JP2015108951A - Printing system, information processing apparatus, image forming apparatus, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable, in issuing print instructions from an information processing apparatus to a print service system, the information processing apparatus to perform print settings according to the capability of an image forming apparatus to be an output destination.SOLUTION: A user brings a portable terminal 500 being an example of an information processing apparatus close to an image forming apparatus 100 so that the settings enabling the user to temporarily use the image forming apparatus 100 can be established in a cloud print service 200 ((1) to (9)). When the user brings the portable terminal 500 close to the image forming apparatus 100 again (10), the image forming apparatus provides the portable terminal 500 with capability information indicating the capability of the apparatus by proximity wireless communication (12). The portable terminal 500 displays a print setting screen reflecting the print capability information, receives print settings from the user, creates a print ticket indicating the print settings, and delivers the print ticket to the image forming apparatus 100 together with document identification information on a document to be printed by proximity wireless communication (13).

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system, an information processing apparatus, an image forming apparatus, and a program.

  In recent years, a cloud print service provided on the Internet has been proposed like Google Cloud Print (trademark) conceived by Google (registered trademark). A user logs in to the cloud print service from a PC or the like with the user ID of the service, and sends print data to the cloud print service after login. Then, the print is realized by providing the print data from the cloud print service to the image forming apparatus via the Internet or the like.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a print server proposed by Google. The print server includes an application manager configured to receive print requests from an application executing on the device via a network and to provide a print dialog to the application user via the network. The print dialog may be configured to provide a selection of at least one printer associated with the user account of the user and then receive the selected printer from the selection. The format conversion means may be configured to receive a print job designating the selected printer, the print job includes print data and print characteristics expressed in a first format, and the format conversion means The job may be configured to convert to a printer-specific format associated with the printer selected from the first format. The print job router uses a printer specific format to route the print job from the print server over the network to the print client associated with the selected printer for printing by the selected printer. May be configured.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 discloses a system that causes an image forming apparatus in an organization to print by sending print data from a public cloud print service.

  When using a public cloud print service such as Google Cloud Print, the user registers function information of the image forming apparatus used by the user in the cloud print service in advance. The user logs in to the print service, specifies a document to be printed, and selects the current print output destination from the image forming apparatuses registered in advance. In response to this, the print service converts the document to be printed into print data in a predetermined print data format such as PDF (Portable Document Format), and provides the print data to the selected image forming apparatus for printing. Let

  As for the image forming apparatus (for example, a printer at home) that is usually used by the user, there is no problem in registering the image forming apparatus in the cloud print service in association with his / her account as described above. If such registration is performed, the user can log in to the cloud print service with his / her account and print out from the image forming apparatus by instructing printing.

  However, image formation that is owned or managed by another person in the first place, such as an image forming apparatus at a convenience store on the street corner or at a visiting place (a different department of a user's affiliated company or a company of a business partner) For devices, the story is different. In general, the registration of the image forming apparatus with the cloud print service is permanent, and continues unless the release operation is performed (for example, in the case of Google Cloud Print). Therefore, from the viewpoint of the owner or manager of the image forming apparatus, it is generally not acceptable for a person other than the related person to register the image forming apparatus with the cloud print service.

  Here, in the case of Google Cloud Print, by using the share function, the owner or administrator of the image forming apparatus can make others use the image forming apparatus registered in Google Cloud Print. . For example, if you want to print from the visited image forming device via the cloud, you can ask the owner / administrator of the visited image forming device to set up account sharing in advance, so that the account of the owner, etc. And output from the image forming apparatus via the cloud print service.

  Here, for example, consider a case where a user browses and displays a document on a mobile terminal such as a smartphone, and tries to print the document via the cloud print service using the visited image forming apparatus as an output destination. In this case, it is convenient to be able to make print settings such as paper type and number of copies on the screen of the mobile terminal.

Special table 2013-522774 gazette Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-123859

  It is an object of the present invention to allow an information processing apparatus to perform print settings according to the ability of an image forming apparatus as an output destination when a print instruction is issued from an information processing apparatus to a print service system.

  An invention according to claim 1 is an information processing apparatus having a function of instructing printing using a print service system; an image forming apparatus having a function of receiving and printing print data transmitted from the print service system; The information processing apparatus includes: an acquisition unit configured to acquire capability information indicating a capability related to printing of the image forming apparatus from the image forming apparatus by proximity communication; and a print setting from a user using the acquired capability information. Receiving print setting receiving means, and transmission processing means for performing processing for transmitting received print setting information to the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus to the information processing apparatus by proximity communication And providing means for providing capability information representing the capability related to printing of the device itself.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the information processing apparatus further receives a designation of a document to be printed from a user, and instructs the print service system to print out the document to be printed from the image forming apparatus. And the transmission processing unit associates the print setting information with the document identification information of the document to be printed that the print instruction unit has instructed to print out, and forms the image by proximity communication. The image forming apparatus transmits the print data together with the document identification information from the print service system, holding means for holding the print setting information and the document identification information transmitted from the information processing apparatus. When received, the print setting information held in the holding unit in association with the document identification information is applied to the received print data. And print processing executing means for executing the printing process, a printing system according to claim 1, further comprising a.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an acquisition means for acquiring capability information representing a capability relating to printing of the image forming apparatus by proximity communication from an image forming apparatus that receives and prints print data transmitted from the print service system. An information processing apparatus comprising: a print setting receiving unit that receives a print setting from a user using the acquired capability information; and a transmission processing unit that performs a process for transmitting the received print setting information to the image forming apparatus. It is.

  The invention according to claim 4 further includes a print instruction unit that receives designation of a document to be printed from a user and instructs the print service system to print out the document to be printed from the image forming apparatus, The transmission processing unit transmits the print setting information to the image forming apparatus by proximity communication in association with the document identification information of the document to be printed that the print instruction unit has instructed print output. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3.

  According to the fifth aspect of the invention, the computer acquires the capability information indicating the printing capability of the image forming apparatus by proximity communication from the image forming apparatus that receives and prints the print data transmitted from the print service system. Means for using the acquired capability information to function as a print setting receiving means for receiving a print setting from a user, and a transmission processing means for performing processing for transmitting the received print setting information to the image forming apparatus. It is a program.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a providing means for providing capability information representing a capability relating to printing of the own device to the information processing device having a function of instructing printing using a print service system by proximity communication, and the information processing Holding means for holding the print setting information and the document identification information transmitted from the apparatus; and when the print data is received from the print service system together with the document identification information, the holding means is associated with the document identification information. The image forming apparatus includes a print processing execution unit that executes the print processing by applying the print setting information held in the print data to the received print data.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the computer that controls the image forming apparatus transmits, to the information processing apparatus having a function of instructing printing using the print service system, capability information indicating the capability related to printing of the apparatus by proximity communication. Providing means for providing, holding means for holding the print setting information and the document identification information transmitted from the information processing apparatus, and receiving the print data together with the document identification information from the print service system, the document identification information The print setting information held in the holding unit in association with the print data is applied to the received print data to function as a print processing execution unit that executes print processing.

