JP2017199109A - Image forming system, image forming apparatus, and management device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming system that manages the use of an image forming apparatus on the basis of availability information indicating available usage, and to reduce the situation where the available usage is used up during execution of image forming processing and the processing is interrupted.SOLUTION: An image forming system comprises: management means that manages, for each of management IDs identifying groups or users, individual availability information corresponding to the management ID and manages common availability information available in common for the plurality of management IDs; specification means that specifies the management ID corresponding to a user using an image forming apparatus; request means that, when the remaining amount of the individual availability information corresponding to the specified management ID is insufficient, requests addition of the usage of the individual availability information; and allocation means that, in response to a request from the request means, allocates part or all of the usage of the common availability information to the individual availability information corresponding to the specified management ID.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming system, an image forming apparatus, and a management apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art A prepaid device management system that pays a usage fee in advance and uses a device using a charged prepaid frequency is known.

  For example, a prepaid system is known that has a database that stores the identification number of a communication terminal and a prepaid frequency, and allocates all or part of the prepaid frequency to a specified communication terminal in response to a request from a user (for example, , See Patent Document 1).

  For example, in an image forming system in which an image forming apparatus installed in each department or the like is shared by users in each department or the like, the prepaid frequency usable in each department or the like is imaged using the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1. It can be considered to be assigned to a forming device.

  However, in the image forming apparatus, if the assigned prepaid frequency disappears during execution of image forming processing (for example, copying, printing, etc.), the image forming processing is interrupted, and the interrupted image forming processing is resumed. This can be difficult.

  Such a problem is not limited to a prepaid image forming apparatus, and is common to other image forming systems that manage the use of the image forming apparatus based on the available information indicating the available usage.

  Embodiments of the present invention have been made in view of the above-described problems, and in an image forming system that manages the use of an image forming apparatus based on available information indicating available usage, an image forming process It is possible to reduce the interruption of processing due to lack of available usage during the execution of.

  In order to solve the above problems, an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention uses the image forming apparatus based on availability information indicating a usage amount that can be used by the image forming apparatus that executes the image forming process. An image forming system to be managed, and for each management ID for identifying a group or a user including a plurality of users, the individual usable information corresponding to the management ID is managed and shared by the plurality of management IDs Management means for managing the available common information that can be used, specifying means for specifying the management ID corresponding to a user who uses the image forming apparatus, and the individual corresponding to the specified management ID When the remaining amount of available information is insufficient, request means for requesting addition of the usage amount of the individual usable information corresponding to the specified management ID; In response to a request from a part of or the whole usage of the common available information, having a assigning means for assigning to the individual of the available information corresponding to the identified managed ID.

  According to the embodiment of the present invention, in the image forming system that manages the use of the image forming apparatus based on the available information indicating the available usage, there is no available usage during the image forming process. The interruption of processing can be reduced.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image forming system according to an embodiment. It is a figure which shows the hardware structural example of the computer which concerns on one Embodiment. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment. 1 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of an image forming system according to an embodiment. FIG. It is a figure (1) which shows the example of the information which the management apparatus concerning one embodiment manages. It is a figure (2) which shows the example of the information which the management device concerning one embodiment manages. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of information managed by an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment. It is a sequence diagram which shows the example of the purchase process of the prepaid frequency which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a sequence diagram (1) which shows the example of the image formation process which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a sequence diagram (2) which shows the example of the image formation process which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a sequence diagram (3) which shows the example of the image formation process which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a sequence diagram which shows the example of the addition process of the prepaid frequency which concerns on one Embodiment.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<System configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image forming system according to an embodiment. The image forming system 100 includes, for example, one or more image forming apparatuses 101-1 and 101-2, a management apparatus 102, an EC apparatus 103, and a payment system 104 connected to a network 106 such as the Internet or a LAN (Local Area Network). And the information terminal 105 and the like. In the following description, “image forming apparatus 101” is used to indicate an arbitrary image forming apparatus among the one or more image forming apparatuses 101-1 and 101-2. The number of image forming apparatuses 101 shown in FIG. 1 is an example. The number of image forming apparatuses 101 may be one or more other numbers.

  The image forming apparatus 101 is, for example, an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral) having functions such as a printer, a scanner, a copy, and a facsimile. The image forming apparatus 101 may be a single-function image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copier.

  The image forming apparatus 101 according to the present embodiment can execute an image forming process (for example, printing, copying, etc.) using a prepaid frequency that has been charged in advance and charged in advance. The image forming apparatus 101 subtracts a prepaid frequency corresponding to a group including a plurality of users, users, and the like according to the usage amount of the image forming process.

  The prepaid frequency is an example of usable information indicating a usable amount (for example, the number of printed sheets, the number of copies, etc.) that can be used for the image forming process of the image forming apparatus 101. The usable information is not limited to information that pays a usage fee in advance, and may be information such as an upper limit of the usage amount allocated in advance to each department or the like. In this case, the image forming apparatus 101 counts the usage amount of the image forming process of the group or user, and permits the use of the image forming process up to the upper limit of the usage amount. Here, for ease of explanation, the following explanation will be given assuming that the available information is the prepaid frequency.

  The management apparatus 102 is an information processing apparatus having a server function or a system including a plurality of information processing apparatuses. For each billing destination management ID that identifies a group or a user including a plurality of users, the management apparatus 102 uses a common prepaid frequency corresponding to the billing destination management ID and a common that can be commonly used by the plurality of billing destination management IDs. Manage prepaid frequency.

  When the user executes the image forming process, the image forming apparatus 101 according to the present embodiment corresponds to the usage amount of the image forming process used by the user from, for example, the individual prepaid frequency of the billing destination management ID corresponding to the user. Subtract the prepaid frequency.

  Further, when the individual prepaid frequency of the billing destination management ID corresponding to the user is insufficient, the image forming apparatus 101 requests the management device 102 to additionally allocate the prepaid frequency.

  In response to a request from the image forming apparatus 101, the management apparatus 102 changes the prepaid frequency from the common prepaid frequency that can be commonly used by a plurality of billing destination management IDs to the individual prepaid frequency of the billing destination management ID corresponding to the user. Assign frequency.

  As a result, the image forming apparatus 101 can continue the image forming process without interruption even when the individual prepaid frequency of the billing destination management ID corresponding to the user is insufficient.

  In the conventional technology, when users of a plurality of departments commonly use the image forming apparatus 101, for example, when the user of department A prints 10 copies of 10 pages of material, The printing process (an example of the image forming process) is interrupted. At this time, the user in department A can continue the image forming process by requesting the administrator to add the prepaid frequency of department A, for example.

  However, for example, even when the administrator is performing the process of adding the prepaid frequency of the department A, the image forming apparatus 101 is used by the user of the other department B, department C, etc. It is difficult to resume the printed printing process.

