JP2014116723A - Image formation device and image data storage system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely store image data in a home directory provided for a log-in user, when a plurality of file servers exist.SOLUTION: An image reading unit optically reads a manuscript image that is input externally. An image data generation unit generates image data from the read manuscript image, and outputs the generated data in association with a user ID of a log-in user. An ID/PW storage unit stores a combination of a user ID and password for a supervisor capable of accessing each of all home directories provided for respective user IDs in a plurality of file servers connected to a network, for each file server. An image data storage processing unit sequentially performs communication with the plurality of file servers while changing over combinations of user IDs and passwords for the supervisor depending on a selected file server to store the image data in home directories related to a user ID of a log-in user.

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to an image forming apparatus and an image data storage system.

  In recent years, a plurality of image forming apparatuses (for example, MFPs) provided in the company are connected to an authentication server and a file server via a network, and after authentication by the authentication server, a document image read by the user using the image forming apparatus is scanned. There is known a computer system that transmits to a home directory on the file server side and stores and manages a document image for each user.

  When a user logs in to the system using an authentication card, the image forming apparatus can acquire home directory information of the logged-in user from the authentication server. However, there are cases where the password corresponding to the authentication card held by the user cannot be grasped by the image forming apparatus for security management. In such a case, in order to save the image data scanned by the logged-in user in the home directory for the logged-in user provided in the file server, the user's home directory set in advance on the image forming apparatus side is stored. The user ID and password for the supervisor who can access all were used.

JP 2007-67838 A

  However, in the above technology, for example, in the case of a company operating under a policy that the same user ID cannot be created on both the file server A and the file server B, the home directory of a user is stored in the file server A. Does not exist and exists only in the file server B, when accessing the file server A for the first time, the file server B is not accessed and the process ends with an error.

  In view of the above-described problems of the prior art, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus and an image that can reliably store image data in a home directory provided for a login user even when there are a plurality of file servers. It is an object to provide a data storage system.

  An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an image reading unit, an image data creation unit, an ID / PW storage unit, and an image data storage processing unit. The image reading unit optically reads an externally input document image. The image data creation unit creates image data from the read document image, and outputs the image data in association with the user ID of the login user. The ID / PW storage unit files a combination of supervisor user IDs and passwords that can respectively access all home directories provided for each user ID in a plurality of file servers connected via a network. Store for each server. The image data storage processing unit sequentially communicates with a plurality of file servers while switching the combination of the supervisor user ID and password according to the selected file server, and stores the image data in the home directory associated with the user ID of the login user. To do.

1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration example of an image input management system to which an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating functions of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. 3 is a flowchart showing a specific example of image data storage processing in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of image data storage processing in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration example of an image input management system to which an image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is applied. An image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 is an MFP (Multi Functional Peripheral), and in addition to a copy function that scans and copies a document image at a specified resolution and paper size, an image reception function by a FAX apparatus, an e-mail This is a digital multi-function peripheral that can make full use of the functions of various office devices, such as the image receiving function based on Internet and the print image receiving function via a network.

  The image forming apparatus 1 is connected to an authentication server 3 and a plurality of file servers 4A and 4B via the Internet 2. The authentication server 3 is a server that performs an authentication process for a user who has logged in from the image forming apparatus 1 or the like using an authentication card (IC card or the like).

  The file servers 4A and 4B store and manage document image data read by the image forming apparatus 1, image data received from the FAX apparatus 6 side, and image data received from the personal computer 8 side for each user ID. This is a server having a home directory (storage area). In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the file server 4A and the file server 4B are operated with a policy that the same user ID cannot be created. Each user has only one home directory in either the file server 4A or the file server 4B.

  Further, the image forming apparatus 1 is connected to a FAX apparatus 6 via a public telephone line 5 and prints received image data on a paper medium or a file server in the same manner as a document image read by the image forming apparatus 1. 4A and file server 4B.

  Further, the image forming apparatus 1 is connected to a plurality of personal computers 8 via the LAN 7, and can print image data received from the personal computer 8 side onto a paper medium or save it in the file server 4A or the file server 4B. .

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the image forming apparatus 1 illustrated in FIG. 1. As shown in the figure, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a control device 11 such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a main storage device 12, an auxiliary storage device 13, a communication device 14, a card reader 15, a control panel 16, and image formation. The unit 17 and the scanner device 18 are connected via a bus 19 that is a common information communication path. The control device 11 is a device that controls the operation of the devices constituting the image forming apparatus 1. The main storage device 12 is a read-only ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores a basic program and environment files for causing the computer of the image forming apparatus 1 to function, a program executed by the control device 11, and necessary for executing each program. RAM (Random Access Memory) for temporarily storing various data. The auxiliary storage device 13 is a storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or an SSD (Solid State Drive), and operates on the image forming apparatus 1, data regarding the usage status of the image forming apparatus 1, set value information in the own apparatus, and the like. The program to be executed is stored. The communication device 14 is various devices for exchanging information with other devices via a network such as the Internet 2 or the LAN 7. The card reader 15 is a device that reads a user ID and a password stored in an authentication card held by each user using a proximity wireless communication technique or an optical technique. The control panel 16 is an input / output device having a display unit 16a for displaying a setting screen for operating the image forming apparatus 1 and a touch panel 16b used by the user for operation. The image forming unit 17 includes a photoconductor, a charging device, an exposure device, a developing device, a transfer device, and the like, and performs printing processing on a recording medium such as a paper medium based on image data created or acquired on the control device 11 side. It is a unit that performs.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing functions of the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a control unit 101, an ID / PW storage unit 102, an operation input unit 103, an authentication unit 104, an image reading unit 105, an image data receiving unit 106, and an image data creating unit 107. The image forming unit 108 and the image data storage processing unit 109 are provided.