  The invention according to claim 8 includes: an information processing apparatus that instructs printing using a print service system; and an image forming apparatus that receives and prints print data transmitted from the print service system. The apparatus includes, from the image forming apparatus, identification information acquisition means for acquiring the identification information of the image forming apparatus in the print service system by proximity communication, and capability information representing the printing capability of the image forming apparatus corresponding to the acquired identification information. Print function information acquisition means for acquiring from the print service system, print setting reception means for receiving print settings from the user using the acquired capability information, and transmitting the received print setting information to the image forming apparatus. Transmission processing means for performing processing for performing image processing, and the image forming apparatus performs proximity communication Against serial information processing apparatus, a printing system, characterized in that it comprises a providing means, for providing identification information of own device in the print service system.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided identification information acquisition means for acquiring identification information of an image forming apparatus in the print service system by proximity communication from an image forming apparatus that receives and prints print data transmitted from the print service system. And print function information acquisition means for acquiring from the print service system capability information representing the capability of printing of the image forming apparatus corresponding to the acquired identification information, and print setting from the user using the acquired capability information. Is an information processing apparatus including: a print setting receiving unit that receives the print setting information; and a transmission processing unit that performs processing for transmitting the received print setting information to the image forming apparatus.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, the computer acquires identification information of the image forming apparatus in the print service system by proximity communication from the image forming apparatus that receives and prints the print data transmitted from the print service system. Information acquisition means, print function information acquisition means for acquiring from the print service system capability information representing the print capability of the image forming apparatus corresponding to the acquired identification information, and printing from the user using the acquired capability information This is a program for functioning as a print setting reception unit that receives settings, and a transmission processing unit that performs processing for transmitting the received print setting information to the image forming apparatus.

  According to the first, third, fifth and tenth aspects of the present invention, when the information processing apparatus issues a print instruction to the print service system, the print setting corresponding to the capability of the image forming apparatus as the output destination is processed. Can be done with the device.

  According to the second or fourth aspect of the invention, the document identification information of the document to be printed and the printing of the document are performed with respect to the image forming apparatus by an easy-to-understand operation of bringing the information processing apparatus close to the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus can register the print setting information for printing, and can execute printing by applying the corresponding print setting information to the print data coming from the print service system.

It is a figure which shows an example of the system configuration | structure of embodiment. It is a figure which shows a part of example of the flow of the process in embodiment. It is a figure which shows the remaining part of the example of the flow of a process in embodiment. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of an image forming apparatus. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a function structure of a portable terminal. It is a figure which shows the example of a function structure of a cloud print service. It is a figure which shows a part of flow of the process in a modification. It is a figure which shows a part of flow of a process in the further modification. It is a figure which shows the remaining part of the flow of the process in the further modification.

  With reference to FIG. 1, an example of the system configuration of this embodiment will be described. The illustrated system includes an image forming apparatus 100, a cloud print service 200, and a cloud repository service 300 that can communicate with each other via the Internet 400, and a portable terminal 500 that is carried by the user.

  The image forming apparatus 100 is an apparatus that prints input print data on paper. The image forming apparatus 100 may have a function other than the printing function. For example, the image forming apparatus 100 may be a so-called digital multi-function peripheral that includes a scan function, a copy function, a fax transmission function, and an e-mail transmission function in addition to a printing function. The image forming apparatus 100 has a function of executing processing such as copying, scanning, and printing in response to an instruction from a user received by its own UI (user interface) unit 108 (see FIG. 4). A function of acquiring print data from the cloud print service 200 and printing it out is provided. The image forming apparatus 100 may be connected to a network in an organization such as a company. In this case, the image forming apparatus 100 responds to an instruction from a computer connected to the network in the organization. Have a function to execute processing such as printing.

  Further, the image forming apparatus 100 has a cloud printing compatible function, that is, a function of executing a printing process using the cloud print service 200. For the cloud printing function, for example, the image forming apparatus 100 registers the image forming apparatus 100 in the cloud print service 200 and receives a physical printer ID (described later), and communicates with the cloud print service 200 using various protocols. , The function of receiving print data designated as an output destination by itself is included. When the image forming apparatus 100 does not have a cloud printing compatible function, a computer such as a PC (personal computer) connected to the image forming apparatus 100 may be prepared, and the computer may have a cloud printing compatible function. In this case, the computer communicates with the cloud print service 200 as a proxy of the image forming apparatus 100 and passes the print data acquired from the cloud print service 200 to the image forming apparatus 100 for printing.

  The cloud print service 200 is a system that provides a print service to a user on a network such as the Internet by cloud computing. The cloud print service 200 is generally a system including a plurality of computers, but may be configured by a single computer. For example, Google Cloud Print is an example of the cloud print service 200.

  The cloud print service 200, for example, print data format (for example, PostScript (for example, PostScript)) that can be handled by the image forming apparatus 100 for document data (for example, created by a word processor or spreadsheet software) designated as a print target by the user. A function for converting print data in a page description language format (such as registered trademark) or PDF format), a function for generating a print job corresponding to the received print instruction and managing its execution status (for example, queue management), etc. To provide against. The cloud print service 200 generates and manages a logical printer (also called a printer object) 210 that realizes various functions for the print service. One or more users who use the logical printer 210 are registered in the logical printer 210. For example, the user ID of the user who has instructed creation of the logical printer 210 is registered in the logical printer 210 as administrator attribute information of the logical printer 210. Further, the administrator can set a sharer who can share the logical printer 210. The set user ID of the sharer is held in the logical printer 210 as sharer attribute information.

  A plurality of logical printers 210 are generally held in the cloud print service 200, and each logical printer 210 is used by one or more users (administrators or sharers) registered in the cloud print service 200.

  The logical printer 210 has one or more output destination physical printers (referred to as “physical printers”, for example, the image forming apparatus 100 shown in the figure) that output print jobs held in the queue of the logical printer. It may be registered. In this case, the logical printer 210 holds management information about the registered physical printer. The management information includes, for example, physical printer identification information (for example, a unique physical printer ID assigned by the cloud print service 200 or an IP address of the physical printer), capability information indicating the capability (function) of the physical printer, and the like. . The capability information includes, for example, information such as whether or not double-sided printing is possible, whether or not full-color printing is possible, and the held paper size. In addition, when the physical printer includes a post-processing device, information on the capabilities (for example, stapling, punching, folding function, etc.) of the post-processing device is also included. Information such as the type and remaining amount of paper possessed by the physical printer and the remaining amount of color material such as toner and ink may also be included in the capability information so that the logical printer 210 can grasp the information. In this case, the physical printer notifies the logical printer 210 of information such as the remaining amount of sheets and color materials at an appropriate timing. Of course, the physical printer itself grasps its own capability information.

  The user registers (creates) his / her account in the cloud print service 200. When creating an account, the user registers a unique user ID in the cloud print service 200. In the case of Google Cloud Print, a Google account, which is a general account for services provided by Google, is used as the user's account (user ID) for Google Cloud Print.

  The cloud print service 200 creates the logical printer 210 according to an instruction from the user. For each logical printer 210, the cloud print service 200 stores the user ID of each user registered as a user who can use the logical printer 210. Also, a user who can use the logical printer 210 is registered to the existing logical printer 210 in accordance with an instruction from a user who has the right of user registration with respect to the existing logical printer 210 (sharing setting). You may be able to do it.

  The user uses his / her user to the cloud print service 200 via the Internet 400 using a communication protocol such as HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) from a PC, a portable terminal connected to the Internet 400, the image forming apparatus 100, or the like. Log in with an ID, and issue a print instruction to the logical printer 210 selected from the logical printers 210 (multiple may exist) associated with the user ID. The print instruction includes document data to be printed or information specifying the document data (for example, information on the storage location of the document data on the Internet 400 (for example, URL: Uniform Resource Locator)). The information that specifies is included. Here, for example, the document data may exist in the cloud repository service 300 described later. The logical printer 210 generates and manages a print job according to the print instruction. A print job is a unit for managing print instructions in the logical printer 210, and is given a unique job ID. The logical printer 210 associates the job ID with the information of the document data to be printed, the print data such as the page description language format obtained by converting the document data, the user ID of the user who issued the print instruction, the print job Information such as execution status (for example, status of not executed, executing, execution completed, error, etc.) is managed.

