JP2019079496A - Information processing system and information processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

To perform printing in coordination with a cloud service by using an image forming apparatus present on the periphery of a user.SOLUTION: An information processing system includes a terminal device, one or more image forming apparatuses, and a service providing system that provides a service coordinated with a print service provided by an external printing system, and comprises: selection means that receives selection of one image forming apparatus from the one or more image forming apparatuses communicable in short-range radio communication with the terminal device; print request means that transmits, to the printing system, a print request including an apparatus ID for identifying the selected one image forming apparatus; job acquisition means that acquires print jobs created in the printing system in response to the print request; job management means that stores the acquired print jobs in storage means; and transmission means that transmits, of the print jobs stored in the storage means, a print job including an apparatus ID for identifying the image forming apparatus of the request source in response to a request from the image forming apparatus.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing system and an information processing method.

  In recent years, with the advancement of technologies such as cloud computing, a wide variety of services have come to be provided. For example, there has conventionally been known a technology for printing image data to be printed such as document data transmitted from a PC (personal computer) or a smartphone to a cloud service in cooperation with the image forming apparatus and the cloud service. There is.

  In addition, when a cloud-type print server receives a print request, a technique is known that provides the user with a printer selection screen and then converts the print job into a format associated with the printer selected by the user (for example, Patent Document 1).

  However, in order to print with the image forming apparatus in cooperation with the cloud service, it is necessary to register the image forming apparatus in the cloud service in advance. Therefore, for example, in a place where a plurality of image forming apparatuses are installed, such as an office environment, it is necessary to register many image forming apparatuses in the cloud service in advance.

  Also, for example, when the image forming apparatus is replaced due to a failure or the like, it is necessary to register the image forming apparatus in the cloud service again.

  An embodiment of the present invention has been made in view of the above-described point, and an object thereof is to perform printing in cooperation with a cloud service using an image forming apparatus around a user.

  In order to achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention has a terminal device, one or more image forming apparatuses, and a service providing system for providing a service in cooperation with a printing service provided by an external printing system. An information processing system, comprising: selecting means for receiving a selection of an image forming apparatus among the one or more image forming apparatuses capable of communicating with the terminal device via near field communication; and the selection means selected by the selecting means Print request means for transmitting to the printing system a print request including a device ID for identifying one image forming apparatus, and a print job created by the printing system in response to the print request sent by the print request means Job acquisition means for acquiring the job; job management means for storing the print job acquired by the job acquisition means in the storage means; A transmitting unit that transmits, to the image forming apparatus, a print job including an apparatus ID identifying the image forming apparatus of the request source among the print jobs stored in the storage unit in response to a request from the forming apparatus And.

  According to one embodiment of the present invention, printing in cooperation with a cloud service can be performed using an image forming apparatus around a user.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a printing system according to a first embodiment. It is a figure explaining cloud cooperation printing. It is a figure showing an example of the hardware constitutions of a computer. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. It is a figure showing an example of functional composition of a printing system concerning a first embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of a cooperation information table. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the utilization registration process which concerns on 1st embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen transition of the terminal device in the utilization registration process which concerns on 1st embodiment. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing an example of print job accumulation processing according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a view showing an example of screen transition of the terminal device in the print job accumulation process according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing an example of print execution processing according to the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing a modification of print job accumulation processing according to the first embodiment. FIG. 8 is a view showing another example of the selection screen of the image forming apparatus. It is a figure showing an example of functional composition of a printing system concerning a second embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of an apparatus ID cooperation information table. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the utilization registration process which concerns on 2nd embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen transition of the terminal device in the utilization registration process which concerns on 2nd embodiment. FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram showing an example of print job accumulation processing according to the second embodiment. FIG. 14 is a view showing an example of screen transition of the terminal device in print job accumulation processing according to the second embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment
<Overall configuration>
First, the entire configuration of the printing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a printing system 1 according to the present embodiment.

  The printing system 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a service providing environment E1 and a user environment E2, and is communicably connected via a wide area network N1 such as the Internet. The printing system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is communicably connected to the external printing system 40 via the network N1.

