect, it is possible to provide an image processing method capable of notifying the user of the charge amount before one or more processes selected by the user are executed.

1 is a diagram showing an overall outline of an image processing system in one embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of an MFP in the present embodiment. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of an MFP. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the server in this Embodiment. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of functions of a CPU provided in an MFP. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of a workflow production | generation screen. It is a figure which shows an example of service structure information. It is a 1st figure which shows an example of charging basic information. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the function of CPU with which a server is provided. It is a 2nd figure which shows an example of charging basic information. It is a figure which shows an example of a charge amount display screen. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of a workflow execution process. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of order determination processing. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of an accounting amount calculation process. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of a job execution process. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the function of CPU with which the server in 2nd Embodiment is provided. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example of functions of a CPU provided in an MFP according to a second embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the workflow execution process in 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the charge amount calculation process in 2nd Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the function of CPU with which the server in 3rd Embodiment is provided. It is a figure which shows an example of the service structure information in 3rd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the charge amount calculation process in 3rd Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. Their names and functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall outline of an image processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, an image processing system 1 includes five MFPs (hereinafter referred to as “MFPs”) 100, personal computers (hereinafter referred to as “PCs”) 300, and five connected to a network 102. Servers 200, 200A to 200D.

  The network 102 is a local area network (LAN), and may be wired or wireless. The network 102 is connected to the Internet via a gateway. The network 102 is not limited to a LAN, and may be a wide area network (WAN), the Internet, a network using a general public line, or the like, or a network connected by combining them.

  Each of the servers 200 and 200A to 200D functions as an image processing apparatus, and the MFP 100 functions as a control apparatus that controls the servers 200 and 200A to 200D. Servers 200 and 200A to 200D are general computers, and their hardware configurations are well known, and therefore description thereof will not be repeated here. The servers 200, 200A to 200D function as Web servers that can provide SaaS, and provide paid image processing services. The image processing service provided by the servers 200 and 200A to 200D is a form in which software functions operating on the servers 200 and 200A to 200D can be used online via the network 102. The types of image processing services provided by the servers 200, 200A to 200D may all be the same or different. Here, a case where the types of image processing services provided by the servers 200 and 200A to 200D are different from each other will be described as an example.

  Each of the servers 200, 200A to 200D has an image processing program installed therein, receives data from the outside, executes processing on the received data, and transfers post-processing data after executing image processing. Image processing is processing performed on input image data. For example, a background pattern synthesis process for combining background patterns, a blank page removal process for removing blank pages from a plurality of pages constituting image data, and character recognition ( Character recognition processing for converting into character data by OCR), translation processing for translating characters, color conversion processing for converting the color of the image area in the data, contour enhancement processing for enhancing the contour of the image area in the data Including a format conversion process for converting the format of the data.

  Here, the background pattern composition program for executing the background pattern composition process is installed in the server 200, the server 200 provides the background pattern composition service, and the server 200A is installed with the blank page removal program for executing the blank sheet removal process. The server 200A provides a blank page removal service, the server 200B has a translation program installed to execute the translation process, the translation service is provided, and the server 200C performs the character recognition process. A program is installed, the server 200C provides a character recognition service, and a format conversion program for executing a format conversion process is installed in the server 200D to provide a format conversion service.

  Image processing services provided by the servers 200, 200A to 200D are set to be usable in the MFP 100. The MFP 100 is set so that the image processing service provided by the servers 200 and 200A to 200D can be used. When MFP 100 uses an image processing service provided by each of servers 200, 200A to 200D, a fee is charged. Various charging methods are known, but the charging method is not limited.

  Hereinafter, processing executed by the servers 200, 200A to 200D to provide an image processing service is referred to as responsible processing. Specifically, the process in charge of the server 200 is a tint block synthesis process, the process in charge of the server 200A is a blank sheet removal process, the process in charge of the server 200B is a translation process, and the process in charge of the server 200C is an OCR process. The processing in charge of the server 200D is format conversion processing.

  Since the PC 300 is a general computer and its hardware configuration is well known, the description thereof will not be repeated here. The PC 300 can communicate with the MFP 100 via the network 102. In image processing system 1 in the present embodiment, a workflow is input to MFP 100 by a user. The workflow defines data to be processed, one or more processes selected from a plurality of processes for the data, and an order in which the one or more processes are executed. The plurality of processes are processes that can be executed by MFP 100, and provided by servers 200, 200A to 200D in addition to processes executed by executing a program installed in MFP 100, or processes executed by hardware. Image processing services. When a workflow is input, MFP 100 identifies a device that performs processing from among servers 200, 200A to 200D in the order determined by the input workflow, and the workflow and data to be processed are identified in the identified device. To execute image processing.

  Although FIG. 1 shows one MFP 100, one PC 300, and five servers 200, 200A to 200D, the number of these is not limited, and at least one MFP 100, Two or more servers 200 may be connected to the network 102 or the Internet.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an appearance of the MFP according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the MFP. 2 and 3, MFP 100 includes a main circuit 110, a document reading unit 130 for reading a document, an automatic document transport device 120 for transporting a document to document reading unit 130, and a document reading unit. An image forming unit 140 for forming a still image output by reading an original on the paper 130, a paper feeding unit 150 for supplying paper to the image forming unit 140, an operation panel 160 as a user interface, A coin vendor 170.

  The main circuit 110 includes a CPU 111, a communication interface (I / F) unit 112, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 113, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 114, an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable ROM) 115, and a large capacity. An external storage device 119 to which a hard disk drive (HDD) 116 as a storage device, a facsimile unit 117, a coin vendor communication unit 118 that controls the coin vendor 170, and a CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory) 119A are mounted. And including.

  CPU 111 is connected to automatic document feeder 120, document reading unit 130, image forming unit 140, sheet feeding unit 150, and operation panel 160, and controls the entire MFP 100. The ROM 113 stores a program executed by the CPU 111 and data necessary for executing the program. The RAM 114 is used as a work area when the CPU 111 executes a program. The RAM 114 temporarily stores still images continuously sent from the document reading unit 130.

  Operation panel 160 is provided on the upper surface of MFP 100 and includes a display unit 160A and an operation unit 160B. The display unit 160A is a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or an organic ELD (Electroluminescence Display), and displays an instruction menu for the user, information about acquired image data, and the like. The operation unit 160B includes a plurality of keys, and accepts input of various instructions, data such as characters and numbers by user operations corresponding to the keys. Operation unit 160B further includes a touch panel provided on display unit 160A.

  Communication I / F unit 112 is an interface for connecting MFP 100 to network 102. The CPU 111 communicates with the servers 200, 200A to 200D and the PC 300 via the communication I / F unit 112 to transmit / receive data. The communication I / F unit 112 communicates with a computer connected to the Internet via the network 102 to transmit / receive data.

  The facsimile unit 117 is connected to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) and transmits facsimile data to the PSTN or receives facsimile data from the PSTN. The facsimile unit 117 stores the received facsimile data in the HDD 116 or outputs it to the image forming unit 140. The image forming unit 140 prints the facsimile data received by the facsimile unit 117 on a sheet. Further, the facsimile unit 117 converts the data stored in the HDD 116 into facsimile data, and transmits the facsimile data to a facsimile apparatus connected to the PSTN.

  The coin vendor communication unit 118 is connected to the coin vendor 170 and is a communication interface for the CPU 111 to communicate with the coin vendor 170.

  The coin vendor 170 includes a coin insertion slot 172, a return button 173, a display unit 171, and a coin return slot 174. The coin vendor 170 accepts coins inserted into the coin insertion slot 172, calculates the remaining amount from the inserted coins, and displays the remaining amount on the display unit 171. In addition, the coin vendor 170 allows the MFP 100 to perform data processing according to the balance. In addition, when the return button 173 is pressed while the balance is remaining, the coin vendor 170 discharges the coins corresponding to the balance to the coin return slot 174.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the image processing service provided by the servers 200, 200A to 200D is used will be described by way of example in which charging is performed by the coin vendor 170. However, a charging server that manages charging is provided in the network 102. You may be connected and billed by a billing server. In this case, the coin vendor 170 is not necessary.