  The logical printer 210 provides the print data to be held to an output destination physical printer instructed by the user so as to be printed out from the physical printer. The provision of the print data may be a form in which the print data itself is directly transmitted from the logical printer 210 to the physical printer by a push method, or a message including information for specifying the print data is sent to the physical printer, and the message is sent. A form (pull method) in which the print job is provided to the printer in response to an HTTP acquisition request from the physical printer is also possible. For example, when the print job of the logical printer 210 is printed by the image forming apparatus 100 in the internal network separated from the Internet 400 by a firewall, printing in the pull method is performed.

  When it is desired to use a physical printer for printing with the cloud print service 200, the user performs an operation for registering the physical printer in the cloud print service 200. This registration operation enables the cloud print service 200 to identify and authenticate the physical printer. For example, the physical printer identification information of the physical printer and the cloud print service 200 becomes common knowledge, and the physical printer uses its own identification information (and authentication information to prove its validity if necessary) in the cloud print service. By presenting the information to 200, the physical printer can access the cloud print service 200.

  In the case of Google Cloud Print, when a user with a Google account performs a registration operation on the web page for physical printer registration while logged in to the Google account, Google Cloud Print uniquely identifies the physical printer to be registered. A physical printer ID (“printer_id”) is issued. The physical printer ID is stored in a physical printer to be registered or in a computer such as a PC (personal computer) that operates as a proxy for the physical printer. Google Cloud Print stores the physical printer ID assigned to the registered physical printer in association with the user's account. As a result, the user who performed the registration operation is recognized as the administrator of the physical printer. Google Cloud Print The physical printer ID is set as one of the usable printers for the logical printer 210 corresponding to the user. The physical printer or the proxy connected thereto proves that it is a registered physical printer by presenting the held physical printer ID to the cloud print service 200, and the logical printer corresponding to the physical printer. A print job held in the printer 210 is acquired.

  The administrator of the physical printer performs sharing settings for the logical printer 210 of the administrator himself / herself, so that other users registered in the cloud print service 200 can access the logical printer 210 and the logical printer 210. The use of a physical printer registered as an output destination can be permitted.

  The cloud repository service 300 is a system that provides a repository service to users on the Internet 400. The repository service is a service that stores data, programs, and the like, and is also called an online storage service. The cloud repository service 300 is generally a system composed of a plurality of computers, but may be composed of a single computer. Examples of the cloud repository service 300 include Google Docs (trademark), Dropbox (trademark), Evernote (trademark), and the like.

  The cloud repository service 300 stores various files such as document data and programs uploaded from the user, for example, for each user, and provides the stored file to the user. A user acquires a unique user ID in the service 300 by performing user registration with the cloud repository service 300, logs in to the service 300 using the user ID, and uploads or downloads a file. However, between services that cooperate with each other for user authentication, such as Google Cloud Print and Google Docs, if you log in to the account of the first service (or an account that includes all these services such as Google account) If the user logs in, the linked second service can be used from the first service. Hereinafter, in order to simplify the description, it is assumed that the cloud repository service 300 and the cloud print service 200 are linked in terms of user authentication.

  The portable terminal 500 is an information processing apparatus that is carried by a user. For example, smart phones, tablet terminals, mobile phones, and the like are examples. The mobile terminal 500 can access services on the Internet 400 such as the cloud print service 200. The mobile terminal 500 is installed with an application (hereinafter referred to as a “cloud printing application”) that serves as a UI (user interface) when instructing the cloud print service 200 to perform printing.

  In this example, it is assumed that the user carrying the mobile terminal 500 has an account for the cloud print service 200. Further, it is assumed that the image forming apparatus 100 has been registered in the cloud print service 200 by the administrator and has been assigned a physical printer ID. However, in this example, it is assumed that the user who carries the mobile terminal 500 is different from the administrator of the image forming apparatus 100 registered in the cloud print service 200. In this case, the user can use the cloud print service 200 from the portable terminal 500, but cannot specify the image forming apparatus 100 as an output destination (unless the above-described sharing setting is made). . In addition, when performing print output from the image forming apparatus 100, the portable terminal 500 can set a function to be used (whether or not double-sided printing is performed) and the printing conditions such as the number of copies (that is, print settings). This is convenient for the user. In such a situation, a mechanism for allowing a user carrying the portable terminal 500 to perform printing via the cloud print service 200 using the image forming apparatus 100 as an output destination and to perform print settings on the portable terminal 500. This will be described below.

  In such a situation, a mechanism for a user carrying the portable terminal 500 to perform printing via the cloud print service 200 using the image forming apparatus 100 as an output destination will be described below.

  In this mechanism, the user of the mobile terminal 500 performs setting for the cloud print service 200 so that the image forming apparatus 100 at a visited site or the like can be temporarily or temporarily used. This setting is called printer temporary setting. In the printer temporary setting, the cloud print service 200 includes setting information indicating that the user can use the image forming apparatus 100, including the correspondence between the user ID of the user and the physical printer ID of the image forming apparatus 100. Register with.

  For example, this setting information may be registered in a searchable database using a user ID or physical printer ID as a search key. In this case, when the cloud print service 200 receives designation of an output destination physical printer from the user, the cloud print service 200 checks whether or not the correspondence relationship between the user and the physical printer is registered in the database. The user determines that printing output is possible from the physical printer.

  In another example, the logical printer 210 has the setting information. That is, the logical printer 210 in which the user of the portable terminal 500 is set as an administrator or a sharer and the image forming apparatus 100 is set as an output destination candidate is prepared in the cloud print service 200. The correspondence between the user ID of the user set as an administrator or a sharer and the physical printer ID of the image forming apparatus 100 set as an output destination candidate corresponds to the setting information described above. Hereinafter, this method, that is, a method in which the logical printer 210 has setting information for enabling the user of the portable terminal 500 to use the image forming apparatus 100 will be described as a representative example.

  There are several variations in the specific mode of printer temporary setting in this method. In one example, a new logical printer 210 in which the physical printer ID is set as an output destination candidate is created as a temporary printer setting. In this case, in the newly created logical printer, the user ID of the user who performs the printer temporary setting (that is, the user of the portable terminal 500) is set as an administrator attribute. As another example, the physical printer ID may be registered as an output destination candidate for an existing logical printer 210 in which the user ID is set as an administrator. These settings are for creating or changing a logical printer for which the user is an administrator, and are actions within the normal authority of the user.

  As yet another example, if the administrator of the image forming apparatus 100 approves in advance, the logical printer 210 that the administrator has management authority in the temporary setting of the printer (the physical of the image forming apparatus 100 as an output destination). For the printer ID registered), the user ID of the user may be set as a user (sharer) who can use the logical printer. For example, the administrator of the image forming apparatus 100 can make a setting that allows an arbitrary user to share settings for the logical printer 210 of the administrator who outputs the image forming apparatus 100 in the cloud print service 200 as an output destination. For example, the printer can be temporarily set in this mode. The sharing setting for the logical printer 210 of the administrator of the image forming apparatus 100 is not unconditionally granted to an “arbitrary” user, but a setting request described later (that is, the user ID of the requester and the logical printer 100 The sharing setting may be accepted only through a setting request including the physical printer ID of the image forming apparatus 100 set as the output destination.

  The setting for enabling the use of a physical printer, such as this temporary printer setting, is normally performed by the user logging in to the cloud print service 200. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the user delegates the authority for temporary printer setting from the portable terminal 500 to the image forming apparatus 100. Then, the image forming apparatus 100 that has received the authority transfer accesses the cloud print service 200 with the authority, and executes processing for setting the user to use the image forming apparatus 100.