  However, the image forming apparatus 101 according to the present embodiment can continue the image forming process using the common prepaid frequency even when the user of the department A runs out of the prepaid frequency of the department A while executing the image forming process. become able to.

  An EC (Electronic Commerce) device 103 is an information processing device having a server function or a system including a plurality of information processing devices. The EC device 103 provides, for example, a web page, a website, or the like for the user of the image forming apparatus 101, an administrator, or the like to purchase the prepaid frequency using the web browser of the information terminal 105 or the like.

  The payment system 104 is a system that uses the EC device 103 to pay for a purchase price of a prepaid frequency purchased by a user, an administrator, or the like. For example, the payment system 104 is a system operated by a financial institution, a credit card company, or the like.

  The information terminal 105 is an information processing apparatus such as a PC (Personal Computer), a tablet terminal, or a smartphone. For example, the administrator of the image forming apparatus 101 accesses the EC apparatus 103 using a web browser of the information terminal 105 and purchases the prepaid frequency. Further, the administrator of the image forming apparatus 101 accesses the management apparatus 102 using the web browser of the information terminal 105 and the prepaid frequency purchased by the EC apparatus 103 is set as the individual prepaid frequency for each billing destination management ID, A setting process for assigning a prepaid frequency common to a plurality of billing destination management IDs is performed.

  The configuration of the image forming system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 is an example, and the image forming system 100 according to the present embodiment can have various system configurations. For example, the management device 102 may include the function of the EC device 103 or may include the function of the payment system 104. Further, the function of the management apparatus 102 may be included in the image forming apparatus 101, for example.

<Hardware configuration>
Next, the hardware configuration of each device according to the present embodiment will be described.

(Computer hardware configuration)
An information terminal 105 shown in FIG. 1 is an information processing apparatus having a general computer configuration. The management device 102, the EC device 103, and the payment system 104 are configured by an information processing device having a general computer configuration or a plurality of information processing devices. Here, a hardware configuration of a general computer will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of a computer according to an embodiment. The computer 200 includes an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 201, a memory device 202, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 203, an interface device 204, a display device 205, an input device 206, a bus 207, and the like.

  The HDD 201 is a non-volatile storage device that stores, for example, a program executed by the management device 102, the EC device 103, and the payment system 104, an OS (Operating System), and various types of information. The memory device 202 is a storage device such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) used as a work area for the CPU 203.

  The CPU 203 is an arithmetic device that implements the functions of the management device 102, the EC device 103, the payment system 104, and the like by executing a program stored in the memory device 202. The interface device 204 is used as a communication interface for connecting the computer 200 to the network 106.

  The display device 205 is a display device that displays a GUI (Graphical User Interface) or the like by a program executed by the CPU 203. The input device 206 is composed of, for example, a touch panel, a keyboard, a mouse, and the like, and is an input device that accepts various operation instructions.

  The bus 207 is commonly connected to each of the above-described components, and transmits an address signal, a data signal, various control signals, and the like.

(Hardware configuration of image forming apparatus)
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment. The image forming apparatus 101 includes a general computer configuration. For example, the CPU 301, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 302, an SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory) 303, a flash memory 304, a NIC (Network Interface Card) 305, An operation unit 306, an HDD 307, a fax control unit (hereinafter referred to as FCU) 308, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) 309, an IEEE 1394 interface 310, a plotter / scanner engine 311, a peripheral device 312 and the like.

  The CPU 301 is an arithmetic device that performs data processing (control of each function) via the ASIC 302. The ASIC 302 is an integrated circuit for image processing applications having hardware elements for image processing. The ASIC 302 includes, for example, a CPU interface, SDRAM interface, local bus interface, PCI interface, MAC (Media Access Controller), HDD interface, and the like.

  The SDRAM 303 is a volatile memory used as a program memory for storing various programs including the OS, a work memory used when the CPU 301 performs data processing, and the like. Instead of the SDRAM 303, a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), an SRAM (Static Random Access Memory), or the like may be used.

  The flash memory 304 is a non-volatile memory that stores a boot program, an OS, an application, and various types of information of the image forming apparatus 101. Instead of the flash memory 304, a nonvolatile RAM in which a backup circuit using RAM and a battery is integrated, or an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) may be used.

  The NIC 305 is a communication interface for connecting the image forming apparatus 101 to the network 106 and communicating with the management apparatus 102 and the like. The operation unit 306 includes a device (a touch panel, an operation button, etc.) for accepting an input operation from the user and a device (display) that performs display for the user, displays an operation screen, and accepts a user operation. A display input device.

  The HDD 307 is a non-volatile storage device that stores and saves data regardless of whether the power is on or off. The HDD 307 can store the above-described program in the flash memory 304 and various data.

  The FCU 308 transmits and receives FAX data according to a standard such as G3 FAX (Group 3 Facsimile). The USB 309 is a serial bus interface for connecting a recording medium such as a USB memory and various USB devices, for example. The IEEE 1394 interface 310 is an interface for connecting a device conforming to the IEEE 1394 of the high-speed serial bus standard. The plotter / scanner engine 311 is a hardware engine that executes image forming processing such as printing and scanning.

In the image forming apparatus 101, for example, when the power is turned on, the CPU 301 activates the boot loader in the flash memory 304 via the ASIC 302, and reads the OS image in the flash memory 304 according to the boot loader. Further, the CPU 301 loads the read OS image into the SDRAM 303 and develops it into a usable OS. When the development of the OS is completed, the CPU 301 starts up the OS.
Thereafter, the CPU 301 reads out programs such as applications and services in the flash memory 304 as necessary, loads them into the SDRAM 303, expands them, and activates them to realize various functions.

<Functional configuration>
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the image forming system according to the embodiment. In the image forming system 100, one or more image forming apparatuses 101-1 and 101-2, a management apparatus 102, an EC apparatus 103, and an information terminal 105 are connected via a network 106.

  The payment system 104 shown in FIG. 1 is a payment system provided by, for example, a financial institution, a credit card company, or the like, and may have an arbitrary configuration, so the description thereof is omitted here. In FIG. 4, the image forming apparatus 101-2 has the same functional configuration as the image forming apparatus 101-1.

(Functional configuration of management device)
The management device 102 includes a communication unit 421, a frequency setting unit 422, a frequency information management unit 423, a frequency notification unit 424, a contract information management unit 425, a user information management unit 426, a frequency allocation unit 427, an allocation determination unit 428, and a storage unit 429 and the like.

  The communication unit 421 is a unit for connecting the management apparatus 102 to the network 106 and communicating with the image forming apparatus 101, the EC apparatus 103, the information terminal 105, and the like. The communication unit 421 is realized by, for example, a program executed by the interface device 204 in FIG. 2 and the CPU 203 in FIG.