  The service providing environment E1 is a system environment that provides a predetermined service in cooperation with an external service such as a cloud service via the network N1. In this embodiment, a cloud service is adopted and described as a specific example of the external service, but the present invention is not limited to this. The present embodiment may be applied to, for example, various services provided via a network such as a service provided by an ASP (Application Service Provider) or a web service.

  The service providing environment E1 has a service providing system 10 realized by one or more information processing apparatuses. The service providing system 10 provides a predetermined service via the network N1.

  For example, the service providing system 10 provides a print service (cloud linked print service) linked with a cloud service (cloud print service) provided by the external print system 40. The service providing system 10 according to the present embodiment will be described as providing such a cloud cooperation print service (hereinafter, also simply referred to as “cloud cooperation print”).

  Note that all or part of the service providing system 10 may be installed in the user environment E2. That is, all or a part of the information processing apparatus constituting the service providing system 10 may be included in the user environment E2.

  The user environment E2 is, for example, a system environment of a company who is a user who uses the image forming apparatus 20. In the user environment E2, one or more image forming apparatuses 20 and one or more terminal devices 30 are communicably connected via a network N2 such as a LAN (Local Area Network).

  The image forming apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment is an apparatus having a print function (print function). The image forming apparatus 20 may be a multifunction peripheral such as an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral) having various functions such as a copy function, a scan function, and a fax (FAX) communication function, in addition to the print function. When the plurality of image forming apparatuses 20 are distinguished from one another, they are represented as “image forming apparatus 20-1”, “image forming apparatus 20-2” and the like.

  The terminal device 30 is a portable device such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a notebook PC operated by a user. However, the terminal device 30 does not necessarily have to be portable, and may be, for example, a desktop PC. In addition to this, the terminal device 30 may be, for example, a game device, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a digital camera, a wearable PC, or the like.

  The terminal device 30 transmits a print request by the cloud print service to the external print system 40 according to the print instruction of the user. Further, the terminal device 30 searches for the image forming apparatus 20 in the vicinity by near field communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), for example, and a screen for the user to select an image forming apparatus to execute printing (image forming apparatus Display 20 selection screens).

  The external print system 40 is a computer system that provides cloud print service via the network N1. Here, the cloud print service is, for example, a service for transmitting and printing a print job based on a print request transmitted from the terminal device 30 to an apparatus such as a printer registered in advance. The cloud print service includes, for example, Google cloud print and the like.

  The configuration of the printing system 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 is an example, and may be another configuration. For example, the terminal device 30 may be connected to the network N1 without being included in the user environment E2. Further, the user environment E2 may include, for example, devices such as a projector and digital signage.

<Cloud collaboration print>
Next, the cloud cooperation print provided by the service providing system 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the cloud cooperation print. In FIG. 2, it is assumed that the registration and the like for the user to use the cloud print service have been completed.

  First, the terminal device 30 receives a selection operation of print target data (step S1). The user can select print target data using, for example, an application installed in the terminal device 30. The print target data is data to be printed, and examples thereof include document data and image data.

  Next, when the terminal device 30 receives the selection of print target data, the terminal device 30 receives a device ID for identifying the image forming device 20 installed in the vicinity, for example, by near field wireless communication such as Bluetooth (step S2). That is, the terminal device 30 receives the device ID from the image forming apparatus 20 installed within the range in which communication can be performed by near field communication such as Bluetooth, for example.

  For example, when the image forming apparatus 20-1 and the image forming apparatus 20-2 are installed within the range in which communication can be performed by short distance wireless communication, the terminal device 30 determines the device ID of the image forming apparatus 20-1. The device ID of the image forming apparatus 20-2 is received.

  The terminal device 30 may receive the device ID by near field communication such as BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) or ZigBee, in addition to Bluetooth.

  Next, the terminal device 30 displays a screen (a selection screen of the image forming device 20) including the list of the image forming devices 20 indicated by the device ID received in step S2 described above, and the terminal device 30 The selection operation is accepted (step S3).

  When the terminal device 30 receives the selection of the image forming apparatus 20, the terminal device 30 transmits a print request to the external print system 40 (step S4). The print request includes print target data selected by the user and a device ID for identifying the image forming apparatus 20. The print request includes, for example, various information such as print setting information in addition to the print target data and the device ID.

  When the external print system 40 receives a print request from the terminal device 30, the external print system 40 creates a print job based on the print request and transmits the print job to the service providing system 10 (step S5).