  In the example shown below, an OAuth mechanism is used as an example of authority delegation means. OAuth is a protocol that provides a standard means of secure API programming (Application Programming Interface authorization) for desktop computers, portable terminals, web applications, and the like. Note that the use of OAuth is merely an example, and other protocols that can realize the same authority transfer may be used.

  In addition, since the print setting is performed by the mobile terminal 500, in the present embodiment, the mobile terminal 500 uses near field communication such as NFC (Near Field Communication), Bluetooth (registered trademark), WiFi, or the like. Make capability information available. This capability information represents the functions that the image forming apparatus 100 can provide, the remaining amount of paper, ink, and the like, and the portable terminal 500 receives print settings from the user within the range indicated by the capability information.

  2 and 3 show the flow of processing for printing out from the portable terminal 500 to the image forming apparatus 100 via the cloud print service 200 in this embodiment.

  (1) In the example of FIGS. 2 and 3, the portable terminal 500 in a state where the document is opened and displayed is brought close to the NFC reader / writer unit of the image forming apparatus 100, so that the document is sent via the cloud print service 200. In this way, the image forming apparatus 100 can print out. That is, here, the user opens the document with an application (for example, a document browsing application or a document editing application) having a function of displaying a document that can be printed on the mobile terminal 500, and the document displayed on the screen. Consider the situation where you are browsing or editing. In this state, when the user brings the portable terminal 500 close to (touches) the reader / writer unit of the image forming apparatus 100, processing for printing is started.

  (2) In response to this touch operation, the image forming apparatus 100 and the portable terminal 500 detect each other by NFC standard communication. In response to this detection, the image forming apparatus 100 sends a selection screen for selecting whether or not to perform printing to the portable terminal 500 via NFC. In other words, for example, when the user touches the reader / writer unit of the image forming apparatus 100 with the portable terminal 500, the image forming apparatus 100 indicates that “the user (the image forming apparatus 100) is a printer” (or the mechanism of the present embodiment A notification indicating that the printer can be used temporarily is transmitted to the portable terminal 500 by NFC communication. Upon receiving the notification, the OS (operating system) of the portable terminal 500 activates the client print application, and the client print application acquires information on the selection screen transmitted from the image forming apparatus 100.

  (3) The mobile terminal 500 displays the selection screen, and the user inputs a selection result indicating whether or not to perform printing on the selection screen. The selection result input by the user is transmitted from the portable terminal 500 to the image forming apparatus 100 by NFC. FIG. 2 illustrates a flow when the user selects “print”. If the selection result is “do not print”, the image forming apparatus 100 does nothing and ends the process related to the current NFC communication.

  (4) When “print” is selected, the cloud print application 510 of the mobile terminal 500 is activated, and the cloud print application accesses the cloud print service 200 and receives user authentication. For example, a response may be sent from the image forming apparatus 100 to the portable terminal 500 in response to the notification (3), and the cloud print application is activated in response to the response to perform user authentication processing.

  In this user authentication process, the cloud print application accesses the cloud print service 200, and uses the authentication information such as the user ID and password of the user stored in the mobile terminal 500 to use the cloud print service. Receive 200 user authentications. Instead of storing the user ID in the portable terminal 500, the user may be allowed to input the user ID when receiving user authentication.

  (5) When the user authentication is successful, the user can perform various operations on the cloud print service 200 from the cloud print application. Therefore, the user acquires an OAuth access token for delegating the authority of the printer temporary setting operation.

  For example, when the user selects the “Printer Temporary Setting” operation from the operation menu of the cloud printing application, the cloud printing application sends an access token for delegating the authority of the printer temporary setting that the user has to the cloud print service 200. Request publication. In response to this request, the cloud print service 200 generates an access token. The access token is, for example, a data value including authorization information that defines the authorization content authorized for the person who presents the access token. The authorization information is, for example, information including a user ID of the user in the cloud print service 200 and information indicating an access right to the printer temporary setting API provided by the cloud print service 200. An authorization token may be a character string that appears randomly by encryption or the like as an access token. Instead of including the authorization information in the access token, the identification information may be added to the authorization information and stored in the cloud print service 200, and the identification information added to the authorization information may be used as the access token. In any method, the cloud print service 200 that has received the access token can obtain the authorization information corresponding to the access token. The access token or authorization information is managed by associating the issue date / time or expiration date, etc., and the access token becomes invalid when a predetermined time has elapsed from the issue date / time or when the expiration date has passed. It may be made to become.

  The cloud print service 200 returns the generated access token to the cloud print application of the mobile terminal 500 as a response to the request.

  (6) Upon acquiring the access token, the cloud printing application transmits the access token to the image forming apparatus 100 via NFC. Here, NFC has been described as an example, but other near field communication methods such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) may be used for the near field communication between the portable terminal 500 and the image forming apparatus 100. Further, a proximity communication method using a transmission medium other than wireless, such as infrared communication, may be used.

  As another example of the proximity communication, there is a method in which a camera is provided in the image forming apparatus 100, and the access token is transmitted by causing the camera to capture an access token displayed on the screen of the portable terminal 500. In this case, the display form of the access token is not particularly limited. For example, it may be displayed on the screen as an image code such as a QR (registered trademark) code or a barcode, or may be displayed on the screen as a character string. The image forming apparatus 100 obtains the value of the access token by analyzing the captured image using an analysis algorithm corresponding to the display form of the access token. In both this method and the method using NFC or infrared communication, the user who has the portable terminal 500 goes to the image forming apparatus 100 and brings the portable terminal 500 close to the image forming apparatus 100, thereby They are common in that they are connected to the forming apparatus 100.

  Here, in order to transfer the access token from the portable terminal 500 to the image forming apparatus 100, after obtaining the access token according to (4) and (5), the cloud printing application carries the image for guiding the touch operation again. You may display on the screen of the terminal 500. FIG.

  In this example, (1) at the start of printing and (6) at the time of access token transmission processing, a total of two touch operations were performed, but during the period of one touch operation, these two Processing may be executed.

  (7) Upon receiving the access token, the image forming apparatus 100 generates a setting request including the acquired access token and its own physical printer ID, and transmits the setting request to the cloud print service 200 via the Internet 400. . The data format of the setting request is determined in advance by the cloud print service 200, and the image forming apparatus 100 generates a setting request according to the data format.

  Upon receiving the setting request from the image forming apparatus 100, the cloud print service 200 performs the above-described printer temporary setting in response to the setting request. That is, first, an access token is extracted from the setting request, and authorization information corresponding to the access token is acquired. The authorization information indicates the user ID and the fact that the printer temporary setting function is authorized. Based on the authorization information, the cloud print service 200 recognizes that the image forming apparatus 100 that is the transmission source of the request is authorized, and uses the physical printer ID (image forming apparatus 100) included in the setting request as an output destination candidate. The setting information associated with the user ID included in the authorization information is registered in the cloud print service 200. In this example, as described above, the logical printer 210 having the setting information is prepared by newly creating or by changing the existing logical printer 210.

  With such setting processing, a user carrying the mobile terminal 500 can print out from the image forming apparatus 100 via the cloud print service 200.

  (8) When this setting process is completed, the cloud print service 200 returns a notification indicating the completion of the setting to the image forming apparatus 100 as a response to the setting request in (7).

  (9) Upon receiving the setting completion notification, the image forming apparatus 100 notifies the portable terminal 500 of the completion of setting through NFC communication. This notification may be performed as a response to the transmission of the access token in (6) above. For example, when the user touches the reader / writer unit of the image forming apparatus 100 with the portable terminal 500 in (6), the processes (6) to (9) may be performed within the touch period. . In this case, by displaying a message corresponding to this notification on the portable terminal 500, the user can be notified that the image forming apparatus 100 is available.