  The external storage device 119 is loaded with a CD-ROM 119A. The CPU 111 can access the CD-ROM 119A via the external storage device 119. The CPU 111 loads the program recorded on the CD-ROM 119A mounted on the external storage device 119 into the RAM 114 and executes it. Note that the program executed by the CPU 111 is not limited to the program recorded on the CD-ROM 119A, and the program stored in the HDD 116 may be loaded into the RAM 114 and executed. In this case, another computer connected to the network 102 may rewrite the program stored in the HDD 116 of the MFP 100 or may add a new program and write it. Further, MFP 100 may download a program from another computer connected to network 102 and store the program in HDD 116. The program here includes not only a program directly executable by the CPU 111 but also a source program, a compressed program, an encrypted program, and the like.

  Note that the medium for storing the program executed by the CPU 111 is not limited to the CD-ROM 119A, but an optical disc (MO (Magnetic Optical Disc / MD (Mini Disc) / DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)), IC card, optical card, mask It may be a semiconductor memory such as a ROM, an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), or an EEPROM (Electrically EPROM).

  The hardware configurations of the servers 200, 200A to 200D are the same. Here, the hardware configuration will be described using the server 200 as an example. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the server in the present embodiment. Referring to FIG. 4, each server 200 is connected to a bus 208, a CPU 201 for controlling the entire server 200, a ROM 202 for storing a program executed by the CPU 201, and a work area of the CPU 201. RAM 203 used, network I / F 204 for connecting server 200 to network 102, HDD 205 as a large-capacity storage device, display unit 206, operation unit 207 for accepting user operation input, and external storage device 209.

  The external storage device 209 is mounted with a CD-ROM (Compact Disc-ROM) 209A storing a program. The CPU 201 loads the program stored in the CD-ROM 209A via the external storage device 209 to the RAM 203 and executes it. The recording medium for storing the program is not limited to the CD-ROM 209A, but a semiconductor memory such as a flexible disk, a cassette tape, an optical disk (MO / MD / DVD), an IC card, an optical card, a mask ROM, an EPROM, and an EEPROM. But you can. Further, the program stored in the HDD 205 may be loaded into the RAM 203 and executed. In this case, the server 200 may download a program from another computer connected to the Internet and store the program in the HDD 205. The program here includes not only a program directly executable by the CPU 201 but also a source program, a compressed program, an encrypted program, and the like.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of functions of the CPU provided in the MFP. The functions shown in FIG. 5 are implemented when the CPU 111 provided in the MFP 100 executes a workflow execution program stored in the ROM 113, the EEPROM 115, the HDD 116, or the CD-ROM 119A.

  Referring to FIG. 5, CPU 111 includes a reference data acquisition unit 11 that acquires reference data from each of servers 200 and 200A to 200D, a reference data registration unit 13 that stores reference data, and data that receives data to be processed. The reception unit 15, the process selection unit 17 that selects one or more processes from among a plurality of processes to be executed on the received data, the workflow generation unit 31, and the execution of the selected one or more processes The order determination unit 19 that determines the order, the workflow generation unit 31, and a billing unit 41 that charges the executed processing are included.

  The reference data acquisition unit 11 acquires reference data from each of the servers 200 and 200A to 200D. The reference data includes a data unit for calculating a charge amount for execution of the responsible process, a unit price, and a process content of the responsible process. An administrator of the MFP 100 registers the image processing services provided by the servers 200, 200A to 200D in the MFP 100 so that the image processing services provided by the servers 200, 200A to 200D can be used in the MFP 100. When the administrator registers the image processing service, the reference data acquisition unit 11 requests the servers 200 and 200A to 200D to transmit the reference data, and receives the reference data returned in response to the request. , Get the reference data. The reference data acquisition unit 11 outputs the acquired reference data to the reference data registration unit 13. The reference data registration unit 13 stores the reference data input from the reference data acquisition unit 11 in the EEPROM 115 in association with device identification information for identifying a device that has transmitted the reference data.

  In the present embodiment, the reference data received from the server 200 whose processing in charge is “background pattern composition processing” includes “number of document surfaces” as a data unit, unit price “5 yen / sheet”, and processing contents. Includes “composite tint block on each of a plurality of pages included in data”. The reference data received from the server 200 </ b> A whose responsible process is “blank sheet removal process” includes “number of original pages”, unit price “10 yen / sheet” as the data unit, and “multiple pages included in the data” as the processing content. "Remove blank pages from". The reference data received from the server 200B whose responsible processing is “translation processing” includes “character” as a data unit, unit price “2 yen / character”, and “conversion of Japanese into English” as processing content. . The reference data received from the server 200C whose responsible process is “character recognition processing” is “character” as the data unit, unit price “1 yen / character”, and “conversion of characters in the image into text” as the processing content. "including. The reference data received from the server 200D whose processing in charge is “format conversion processing” includes “original area” as the data unit, unit price “10 yen / original area (A5)”, and “data format” as the processing content. Conversion.

  The data receiving unit 15 receives data to be processed in the workflow. The process selection unit 17 selects one or more processes constituting the workflow from a plurality of processes. When the user inputs a workflow generation instruction to the operation unit 160B, the CPU 111 displays a workflow generation screen on the display unit 160A. The workflow generation screen includes an area for designating data to be processed and an area for designating one or more processes constituting the workflow.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a workflow generation screen. Referring to FIG. 6, the workflow generation screen 301 includes an area 303 for designating a destination, an area 305 for designating processing contents, and an area 307 for designating data to be processed.

  In an area 303 for designating a destination, an output destination of data after executing a plurality of processes constituting the workflow is set. The output destination is information for specifying the method of outputting the processed data and the output destination. The output destination is referred to and set as the output destination by a device that takes charge of the last process among a plurality of processes constituting the workflow. The processed data is output to the destination.

  The output destination may be an e-mail address, an IP address of an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a facsimile number of a facsimile apparatus, or the image forming unit 140 of the MFP 100. . When an e-mail address is set as the output destination, an e-mail attached with data after execution of the workflow is transmitted. When the IP address of an image forming apparatus such as a printer is set as the output destination, the data after the workflow is executed is transferred to a file. When the facsimile number of the facsimile apparatus is set as the output destination, the data after the workflow is executed is transmitted by facsimile. When the image forming unit 140 of the MFP 100 is set as the output destination, the image of the data after executing the workflow is formed on the sheet by the image forming unit 140.

  The area 305 for specifying the process content includes process identification information of a process that can be specified as a process constituting the workflow, and whether or not the process is specified. Processes that can be specified as processes constituting the workflow are determined based on reference data stored in the EEPROM 115. Here, since the reference data is received from each of the servers 200, 200A to 200D and stored in the EEPROM 115, the assigned process of each of the servers 200, 200A to 200D is determined as a process that can be designated. Specifically, the area 305 includes process identification information “background pattern” of the background pattern synthesis process that is a process in charge of the server 200, process identification information “blank page removal” of the blank sheet removal process that is a process in charge of the server 200A, and the server 200B. The process identification information “translation” of the translation process that is the process in charge of the server, the process identification information “OCR” of the character recognition process that is the process in charge of the server 200C, and the process identification information “of the format conversion process that is the process in charge of the server 200D” “Format” is displayed in a selectable manner. “On” is displayed on the right side of each of the process identification information “blank removal”, “OCR”, “background pattern”, and “translation” to indicate that the processing is specified. Each time the user instructs the process identification information, the state is switched to a specified state or a non-specified state. When the process identification information is not instructed and the process is not selected, “Off” is displayed instead of “On”.

  “PDF” is displayed to the right of the process identification information “format”, indicating that format conversion processing is designated, and “PDF” is designated as the format after conversion. Each time the user instructs the process identification information, the state is switched to a specified state or a non-specified state. Further, it is possible to specify the format after conversion in the specified state. In a state where the process is not selected, “Off” is displayed to the right of the process identification information “format”.

  The area 307 is an area for designating data to be processed, and includes a button 307A in which the characters “scan” are represented and a button 307B in which the characters “BOX” are represented. When button 307A is instructed by the user, an instruction to specify image data read from the document as a processing target is accepted. When button 307B is instructed by the user, the user instructs the data stored in HDD 116. An instruction to specify the data to be processed is accepted.