  For example, the frequency setting unit (setting unit) 422 stores the prepaid frequency purchased by the administrator of the image forming apparatus 101 with the EC device 103 using the information terminal 105 to a group including a plurality of users, users, and the like. It is a means for assigning. The frequency setting unit 422 is realized by, for example, a program executed by the CPU 203 in FIG.

  For example, the frequency setting unit 422 may use a common billing destination management that can be used in common for individual billing destination management IDs for identifying groups or users including a plurality of users, or for a plurality of billing destination management IDs. A web page to be assigned to the ID is provided to the information terminal 105.

  The frequency information management unit (management means) 423 stores an individual prepaid frequency corresponding to each management ID for each billing destination management ID for identifying a group or a user including a plurality of users, and is common to each management ID. The prepaid frequency information storing the prepaid frequency is managed. The frequency information management unit 423 is realized by, for example, a program executed by the CPU 203 in FIG. For example, the frequency information management unit 423 stores the prepaid frequency information 501 as illustrated in FIG. 5A in the storage unit 429 of the management apparatus 102 and manages it.

  FIG. 5A shows an example of the prepaid frequency managed by the management apparatus 102. In the example of FIG. 5A, the prepaid frequency information (an example of usable information) 501 includes information such as “device”, “billing destination management ID”, “frequency”, and the like.

  “Device” is information for identifying the image forming apparatus 101. In the example of FIG. 5A, “Device_001” indicates the device ID of the image forming apparatus 101-1 in FIG. 4, and “Device_002”. Indicates the device ID of the image forming apparatus 101-2. Further, “common” indicates a prepaid frequency common to a plurality of billing destination management IDs.

  “Billing destination management ID” is used to identify a billing destination that charges a prepaid frequency corresponding to the usage amount of the image forming apparatus 101, such as a group including a plurality of users (for example, a department, a floor, a contract unit, etc.) or a user. Information. In the example of FIG. 5A, identification information (hereinafter referred to as group ID) of a plurality of groups is stored in the “billing destination management ID”.

  “Frequency” indicates the prepaid frequency for each billing destination management ID. As the prepaid frequency, a value corresponding to the usage amount of the image forming process executed by the image forming apparatus 101 (for example, frequency “2” for one color printing, frequency “1” for one monochrome printing, etc.) is determined in advance. It shall be.

  For example, FIG. 5A shows that a user belonging to the group ID “Group — 001” can execute image forming processing up to the prepaid frequency “2000” with the image forming apparatus 101-1 of the device “Device — 001”. Has been. Further, it is indicated that the user belonging to the group ID “Group — 001” can execute the image forming process up to the prepaid frequency “3000” with the device “Device — 002” (image forming apparatus 101-2).

  FIG. 5B shows another example of prepaid frequency information managed by the management apparatus 102. In the example of FIG. 5B, in addition to a plurality of group IDs, user IDs that are identification information of a plurality of users are stored in the “billing destination management ID” of the prepaid frequency information 502. As described above, the billing destination for charging the prepaid frequency corresponding to the usage amount of the image forming apparatus 101 is not limited to the group, and the user may be billed.

  Returning to FIG. 4, the description of the functional configuration of the management apparatus 102 will be continued.

  The frequency notification unit 424 is a unit that notifies the prepaid frequency information of each image forming apparatus 101 set by the frequency setting unit 422 to each of the one or more image forming apparatuses 101, and is executed by, for example, the CPU 203 in FIG. Is realized by the program.

  The contract information management unit 425 is means for managing contract information storing contractor (manager) information corresponding to each contract ID for each contract ID for identifying a contract of the image forming system 100. For example, FIG. This is realized by a program executed by the second CPU 203. The contract information management unit 425 stores, for example, contract information 503 as illustrated in FIG. 5C in the storage unit 429 of the management apparatus 102 for management.

  FIG. 5C shows an example of contract information 503 managed by the management apparatus 102. In the example of FIG. 5C, the contract information 503 includes information such as “contract ID”, “contract name”, “manager”, “mail address”, “IP address”, and “billing address information”. .

  “Contract ID” is identification information for identifying each contract. “Contract name” is the name of each contract. “Manager” is the name (or user ID, etc.) of the manager of each contract.

  “Mail address” is the mail address of the administrator. “IP address” is the IP address of the administrator. The mail address and the IP address are examples of destination information for communicating with the administrator. The destination information for communicating with the administrator may be, for example, account information such as IM (Instant Messaging) service, SNS (Social Networking Service), or information such as a telephone number.

  “Billing destination information” is billing destination information (for example, account number, credit card information, accounting code, etc.) such as a purchase price for a prepaid frequency.

  Returning to FIG. 4, the description of the functional configuration of the management apparatus 102 will be continued.

  The user information management unit 426 is means for managing user information storing user information corresponding to each user ID for each user ID for identifying a user of the image forming system 100. For example, the user information management unit 426 is executed by the CPU 203 in FIG. Is realized by the program. For example, the user information management unit 426 stores and manages user information 504 as illustrated in FIG. 5D in the storage unit 429 of the management apparatus 102.

  FIG. 5D shows an example of user information 504 managed by the management apparatus 102. In the example of FIG. 5D, the user information 504 includes information such as “user ID”, “user name”, “group ID”, and “mail address”.

  “User ID” is identification information for identifying each user. “User name” is the name of each user.

  “Group ID” is a group ID indicating a group to which each user belongs. In the example of FIG. 5D, it is indicated that the user A with the user ID “User_001” belongs to the group with the group ID “Group_001”, and the user C with the user ID “User_003” does not belong to the group. Has been.

  “Mail address” is the mail address of each user. When the image forming apparatus 101 performs user login authentication, the user information 504 may include authentication information of each user.

  Returning to FIG. 4 again, the description of the functional configuration of the management apparatus 102 will be continued.

  In response to a request from the image forming apparatus 101, the frequency allocation unit (allocation means) 427 allocates the prepaid frequency from the prepaid frequency common to each management ID to the individual prepaid frequency corresponding to the requested management ID. The frequency allocation unit 427 is realized by, for example, a program executed by the CPU 203 in FIG.

  As an example, when the frequency assignment unit 427 determines that the assignment determination unit 428 assigns a common prepaid frequency based on a request for adding a prepaid frequency from the image forming apparatus 101, a common prepaid frequency is determined according to the allocation request. Is assigned. For example, the frequency allocation unit 427 allocates a part or all of the common prepaid frequency to the individual prepaid frequency corresponding to the billing destination management ID included in the request for adding the prepaid frequency.

  As another example, the frequency allocation unit 427 may allocate a common prepaid frequency in response to a request for adding a prepaid frequency from the image forming apparatus 101 without depending on the determination of the allocation determination unit 428. good.

  An allocation determination unit (determination unit) 428 is a unit that determines whether or not to allocate a common prepaid frequency in response to a request for adding a prepaid frequency received from the image forming apparatus 101. For example, the CPU 203 in FIG. Is realized by the program.