  Through the above processing, the portable terminal 500 can specify the image forming apparatus 100 as an output destination and issue a print instruction to the cloud print service 200.

  (10) When the user performs print settings, the user touches the portable terminal 500 to the image forming apparatus 100 again. In this example, the touch for instructing the print setting is performed for a predetermined time (for example, several seconds) or longer, which is longer than the touch at the start of printing or the access token transfer. In order to prompt a touch for instructing print settings, the cloud print application of the mobile terminal 500 may display a guidance screen for print settings after the above (3) or (9). For example, a message such as “If you want to make print settings, touch the portable terminal with the reader / writer unit of the printer for 5 seconds or longer” may be displayed on this guidance screen. Note that when printing is performed with the default print settings, the user does not have to perform such a long touch operation (this prevents (11) to (13) described below from being executed). Here, the operation of touching the portable terminal 500 for a predetermined number of seconds or more is illustrated as an operation for instructing print settings, but this is merely an example.

  (11) When the user performs a touch for a predetermined number of seconds or more instructing the print setting, the cloud print application that has detected the touch makes a request for acquiring capability information to the image forming apparatus 100 through NFC communication. Send to 100.

  (12) Upon receiving this acquisition request, the image forming apparatus 100 generates a print setting screen reflecting its own capability information, and returns the information on the print setting screen to the portable terminal 500 by NFC. In this print setting screen, selectable options and specifiable parameter values are limited for each print setting item in accordance with the capability information of the image forming apparatus 100. For example, if the image forming apparatus 100 does not have a double-sided printing function, a double-sided printing option is set to be unselectable in a GUI (graphical user interface) for selecting single-sided / double-sided printing on the print setting screen. In the paper selection field displayed on the print setting screen, only the paper type held in the image forming apparatus 100 is set to be selectable. Further, in the number-of-prints designation field, only the number of copies within the printable range with the remaining amount of the selected sheet may be designated (since the number of pages of the document displayed in (1) is known, If you know the remaining amount of paper, you can calculate the number of printable copies). Instead of the image forming apparatus 100 generating the print setting screen, the image forming apparatus 100 simply transmits its capability information described in accordance with the provisions of the cloud print service 200 to the mobile terminal 500 and receives the received mobile terminal 500. The cloud print application may generate a print setting screen from the capability information.

  (13) The cloud print application displays the print setting screen and accepts a setting operation for each setting item on the print setting screen from the user. Then, for example, when the user performs a setting confirmation operation such as pressing a GUI button for confirming the print setting, the cloud print application displays the selection / input result of each setting item on the print setting screen as a result of the cloud print service 200. Data called a print ticket described in accordance with the rules is generated. For example, when the user again brings the portable terminal 500 close to the reader / writer unit of the image forming apparatus 100, the cloud print application transmits the print ticket to the image forming apparatus 100 by NFC communication.

  Instead of transmitting the print ticket by retouching, when the user performs the print setting on the print setting screen of the portable terminal 500 with the touch state in (10), and presses the setting confirmation GUI button on the screen. Alternatively, the print ticket may be transmitted to the image forming apparatus 100. Further, when the cloud print application sequentially updates the print ticket according to the selection / input on the print setting screen and the user touches the image forming apparatus 100, the print ticket at that time is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 100. It may be a method.

  The cloud printing application transmits the document identification information of the document to be printed displayed on the screen in (1) to the image forming apparatus 100 by NFC in association with the print ticket. The method for associating the print ticket with the document identification information is not particularly limited. For example, the association may be performed by adding an element representing identification information of a document to be printed in a print ticket described in XML (eXtensible Markup Language) or the like.

  The image forming apparatus 100 stores a print ticket and document identification information of a document to be printed in association with each other. If the document identification information is included in the print ticket, the print ticket is simply stored.

  Note that a URL representing the storage location of the document may be used as the document identification information of the document to be printed. Since the portable terminal 500 displays a document in (1), for example, the cloud repository service 300, the URL of the document is known to the portable terminal 500.

  (14) The process proceeds to the flow of FIG. The portable terminal 500 accesses the cloud print service 200, designates the document displayed on the screen in (1) as a print target, and instructs execution of printing. At this time, the mobile terminal 500 sends document identification information such as a URL specifying the document to the cloud print service 200. Alternatively, the document data itself may be sent. Here, when the document is being edited by the document editing application or the like at the time of (1) above, the document is temporarily stored in the cloud repository service 300, and then the URL of the document is notified to the cloud print service 200. It may be. If the application displays a document in the portable terminal 500, the data of the document may be transmitted to the cloud print service 200 in association with the print instruction. In this case, the portable terminal 500 adds document identification information to the document, includes the document identification information in the above-described print ticket, and adds the document identification information to the document data transmitted to the cloud print service 200. Also good.

  When the cloud print application accesses the cloud print service 200 for a print instruction in (14), the logical printer 210 that can be used by the user in the cloud print service 200 (that is, the user is an administrator or a sharer) For example, the cloud print service 200 provides a list of usable logical printers 210 to the cloud print application, and the user uses the list from this list. The logical printer 210 corresponding to the image forming apparatus 100 to be selected is selected.

  When a plurality of usable physical printers are set for the logical printer 210 associated with the image forming apparatus 100, a list of these physical printers is provided from the logical printer 210 to the cloud printing application. The user selects a physical printer as the current output destination from the list displayed in the cloud printing application. Here, it is assumed that the image forming apparatus 100 is selected as the output destination.

  The list of logical printers provided to the mobile terminal 500 by the cloud print service 200 displays the owner (administrator) name and sharing status (whether or not shared or each sharer name, etc.) of each logical printer. Also good.

  Here, the cloud print service 200 determines whether each logical printer that can be used by the user is created by a normal registration setting by the user or created by the printer temporary setting function of the present embodiment. The identification information may be held and included in the list of logical printers provided to the portable terminal 500. In this case, when the list is displayed on the portable terminal 500, it is displayed which of the two logical printers corresponds to each of the two, and the user can temporarily set the image forming apparatus that has been temporarily set based on the display of the distinction. It becomes easy to select a logical printer corresponding to 100.

  Further, in the case of the method in which the image forming apparatus 100 is added as an output destination candidate to the existing logical printer of the user of the portable terminal 500 by the printer temporary setting in (7) above, the temporary printer is added to the logical printer. Differentiating information indicating that it is set by the setting function may be set. Also in this case, when displaying a list of logical printers available to the user on the portable terminal 500, the image forming apparatus 100 registered by the user using the temporary setting function is used as the image forming apparatus created by the normal registration setting function. It can be displayed in a form distinguished from In this case, the cloud print service 200 may have attribute information indicating that the output destination candidate additionally registered in the logical printer by the temporary setting function is set by the temporary setting function. Thus, when the screen of the list of physical printers of output destinations registered in the logical printer is provided to the portable terminal 500, the physical printer (image forming apparatus 100) set by the temporary setting function is obtained by the normal registration process. It can be displayed in a different display form from the registered physical printer. From this display, the user identifies the image forming apparatus 100 that is going to be used temporarily, and selects the image forming apparatus 100 as an output destination.

  In the case of the method of registering the user ID of the user of the portable terminal 500 as a sharer with the logical printer of the administrator of the image forming apparatus 100 in the printer temporary setting of (7) above, The user ID of the user may have attribute information indicating that the user ID is registered by the printer temporary setting function. When the cloud print service 200 provides a list of logical printers available to the user to the portable terminal 500, the cloud print service 200 includes the user as a sharer, and is registered in the user ID by the printer temporary setting function If there is a logical printer with attribute information indicating that it is, the logical printer is assumed to be set to the temporary setting function, and is distinguished from the image forming apparatus created by the normal registration setting function. Can be displayed.