  The control unit 101 has a function of controlling each unit constituting the image forming apparatus 1, and corresponds to the control device 11 such as a CPU. The ID / PW storage unit 102 is for a supervisor that can access all of the home directories provided for each user ID in the plurality of file servers 4A and 4B connected via a network such as the Internet 2. It has a function of storing a combination of a user ID and a password for each of the file servers 4A and 4B, and the main storage device 12 and the auxiliary storage device 13 correspond to the devices.

  The operation input unit 103 has a function of displaying a setting screen of the image forming apparatus 1 and a user giving various input instructions via the setting screen. The control panel 16 corresponds to the apparatus.

  The authentication unit 104 has a function of performing authentication processing for a user who uses the image forming apparatus 1 to copy or store image data, and the control device 11, the card reader 15, and the communication device 14 are supported as the devices. To do. The image reading unit 105 has a function of optically reading an externally input document image, and the scanner device 18 corresponds to the device.

  The image data receiving unit 106 receives image data other than the read image (other image data) from the FAX apparatus 6 connected via the public telephone line 5 and the personal computer 8 connected via a network such as the LAN 7. The other image data is associated with the sender's user ID and output to the image data storage processing unit 109 as in the case of the read image. The control device 11 and the communication device 14 are the devices. Correspond.

  The image data creation unit 107 has a function of creating image data from the original image read by the image reading unit 105 and outputting the image data in association with the user ID of the login user. The device 12 and the auxiliary storage device 13 correspond to each other.

  The image forming unit 108 has a function of printing a desired image on a sheet such as a paper medium based on the image data created by the image data creating unit 107, and the image forming unit 17 corresponds to the apparatus.

  The image storage processing unit 109 sequentially communicates with the plurality of file servers 4A and 4B while switching the combination of the supervisor user ID and password according to the selected file server 4A and 4B, and is created by the image data creation unit 107. The image data is stored in the home directory associated with the user ID of the logged-in user, and the control device 11, the main storage device 12, the auxiliary storage device 13, and the communication device 14 correspond to the devices.

  Hereinafter, an image storage destination switching method in the image forming apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a specific example of image data storage processing in the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG.

  First, the authentication unit 104 reads the user ID and password from the authentication card held by the user (S401), and accesses the authentication server 3 based on the user ID and password (S402).

  Next, the authentication unit 104 determines whether or not the authentication server 3 has succeeded (S403). If it is determined that the authentication is successful (S403: Yes), the process proceeds to S404. On the other hand, if it is determined that the authentication has failed (S403: No), an error message is displayed on the control panel 16, and the process returns to S401.

  In S <b> 404, the authentication unit 103 acquires home directory information related to the login user from the authentication server 3 side, and temporarily stores it in the ID / PW storage unit 102.

  Next, after reading the document image in the image reading unit 105, the control unit 101 uses the image data relating to the document image created in the image data creating unit 107 or the image data received in the data receiving unit 106 as the home. Obtained as image data to be stored in the directory (S405). When storing the acquired image data, the image data is output to the image data storage processing unit 109. Whether the image data is to be printed or saved in the home directory can be specified by the login user from the control panel 16 or the like.

  Next, the image data storage processing unit 109 attempts to access the home directory of one file server 4 using the supervisor user ID and password stored in advance in the ID / PW storage unit 102 (S406). .

  Next, the image data storage processing unit 109 determines whether access to the home directory is successful (S407). If it is determined that the access to the home directory of one of the file servers is successful, that is, it is determined that the home directory related to the login user exists in the file server 4 (S407: Yes), the process proceeds to S408.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that access to the home directory of one of the file servers has failed, that is, it is determined that the home directory related to the login user does not exist in the file server 4 (S407: No), the process proceeds to S409.

  In step S <b> 408, the image data storage processing unit 109 executes image data storage processing in the home directory related to the login user, and ends the image data storage processing.