  As an example, the allocation determination unit 428, for example, based on the common prepaid frequency usage history information 601 illustrated in FIG. 6A and the common prepaid frequency usage limit information 602 illustrated in FIG. It is determined whether or not a common prepaid frequency is assigned.

  FIG. 6A shows an example of the use history information 601 of the common prepaid frequency managed by the management apparatus 102. In the example of FIG. 6A, the common prepaid frequency usage history information 601 stores the common monthly prepaid frequency value used for each billing destination management ID for each billing destination management ID. ing. For example, in FIG. 6A, the billing management ID “Group — 001” indicates that a common prepaid frequency of “35” in January and “0” in February was used.

  FIG. 6B shows an example of the use limit information 602 for the common prepaid frequency managed by the management apparatus 102. The common prepaid frequency use limit information 602 stores an upper limit value of the common prepaid frequency that can be used in the current month and is preset for each billing management ID.

  For example, the allocation determination unit 428 determines that the sum of the common prepaid frequency used in the current month and the requested frequency is less than the limit number in the billing destination management ID included in the request for adding the prepaid frequency received from the image forming apparatus 101. In this case, it is determined that a common prepaid frequency is assigned.

  Returning to FIG. 4, the description of the functional configuration of the management apparatus 102 is further continued.

  The storage unit 429 stores prepaid frequency information 501 and 502, contract information 503, user information 504 shown in FIG. 5, usage history information 601 of common prepaid frequency shown in FIG. 6, usage limit information 602, and the like. The storage unit 429 is realized by, for example, a program executed by the HDD 201 in FIG. 2 and the CPU 203 in FIG.

(Functional configuration of image forming apparatus)
The image forming apparatus 101 includes a communication unit 401, a frequency management unit 402, a login processing unit 403, a specifying unit 404, an image forming processing unit 405, a charging unit 406, a request unit 407, a prediction unit 408, a notification unit 409, and a display input unit 410. And a storage unit 411 and the like.

  The communication unit 401 is a means for connecting the image forming apparatus 101 to the network 106 and communicating with the management apparatus 102 and the like, for example, by a program executed by the NIC 305 in FIG. 3 and the CPU 301 in FIG. Realized.

  The frequency management unit 402 is a means for storing and managing the prepaid frequency information of the image forming apparatus 101 notified from the frequency notification unit 424 of the management apparatus 102 in the storage unit 411. For example, the frequency management unit 402 is executed by the CPU 301 in FIG. Is realized by the program.

  An example of prepaid frequency information managed by the frequency management unit 402 is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7A, the prepaid frequency information 701 managed by the frequency management unit 402 of the image forming apparatus 101 stores prepaid frequency information assigned to each billing destination management ID for each billing destination management ID. Has been.

  The login processing unit 403 is a unit that performs login processing for a user to log in to the image forming apparatus 101, and is realized by, for example, a program executed by the CPU 301 in FIG.

  For example, the login processing unit 403 displays a login screen on the operation unit 306 using the display input unit 410, and when the user ID is input on the login screen, acquires the input user ID and the image forming apparatus 101. Is displayed on the display input unit 410.

  Note that the login processing unit 403 may acquire identification information for specifying a user ID such as a user ID or a card ID or a terminal ID by an IC card reader or near field communication. .

  The identification unit (identification unit) 404 is a unit that identifies a billing management ID corresponding to a user who uses the image forming apparatus 101 based on the user ID acquired by the login processing unit 403. For example, FIG. This is realized by a program executed by the CPU 301.

  For example, the specifying unit 404 transmits an acquisition request for user information including the user ID acquired by the login processing unit 403 to the management apparatus 102, and sets the group ID included in the user information acquired from the management apparatus 102 to the billing destination management ID. Further, when the group information is not included in the user information acquired from the management apparatus 102, the specifying unit 404 sets the user ID as a billing destination management ID, for example.

  The image forming processing unit 405 executes image forming processing such as printing and copying, for example, in response to an operation on the operation screen displayed on the operation unit 306 by the display input unit 410. The image forming processing unit 405 is realized by, for example, a program executed by the plotter / scanner engine 311 in FIG. 3 and the CPU 301 in FIG.

  A billing unit (billing unit) 406 subtracts (charges) a prepaid frequency corresponding to the usage amount of the image forming process by the user from the prepaid frequency corresponding to the billing destination management ID identified by the identifying unit 404. The accounting unit 406 is realized by, for example, a program executed by the CPU 301 in FIG.

  For example, the accounting unit 406 prepaid frequency corresponding to the amount of image forming processing executed in the image forming apparatus 101 (for example, frequency “2” for one color print, frequency “1” for one monochrome print, etc.) Is stored in advance. The charging unit 406 subtracts the prepaid frequency corresponding to the usage amount of the image forming process executed by the image forming apparatus 101 from the prepaid frequency corresponding to the billing destination management ID specified by the specifying unit 404.

  When the remaining amount of the prepaid frequency corresponding to the billing destination management ID specified by the specifying unit 404 is insufficient, the requesting unit (requesting unit) 407 corresponds to the billing destination management ID specified by the specifying unit 404 in the management apparatus 102. Request prepaid frequency allocation. The request unit 407 is realized, for example, by a program executed by the CPU 301 in FIG.

  As an example, when the prepaid frequency corresponding to the billing destination management ID identified by the identifying unit 404 is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the request unit 407 identifies the billing destination management ID identified by the identifying unit 404 to the management apparatus 102. Requests allocation of prepaid frequency corresponding to.

  As another example, when the request unit 407 determines that the prepaid frequency necessary for executing the image forming process performed by the user is insufficient, the request unit 407 specifies the billing destination specified by the specifying unit 404 in the management apparatus 102. Requests the allocation of the prepaid frequency corresponding to the management ID. This method may be applied when the prepaid frequency required for the image forming process can be specified at the start of the image forming process, for example, when a predetermined number of printings are requested by the user. it can.

  Note that, for example, when the prepaid frequency required for the image forming process cannot be specified at the start of the image forming process such as a copy process, the request unit 407 uses the prediction result of the predicting unit 408 to be described later. The management apparatus 102 is requested to allocate the prepaid frequency.

  The prediction unit (prediction unit) 408 is a unit that predicts the prepaid frequency required for the image forming process executed by the image forming apparatus 101, and is realized by, for example, a program executed by the CPU 301 in FIG. For example, the prediction unit 408 predicts the prepaid frequency required for the image forming process executed by the image forming apparatus 101 based on the usage amount of the image forming process executed in the past by the image forming apparatus 101.

  For example, the prediction unit 408 stores information 702 indicating the usage frequency per job (image forming process) as shown in FIG. 7B for each billing destination management ID, and uses the usage frequency per job. Based on the information 702 shown, the prepaid frequency required for the image forming process is predicted.