  When the portable terminal 500 acquires the physical printer ID from the image forming apparatus 100 at the time of the first touch in (1) above, and when accessing the cloud print service 200 from the cloud print application in (14). The cloud print service 200 may automatically select the logical printer 210 corresponding to the physical printer ID by notifying the physical printer ID.

  The cloud print application passes the document identification information of the document displayed in (1) to the logical printer 210 selected in this way, and instructs the image forming apparatus 100 to print out.

  Receiving the print instruction, the logical printer 210 acquires the designated document to be printed from the mobile terminal 500, the cloud repository service 300, or the like, and converts the document data into a print data format. Here, instead of the logical printer 210 actively acquiring the document to be printed, the portable terminal 500 may acquire the document from the cloud repository service 300 or the like and send it to the logical printer 210. Further, the mobile terminal 500 instructs the cloud repository service 300 to provide a document to be printed in the service 300 to the cloud print service 200, and the cloud repository service 300 sends the document to the cloud in response to the instruction. It may be transmitted to the print service 200. When a document in the portable terminal 500 is designated as a print target, the portable terminal 500 may transmit the document to the cloud print service 200.

  Note that either the designation of the logical printer to be used (and the output destination physical printer if necessary) or the designation of the document to be printed may be performed first.

  (15) When the print data of the designated document can be prepared, the logical printer 210 sends information specifying the print data to the image forming apparatus 100 designated as the output destination (for example, URL of the print data: Uniform Send a message containing a Resource Locator). In the case of Google Cloud Print, this message is sent using XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol) via the Google Talk service.

  (16) Receiving the message, the image forming apparatus 100 requests print data from the cloud print service 200 using an HTTP GET request. The request includes information for specifying the print data included in the received message. Further, the physical printer ID of the image forming apparatus 100 may be included in the request.

  (17) In response to the request, the print data of the document designated by the user in (7) is transmitted from the cloud print service 200 to the image forming apparatus 100. This print data is accompanied by document identification information of the document (transmitted from the portable terminal 500 in (14) above).

  (18) The image forming apparatus 100 receives the print data and prints it on paper. Here, the image forming apparatus 100 identifies the print ticket corresponding to the document identification information attached to the print data from the print tickets stored by itself, and sets the print settings represented by the print ticket to the print data. Apply to and execute printing.

  After the completion of printing in (18), the image forming apparatus 100 notifies the cloud print service 200 of the completion of printing, and the cloud print service 200 notifies the mobile terminal 500 of the completion of printing in response to the notification. May be. In addition to the notification of the completion of printing, the cloud print service 200 may inquire of the portable terminal 500 whether to continue printing another document. If the user makes an answer to the question that the user does not print, the cloud print service 200 may delete the setting information that enables the user to use the image forming apparatus 100.

  In the process of FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus 100 requests print data from the cloud print service 200 in response to the notification from the cloud print service 200 in the processing step (15). Only. The image forming apparatus 100 receives the document identification information (for example, URL) of the document to which the print ticket is applied in the processing step (13) of FIG. 2, and therefore prints the print data of the document corresponding to the document identification information. The cloud print service 200 may be requested. In this case, the notification of the processing stage (15) from the cloud print service 200 to the image forming apparatus 100 is not necessary.

  Next, an example of a functional configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 that executes the processing described above will be described with reference to FIG. Note that FIG. 4 shows only portions that are closely related to the processing of the embodiment, and display is omitted for components that are normally included in the image forming apparatus but that are not related to the processing of the embodiment. .

  In the image forming apparatus 100, the job receiving unit 102 communicates with the cloud print service 200, receives a message such as XMPP, and receives print data using HTTP according to the message. The image forming unit 106 is an apparatus that prints an image on a medium such as paper. The control unit 104 is a system that controls the entire image forming apparatus 100. For example, the control unit 104 instructs an image processing unit (not shown) to convert the print data received by the job receiving unit 102 from the cloud print service 200 into image data in a raster format that can be handled by the image forming unit 106. Then, the image data of the conversion result is supplied to the image forming unit 106 and printed on the medium. Further, the control unit 104 stores the physical printer ID sent from the cloud print service 200 in the physical printer ID holding unit 110 when the registration operation of the image forming apparatus 100 with respect to the cloud print service 200 is performed. A UI (user interface) unit 108 displays a screen for accepting an operation from the user for the image forming apparatus 100, and receives an operation input from the user according to the screen. The near field communication unit 112 is a device that performs NFC standard communication. When the user brings the NFC-compatible portable terminal 500 close to the reader / writer unit of the image forming apparatus 100, the close proximity wireless communication unit 112 recognizes an NFC-compliant device (mobile terminal 500). In response to this recognition, the control unit 104 provides information indicating “the device is a printer” or the like to the portable terminal 500 by NFC communication. The proximity wireless communication unit 112 is used for communication when receiving an access token or a print ticket from the portable terminal 500. The setting request transmission unit 114 transmits a setting request including the access token received from the mobile terminal 500 and the physical printer ID held in the physical printer ID holding unit 110 to the cloud print service 200. As a result, setting information (for example, a new logical printer having such a setting or an existing administrator of the image forming apparatus 100 having such settings) that allows the account user to use the image forming apparatus 100 corresponding to the physical printer ID. The user ID added to the logical printer as a sharer is registered in the cloud print service 200.

  The capability information holding unit 116 holds capability information of the image forming apparatus 100. Of the capability information held in the capability information holding unit 116, items that can change, such as the remaining amount of paper, are maintained at the latest values by the control unit 104. When receiving the capability information acquisition information from the portable terminal 500, the control unit 104 stores the capability information held in the capability information holding unit 116 (and information on the print setting screen created from the box capability information) in the portable terminal 500. provide.

  Further, the ticket holding unit 118 holds the print ticket received from the portable terminal 500 by the touch operation and the document identification information of the document to be printed in association with each other. When the job receiving unit 102 receives print data from the cloud print service 200, the control unit 104 searches the ticket holding unit 118 for a print ticket corresponding to the document identification information of the print data, and searches the print data for the print data. Apply the print settings that the print ticket represents. As a result, the image forming unit 106 prints the print data according to the print setting.

  Next, an example of a functional configuration of the mobile terminal 500 that executes the above-described process will be described with reference to FIG. Note that FIG. 5 shows only portions that are closely related to the processing of the embodiment, and the display of components that are usually associated with the processing of the embodiment is omitted even if they are components that the mobile terminal normally has.

  The mobile terminal 500 has a cloud printing application 510 installed therein. The cloud print application 510 is an application used to perform printing using the cloud print service 200 from the mobile terminal 500. The UI processing unit 512 of the cloud printing application 510 provides a user interface for cloud-based printing. The user information holding unit 514 holds an account (user ID or the like) in the cloud print service 200 of the user who carries the mobile terminal 500. The account information is set in advance by the user. Note that the OS of the mobile terminal 500 may manage the account information instead of the cloud printing application 510.

  The access token acquisition unit 516 performs processing for acquiring an access token used for delegating authority for temporary printer settings from the cloud print service 200 via the Internet 400. The access token providing unit 518 provides the access token acquired by the access token acquiring unit 516 to the image forming apparatus 100 by proximity wireless communication such as NFC by the proximity wireless communication unit 504.