  Returning to FIG. 5, when the user instructs the button 307 </ b> A on the workflow generation screen 301 displayed on the display unit 160 </ b> A, the data receiving unit 15 controls the document reading unit 130 to read the document and read the document. The image data output by the unit 130 is acquired. The data reception unit 15 outputs the acquired image data to the workflow generation unit 31 and the billing unit 41 as data to be processed by the workflow. In addition, when the user instructs the button 307B on the workflow generation screen 301 displayed on the display unit 160A, the data reception unit 15 displays a data list screen on the display unit 160A. The data list screen is a screen that displays a file name of each of a plurality of data stored in the HDD 116 in a selectable manner. If the user indicates one of a plurality of file names displayed on the data list screen, the data of the specified file name is read from the HDD 116. The data reception unit 15 outputs the read data to the workflow generation unit 31 and the billing unit 41 as data to be processed by the workflow.

  The process selection unit 17 selects one or more processes as processes to be executed in the workflow. Specifically, the process selection unit 17 displays the process identification information instructed by the user among the five process identification information displayed in the area 305 on the workflow generation screen 301 displayed on the display unit 160A. Obtained as process identification information of the process to be executed. The process selection unit 17 outputs the process identification information instructed by the user to the order determination unit 19. Here, a case where five pieces of process identification information are instructed by the user will be described. In this case, the process identification information “blank paper removal”, “OCR”, “background pattern”, “translation”, and “format” are output to the order determination unit 19.

  The order determination unit 19 receives process identification information of each of one or more processes executed in the workflow from the process selection unit 17. Here, five pieces of process identification information “blank paper removal”, “OCR”, “background pattern”, “translation”, and “format” are input. The order determination unit 19 includes a dependency process detection unit 21 and a specific process priority unit 23. Based on the processing contents of the assigned process included in the reference data stored in the EEPROM 115, the dependency process detection unit 21 uses process identification information “blank sheet removal”, “OCR”, “background pattern”, “translation”, and “format”. A set of dependent processing and specific processing is detected from among the five specified processing. The dependency process is a process in which the charge amount decreases before and after the specific process is executed.

  The dependency process detection unit 21 selects a process having a different data unit before and after executing the process from among the five processes as a specific process candidate. Here, the processing identification information “OCR” is selected as a specific processing candidate because the unit of data before executing the process is the number of original pages and the unit of data after executing the process is the number of characters. Next, in each of the five processes, the dependent process detection unit 21 determines, as a dependent process, a process in which the unit of data for calculating the charge amount is the same as the unit of data after any one of the specific process candidates. . For example, in the process of the process identification information “translation”, the unit of data is a character, and in the process of the process identification information “OCR”, the unit of data after the process is a character. The process of the process identification information “OCR” is a specific process. Therefore, the dependency process detection unit 21 detects a set of the dependency process of the process identification information “translation” and the specific process of the process identification information “OCR”.

  In addition, the dependent process detection unit 21 selects a process having a different amount of data before and after executing the process from among the five processes as a specific process candidate. Here, the process identification information “blank page removal” has a different number of document pages before and after the process is executed, so the process identification information “blank page removal” is selected as a specific process candidate. Next, the dependent process detection unit 21 determines, in each of the five processes, a process in which the unit of data for calculating the charge amount is the same as the unit of data after the process of the specific process candidate is the dependent process. Each of the processing identification information “background pattern” and “format” processing uses the number of originals as the data unit, and the processing identification information “blank page removal” processing is performed after the processing data unit is a character. "And" format "are dependent processes, and the process identification information" blank page removal "is a specific process. In this case, the combination of the process identification information “background pattern” dependent process and the process identification information “blank page removal” specific process, the process identification information “format” dependency process and the process identification information “blank page removal” specific process, Are detected.

  The dependency process detection unit 21 outputs the detected three sets to the specific process priority unit 23. The specific process priority unit 23 determines the order in which the five processes are executed, and outputs the five process identification information and the determined process order to the workflow generation unit 31. The specific process priority unit 23 performs the first specific process in which the value of the document surface or the document area of the data is different before and after executing the specific process, and the second specific process in which the value of the number of characters of the data is different before and after the specific process is executed. Give priority and give the previous order. Here, the identification process of the process identification information “blank paper removal” is the first identification process, and the identification process of the process identification information “OCR” is the second identification process.

  In addition, the specific process priority unit 23 gives priority to the specific process over the dependent process and assigns the previous order. Specifically, the specific process priority unit 23 gives priority to the first specific process of the process identification information “blank paper removal” over the second specific process of the process identification information “OCR”. Further, the first identification process of the process identification information “blank sheet removal” is given priority over the process identification information “background pattern” dependency process and the process identification information “format” dependency process, and the previous order is given. For this reason, the amount of data is reduced by the blank paper removal process, and therefore, a smaller amount of data can be processed in the subsequent process, and the charge amount may be reduced. As a result, the order in which the billing amounts are reduced can be determined. In addition, the second identification process of the process identification information “OCR” is prioritized over the process of dependency of the process identification information “translation”, and the order is preceded.

  Here, the specific process priority unit 23 sets the first specific process of the process identification information “blank paper removal” as the first, the second specific process of the process identification information “OCR” as the second, and sets the process identification information “background pattern” ”Will be the third, the processing identification information“ translation ”will be the fourth, and the processing identification information“ format ”will be the fifth.

  The workflow generation unit 31 includes a data transmission unit 33, a service configuration information generation unit 35, a service configuration information transmission unit 37, and a charging basic information transmission unit 39. The service configuration information generation unit 35 receives five pieces of processing identification information and processing order from the order determination unit 19, and receives an output destination input by the user as a destination from the operation unit 160B to the operation unit 160B. The service configuration information generation unit 35 generates service configuration information including a service configuration record that defines five process identification information and the order of processing and an output destination, and the generated service configuration information is used as a service configuration information transmission unit 37. And output to the data transmission unit 33 and the accounting unit 41.

  The service configuration information transmitting unit 37 sets the service configuration information as a process in charge of a process specified by the process identification information in which the processing order is first determined in the service configuration information among the servers 200 and 200A to 200D. To the server through the communication I / F unit 112. Here, since the process identification information “blank page removal” is set to the first order, the service configuration information is transmitted to the server 200 </ b> A that handles the process identification information “blank page removal”.

  The basic charging information transmission unit 39 generates basic charging information based on the service configuration information, and the basic processing information is determined first in the service configuration information among the servers 200 and 200A to 200D. Is transmitted via the communication I / F unit 112 to the server 200A that is in charge of the process specified by the process identification information “blank page removal”. The basic billing information defines a unit amount for each of a plurality of units for calculating a billing amount for the entire workflow.

  The data transmission unit 33 receives data from the data reception unit 15 and receives service configuration information from the service configuration information generation unit 35. The data transmission unit 33 processes the data input from the data reception unit 15 with the processing identification information “blank page removal” in which the processing order is first determined in the service configuration information among the servers 200 and 200A to 200D. The data is transmitted via the communication I / F unit 112 to the server 200A that handles the specified process.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of service configuration information. Referring to FIG. 7, the service configuration information includes a service configuration record for each of a plurality of processes included in the workflow. Here, since the workflow includes five processes, the service configuration information includes five service configuration records. The service configuration record includes a process order item, a process name item, an image data transfer port item, a communication information communication port item, a unit item, and a charge amount item. In the process name item, process identification information for identifying a process is set. In the processing order item, the order of execution in the processing workflow of the processing identification information set in the processing name item is set. The item of the image data transfer port is the number of the communication port assigned to transfer the image data in the server 200, 200A to 200D that is responsible for processing the process identification information set in the process name item. Is set. The communication information communication port item is a communication port assigned to transfer service configuration information in the server 200, 200A to 200D that is responsible for processing the process identification information set in the process name item. A number is set. In the unit item, the unit price of the amount charged by executing the responsible process in the server that handles the process of the process identification information set in the process name item among the servers 200, 200A to 200D is set. The The charge amount item is a charge that is charged when the responsible process is executed on the image data in the server 200, 200A to 200D that handles the process identification information set in the process name item. The amount is set.

  FIG. 8 is a first diagram illustrating an example of basic charging information. The basic charging information shown in FIG. 8 indicates basic charging information before the workflow is executed. Referring to FIG. 8, basic charging information includes a unit item and a fixed value item. The unit item includes a basic charging record for each of a plurality of units for calculating the charging amount for the entire workflow. Here, for each of the processing identification information “blank sheet removal” and “background pattern”, the unit for calculating the charge amount is “number of original pages”, and for each of the processing identification information “OCR” and “translation” The unit for calculating the amount is “number of characters”, and the unit for calculating the charge amount for the processing identification information “format” is “document area (A5 conversion)”.