  Next, when the service providing system 10 receives a print job from the external print system 40, the service providing system 10 stores the print job (step S6). Thus, the service providing system 10 stores the print job received from the external print system 40.

  The print job stored in the service providing system 10 includes print data and the device ID described above. The print data is data obtained by converting print target data by the external print system 40, and is, for example, data in PDF (Portable Document Format) format. However, the data format of the print data may differ depending on the external printing system 40, and is not limited to the PDF format.

  Next, the image forming apparatus 20 transmits a device ID of itself to the service providing system 10 to obtain a print job including the device ID among the print jobs stored in the service providing system 10 (FIG. Step S7).

  The image forming apparatus 20 transmits the device ID to the service providing system 10 at predetermined time intervals, for example. That is, the image forming apparatus 20 polls whether the print job including its own device ID is stored in the service providing system 10. However, the image forming apparatus 20 may transmit the device ID to the service providing system 10 in response to a notification from the terminal device 30 (for example, a notification transmitted when the terminal device 30 executes a job).

  Then, the image forming apparatus 20 prints the print data included in the print job acquired in step S7 (step S8). Thereby, the user can perform printing using the desired image forming apparatus 20 among the image forming apparatuses 20 installed around the user.

  As described above, in the printing system 1 according to the present embodiment, the user selects the desired image forming apparatus 20 from among the image forming apparatuses 20 installed around the user. 20 can be used to print using a cloud print service. Therefore, the user can print using the image forming apparatus 20 near the user without registering the image forming apparatus 20 in the external printing system 40 in advance.

<Hardware configuration>
Next, the hardware configuration of the service providing system 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the computer 500. As shown in FIG.

  One or more information processing apparatuses for realizing the service providing system 10 according to the present embodiment are realized by the computer 500 shown in FIG. The terminal device 30 is also realized by the computer 500 shown in FIG.

  The computer 500 illustrated in FIG. 3 includes an input device 51, a display device 52, an external I / F 53, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 54. The computer 500 further includes a read only memory (ROM) 55, a central processing unit (CPU) 56, a communication I / F 57, and a hard disk drive (HDD) 58. Each of these pieces of hardware is connected by a bus B.

  The input device 51 includes a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, and the like, and is used by the user to input each operation signal. The display device 52 includes a display and the like, and displays the processing result by the computer 500. Note that at least one of the input device 51 and the display device 52 may be connected to the bus B when necessary and used.

  The communication I / F 57 is an interface that connects the computer 500 to the network N1, the network N2, and the like. The computer 500 can perform data communication via the communication I / F 57. The communication I / F 57 of the terminal device 30 includes, for example, a module for performing near field communication such as Bluetooth.

  The HDD 58 is a non-volatile storage device storing programs and data. The programs and data stored in the HDD 58 include an operating system (OS) which is basic software for controlling the entire computer 500, and application software which provides various functions on the OS.

  The computer 500 may use a drive device (for example, solid state drive: SSD) that uses a flash memory as a storage medium instead of or together with the HDD 58. Further, the HDD 58 manages stored programs and data by a predetermined file system and DB.

  The external I / F 53 is an interface with an external device. The external device is, for example, a recording medium 53a. The computer 500 can read and write the recording medium 53 a via the external I / F 53. The recording medium 53a includes, for example, a flexible disk, a CD, a DVD, an SD memory card, a USB memory, and the like.

  The ROM 55 is a non-volatile semiconductor memory that can hold programs and data even after the power is turned off. The ROM 55 stores programs and data such as a BIOS (Basic Input / Output System), an OS setting, and a network setting which are executed when the computer 500 is started. The RAM 54 is a volatile semiconductor memory that temporarily holds programs and data.

  The CPU 56 is an arithmetic device that implements control and functions of the entire computer 500 by reading programs and data from a storage device such as the ROM 55 or the HDD 58 onto the RAM 54 and executing processing.

  One or more information processing apparatuses for realizing the service providing system 10 according to the present embodiment can realize various processes to be described later by having the hardware configuration of the computer 500 shown in FIG. 3. In addition, the terminal device 30 according to the present embodiment can similarly realize various processes to be described later by having the hardware configuration of the computer 500 illustrated in FIG. 3.