  In the example of FIG. 7B, the information 702 indicating the usage frequency per job stores the average value μ of the usage frequency per job and the standard deviation σ per job for each billing destination management ID. . For example, the average value μ and the standard deviation σ are calculated by, for example, the prediction unit 408 based on the usage amount of the image forming process executed in the past with each billing destination management ID.

  For example, the predicting unit 408 calculates μ + 2σ from information 702 indicating the usage frequency per job as shown in FIG. 7B, and predicts the calculated value as the prepaid frequency required for the image forming process. Note that the method for predicting the prepaid frequency necessary for the image forming process may be another method.

  For example, the notification unit 409 notifies the management apparatus 102 of prepaid frequency information 701 after the user executes image forming processing and is charged by the charging unit 406. The notification unit 409 is realized, for example, by a program executed by the CPU 301 in FIG.

  Preferably, the notification unit 409 returns at least a part of the remaining common prepaid frequency to the management device 102 when the common prepaid frequency allocated from the management device 102 is left after the image forming process is completed.

  The display input unit 410 is a unit that displays a login screen, an operation screen, and the like of the image forming apparatus 101 on the operation unit 306 in FIG. 3 and accepts a user input operation. For example, the display input unit 410 is executed by the CPU 301 in FIG. Realized by the program.

  The storage unit 411 is a unit that stores, for example, prepaid frequency information 701 stored in the image forming apparatus 101 illustrated in FIG. 7, information 702 indicating the frequency of use per job, and the like. The storage unit 411 is realized by, for example, a program executed by the flash memory 304, the HDD 307, and the CPU 301 in FIG.

(Other functional configurations)
For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the EC device 103 includes a communication unit 431, a frequency providing unit 432, and the like.

  The communication unit 431 is a unit for connecting the EC device 103 to the network 106 and communicating with the management device 102, the information terminal 105, and the like, and is executed by, for example, the interface device 204 in FIG. 2 and the CPU 203 in FIG. This is realized by a program or the like.

  The frequency providing unit (providing means) 432 is a means for providing the prepaid frequency, and is realized, for example, by a program executed by the CPU 203 in FIG. For example, the frequency providing unit 432 provides a web page for purchasing a prepaid frequency with the web browser 442 of the information terminal 105. Further, the frequency providing unit 432 uses the payment system 104 illustrated in FIG. 1 to perform payment for the purchase price of the prepaid frequency, for example.

  The information terminal 105 includes, for example, a communication unit 441 and a web browser 442 as shown in FIG.

  The communication unit 441 is a unit for connecting the information terminal 105 to the network 106 and communicating with the management apparatus 102, the EC apparatus 103, and the like, and is executed by, for example, the interface apparatus 204 in FIG. 2 and the CPU 203 in FIG. This is realized by a program or the like.

  The web browser 442 is a general web browser. An administrator or the like browses a web page provided by the management device 102, the EC device 103, or the like using the web browser 442 and inputs information, thereby performing purchase of a prepaid frequency, setting of allocation of a prepaid frequency, and the like. be able to.

<Process flow>
Next, the flow of processing of the image forming method in the image forming system 100 according to an embodiment will be described.

(Prepaid frequency purchase process)
FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a prepaid frequency purchase process according to an embodiment.

  In step S <b> 801, the administrator uses the web browser 442 of the information terminal 105 to perform a display operation of a web page (hereinafter referred to as a purchase page) for purchasing the prepaid frequency provided by the EC device 103.

  In step S <b> 802, when the web browser 442 of the information terminal 105 receives a purchase page display operation by the administrator, the web browser 442 requests access to a predetermined purchase page URL (Uniform Resource Locator).

  In step S <b> 803, the frequency providing unit 432 of the EC device 103 displays a prepaid frequency purchase screen on the web browser 442 of the information terminal 105.

  In step S804, the web browser 442 of the information terminal 105 displays a prepaid purchase screen on the display device 205 of the information terminal 105.

  In step S <b> 805, the administrator performs a prepaid frequency purchase operation from the purchase screen displayed on the web browser 442 of the information terminal 105. For example, the administrator inputs the contract ID and the frequency information of the prepaid frequency to be purchased on the purchase screen, and selects a purchase button or the like.

  In step S <b> 806, when the information terminal 105 accepts a purchase operation by the administrator, the information terminal 105 transmits a prepaid frequency purchase request including the contract ID input by the administrator and the frequency information to the EC device 103.

  In step S807, the frequency providing unit 432 of the EC device 103 performs a prepaid frequency purchase process. For example, the frequency providing unit 432 settles the purchase price for the requested prepaid frequency using the billing destination information of the contract information 503 in FIG. 5C.

  In step S <b> 808, the frequency providing unit 432 of the EC device 103 transmits a prepaid frequency issue request to the management device 102. The prepaid frequency issue request includes a contract ID, frequency information, and the like.

  In step S808, when the frequency setting unit 422 of the management apparatus 102 receives a prepaid frequency issue request from the EC device 103, the contract ID included in the issue request is used as a search key, for example, as shown in FIG. The contract information 503 is searched. Thereby, the frequency setting unit 422 can specify destination information (for example, an e-mail address, an IP address, etc.) of an administrator who has purchased a prepaid frequency.

  In step S <b> 810, the frequency setting unit 422 of the management apparatus 102 transmits a prepaid frequency setting request to the information terminal 105. For example, the image forming system 100 may redirect the prepaid frequency purchase page provided by the EC device 103 to the prepaid frequency setting page provided by the management device 102. Alternatively, the frequency setting unit 422 of the management apparatus 102 may notify the information terminal 105 of URL information of the setting page for the prepaid frequency by e-mail, IM service, SNS, or the like.

  In step S <b> 811, the web browser 442 of the information terminal 105 displays a prepaid frequency setting screen (setting page) provided by the management apparatus 102 on the display device 205 of the information terminal 105.

  In step S812, the administrator displays the purchased prepaid frequency from the setting screen displayed on the web browser 442 of the information terminal 105, the individual prepaid frequency of each billing destination management ID, and the prepaid common to each billing destination management ID. Perform setting operation to assign to frequency.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, the prepaid frequency information 501 shown in FIG. 5A or the prepaid frequency information 502 shown in FIG. 5B, the individual prepaid frequency of each billing destination management ID, and each billing destination management Assign a common prepaid frequency to the ID.

  In step S813, the frequency setting unit 422 of the management apparatus 102 acquires setting information for the prepaid frequency set by the administrator.

  In step S814, the frequency setting unit 422 of the management apparatus 102 notifies the information terminal 105 of a completion notification indicating that the setting information of the prepaid frequency information has been received.

  In step S815, the frequency notification unit 424 of the management apparatus 102 notifies the image forming apparatus 101-1 of the prepaid frequency assigned to the image forming apparatus 101-1.

  In step S816, the frequency management unit 402 of the image forming apparatus 101-1 stores the prepaid frequency notified from the management apparatus 102 in, for example, prepaid frequency information 701 as illustrated in FIG.