  In the mobile terminal 500, when the cloud print application 510 is activated, the cloud print application 510 accesses the cloud print service 200 on the Internet 400 via a mobile phone line, a wireless network, or the like, and uses the account held in the user information holding unit 514. To login to the cloud print service 200. The UI processing unit 512 displays a screen such as a list of logical printers of the user provided from the cloud print service 200 in response to login, and allows the user to select a logical printer to be used from the list. In addition to the logical printer selection screen, the UI processing unit 512 displays UI screens such as an output destination physical printer selection screen, a print setting screen, and a document selection screen to be printed, as well as the cloud print service 200 and the cloud repository service. 300 or according to information provided from a file system in the portable terminal 500 or the like. In addition, when “temporary printer setting” is selected from the operation menu, the UI processing unit 512 instructs the access token acquisition unit 516 to acquire an access token. In response to this instruction, the access token acquisition unit 516 requests the logged-in cloud print service 200 to issue an access token for temporary setting of the printer, and acquires the access token issued in response to this request. To do. In this way, when the user detects the image forming apparatus 100 corresponding to the temporary setting function by proximity communication such as NFC instead of explicitly specifying “printer temporary setting”, the access token acquisition unit 516 is activated. The access token acquisition process may be executed.

  When the access token is acquired in this way, the access token providing unit 518 provides the access token to the image forming apparatus 100 by NFC communication by the close proximity wireless communication unit 504. The access is made only when it is confirmed by NFC communication by the close proximity wireless communication unit 504 that the communication partner is the image forming apparatus 100 or the image forming apparatus 100 compatible with the temporary printer setting of the present embodiment. An access token may be provided by the token providing unit 518.

  When the print setting unit 520 detects a long touch in (10) of FIG. 2, the print setting unit 520 acquires capability information from the image forming apparatus 100 via NFC (near field communication unit 504). Then, a print setting screen corresponding to the capability information is displayed on the display device of the portable terminal 500 via the UI processing unit 512, and a setting operation from the user is accepted. Then, a print ticket representing the result of the setting investigation is generated, and the print ticket is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 100 via NFC.

  Next, an example of a functional configuration of the cloud print service 200 that executes the above-described process will be described with reference to FIG. Note that FIG. 6 shows only portions that are closely related to the processing of the embodiment, and the display of components that are normally associated with the processing of the embodiment is omitted even if they are components that the mobile terminal normally has.

  The cloud print service 200 includes a token issuing unit 202, an authorization control unit 204, a printer temporary setting unit 206, and a logical printer 210 as functional modules responsible for functions related to the present embodiment. The logical printer 210 has already been described. In response to a request from the portable terminal 500, the token issuing unit 202 issues an access token that authorizes the authority for temporary setting of the printer ((5) in FIG. 2). When the setting request including the access token ((7) in FIG. 2) is sent from the image forming apparatus 100 that has acquired the access token, the authorization control unit 204 indicates the authorization target indicated by the authorization information corresponding to the access token. Is authorized for the device. Here, in the present embodiment, the access token authorizes the authority for temporary setting of the printer. Therefore, the authorization control unit 204 determines from the access token that the image forming apparatus 100 has the authority to perform the printer temporary setting on behalf of the user, and sets the printer temporary setting unit 206 according to the setting request. Instructs the operation to be performed. In response to the instruction, the temporary printer setting unit 206 uses the physical printer ID (image forming apparatus 100) included in the setting request as an output destination candidate, and sets setting information associated with the user ID included in the authorization information in the cloud Register with the print service 200.

  The embodiment described above is merely an example, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the present invention. For example, the execution order of the printer temporary setting process ((5) to (9)) and the print setting process ((10) to (13)) in FIG. 2 may be reversed.

  Further, for example, in the example of FIG. 2, the portable terminal 500 in a state where the document is opened is brought close to the reader / writer unit of the image forming apparatus 100 to designate the document as a print target, but this is only an example. Absent. Instead of this, it is also possible to start the printing process by touching the image forming apparatus 100 with the portable terminal 500 in a state where the document is not opened, and specify the document to be printed later. FIG. 7 shows an example of the flow of printing processing using this method. In FIG. 7, processing steps similar to those in FIG.

  (1 ′) In the flow of FIG. 7, first, the reader / writer unit of the image forming apparatus 100 is touched with the portable terminal 500 in a state where the document is not opened (for example, the OS screen or the cloud printing application screen is displayed). .

  (2 ′) In response to this touch, the image forming apparatus 100 displays a selection screen for selecting whether the image forming apparatus 100 performs printing and a physical printer ID (“printer_id”) of the image forming apparatus 100. , And sent to the portable terminal 500 via NFC. That is, in the procedure of FIG. 2, only the selection screen is sent. In this example, the selection screen is sent to the portable terminal 500 together with the physical printer ID. Thereafter, (3) when the user selects printing on the selection screen, the selection result is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 100.

  (A) The cloud print application 510 of the mobile terminal 500 accesses the cloud print service 200, and the physical printer ID of the image forming apparatus 100 acquired in (2 ′) and the user ID of the user of the mobile terminal 500 (cloud print service) A setting request including the user ID at 200 is sent to the cloud print service 200. In response to the setting request, the cloud print service 200 performs settings for enabling the user corresponding to the user ID to use the image forming apparatus 100 corresponding to the physical printer ID (printer temporary setting).

  (B) When the printer temporary setting is completed, the cloud print application 510 accepts designation of a document to be printed from the user. For example, when the cloud repository service 300 is designated by the user as the location of the document to be printed, the cloud print application 510 accesses the cloud repository service 300, acquires a list of documents to which the user has access rights, The user is made to specify the print target from the list. The document to be printed may be specified from among documents in the portable terminal 500. The cloud print application 510 stores document identification information (for example, URL) of the designated print target document.

  In addition, the cloud print application 510 receives print settings from the user through the processing steps (10) to (13) in FIG. The print ticket is stored in the image forming apparatus 100 in association with the document identification information of the document designated as the print target in (B).

  (14 ') Thereafter, when the user instructs execution of printing, the cloud print application 510 sends a print instruction including the document identification information of the document specified in (B) to the cloud print service 200.

  In response to this instruction, the processing steps (15) to (18) in FIG. 3 are performed, and the document is printed out from the image forming apparatus 100 with the print settings indicated in the print ticket.

  In the procedure of FIG. 7, the portable terminal 500 performs printer temporary setting for the cloud print service 200 in the processing step (A) using the physical printer ID acquired from the image forming apparatus 100 in (2 ′). But this is just an example. Instead of the processing step (A), the printer temporary setting may be performed from the image forming apparatus 100 to the cloud print service 200 using the access token by executing the processing steps (4) to (9) in FIG.

  In each of the above examples, the portable terminal 500 acquires the capability information of the image forming apparatus 100 from the image forming apparatus 100 itself. On the other hand, in the further modification shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the mobile terminal 500 acquires the capability information of the image forming apparatus 100 from the cloud print service 200. In FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, processing steps that perform the same processing as the processing steps shown in FIG. 2 and FIG.

  In the process of FIG. 8, the image forming apparatus 100 provides the portable terminal 500 with the physical printer ID of the image forming apparatus 100 together with a selection screen for determining whether or not to print in (2 ′). Thereafter, according to (3) to (9), the printer temporary setting for enabling the user of the portable terminal 500 to use the image forming apparatus 100 is performed (see the description of FIG. 2 for the processing steps here). Instead of (3) to (9), the printer temporary setting similar to the processing step (A) in FIG. 7 may be performed.

  (11 ′) The cloud print application 510 of the mobile terminal 500 sends a request for acquiring capability information of the image forming apparatus 100 to the cloud print service 200. This acquisition request includes a physical printer ID that is identification information of the image forming apparatus 100. The cloud print service 200 holds the capability information of each registered physical printer, and reads the capability information corresponding to the physical printer ID included in the acquisition request.