  Next, the hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of the hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment.

  The image forming apparatus 20 illustrated in FIG. 4 includes a controller 21, an operation panel 22, an external I / F 23, a communication I / F 24, a plotter 25, and a scanner 26. The controller 21 further includes a CPU 211, a RAM 212, a ROM 213, an NVRAM 214, and an HDD 215.

  The ROM 213 is a non-volatile semiconductor memory storing various programs and data. The RAM 212 is a volatile semiconductor memory that temporarily holds programs and data. The NVRAM 214 is a semiconductor memory that stores, for example, setting information and the like. The HDD 215 is a non-volatile storage device storing various programs and data.

  The CPU 211 is an arithmetic device that implements control and functions of the entire image forming apparatus 20 by reading programs, data, setting information, and the like from the ROM 213, the NVRAM 214, the HDD 215, etc. onto the RAM 212 and executing processing.

  The operation panel 22 is a device including an input device that receives an input from a user and a display device that performs display.

  The external I / F 23 is an interface with an external device. The external device includes a recording medium 23 a and the like. The image forming apparatus 20 can read and write the recording medium 23 a via the external I / F 23. The recording medium 23a includes, for example, an IC card, a flexible disk, a CD, a DVD, an SD memory card, a USB memory, and the like.

  The communication I / F 24 is an interface that connects the image forming apparatus 20 to the network N2. The image forming apparatus 20 can perform data communication via the communication I / F 24. The communication I / F 24 of the image forming apparatus 20 includes, for example, a module for performing near field communication such as Bluetooth.

  The plotter 25 is a printing device for printing print data on a transported object. In addition, a to-be-conveyed object is not restricted to paper, For example, OHP sheet, a plastic film, copper foil etc. may be sufficient. The scanner 26 is a reading device that reads an original and generates image data.

  The image forming apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment can realize various processes to be described later by having the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 4.

<Functional configuration>
Next, the functional configuration of the printing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the printing system 1 according to the present embodiment.

  The terminal device 30 includes a UI control unit 301, a print request unit 302, a device ID reception unit 303, and a printer ID acquisition unit 304. Each of these functional units is realized by processing that one or more programs installed in the terminal device 30 cause the CPU 56 to execute.

  The UI control unit 301 causes the display device 52 to display various screens. Further, the UI control unit 301 receives various operations of the user input to the input device 51.

  The print request unit 302 transmits a print request including print target data, a device ID, and the like to the external print system 40 according to the user's operation accepted by the UI control unit 301.

  The device ID receiving unit 303 receives the device ID from the image forming apparatus 20 by near field communication such as Bluetooth.

  The printer ID acquisition unit 304 acquires a printer ID indicating a printer (a virtual printer described later) registered in the external print system 40.

  The image forming apparatus 20 includes a UI control unit 201, a device ID transmission unit 202, a job monitoring unit 203, and a print processing unit 204. Each of these functional units is realized by processing that one or more programs installed in the image forming apparatus 20 cause the CPU 211 to execute.

  The UI control unit 201 displays various screens on the operation panel 22. In addition, the UI control unit 201 receives various operations of the user on various screens displayed on the operation panel 22.

  The device ID transmission unit 202 transmits the device ID by near field wireless communication such as Bluetooth.

  The job monitoring unit 203 transmits a job acquisition request to the service providing system 10, for example, at predetermined time intervals. The job acquisition request includes the device ID of the image forming apparatus 20. Note that, as described above, the job monitoring unit 203 may transmit the device ID to the service providing system 10 in response to a notification from the terminal device 30 (for example, a notification transmitted at the time of job execution by the terminal device 30). .

  The print processing unit 204 causes the plotter 25 to print the print data included in the print job acquired from the service providing system 10.

  The service providing system 10 includes a registration reception unit 101, an approval unit 102, a registration unit 103, a list acquisition unit 104, a notification unit 105, a job acquisition unit 106, a print conversion unit 107, and a job management unit 108. Have. These functional units are realized by processing that one or more programs installed in the service providing system 10 cause the CPU 56 to execute.

  The service providing system 10 further includes a cooperation information storage unit 110 and a job storage unit 120. Each of these storage units can be realized using, for example, the HDD 58. Note that at least one of the collaboration information storage unit 110 and the job storage unit 120 may be realized using a storage device or the like connected to the service providing system 10 via a network.