  In step S817, the frequency notification unit 424 of the management apparatus 102 notifies the image forming apparatus 101-2 of the prepaid frequency assigned to the image forming apparatus 101-2.

  In step S818, the frequency management unit 402 of the image forming apparatus 101-2 stores the prepaid frequency notified from the management apparatus 102 in, for example, prepaid frequency information 701 as illustrated in FIG.

  Through the above processing, the administrator purchases the prepaid frequency for executing the image forming processing in one or more of the image forming apparatuses 101-1 and 101-2, and the billing management ID of each image forming apparatus 101 is purchased. It can be assigned to a unique prepaid power and a common prepaid power.

(Image formation processing 1)
FIG. 9 is a sequence (1) illustrating an example of the image forming process according to the embodiment.

  In step S <b> 901, a user who uses the image forming apparatus 101 performs a login operation on the image forming apparatus 101. For example, the user inputs a user ID on a login screen displayed on the operation unit 306 of the image forming apparatus 101. Alternatively, the user may cause the image forming apparatus 101 to read identification information such as a user ID, a card ID, and a terminal ID using an IC card, a wireless terminal, or the like.

  In step S902, the login processing unit 403 of the image forming apparatus 101 performs login processing. For example, the login processing unit 403 acquires the user ID of the user and switches the login screen displayed on the operation unit 306 to the operation screen.

  In step S <b> 903, the specifying unit 404 of the image forming apparatus 101 transmits a user information acquisition request to the management apparatus 102. This acquisition request includes, for example, the user ID acquired in step S902.

  In step S904, when the user information management unit 426 of the management apparatus 102 receives the user information acquisition request from the image forming apparatus 101, for example, the user information illustrated in FIG. 504 is searched. Thereby, the user information management unit 426 acquires user information corresponding to the user ID.

  In step S905, the user information management unit 426 of the management apparatus 102 transmits the acquired user information (eg, user name, group ID, mail address, etc.) to the image forming apparatus 101 that is the request source of the acquisition request.

  In step 906, the specifying unit 404 of the image forming apparatus 101 specifies a billing management ID corresponding to the user who has logged into the image forming apparatus 101. For example, when the user information notified from the management apparatus 102 includes a group ID, the specifying unit 404 sets the group ID included in the user information as a billing destination management ID. Further, when the user information notified from the management apparatus 102 does not include a group ID, the specifying unit 404 sets the user ID as a billing destination management ID.

  In step S907, the user performs an image forming operation (for example, a printing operation) on the image forming apparatus 101.

  In step S908, the request unit 407 of the image forming apparatus 101 confirms the prepaid frequency required for the image forming process received from the user. For example, when the image forming process is a printing process, the number of copies, color, and the like are specified, and the request unit 407 can specify the prepaid frequency required for the requested printing process.

  Also, the request unit 407 confirms whether the requested image forming process can be executed with the prepaid frequency corresponding to the billing destination management ID specified by the specifying unit 404. Here, an example of processing when the requested image forming processing can be executed with the prepaid frequency corresponding to the billing destination management ID specified by the specifying unit 404 will be described below.

  In step S909, the image forming processing unit 405 of the image forming apparatus 101 executes the requested image forming process (for example, printing).

  In step S910, the charging unit 406 of the image forming apparatus 101 performs image forming processing based on the prepaid frequency corresponding to the billing destination management ID specified by the specifying unit 404 in the prepaid frequency information 701 as shown in FIG. Subtract the prepaid frequency according to the usage amount.

  In step S <b> 911, the notification unit 409 of the image forming apparatus 101 notifies the management device 102 of the prepaid frequency information updated by the charging unit 406.

  In step S912, the frequency information management unit 423 of the management apparatus 102 uses the prepaid frequency information notified from the image forming apparatus 101, for example, for the prepaid frequency information shown in FIG. 5A or 5B. Among them, the corresponding prepaid frequency is updated.

(Image formation processing 2)
Next, an example of processing in the case where the prepaid frequency necessary for image forming processing is insufficient in step S908 in FIG. 9 will be described.

  FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram (2) illustrating an example of the image forming process according to the embodiment. It is assumed that the login process shown in steps S901 to S906 in FIG. 9 has been executed before the process shown in FIG. 10 is started. Further, since the processing of steps S909 to S912 is the same as the processing shown in FIG. 9, here, the description will focus on differences from the processing shown in FIG.

  In step S <b> 1001, the user performs an image forming operation (for example, a printing operation) on the image forming apparatus 101.

  In step S1002, the request unit 407 of the image forming apparatus 101 confirms the prepaid frequency necessary for the image forming process received from the user. For example, when the image forming process is a printing process, the number of copies, color, and the like are specified, and the request unit 407 can specify the prepaid frequency required for the requested printing process.

  Also, the request unit 407 confirms whether the requested image forming process can be executed with the prepaid frequency corresponding to the billing destination management ID specified by the specifying unit 404. Here, an example of processing when the prepaid frequency corresponding to the billing management ID specified by the specifying unit 404 is insufficient to execute the requested image forming process will be described below. .

  In step S <b> 1003, the request unit 407 of the image forming apparatus 101 transmits an addition request for requesting addition of an individual prepaid frequency corresponding to the billing destination management ID specified by the specifying unit 404. This addition request includes a billing destination management ID for requesting addition of the prepaid frequency.

  Preferably, the addition request includes frequency information indicating the amount of the prepaid frequency requesting addition. For example, the request unit 407 transmits frequency information indicating the amount of the prepaid frequency that is insufficient to execute the image forming process requested by the user, to the management apparatus 102 in the addition request.

  In step S <b> 1004, the assignment determination unit 428 of the management apparatus 102 determines whether or not a common prepaid frequency can be allocated in response to the prepaid frequency addition request received from the image forming apparatus 101.

  For example, the allocation determination unit 428 determines whether or not the prepaid frequency can be allocated based on the common prepaid frequency usage history information 601 and the common prepaid frequency usage limit information 602 illustrated in FIG. 6. To do. For example, the allocation determination unit 428 is a billing destination management ID included in the request for adding the prepaid frequency received from the image forming apparatus 101, and the sum of the common prepaid frequency used in the current month and the requested frequency is equal to or less than the limit number. In this case, it is determined that a common prepaid frequency can be assigned.

  Here, the following description will be given on the assumption that the allocation determination unit 428 determines that a common prepaid frequency can be allocated in response to a request for adding a prepaid frequency.

  In step S1005, the frequency allocation unit 427 of the management apparatus 102 adds the prepaid frequency corresponding to the frequency information from the common prepaid frequency to the individual prepaid frequency corresponding to the billing destination management ID included in the request for adding the prepaid frequency. To do. Further, the frequency allocation unit 427 notifies the request source image forming apparatus 101 of the information of the added prepaid frequency.