  (12 ') Then, the cloud print service 200 returns the read capability information or print setting screen information reflecting the capability information to the cloud print application 510. The cloud print application displays a print setting screen corresponding to the capability information of the image forming apparatus 100 on the display device of the portable terminal 500, and accepts settings of each item on the print setting screen from the user. Proceed to the processing of FIG.

  (14 ″) When the print setting is completed and the user gives an instruction to execute printing, the cloud print application 510 sends a print instruction specifying the document displayed in (1) as a print target to the cloud print service 200. The print instruction includes document identification information of the document displayed in (1), and a print ticket representing print setting information input to the print setting screen.

  In response to this print instruction, the cloud print service 200 generates print data of the document to be printed and (15) sends a notification including print data identification information to the image forming apparatus 100. (16) In response to the notification, the image forming apparatus 100 requests the print data corresponding to the identification information from the cloud print service 200. (17 ′) In response to this request, the cloud print service 200 transmits the requested print data and the corresponding print ticket to the image forming apparatus 100. The image forming apparatus 100 executes printing by applying the print setting represented by the print ticket to the received print data.

  The part that performs the information processing of the image forming apparatus 100, the cloud print service 200, and the mobile terminal 500 exemplified above is realized by, for example, causing a general-purpose computer to execute a program that represents the processing of each functional module of the apparatus. . The computer referred to here includes, for example, a microprocessor such as a CPU, a memory (primary storage) such as a random access memory (RAM) and a read only memory (ROM), an HDD (hard disk drive), and an SSD (solid state drive). ), A secondary storage controller for controlling secondary storage such as a flash memory, various I / O (input / output) interfaces, a network interface for controlling connection to a wireless or wired network, etc. via, for example, a bus Connected to each other. In addition, various standards such as a disk drive and a flash memory for reading and / or writing to a portable disk recording medium such as a CD, a DVD, and a Blu-ray disk are connected to the bus via, for example, an I / O interface. A memory reader / writer for reading from and / or writing to the nonvolatile recording medium may be connected. A program in which the processing content of each functional module exemplified above is described is stored in a secondary storage device such as a flash memory via a recording medium such as a CD or DVD, or via a communication means such as a network, and the computer To be installed. The program stored in the secondary storage device is read into the RAM and executed by a microprocessor such as a CPU, thereby realizing the functional module group exemplified above.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Image forming apparatus, 102 Job receiving part, 104 Control part, 106 Image forming part, 108 UI part, 110 Holding part, 112 Proximity wireless communication part, 120 Image code, 200 Cloud print service, 202 Token issuing part, 204 Authorization control , 206 Printer temporary setting unit, 210 Logical printer, 300 Cloud repository service, 400 Internet, 500 Mobile terminal, 504 Proximity wireless communication unit, 510 Cloud printing application, 512 UI processing unit, 514 User information holding unit, 516 Access token acquisition , 518 access token providing unit, 520 print setting unit.

Claims (10)

An information processing apparatus having a function of instructing printing using a print service system, and an image forming apparatus having a function of receiving and printing print data transmitted from the print service system,
The information processing apparatus includes:
Acquisition means for acquiring capability information representing the capability of printing of the image forming apparatus from the image forming apparatus by proximity communication;
Print setting accepting means for accepting print settings from the user using the acquired capability information;
Transmission processing means for performing processing for transmitting received print setting information to the image forming apparatus;
Have
The image forming apparatus includes:
Providing means for providing capability information representing capability related to printing of the own device to the information processing device by proximity communication;
A printing system comprising: The information processing apparatus further includes:
Print instruction means for accepting designation of a document to be printed from a user and instructing the print service system to print out the document to be printed from the image forming apparatus;
Further comprising
The transmission processing unit is configured to transmit the print setting information to the image forming apparatus by proximity communication in association with document identification information of the document to be printed that the print instruction unit has instructed print output.
The image forming apparatus includes:
Holding means for holding the print setting information and the document identification information transmitted from the information processing apparatus;
When print data is received together with document identification information from the print service system, the print setting information held in the holding unit in association with the document identification information is applied to the received print data to perform print processing. Print processing execution means for executing
The printing system according to claim 1, further comprising: An acquisition means for acquiring capability information representing a printing capability of the image forming apparatus by proximity communication from an image forming apparatus that receives and prints print data transmitted from the print service system;
Print setting accepting means for accepting print settings from the user using the acquired capability information;
Transmission processing means for performing processing for transmitting received print setting information to the image forming apparatus;
An information processing apparatus. Print instruction means for accepting designation of a document to be printed from a user and instructing the print service system to print out the document to be printed from the image forming apparatus;
Further comprising
The transmission processing unit transmits the print setting information to the image forming apparatus by proximity communication in association with document identification information of the document to be printed that the print instruction unit has instructed to output.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 3. Computer
Acquisition means for acquiring capability information representing a capability relating to printing of the image forming apparatus by proximity communication from an image forming apparatus that receives and prints print data transmitted from the print service system;
Print setting accepting means for accepting print settings from a user using the acquired capability information;
Transmission processing means for performing processing for transmitting received print setting information to the image forming apparatus;
Program to function as. Providing means for providing information on the capability of printing to the information processing apparatus having a function of instructing printing using the print service system by proximity communication;
Holding means for holding the print setting information and the document identification information transmitted from the information processing apparatus;
When print data is received together with document identification information from the print service system, the print setting information held in the holding unit in association with the document identification information is applied to the received print data to perform print processing. Print processing execution means for executing
An image forming apparatus. A computer for controlling the image forming apparatus;
Providing means for providing capability information representing capability of printing of the own device to the information processing device having a function of instructing printing using the print service system by proximity communication,
Holding means for holding the print setting information and the document identification information transmitted from the information processing apparatus;
When print data is received together with document identification information from the print service system, the print setting information held in the holding unit in association with the document identification information is applied to the received print data to perform print processing. Print processing execution means for executing
Program to function as. An information processing apparatus that instructs printing using a print service system; and an image forming apparatus that receives and prints print data transmitted from the print service system,
The information processing apparatus includes:
Identification information acquisition means for acquiring identification information of the image forming apparatus in the print service system by proximity communication from the image forming apparatus;
Print function information acquisition means for acquiring, from the print service system, capability information representing the capability relating to printing of the image forming apparatus corresponding to the acquired identification information;
Print setting accepting means for accepting print settings from the user using the acquired capability information;
Transmission processing means for performing processing for transmitting received print setting information to the image forming apparatus;
Have
The image forming apparatus includes:
Providing means for providing identification information of the apparatus in the print service system to the information processing apparatus by proximity communication,
A printing system comprising: Identification information acquisition means for acquiring identification information of the image forming apparatus in the print service system by proximity communication from an image forming apparatus that receives and prints print data transmitted from the print service system;
Print function information acquisition means for acquiring, from the print service system, capability information representing the capability relating to printing of the image forming apparatus corresponding to the acquired identification information;
Print setting accepting means for accepting print settings from the user using the acquired capability information;
Transmission processing means for performing processing for transmitting received print setting information to the image forming apparatus;
An information processing apparatus. Computer
Identification information acquisition means for acquiring identification information of the image forming apparatus in the print service system by proximity communication from an image forming apparatus that receives and prints the print data transmitted from the print service system;
Printing function information acquisition means for acquiring, from the print service system, capability information representing the capability relating to printing of the image forming apparatus corresponding to the acquired identification information;
Print setting accepting means for accepting print settings from the user using the acquired capability information;
Transmission processing means for performing processing for transmitting received print setting information to the image forming apparatus;
Program to function as.