  For this reason, the basic billing information includes three basic billing records respectively corresponding to the units “number of document pages”, “number of characters”, and “document area (A5 equivalent)” for calculating the billing amount. The accounting basic record includes a unit item and a fixed value item. In the unit item, the units “number of original pages”, “number of characters”, and “original area (A5 equivalent)” for calculating the charge amount are set. In the fixed value item, a unit amount corresponding to the unit set in the unit item is set. As the unit amount, only a value determined in a stage before each of a plurality of processes defined in the workflow is executed is set, and “unconfirmed” is set when it is not fixed. Therefore, the unit amount may fluctuate before and after each of a plurality of processes defined in the workflow is executed. The fixed value is a value that is determined before the process executed in the workflow is executed.

  The first process defined in the service configuration information is a process of process identification information “blank paper removal”. The final value “12” is obtained from the number of original pages of the image data input from the data receiving unit 15, in other words, the number of pages, and is set in the basic billing information. Also, a definite value “24” is obtained from the document area of the image data input from the data receiving unit 15 and set in the basic billing information.

  Note that the number of document pages and the document area are changed after the blank sheet removal process is executed. Here, a case will be described as an example where the data includes a blank sheet with a document number of “2” and a document area of “4”, and the number of characters included in the data is “300”. In this case, when the blank sheet removal process is executed, the number of document pages is changed to “10” and the document area “20”. When the character recognition process is executed, the number of characters “300” is fixed.

  FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example of functions of the CPU provided in the server. The functions shown in FIG. 9 are realized by the CPU 201 included in the server 200 executing the workflow execution program stored in the ROM 202, HDD 205, or CD-ROM 209A. Referring to FIG. 9, CPU 201 includes a job execution task 211 and a billing amount calculation task 221. The job execution task 211 and the billing amount calculation task 221 execute processing independently of each other.

  The job execution task 211 includes a data reception unit 213, a job execution unit 215, and a data transfer unit 217. The billing amount calculation task 221 includes a service configuration information receiving unit 223, a billing basic information receiving unit 225, a billing amount calculating unit 227, a user instruction receiving unit 228, a service configuration information transferring unit 229, and a charging basic information transferring unit. 231.

  The service configuration information receiving unit 223 controls the network I / F 204 to receive service configuration information. The MFP 100 transmits the service configuration information to the server 200A whose processing order is the process in the first page in the service configuration information, so the service configuration information receiving unit 223 of the server 200A receives the service configuration information from the MFP 100. . On the other hand, each of the other servers 200, 200B to 200D transmits a process in which the process order determined by the service configuration information is the process in charge prior to the process in charge. Receive service configuration information. The service configuration information receiving unit 223 outputs the received service configuration information to the billing amount calculation unit 227 and the job execution task 211.

  The basic charging information receiving unit 225 controls the network I / F 204 to receive basic charging information. MFP 100 transmits basic billing information to server 200A, which is responsible for processing of the first page in the service configuration information, so that basic billing information receiving unit 225 of server 200A receives basic billing information from MFP 100. . On the other hand, each of the other servers 200, 200B to 200D transmits the processing order determined by the service configuration information from the server whose processing order is the processing prior to the processing in charge. Receive. The charging basic information receiving unit 225 outputs the received charging basic information to the charging amount calculation unit 227.

  A data receiving unit 213 included in the job execution task 211 controls the network I / F 204 to receive data to be processed by the workflow. Since the MFP 100 transmits data to the server 200A whose processing order is the process in the first page in the service configuration information, the data receiving unit 213 of the server 200A receives the data from the MFP 100. On the other hand, each of the other servers 200, 200B to 200D receives data from a server whose processing order is the processing order determined by the service configuration information before the processing in charge. The data reception unit 213 outputs the received data to the job execution unit 215.

  The job execution unit 215 performs processing in charge determined by the service configuration information input from the service configuration information reception unit 223 with the data input from the data reception unit 213 as a processing target. When the job execution unit 215 executes the responsible process on the data, the processed data and the process in the order in which the order of the processes determined by the service configuration information among the servers 200A to 200D is after the responsible process are assigned as the responsible process. The image data transfer port of the server to be output is output to the data transfer unit 217. In addition, the job execution unit 215 outputs the unit amount to the billing amount calculation task 221 when the unit amount of the processed data is calculated even at the stage before the process in charge of the data is completed. .

The data transfer unit 217 controls the network I / F 204 and uses the image data transfer port to process the data input from the job execution unit 215 in the process determined by the service configuration information in the servers 200A to 200D. The process in the order after the process in charge is sent to the server in charge. If the data transfer unit 217 transmits data, and if the assigned process executed by the job execution unit 215 is the second specific process, a transmission permission signal is input from the user instruction reception unit 228 described later. Become. When the process in charge executed by the job execution unit 215 is the second specific process and the transmission stop signal is input from the user instruction reception unit 228, the data transfer unit 217 discards the data without transmitting it. When the data transfer unit 217 discards the data, the data is not transmitted to the server that takes charge of the process whose order is later than the second specific process among the plurality of processes determined by the service configuration information. If the assigned process executed by the job execution unit 215 is not the second specific process, the data transfer unit 217 transmits the data regardless of whether a transmission permission signal is input from the user instruction reception unit 228 described later. To do.

Note that the data transfer unit 217, when the processing order of the processing in charge of its own device is determined last in the service configuration information, outputs the processed data to the output destination set as the destination included in the service configuration information Send.

  The billing amount calculation unit 227 of the billing amount calculation task 221 calculates the billing amount based on the unit amount in response to the unit amount being input from the job execution unit 215 and is input from the service configuration information receiving unit 223. Service configuration information and basic charging information input from basic charging information receiving section 225 are updated. Specifically, the service configuration record in which the process identification information of the process in charge of the service configuration information is set in the process name item is extracted, and the calculated charge amount is added to the charge amount item of the extracted service configuration record. Set. In addition, a charging basic record in which the unit amount inputted from the job execution unit 215 is set to the same unit as the unit is extracted in the unit item of the charging basic information, and the job is set in the final value item of the extracted charging basic record. A unit amount input from the execution unit 215 is set. The billing amount calculation unit 227 outputs the updated service configuration information to the service configuration information transfer unit 229 and outputs the updated billing basic information to the billing basic information transfer unit 231.

  The basic billing information transfer unit 231 transfers the basic billing information input from the billing amount calculation unit 227 to the server in charge of processing in the next order in the service configuration information among the servers 200 and 200A to 200D. Send via F204. The charging basic information transfer unit 231 includes a control device transmission unit 233. When the process executed by job execution unit 215 is the second specific process, control device transmission unit 233 transmits basic charging information to MFP 100 via network I / F 204. Whether the process executed by the job execution unit 215 is the second specific process is determined with reference to the service basic information. Control device transmission unit 233 outputs basic instruction acceptance instructions to user instruction reception unit 228 after transmitting basic charging information to MFP 100. Here, the second identification process is the process identification information “OCR”, and control device transmission section 233 provided in server 200 </ b> C transmits charging basic information to MFP 100.

  FIG. 10 is a second diagram illustrating an example of basic charging information. The basic charging information illustrated in FIG. 10 indicates basic charging information transmitted to the MFP 100 by the control device transmission unit 233 provided in the server 200C that handles the second specific process. Referring to FIG. 10, in the basic billing information, “10” is set in the final value item of the basic billing record in which “number of originals” is set in the unit item, and “number of characters” is set in the unit item. “300” is set in the final value field of the basic accounting record set with “20”, and “20” is set in the final value field of the basic accounting record in which “original area (A5 conversion)” is set in the unit field. Is set.

  Returning to FIG. 9, when a user instruction reception instruction is input from control device transmission section 233, user instruction receiving section 228 receives either a continuation instruction or a stop instruction from MFP 100. When receiving a continuation instruction, the user instruction receiving unit 228 outputs a transmission permission signal to the data transfer unit 217 and the service configuration information transfer unit 229. When receiving a stop instruction, the user instruction reception unit 228 transmits a transmission stop signal to the data transfer unit 217 and The data is output to the service configuration information transfer unit 229.