  Note that the process shown in step S1004 is a preferable example. As another example, the frequency allocation unit 427 of the management apparatus 102 may perform the allocation of a common prepaid frequency by omitting the determination of whether allocation is possible in step S1004.

  In step S1006, the frequency management unit 402 of the image forming apparatus 101 updates the prepaid frequency information 701 as illustrated in FIG. 7A based on the prepaid frequency information notified from the management apparatus 102, for example. As a result, the image forming apparatus 101 can execute the image forming process requested by the user until completion.

  The processes after step S909 are the same as the processes shown in FIG.

(Image formation processing 3)
In the processing shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, for example, in step S <b> 908 in FIG. 9, it has been described that the frequency required for the image forming processing can be specified. However, the image forming process executed by the image forming apparatus 101 includes a process in which the usage amount of the image forming process cannot be specified in advance, such as a copy process.

  Here, an example of processing in a case where the usage amount of image forming processing cannot be specified at the time when an image forming operation is received from the user will be described.

  FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram (3) illustrating an example of the image forming process according to the embodiment. It is assumed that the login process shown in steps S901 to S906 in FIG. 9 has been executed before the process shown in FIG. 11 is started.

  In step S <b> 1101, the user performs an image forming operation (for example, a copy operation) on the image forming apparatus 101.

  In step S1102, the prediction unit 408 of the image forming apparatus 101 predicts the prepaid frequency necessary for the image forming process received from the user. For example, when the image forming process is a copy process, the number of printed sheets may not be specified. In such a case, the prediction unit 408 of the image forming apparatus 101, for example, based on the information 702 indicating the usage frequency per job as illustrated in FIG. 7B, the prepaid frequency required for the requested image forming processing. Predict. For example, the prediction unit 408 calculates μ + 2σ from the information 702 indicating the usage frequency per job as shown in FIG. 7B, and uses the calculated μ + 2σ as a predicted value of the prepaid frequency required for the image forming process. .

  In step S <b> 1103, the request unit 407 of the image forming apparatus 101 transmits an addition request for requesting addition of an individual prepaid frequency corresponding to the billing destination management ID specified by the specifying unit 404. This addition request includes a billing destination management ID for requesting addition of the prepaid frequency.

  Preferably, the addition request includes frequency information indicating the amount of the prepaid frequency requesting addition. For example, the request unit 407 transmits frequency information indicating the amount of the prepaid frequency that is predicted to be insufficient for executing the image forming process requested by the user to the management apparatus 102 in the addition request.

  In step S <b> 1104, the assignment determination unit 428 of the management apparatus 102 determines whether or not a common prepaid frequency can be allocated to the request for adding a prepaid frequency received from the image forming apparatus 101.

  For example, the allocation determination unit 428 determines whether or not the prepaid frequency can be allocated based on the common prepaid frequency usage history information 601 and the common prepaid frequency usage limit information 602 illustrated in FIG. 6. To do. For example, the allocation determination unit 428 is a billing destination management ID included in the request for adding the prepaid frequency received from the image forming apparatus 101, and the sum of the common prepaid frequency used in the current month and the requested frequency is equal to or less than the limit number. In this case, it is determined that a common prepaid frequency can be assigned.

  Here, the following description will be given on the assumption that the allocation determination unit 428 determines that a common prepaid frequency can be allocated in response to a request for adding a prepaid frequency.

  In step S1105, the frequency allocation unit 427 of the management apparatus 102 adds the prepaid frequency according to the frequency information from the common prepaid frequency to the individual prepaid frequency corresponding to the billing destination management ID included in the request for adding the prepaid frequency. To do. Further, the frequency allocation unit 427 notifies the request source image forming apparatus 101 of the information of the added prepaid frequency.

  Note that the process of step S1104 is a preferred example. As another example, the frequency allocation unit 427 of the management apparatus 102 may perform the allocation of a common prepaid frequency by omitting the determination of whether allocation is possible in step S1104.

  In step S1106, the frequency management unit 402 of the image forming apparatus 101 updates the prepaid frequency information 701 as shown in FIG. 7A based on the prepaid frequency information notified from the management apparatus 102, for example. As a result, the image forming apparatus 101 is more likely to be able to execute the image forming process requested by the user until completion.

  In step S1107, the image formation processing unit 405 of the image forming apparatus 101 executes the requested image formation processing (for example, copying).

  In step S1108, the charging unit 406 of the image forming apparatus 101 forms the image from the prepaid frequency corresponding to the billing destination management ID specified by the specifying unit 404 in the prepaid frequency information 701 as shown in FIG. The prepaid frequency corresponding to the amount of processing used is subtracted.

  In step S <b> 1109, the notification unit 409 of the image forming apparatus 101 notifies the management apparatus 102 of prepaid frequency information to be returned to the management apparatus 102 after the image forming process is completed. For example, the notification unit 409 returns the remaining prepaid frequency among the common prepaid frequencies allocated from the management device 102 to the management device 102.

  As another example, the notification unit 409 stores a predetermined prepaid frequency among the common prepaid frequencies allocated from the management apparatus 102 in, for example, prepaid frequency information 701 as illustrated in FIG. The remaining prepaid frequency is returned to the management apparatus 102.

  In step S1110, the frequency information management unit 423 of the management apparatus 102 uses the prepaid frequency returned from the image forming apparatus 101 as, for example, the prepaid frequency common to the prepaid frequency information as illustrated in FIGS. Add to and update.

  In step S <b> 1111, the management apparatus 102 notifies the image forming apparatus 101 of a conversion completion notification indicating that the return of the prepaid frequency has been accepted.

  In step S1112, the frequency management unit S1112 of the image forming apparatus 101 updates the prepaid frequency information as illustrated in FIG. 7A, for example, and notifies the management device 102 of the updated prepaid frequency information in step S1113. To do.

  With the above processing, even when the image forming apparatus 101 cannot identify the prepaid frequency necessary for the image forming process requested by the user, the image forming apparatus 101 predicts the necessary prepaid frequency and requests the management apparatus 102 to add the prepaid frequency. Will be able to.

(Additional processing of prepaid frequency)
In the processes illustrated in FIGS. 9 to 11, the request unit 407 of the image forming apparatus 101 adds a prepaid frequency that is insufficient (or is predicted to be insufficient) when receiving an operation of the image forming process by the user. 102.

  As another example, the request unit 407 of the image forming apparatus 101 requests the management apparatus 102 to add a prepaid frequency when the individual prepaid frequency corresponding to the billing destination management ID is less than a predetermined value. May be.

  FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a prepaid frequency addition process according to an embodiment. It is assumed that the login process shown in steps S901 to S906 in FIG. 9 has been executed before the start of the process shown in FIG.