  In step S409, the image data storage processing unit 109 determines whether access to all the file servers 4 has been attempted. Here, when it is determined that access to all the file servers 4 is attempted, that is, when it is determined that the home directory related to the login user does not exist in all the file servers 4 (S409: Yes), error processing is performed. After (S410), the image data storage process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that access to all the file servers 4 has not been attempted (S409: No), the file server 4 to be accessed is switched (S411), the process returns to S406, and the image data storage process is successful. Alternatively, the same processing is repeated until access to all the file servers 4 is completed. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of image data storage processing in the image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. FIG. 5A shows a case where a home directory corresponding to the login user A exists in the file server 4A. In this case, even if the image forming apparatus 1 does not know the user ID and password of the login user A, the image data using the “SupervisorID_A” and the password “PWD_A”, which is the supervisor user ID corresponding to the file server 4A. Can be stored in the home directory for the login user A.

  On the other hand, FIG. 5B shows a case where the home directory corresponding to the login user B does not exist in the file server 4A but exists only in the file server B. In this case, an attempt to access the file server 4A using “SupervisorID_A”, which is the supervisor user ID corresponding to the file server 4A, and the password “PWD_A” fails, but subsequently the supervisor corresponding to the file server 4B Image data can be stored in the home directory for the logged-in user B by attempting to access the file server 4B using the user ID “SupervisorID_B” and the password “PWD_B”.

  As described above, according to the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, since the combination of the supervisor user ID and password is stored in correspondence with each file server, the home directory of the login user is the first file server. The home provided for the login user by switching the combination of the user ID and the password for each file server 4 even if it exists only in another file server 4B but does not exist in 4A. Image data can be securely stored in the directory.

<Modification>
In the above embodiment, each user has only one home directory on either the file server 4A or the file server 4B. However, when two or more file servers 4 are provided on the network, each user uses a supervisor directory. It is also possible to store the user ID and password combination corresponding to one or two or more file servers. For example, when there are three file servers 4 on the Internet 2, the above configuration can cope with providing a home directory for the user A not only in the file server 4 A but also in another file server.

  In the above embodiment, the user B tries to access the file server 4A at first, but when the file server where the home directory of the user B exists can be specified at the login stage, Access may be attempted first by selecting a supervisor user ID and password corresponding to the server. Further, access priority information between the file servers 4 may be provided in the ID / PW storage unit 102, and access may be attempted according to the information. Both can be easily handled by changing the design.

  As mentioned above, although some embodiment of this invention was described, these embodiment is shown as an example and is not intending limiting the range of invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image forming apparatus, 2 ... Internet, 3 ... Authentication server, 4, 4A, 4B ... File server, 5 ... Public telephone line, 6 ... FAX, 7 ... LAN, 8 ... Personal computer, 11 ... Control apparatus, 12 ... Main storage device, 13 ... auxiliary storage device, 14 ... communication device, 15 ... card reader, 16 ... control panel, 17 ... image forming unit, 18 ... scanner device, 19 ... bus, 101 ... control unit, 102 ... ID / PW Storage unit 103 ... Operation input unit 104 ... Authentication unit 105 ... Image reading unit 106 ... Image data receiving unit 107 ... Image data creating unit 108 ... Image forming unit 109 109 Image storage processing unit

Claims (6)

An image reading unit for optically reading an externally input document image;
An image data creating unit that creates image data from the read document image and outputs the image data in association with the user ID of the login user;
A combination of a supervisor user ID and password that can access all of the home directories provided for each user ID in a plurality of file servers connected via a network is stored for each file server. An ID / PW storage unit;
An image that sequentially communicates with the plurality of file servers while switching a combination of the supervisor user ID and password according to the selected file server, and stores the image data in the home directory associated with the user ID of the login user A data storage processing unit;
An image forming apparatus comprising:   When there are two or more file servers on the network, the ID / PW storage unit stores a combination of the user ID and password for the supervisor corresponding to one or more file servers. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.   Other image data is received from a FAX apparatus connected via a public telephone line and a personal computer connected via the network, respectively, and the other image data is associated with the user ID of the sender to store the image data. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a data receiving unit that outputs to the processing unit. An image data storage system comprising a plurality of file servers in which a home directory for storing image data is provided for each user ID, and an image forming apparatus connected to the plurality of file servers via a network,
The image forming apparatus includes:
An image reading unit for optically reading an externally input document image;
An image data creation unit that creates the image data from the read document image and outputs the image data in association with the user ID of a login user;
An ID / PW storage unit that stores, for each file server, a combination of a supervisor user ID and password that can be accessed to all of the home directories in the plurality of file servers;
An image that sequentially communicates with the plurality of file servers while switching a combination of the supervisor user ID and password according to the selected file server, and stores the image data in the home directory associated with the user ID of the login user A data storage processing unit;
An image data storage system comprising:   When there are two or more file servers on the network, the ID / PW storage unit stores a combination of the user ID and password for the supervisor corresponding to one or more file servers. The image data storage system according to claim 4.   The image forming apparatus receives other image data from a FAX apparatus connected via a public telephone line and a personal computer connected via the network, and uses the other image data as a user ID of a sender. 6. The image data storage system according to claim 4 or 5, further comprising a data receiving unit that associates and outputs the data to the image data storage processing unit.

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