  The service configuration information transfer unit 229 controls the network I / F 204, and the service configuration information input from the billing amount calculation unit 227 is determined by the service configuration information among the servers 200A to 200D using the communication information communication port. The process in the order after the process in charge is transmitted to the server in charge. When the service configuration information transfer unit 229 transmits service configuration information, a transmission permission signal may be input from the user instruction reception unit 228 when the assigned process executed by the job execution unit 215 is the second specific process. It becomes a condition. The service configuration information transfer unit 229 discards the service configuration information without transmitting it when the process in charge executed by the job execution unit 215 is the second specific process and the transmission stop signal is input from the user instruction reception unit 228. To do. If the assigned process executed by the job execution unit 215 is not the second specific process, the service configuration information transfer unit 229 transmits data regardless of whether a transmission permission signal is input from the user instruction reception unit 228. To do.

  Referring to FIG. 5 again, charging unit 41 charges for the execution of a plurality of processes constituting the workflow. The billing unit 41 includes a billing amount display unit 43, a billing amount determination unit 45, a billing basic information reception unit 47, and a user instruction transmission unit 49. The billing amount display unit 43 calculates a billing amount for each of the plurality of processes constituting the workflow, and displays a billing amount display screen including the calculated billing amount on the display unit 160A.

  Among the servers 200, 200A to 200D, in the server 200C that executes the second specific process among the plurality of processes constituting the workflow, the dependency process is imposed at a stage before the unit amount of the processed data is determined. The amount cannot be calculated. In the server 200C that executes the second specific process among the servers 200, 200A to 200D, when the unit amount of the processed data is determined, the basic charging information shown in FIG. 10 is immediately transmitted to the MFP 100. The money amount display unit 43 does not display the billing amount until the billing basic information is received from the server 200C that executes the second specifying process. When the network I / F 204 receives the basic charging information from the server that executes the second specifying process, here, the server 200C, the basic charging information receiving unit 47 outputs the received basic charging information to the charging amount determining unit 45. To do.

  The billing amount determination unit 45 receives service configuration information from the service configuration information generation unit 35 and receives billing basic information from the billing basic information reception unit 47. The billing amount determination unit 45 calculates the billing amount for each of the one or more processes included in the service configuration information based on the billing basic information in response to the input of the billing basic information from the billing basic information receiving unit 47. The calculated charge amount is output to the charge amount display unit 43.

  The user instruction transmission unit 49 receives a continuation instruction or a stop instruction input by the user to the operation unit 160B after the charging amount display unit 43 displays the charging amount on the display unit 160A. The continuation instruction is accepted when an amount equal to or greater than the sum of the billing amounts is input and the start key provided in the operation unit 160B is pressed by the user. The cancel instruction is accepted when a cancel key provided in the operation unit 160B is pressed by the user. When receiving the continuation instruction or the cancellation instruction, the user instruction transmission unit 49 transmits the continuation instruction or the cancellation instruction to the server 200C that executes the second specifying process via the network I / F 204.

  Since the billing amount display screen is displayed on the display unit 160A before all of the five processes defined by the service configuration information are executed, the user is charged to execute the specified processes. Charges can be entered into the coin vendor 170.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a billing amount display screen. Referring to FIG. 11, charge amount display screen 321 includes an area 323 for displaying an operation message, an area 325 for displaying a notification message, and an area 327 for displaying a charge amount for each process. In the area 323, an operation message “Please insert money into the slot. Please press the“ Cancel ”key to cancel” is displayed. In the area 325, a notification message “The usage amount will be ¥ 320” is displayed. In the area 327, the charge amounts “¥ 20”, “¥ 30”, “¥ 10” corresponding to the processing of the processing identification information “background pattern”, “blank removal”, “translation”, “OCR”, and “format”, respectively. ”,“ ¥ 60 ”, and“ ¥ 200 ”are displayed.

  Next, operations of the servers 200 and 200A to 200D functioning as the image processing apparatus will be described. Since the functions of the servers 200, 200A to 200D are the same, the server 200 will be described below as an example unless otherwise specified.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of the workflow execution process. The workflow execution process is a process executed by CPU 111 when CPU 111 provided in MFP 100 executes a workflow execution program stored in ROM 113, EEPROM 115, HDD 116, or CD-ROM 119A.

  Referring to FIG. 12, CPU 111 determines whether data has been acquired. The process waits until data is acquired (NO in step S01). If data is acquired (YES in step S01), the process proceeds to step S02. In the next step S02, it is determined whether or not a selection of a process constituting the workflow has been accepted. The process waits until a process selection is accepted (NO in step S02). If a process selection is accepted (YSE in step S02), the process proceeds to step S03.

  In step S03, an order determination process for determining the order of the processes is executed, and the process proceeds to step S04. Details of the order determination process will be described later. In step S04, basic billing information is generated. Then, service configuration information is generated (step S05). In the next step S06, the server having the first processing order is selected. Then, the service configuration information is transmitted to the selected server. In the server that receives the service configuration information, the responsible process is executed in the order determined by the service configuration information. Although details of processing executed by the server that receives the service configuration information will be described later, the server that executes the specific processing transmits billing basic information to the MFP 100 when the unit amount of data is determined.

  In the next step S08, the data acquired in step S01 is transmitted to the server that transmitted the service configuration information, and the process proceeds to step S09. In step S09, it is determined whether or not basic charging information has been received. The process waits until basic charging information is received (NO in step S09). If basic charging information is received (YES in step S09), the process proceeds to step S10. It is a server that receives the service configuration information transmitted in step S07, and receives basic billing information transmitted from the server that executes the specific process.

  In step S10, a charge amount for the process accepted in step S02 is calculated. The billing amount is calculated by multiplying the unit amount included in the billing basic information by the unit price. In the next step S11, the calculated charge amount is displayed. A billing amount display screen including the billing amount is generated and displayed on the display unit 160A.

  In the next step S12, it is determined whether a continuation instruction has been accepted. If the user presses a start key provided in operation unit 160B, a continuation instruction is accepted. If a continuation instruction is accepted, the process proceeds to step S13; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S15. In step S13, it is determined whether or not the inserted amount, which is the sum of the amounts inserted into the coin vendor 170, is equal to or greater than the sum of the billing amounts calculated in step S10. If the input amount is equal to or greater than the total amount charged, the process proceeds to step S14; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S15. In step S14, a continuation execution instruction is transmitted to the server that has transmitted the basic billing information, and the process ends. On the other hand, in step S15, a stop instruction is transmitted to the server that has transmitted the basic billing information, and the process ends.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of the order determination process. The order determination process is a process executed in step S03 in FIG. In step S02 before step S03 in FIG. 12 is executed, a process constituting the workflow is selected, and the order determination process determines the order in which the selected process is executed. Hereinafter, a process selected as a process constituting a workflow at a stage before the order determination process is executed is referred to as a target process.

  Referring to FIG. 13, in step S31, it is determined whether or not a process for changing the number of document pages or the document area exists in the target process. If there is a process for changing the number of document pages or the document area, the process proceeds to step S32. If not, the process proceeds to step S33, skipping step S32. In step S32, the process for changing the number of document pages or the document area is set as the first priority process, and the process proceeds to step S33. In step S33, it is determined whether or not there is a dependency process with the number of document pages or the document area as a unit. Specifically, it is determined whether or not there is a process in which the number of document pages or the document area is a unit in order to calculate the billing amount. If there is a dependency process, the process proceeds to step S34; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S36. In step S34, the first priority process is set as a specific process. In step S35 of the pair, a set of the first priority process and the dependency process detected to exist in step S33 is set, and the process proceeds to step S36.

  In the next step S36, it is determined whether or not a character recognition process exists in the target process. If there is character recognition processing, the process proceeds to step S37; otherwise, step S37 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S38. In step S37, the character recognition process is set to the second priority process, and the process proceeds to step S38. In step S38, it is determined whether or not there is a dependency process using the number of characters as a unit amount. Specifically, it is determined whether or not there is a process using the number of characters as a unit in order to calculate the charge amount. If there is a dependency process, the process proceeds to step S39; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S41. In step S39, the second priority process is set as the specific process. In the next step S40, a set of the second priority process and the dependency process detected to exist in step S38 is set, and the process proceeds to step S41.

  In step S41, it is determined whether or not a first priority process exists. If the first priority process exists, the process proceeds to step S42; otherwise, step S42 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S43. In step S42, the order is set for the first priority process, and the process proceeds to step S43. The order is set from the first to the youngest.