  In step S1201, the request unit 407 of the image forming apparatus 101 confirms whether the individual prepaid frequency corresponding to the billing destination management ID specified by the specifying unit 404 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. Here, an example of processing when the individual prepaid frequency corresponding to the billing destination management ID specified by the specifying unit 404 is less than a predetermined value will be described. The predetermined value is assumed to be a value sufficient for executing a general image forming process, for example.

  In step S <b> 1202, the request unit 407 of the image forming apparatus 101 transmits an addition request for requesting addition of an individual prepaid frequency corresponding to the billing destination management ID specified by the specifying unit 404. This addition request includes a billing destination management ID for requesting addition of the prepaid frequency.

  Preferably, the addition request includes frequency information indicating the amount of the prepaid frequency requesting addition. For example, the request unit 407 transmits frequency information indicating the amount of the prepaid frequency that is insufficient with respect to the above-described predetermined value to the management apparatus 102 in the addition request.

  In step S <b> 1203, the assignment determination unit 428 of the management apparatus 102 determines whether or not a common prepaid frequency can be allocated in response to the prepaid frequency addition request received from the image forming apparatus 101.

  For example, the allocation determination unit 428 determines whether or not the prepaid frequency can be allocated based on the common prepaid frequency usage history information 601 and the common prepaid frequency usage limit information 602 illustrated in FIG. 6. To do. Here, the following description will be given on the assumption that the allocation determination unit 428 determines that a common prepaid frequency can be allocated in response to a request for adding a prepaid frequency.

  In step S1204, the frequency allocation unit 427 of the management apparatus 102 adds the prepaid frequency according to the frequency information from the common prepaid frequency to the individual prepaid frequency corresponding to the billing destination management ID included in the request for adding the prepaid frequency. To do. Further, the frequency allocation unit 427 notifies the request source image forming apparatus 101 of the information of the added prepaid frequency.

  Note that the process of step S1203 is a preferred example. As another example, the frequency allocation unit 427 of the management apparatus 102 may perform the allocation of a common prepaid frequency by omitting the determination of whether allocation is possible in step S1104.

  In step S1205, the frequency management unit 402 of the image forming apparatus 101 updates the prepaid frequency information 701 as illustrated in FIG. 7A based on the prepaid frequency information notified from the management apparatus 102, for example. As a result, the prepaid frequency that can be used by the user who has logged into the image forming apparatus 101 is controlled to be equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

  In addition, said process may be performed in combination with the process shown to FIGS.

  As described above, according to the image forming system according to the embodiment, the image forming system that manages the use of the image forming apparatus based on the available information indicating the available usage amount can be used during the execution of the image forming process. It is possible to reduce the interruption of processing due to the lack of usage.

  The functional configuration of the image forming system 100 illustrated in FIG. 4 is an example. The image forming system 100 according to the present invention can have various system configurations.

  For example, in FIG. 4, some or all of the frequency information management unit 423, the frequency allocation unit 427, the allocation determination unit 428, and the like included in the management apparatus 102 may be included in the image forming apparatus 101-1.

  4, some or all of the specifying unit 404, the charging unit 406, the request unit 407, the prediction unit 408, and the like included in the image forming apparatus 101 may be included in the management apparatus 102.

  Further, in FIG. 4, the frequency providing unit 432 included in the EC device 103 may be included in the management device 102 or the like.

  As described above, each of the components illustrated in FIG. 4 may be included in any of the devices included in the image forming system 100.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Image forming system 101 Image forming apparatus 102 Management apparatus 404 Identification part (identification means)
406 Billing unit (billing means)
407 Request section (request means)
408 Prediction unit (prediction means)
422 Frequency setting part (setting means)
423 Frequency information management unit (management means)
427 Frequency allocation unit (allocation means)
428 Allocation determination unit (determination means)
432 Frequency providing unit (providing means)

JP 2009-169984 A

Claims (10)

An image forming system that manages use of the image forming apparatus based on available information indicating a usable amount of the image forming apparatus that executes image forming processing,
For each management ID for identifying a group or user including a plurality of users, the individual usable information corresponding to the management ID is managed, and the common usable information that can be commonly used by the plurality of management IDs Management means for managing
Specifying means for specifying the management ID corresponding to a user who uses the image forming apparatus;
Request means for requesting addition of the usage amount of the individual usable information corresponding to the specified management ID when the remaining amount of the individual usable information corresponding to the specified management ID is insufficient. When,
Allocating means for allocating a part or all of the usage amount of the common usable information to the individual usable information corresponding to the specified management ID in response to a request from the requesting means;
An image forming system. The availability information is a prepaid frequency provided by paying a usage fee in advance,
The image forming system according to claim 1, further comprising a charging unit that subtracts the prepaid frequency corresponding to the amount of use of the image forming process from the individual prepaid frequency corresponding to the specified management ID. The request means includes
3. The addition of the individual prepaid frequency corresponding to the specified management ID is requested when the individual prepaid frequency corresponding to the specified management ID is less than a predetermined value. Image forming system. Predicting means for predicting the prepaid frequency required for image forming processing executed in the image forming apparatus;
The request means includes
4. The image forming system according to claim 2, wherein addition of the individual prepaid frequency corresponding to the specified management ID is requested based on the predicted prepaid frequency. 5. The prediction means includes
The image forming system according to claim 4, wherein the prepaid frequency required for the image forming process is predicted based on a usage amount of the image forming process executed in the past by the image forming apparatus.   In response to a request from the requesting unit, it is determined whether or not to allocate the common prepaid frequency that can be commonly used by the plurality of management IDs to the individual prepaid frequency corresponding to the specified management ID. 6. The image forming system according to claim 2, further comprising a determination unit. The determination means includes
7. The method according to claim 6, wherein whether or not to permit the allocation of the prepaid frequency is determined based on history information in which the common prepaid frequency is allocated to the individual prepaid frequency corresponding to the specified management ID. The image forming system described. Providing means for providing the prepaid frequency;
Setting means for setting an assignment of the prepaid frequency provided by the providing means to the individual prepaid frequency and the common prepaid frequency;
An image forming system according to any one of claims 2 to 7. A management device that manages the use of the image forming apparatus based on available information indicating a usable amount of the image forming apparatus that executes the image forming process, and an image forming apparatus connected via a network,
A specifying unit for specifying a management ID for identifying a group or a user including a plurality of users corresponding to a user who uses the image forming apparatus;
When the remaining amount of the individual usable information corresponding to the specified management ID is insufficient, the usage amount of the individual usable information corresponding to the specified management ID is added to the management device. Requesting means to request;
An image forming apparatus. A management device that manages the use of the image forming apparatus based on available information indicating a usable amount of the image forming apparatus that executes an image forming process;
For each management ID for identifying a group or user including a plurality of users, the individual usable information corresponding to the management ID is managed, and the common usable information that can be commonly used by the plurality of management IDs Management means for managing
An allocating unit for allocating a part or all of the usage amount of the common usable information to the individual usable information designated by the image forming device in response to a request from the image forming device;
A management device.

Images