  The registration reception unit 101 receives a registration request for performing use registration of the cloud cooperation print.

  The authorization unit 102 performs OAuth compliant authorization processing with the external printing system 40. For example, the authorization unit 102 performs processing (authorization processing) for the external print system 40 to authorize the service providing system 10 when the user performs usage registration of the cloud cooperation print using the terminal device 30.

  When the authorization unit 102 performs the authorization process, the registration unit 103 registers the use of the cloud print service with the external print system 40. That is, the registration unit 103 registers the service providing system 10 in the external printing system 40 as a printer.

  The registration unit 103 associates the user ID for identifying the user in the service providing system 10 with the account ID for identifying the user in the external print system 40 when the use registration of the cloud print service is performed, and the cooperation information table It is stored in 111.

  The account ID is an example of identification information for identifying the user in the external print system 40, and may be, for example, a mail address. However, the account ID is not limited to the e-mail address, and may be, for example, a telephone number, an arbitrary character string including alphanumeric characters, and the like.

  The list acquisition unit 104 acquires a list of print jobs (hereinafter referred to as “job list”) from the external print system 40 in response to a notification from the external print system 40. The job list includes, for example, a job ID for identifying a print job, and a status (for example, "printed", "unprocessed" (unexecuted), etc.) indicating the execution status of the print job in the external print system 40. Is included.

  The notification unit 105 notifies the external printing system 40 of the status of the service providing system 10 (for example, “in process”, “printable”, etc.).

  The job acquisition unit 106 transmits, to the external printing system 40, a request for acquiring a print job whose status is “unprocessed” in the job list acquired by the list acquisition unit 104.

  The print conversion unit 107 converts the print data included in the print job acquired by the job acquisition unit 106 into, for example, a data format suitable for printing by the image forming apparatus 20 as necessary. For example, the print conversion unit 107 converts print data in PDF format into a data format that can be printed by the image forming apparatus 20 or a data format that can be printed at higher speed.

  The job management unit 108 causes the job storage unit 120 to store the print job acquired by the job acquisition unit 106 or the print job whose print data has been converted by the print conversion unit 107.

  The cooperation information storage unit 110 stores a cooperation information table 111 in which a user ID identifying a user in the service providing system 10 and an account ID identifying the user in the external print system 40 are associated. The job storage unit 120 stores the print job 121.

  Here, the cooperation information table 111 stored in the cooperation information storage unit 110 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the cooperation information table 111. As shown in FIG.

  The cooperation information table 111 shown in FIG. 6 has a user ID and an account ID as data items. The user ID is identification information for identifying the user in the service providing system 10 as described above, and the account ID is identification information for identifying the user in the external print system 40 as described above.

  Thus, in the cooperation information table 111, the user ID and the account ID are associated. In the cooperation information table 111, a plurality of account IDs may be associated with one user ID.

<Details of processing>
Next, details of processing of the printing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described.

«Use registration process»
Hereinafter, processing in the case where the user performs usage registration of the cloud cooperation print using the terminal device 30 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the usage registration process according to the present embodiment.

  First, it is assumed that the top screen G110 illustrated in FIG. 8 is displayed on the terminal device 30 by the UI control unit 301, for example. At this time, when the user presses the use registration button G111, the UI control unit 301 transmits a registration request to the service providing system 10 (step S701).

  When the registration request unit 101 of the service providing system 10 receives the registration request, the registration reception unit 101 sends back to the terminal device 30 an agreement screen for allowing the user to confirm the terms and conditions of the cloud cooperation print. Thereby, the consent screen G120 shown in FIG. 8 is displayed on the terminal device 30 by the UI control unit 301, for example.

  The agreement screen G120 illustrated in FIG. 8 includes a display field G121 in which terms of use of the cloud cooperation print are displayed. After confirming the terms of use displayed in the display field G121, the user presses the consent button G122 if the user agrees with the terms of use.

  When the user presses the agree button G122, the UI control unit 301 transmits information indicating that the user has agreed to the terms of use to the service providing system 10 (step S702).

  When the authorization unit 102 of the service providing system 10 receives the information indicating that the user agrees to the terms of use, the authorization unit 102 transmits a request for a request token conforming to OAuth to the external printing system 40 (step S703). Then, the external printing system 40 sends a request token back to the service providing system 10.