  In the next step S43, it is determined whether or not the second priority process exists. If the second priority process exists, the process proceeds to step S44; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S45. In step S44, the next order is set for the second priority process, and the process proceeds to step S45.

  In step S45, it is determined whether the first priority process is a specific process. If the first priority process is a specific process, the process proceeds to step S46; otherwise, step S46 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S47. In step S46, the next order is set for the dependent process paired with the first priority process, and the process proceeds to step S47.

  In step S47, it is determined whether the second priority process is a specific process. If the second priority process is a specific process, the process proceeds to step S48; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S49, skipping step S48. In step S48, the next order is set for the dependent process paired with the second priority process, and the process proceeds to step S49.

  In step S49, the next order is set for the remaining processes that are not set in the target process, and the process is returned to the workflow execution process.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of a charge amount calculation process. The billing amount calculation process is a process executed by the CPU 201 when the CPU 201 included in the server 200 executes a workflow execution program stored in the ROM 202, the HDD 205, or the CD-ROM 209A. In FIG. 9, the CPU 201 explained that the job execution task 211 and the charge amount calculation task 221 are formed. The charge amount calculation process is a process executed by the charge amount calculation task 221 formed in the CPU 201.

  Referring to FIG. 14, CPU 201 determines whether or not service configuration information has been received (step S51). The network I / F 204 is in a standby state until it receives service configuration information from the MFP 100 (NO in step S51). When service configuration information is received from the MFP 100 (YES in step S51), the process proceeds to step S52.

  In step S52, the service configuration information is output to the job execution task. In the next step S53, it is determined whether or not basic charging information has been received. The network I / F 204 is in a standby state until it receives basic charging information from the MFP 100 (NO in step S53). When basic charging information is received from the MFP 100 (YES in step S53), the process proceeds to step S54.

  In step S54, it is determined whether the assigned process is a process for changing the unit amount. If the assigned process is a process for changing the unit amount, the process proceeds to step S55; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S59. In step S55, it is determined whether a unit amount is input from the job execution task. In the job execution task for which the service configuration information is output in step S52, the responsible process included in the service configuration information is executed for the data to be processed, and the unit amount is calculated when the unit amount is determined. Output to task. In step S55, it is determined whether a unit amount output by the job execution task has been input. The process waits until the unit amount is input (NO in step S55). When the unit amount is input (YES in step S55), the process proceeds to step S56.

  In step S56, a billing amount is calculated. The amount is calculated based on the unit amount input in step S55. In the server 200, the unit price corresponding to the process in charge is stored in advance, and the charge amount is calculated by multiplying the unit amount input in step S55 by the unit price.

  In the next step S57, the basic charging information is updated with the unit amount input in step S55. Specifically, a basic charging record in which the same unit as the unit amount input in step S55 is set as the unit item is extracted from the basic charging records included in the basic charging information received in step S53. Then, the unit amount input in step S55 is set in the item of the fixed value of the extracted billing basic record.

  In the next step S58, the updated charging basic information is transmitted to MFP 100 via network I / F 204, and the process proceeds to step S60. On the other hand, in step S59, the charge amount is calculated, and the process proceeds to step S60. Specifically, a basic charging record in which the same unit as the unit of data to be processed by the responsible process is extracted from the basic charging records included in the basic charging information received in step S53. Then, the unit amount set in the item of the fixed value of the extracted billing basic record is acquired. Then, the charge amount is calculated by multiplying the acquired unit amount by the unit price stored in advance as the unit price corresponding to the assigned process.

  In step S60, the service configuration information is updated, and the process proceeds to step S61. Specifically, the service configuration record in which the process identification information of the responsible process is set in the process name item of the service configuration information is extracted, and the charge amount item of the extracted service configuration record is calculated in step S56 or step S59. Set the charged amount.

  In the next step S61, it is determined whether or not the order of processing in charge is the last. The order of the processing in charge is determined by the service configuration information. If the assigned process order is the last, the process proceeds to step S62. If the assigned process order is not the last, the process proceeds to step S63. In step S62, the service configuration information is transmitted to MFP 100 via network I / F 204, and the process ends.

  On the other hand, in step S63, the service configuration information is transmitted to the next server via the network I / F 204. The next server is the server 200, 200A to 200D in which the processing order determined by the service configuration information is the next process. Then, the basic billing information is transmitted to the next server via the network I / F 204 (step S64), and the process ends.

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of job execution processing. The job execution process is a process executed by the CPU 201 when the CPU 201 included in the server 200 executes a workflow execution program stored in the ROM 202, the HDD 205, or the CD-ROM 209A. In FIG. 9, the CPU 201 explained that the job execution task 211 and the charge amount calculation task 221 are formed. The billing amount calculation process is a process executed by the job execution task 211 formed in the CPU 201.

  Referring to FIG. 15, CPU 201 determines whether or not service configuration information is input from the billing amount calculation task (step S <b> 71). The process waits until service configuration information is input from the billing amount calculation task (NO in step S71). If service configuration information is input (YES in step S71), the process proceeds to step S72. In step S72, it is determined whether the network I / F 204 has received data. The process waits until data is received (NO in step S72). When data is received (YES in step S72), the process proceeds to step S73.

  In step S73, job execution is started. A responsible process is executed on the data received in step S72. In the next step S74, it is determined whether or not a unit amount has been determined. If the unit amount is determined, the process proceeds to step S75. If not, step S75 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S76. In step S75, the unit amount is output to the billing amount calculation task. When the unit amount is determined by executing the job, the unit amount is output to the billing amount calculation task. In the next step S76, it is determined whether or not the job has been executed. If the execution of the job is completed, the process ends. If not, the process returns to step S74.

<Second Embodiment>
In the first embodiment described above, server 200 transmits basic charging information to MFP 100 after the unit amount is determined in server 200C that executes the second specifying process. The image processing system 1 according to the second embodiment is configured such that the server 200 </ b> C that executes the second specifying process does not transmit basic charging information to the MFP 100. Hereinafter, differences from the image processing system 1 according to the first embodiment will be mainly described.

  FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating an example of functions of the CPU provided in the server according to the second embodiment. Since the functions of the servers 200, 200A to 200D are the same, the function of the server 200 will be described as an example here. Referring to FIG. 16, the difference from the function shown in FIG. 9 is that service configuration information transfer unit 229 provides service configuration information transfer unit 229A, and basic billing information transfer unit 231 provides basic billing information transfer unit 231A. The receiving unit 228 is changed to the user instruction receiving unit 228A, and the data transfer unit 217 is changed to the data transfer unit 217A. The other functions are the same as those shown in FIG. 9, and therefore description thereof will not be repeated here.

  User instruction receiving unit 228A receives either a continuation instruction or a stop instruction from MFP 100 by network I / F 204. When receiving a continuation instruction, the user instruction receiving unit 228 outputs a transmission permission signal to the data transfer unit 217. When receiving a stop instruction, the user instruction reception unit 228 outputs a transmission stop signal to the data transfer unit 217.

  The data transfer unit 217A controls the network I / F 204 and uses the image data transfer port to process the data input from the job execution unit 215 in a process determined by the service configuration information in the servers 200A to 200D. The process in the order after the process in charge is sent to the server in charge. The data transfer unit 217A transmits data on condition that a transmission permission signal is input from the user instruction reception unit 228A. When the transmission stop signal is input from the user instruction receiving unit 228A, the data transfer unit 217A discards the data without transmitting it.

  The service configuration information transfer unit 229A controls the network I / F 204, and the service configuration information input from the billing amount calculation unit 227 is determined by the service configuration information among the servers 200A to 200D using the communication information communication port. The process in the order after the process in charge is transmitted to the server in charge. The service configuration information transfer unit 229A transmits the service configuration information to the MFP 100 when the processing order of the assigned processing determined by the service configuration information is the last. As a result, service configuration information including all billing amounts of a plurality of processes determined by the service configuration information is transmitted from the server with the last processing order of the assigned process determined by the service configuration information to MFP 100.

  The basic charging information transfer unit 231A sends the basic charging information input from the charging amount calculation unit 227 to the server of the server 200A to 200D whose specific processing is the next processing in the service configuration information. Send through.

  FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the functions of the CPU provided in the MFP according to the second embodiment. Referring to FIG. 17, the difference from the function shown in FIG. 5 is that charge amount determination unit 45 is charged amount determination unit 45A, charge basic information reception unit 47 is service configuration information reception unit 47A, user instruction transmission unit 49 Is a point that has been changed to the user instruction transmission unit 49A. The other functions are the same as those shown in FIG. 5, and thus description thereof will not be repeated here.

  In the service configuration information receiving unit 47A, the network I / F 204 receives service configuration information transmitted from the server 200, 200A to 200D, which is the server whose processing order is the last in the processing order determined by the service configuration information. When receiving the service configuration information, the service configuration information receiving unit 47A outputs the received service configuration information to the billing amount determining unit 45A.

  The billing amount determination unit 45A extracts the billing amount of each of the one or more processes included in the service configuration information in response to the service configuration information input from the service configuration information receiving unit 47A, and uses the extracted billing amount It is output to the charge amount display unit 43.

  In the user instruction transmission unit 49A, after the charge amount display unit 43 displays the charge amount on the display unit 160A, the operation unit 160B accepts a continuation instruction or a stop instruction by the user. The continuation instruction is accepted when an amount equal to or greater than the sum of the billing amounts is input and a start key provided in the operation unit 160B is pressed. The cancel instruction is accepted when a cancel key provided in the operation unit 160B is pressed. When receiving the continuation instruction or the stop instruction, the user instruction transmission unit 49A transmits the continuation instruction or the stop instruction to all of the servers 200 and 200A to 200D via the network I / F 204.

  When the cancel instruction is received, each of the servers 200, 200A to 200D can cancel the workflow because the data is not transferred to the next server in the order.

  Further, each of the servers 200, 200A to 200D transfers service configuration information and basic charging information separately from executing the responsible process, so that each of the servers 200, 200A to 200D determines a charging amount. be able to. Therefore, service configuration information is received by MFP 100 and a billing amount display screen is displayed on display unit 160A before all of the plurality of processes determined by the workflow are executed in each of servers 200, 200A to 200D. For this reason, the user must input a fee charged for executing the plurality of processes designated as processes constituting the workflow to the coin vendor 170 before all of the plurality of processes constituting the workflow are executed. Can do.

  FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a workflow execution process according to the second embodiment. The difference from the workflow execution process shown in FIG. 12 is that step S09 and step S10 are changed to step S09A and step S10A, respectively. Since other processes are the same as those shown in FIG. 12, the description thereof will not be repeated here.

  In step S09A, it is determined whether service configuration information has been received. The process waits until service configuration information is received (NO in step S09A). If service configuration information is received (YES in step S09A), the process proceeds to step S10. The service configuration information is transmitted from the server 200, 200 </ b> A to 200 </ b> D whose server processing is the process whose processing order is determined last in the service configuration information. In the next step S10A, the charge amount for the process accepted in step S02 is determined as the charge amount included in the service configuration information.

  FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a charge amount calculation process according to the second embodiment. The difference from the billing amount calculation process shown in FIG. 14 is that step S58 is deleted. Therefore, in each of servers 200 and 200A to 200D in the second embodiment, the processing order is determined last by the service configuration information of servers 200 and 200A to 200D without transmitting the charging basic information to MFP 100. The server whose processing is the specific processing transmits service configuration information to MFP 100 (step S62). This service configuration information is updated in step S60, and the charge amount of each process is set in the charge amount item.

<Third Embodiment>
In the second embodiment, the server 200, 200 </ b> A to 200 </ b> D, which is in charge of the process whose processing order is determined last in the service configuration information, transmits the service configuration information to MFP 100. In the image processing system according to the third embodiment, the server in charge of the second specific process among the servers 200 and 200A to 200D is configured to calculate the billing amount for all processes after the processing order. It is. For this reason, the server in charge of the second specific process among the servers 200, 200A to 200D can transmit the service configuration information to the MFP 100, so that it can be compared with the image processing system in the second embodiment. The MFP 100 can receive the service configuration information at an earlier time.

  FIG. 20 is a block diagram illustrating an example of functions of the CPU provided in the server according to the third embodiment. Since the functions of the servers 200, 200A to 200D are the same, the function of the server 200 will be described as an example here. Referring to FIG. 20, the difference from the function shown in FIG. 16 is that post-processing charge amount determination unit 235 is added and service configuration information transfer unit 229A is changed to service configuration information transfer unit 229B. is there. The other functions are the same as those shown in FIG. 16, and therefore description thereof will not be repeated here.

  The post-processing charge amount determination unit 235 functions when the process in charge of the own apparatus is the second specific process. The post-processing billing amount determination unit 235 updates the basic service information after the basic billing information is updated. Specifically, all the billing amounts for the processing after the second specific processing in the processing order are calculated in the service configuration information. For this reason, the service basic information includes a unit price for each of a plurality of processes in advance. The post-processing charge amount determination unit 235 outputs the updated service configuration information to the service configuration information transfer unit 229B.

  The service configuration information transfer unit 229B controls the network I / F 204 when the assigned process executed by the job execution unit 215 is not the second specific process, and receives the service configuration information input from the billing amount calculation unit 227 as the communication information Using the communication port, among the servers 200A to 200D, the processing order determined by the service configuration information is transmitted to the server having the processing in the order after the processing in charge. The service configuration information transfer unit 229B receives the updated service configuration information from the post-processing charge amount determination unit 235 and inputs the service configuration when the assigned process executed by the job execution unit 215 is the second specific process. Information is transmitted to MFP 100.

  FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an example of service configuration information according to the third embodiment. Referring to FIG. 21, the difference from the service configuration information shown in FIG. 7 is that a unit price item is added. The other items are the same as those shown in FIG. 7, and thus description thereof will not be repeated here. In MFP 100, at the stage where the workflow is generated, a unit price predetermined in the basic data for the process is set in the unit price item. For this reason, the server that is in charge of the second specific process sets the unit amount corresponding to each of the plurality of units in the basic billing data, and thus can calculate the charge amount of each of the plurality of processes. .

  FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of charge amount calculation processing according to the third embodiment. The difference from the billing amount calculation process shown in FIG. 14 is that the processes in steps S91 to S97 are added instead of the processes in and after step S58. Other processing is the same as the processing shown in FIG. 14, and therefore description thereof will not be repeated here.

  Referring to FIG. 22, after the basic charging information is updated in step S57, or after the charging amount is calculated in step S59, the process proceeds to step S91. In step S91, it is determined whether the assigned process is the second specifying process. If the assigned process is the second specific process, the process proceeds to step S92; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S95. In step S92, the billing amount for the subsequent process after the assigned process is calculated. Then, the service configuration information is updated (step S93). In step S93, the charges calculated in step S92 are added to all items of the post-processing amount after the order determined by the service configuration information is the order of the responsible process. Set the amount. In the next step S94, the updated service configuration information is transmitted to MFP 100, and the process proceeds to step S96.

  On the other hand, in step S95, the service configuration information is updated, and the process proceeds to step S96. In step S95, the charge amount calculated in step S56 is set in the charge amount item corresponding to the process in charge.

  In step S96, the service configuration information is transmitted via the network I / F 204 to a server that is in charge of processing in the next order. Then, the basic billing information is transmitted to the next server via the network I / F 204 (step S97), and the process ends.

  Therefore, in each of servers 200 and 200A to 200D in the third embodiment, the second specifying process is performed as the responsible process by using the service configuration information in servers 200 and 200A to 200D without transmitting the charging basic information to MFP 100. Server that transmits the service configuration information to the MFP 100 (step S94). This service configuration information is updated in step S93, and the charge amount of each process is set in the charge amount item.

  As described above, in the image processing system according to the present embodiment, MFP 100 functioning as a control device can be operated by a user from among a plurality of processes executed by servers 200 and 200A to 200D each functioning as an image processing device. One or more selected processes are selected as one or more processes constituting the workflow, and a specific process is selected from the one or more processes constituting the workflow based on the reference data received from each of the servers 200 and 200A to 200D. The combination of the dependent process and the specific process in which the charge amount decreases before and after is executed is determined, and the order in which the specific process is performed before the dependent process is determined. Then, at the stage when the unit amount of data after the server 200, 200A to 200D, which is responsible for the specific process, executes the specific process, the charge amount of one or more processes constituting the workflow is determined. To do. For this reason, it is possible to notify the user of the billing amount at a stage before all of the one or more processes constituting the workflow are executed.

  In addition, since the blank sheet removal process that changes the value of the document surface or document area of the data is detected as the specific process, the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern combination process in which the order of the blank sheet removal process is performed with the document surface or the document area as the unit of charge Since the order before the format conversion process is determined, it is possible to determine the order in which the charge amount is reduced.

  In addition, since the character recognition process that changes the value of the number of characters in the data is detected as the specific process, the order can be determined before the process that uses the number of characters as a unit for calculating the charge amount, and the charge amount can be accurately determined. Can be calculated.

  Further, since the order of the first specifying process for changing the document surface or the document area is made before the order of the second specifying process for changing the number of characters, the first data is changed for the data after the document surface or the document area is changed. 2 Specific processing is executed. For this reason, since the data amount of the second specific process can be reduced, one or more processes constituting the workflow can be efficiently executed.

  Although the image processing system 1 has been described in the present embodiment, an image processing method and an image processing program for causing a computer to execute the processes shown in FIGS. 12 to 15, 18, 19, and 22. It goes without saying that the invention can be understood as.

  The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image processing system, 11 Reference data acquisition part, 13 Reference data registration part, 15 Data reception part, 17 Process selection part, 19 Order determination part, 21 Dependent process detection part, 23 Specific process priority part, 31 Workflow generation part, 33 Data transmission unit, 35 service configuration information generation unit, 36 steps, 37 service configuration information transmission unit, 39 basic charging information transmission unit, 41 charging unit, 43 charging amount display unit, 45, 45A charging amount determination unit, 47, 47A service Configuration information reception unit, 49, 49A User instruction transmission unit, 100 MFP, 102 network, 110 main circuit, 111 CPU, 112 communication I / F unit, 113 ROM, 114 RAM, 115 EEPROM, 116 HDD, 117 facsimile unit, 118 Coin vendor communication unit, 119 External storage device, 119A CD- OM, 120 Automatic document feeder, 130 Document reading unit, 140 Image forming unit, 150 Paper feeding unit, 160 Operation panel, 160A Display unit, 160B Operation unit, 170 Coin vendor, 171 Display unit, 172 Coin slot, 173 Return Button, 174 Coin return slot, 200, 200A to 200D server, 201 CPU, 202 ROM, 203 RAM, 204 network I / F, 205 HDD, 206 display unit, 207 operation unit, 208 bus, 209 external storage device, 209A CD -ROM, 211 job execution task, 213 data reception unit, 215 job execution unit, 217, 217A data transfer unit, 221 charge amount calculation task, 223 service configuration information reception unit, 225 charge basic information reception unit, 227 charge amount calculation unit 228,228A User instructions Communication unit, 229, 229A, 229B Service configuration information transfer unit, 231, 231A Billing basic information transfer unit, 233 Control device transmission unit, 235 Subsequent processing billing amount determination unit, 301 Workflow generation screen, 321 Billing amount display screen, 204 network I / F.

Claims (9)

An image processing system including a plurality of image processing apparatuses each capable of executing a responsible process selected from a plurality of processes, and a control apparatus capable of communicating with the plurality of image processing apparatuses,
The controller is
Charging means for charging for execution of responsible processing by the plurality of image processing devices;
Criteria for acquiring reference data including a unit of data for calculating a charge amount for execution of responsible processing by the image processing device from each of the plurality of image processing devices, and processing contents of the responsible processing by the image processing device Data acquisition means;
Data receiving means for receiving data to be processed;
A process selection means for selecting one or more processes from among the plurality of processes as a process to be performed on the received data;
Based on the reference data of each of the plurality of image processing apparatuses, a set of the dependent process and the specific process in which the charge amount decreases before and after the specific process is executed among the one or more selected processes is detected. Processing detection means;
Specific processing priority means for determining an order in which the selected one or more processes are executed, and in which the order of the specific processes in the detected set is made before the order of the dependent processes;
Service configuration information generating means for generating service configuration information that defines the one or more selected processes and the determined order;
Each of the plurality of image processing devices receives the received data from the image processing device that is in charge of the preceding process determined by the service configuration information among the plurality of image processing devices. A process execution means for executing the responsible process on the obtained data;
The service configuration information is transmitted to an image processing apparatus that is in charge of subsequent processing determined by the service configuration information among the plurality of image processing apparatuses, on the condition that a charge amount for the data to be processed is calculated Service configuration information transmitting means for
Basic charging information transmitting means for transmitting basic charging information including a unit amount of data after the execution of the responsible process together with the service configuration information;
Charge amount calculation means for calculating a charge amount for the responsible process,
The billing means included in the control device includes the step of obtaining a unit amount of data after the image processing device that performs the specific processing among the plurality of image processing devices has performed the specific processing. An image processing system including charge amount determination means for determining a charge amount of one or more processes selected from a plurality of processes.   The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the process detection unit includes a first specific process detection unit that detects, as the specific process, a process in which a value of a document surface or a document area of data differs before and after the process is executed.   3. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the process detection unit includes a second specific process detection unit that detects, as the specific process, a process in which the value of the number of characters of data differs before and after the process is executed. The specifying process includes a first specifying process in which the value of the document surface or the document area of the data is different before and after executing the process, and a second specifying process in which the value of the number of characters of the data is different before and after executing the process,
The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the specific process priority unit determines an order in which the order of the first specific process is made before the order of the second specific process. The basic charging information transmitting means included in each of the plurality of image processing devices includes a control device transmitting means for transmitting the basic charging information to the control device when a responsible process is the specific process,
5. The image according to claim 1, wherein the accounting unit included in the control device further includes basic information receiving unit that receives the accounting basic information from an image processing apparatus that is in charge of the specific process. Processing system. The service configuration information transmitting means transmits service configuration information including the charge amount calculated by the charge amount calculation means;
The charge amount determination means receives the service configuration information from an image processing device that is in charge of a process in which the processing order is last set in the service configuration information among the plurality of image processing devices. 5. The image processing system according to any one of 4 above. Each of the plurality of image processing apparatuses further includes a post-processing charge amount determination unit that calculates a charge amount of each of all processes after the specific process when the assigned process is the specific process,
The service configuration information transmitting means transmits service configuration information including a billing amount calculated by the post-processing billing amount determining means to the control device when the responsible process is the specific process;
5. The charge amount determination unit receives the service configuration information from an image processing device in charge of the specific processing in the service configuration information among the plurality of image processing devices. Image processing system.   2. The control device further comprises a charge amount display means for displaying a charge amount for each of the one or more selected processes in response to determination of a charge amount by the charge amount determination means. The image processing system in any one of -7. An image processing method executed by a plurality of image processing apparatuses each capable of executing a responsible process selected from a plurality of processes, and a control apparatus capable of communicating with the plurality of image processing apparatuses,
In the control device,
A charging step of charging for execution of the responsible processing by the plurality of image processing devices;
Obtaining reference data including a unit of data for calculating a charge amount for execution of responsible processing by the image processing device and processing contents of the responsible processing by the image processing device from each of the plurality of image processing devices. When,
Receiving data to be processed; and
Selecting one or more processes from the plurality of processes as a process to be performed on the received data;
Based on the reference data of each of the plurality of image processing apparatuses, a set of the dependent process and the specific process in which the charge amount decreases before and after the specific process is executed among the one or more selected processes is detected. Steps,
Determining an order in which the selected one or more processes are executed, wherein the order of the specific processes in the detected set is made before the order of the dependent processes;
Generating service configuration information defining the one or more selected processes and the determined order; and
In each of the plurality of image processing devices,
In response to receiving processed data from an image processing apparatus that is in charge of the preceding process defined by the service configuration information among the plurality of image processing apparatuses, the responsible process is executed on the received data Steps,
The service configuration information is transmitted to an image processing apparatus that is in charge of subsequent processing determined by the service configuration information among the plurality of image processing apparatuses, on the condition that a charge amount for the data to be processed is calculated And steps to
Charging basic information including a unit amount of data after the execution of the responsible process, together with the service configuration information;
Calculating a charge amount for the responsible process, and
The billing step executed by the control device is a stage in which a unit amount of data after the image processing device having the specific processing in charge processing among the plurality of image processing devices executes the specific processing is acquired. An image processing method, comprising: determining a charge amount for one or more processes selected from the plurality of processes.

Images