  Next, when the request token is received, the authorization unit 102 of the service providing system 10 transmits the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the authentication screen of the external print system 40 to the terminal device 30 for redirection (Step S704). Thus, on the terminal device 30, the UI control unit 301 displays, for example, an authentication screen G130 of the external print system 40 shown in FIG.

  The authentication screen G130 of the external print system 40 shown in FIG. 8 includes an account ID input field G131 for inputting an account ID of the external print system 40, and a password input field G132 for inputting a password corresponding to the account ID. . The UI control unit 301 transmits an authentication request to the external print system 40 when the user enters an account ID and a password into the account ID input field G131 and the password input field G132 and then presses the OK button G133. (Step S705). The authentication request includes the account ID entered in the account ID entry field G131 and the password entered in the password entry field G132.

  Then, in the external printing system 40, an authentication process is performed based on the authentication request. For example, in the external printing system 40, it is verified whether the combination of the account ID and the password included in the authentication request is valid.

  Then, when the processing result of the authentication processing indicates that the authentication processing is successful, the external print system 40 causes the terminal device 30 to display an authorization confirmation screen for allowing the user to confirm whether to permit the authorization request of the service providing system 10 or not. Send back. As a result, on the terminal device 30, the UI control unit 301 displays, for example, an authorization confirmation screen G140 illustrated in FIG.

  The permission confirmation screen G140 shown in FIG. 8 includes a permission button G141 for permitting the permission request of the service providing system 10. When the user presses the permit button G141, the UI control unit 301 transmits an authorization request to the external printing system 40 (step S706). Then, the external printing system 40 returns an authorized request token to the terminal device 30.

  When the UI control unit 301 of the terminal device 30 receives an authorized request token from the external printing system 40, the UI control unit 301 transmits the authorized request token to the service providing system 10 (step S707).

  Upon receiving the authorized request token, the authorization unit 102 of the service providing system 10 transmits the authorized request token to the external printing system 40 (step S 708). Then, the external printing system 40 sends an access token back to the service providing system 10. Thereby, the authorization process for the service providing system 10 to use the external print system 40 for use registration of the cloud print service is completed.

  The registration unit 103 of the service providing system 10 transmits a registration request for performing use registration of the cloud print service to the external print system 40 using the access token acquired in step S 708 (step S 709). At this time, the registration unit 103 registers the service providing system 10 as an apparatus such as a printer using the cloud print service. That is, the registration unit 103 registers the use of the service providing system 10 as a virtual printer. Hereinafter, the service providing system 10 registered in the cloud print service is also referred to as a "virtual printer".

  For example, when the cloud print service is Google Cloud Print, a printer name, a default display name, a proxy (or a printer client), a manufacturer, a model name, and the like are specified in the above registration request. Therefore, in this case, the registration unit 103 transmits a registration request specifying information indicating the service providing system 10 as the information to the external print system 40.

  Then, when the external printing system 40 registers the service providing system 10, the external printing system 40 sends the registration result back to the service providing system 10. The registration result includes, for example, a printer ID for identifying a printer registered in the external print system 40 (ie, the service providing system 10 registered as a virtual printer).

  When it is necessary to register the performance information (for example, whether double-sided printing or color printing is possible, etc.) of the device using the cloud printing service to the external printing system 40, general printer information is used as the virtual printer performance information. It is sufficient to register performance information common to

  When receiving the registration result from the external print system 40, the registration unit 103 of the service providing system 10 generates a user ID (step S710). Note that, for example, when a user ID is designated in the registration request in step 701 described above, the registration unit 103 may not generate the user ID.

  Next, the registration unit 103 of the service providing system 10 associates the user ID and the account ID and stores them in the cooperation information table 111 (step S711). That is, the registration unit 103 associates the user ID generated in step S710 (or the user ID specified in the registration request in step S701) with the account ID input in the account ID input field G131. It is stored in the cooperation information table 111.

  Then, the registration unit 103 of the service providing system 10 returns the registration completion to the terminal device 30. The registration completion includes, for example, a printer ID that identifies a virtual printer (ie, the service providing system 10). The printer ID is stored in a predetermined storage area such as the HDD 58 of the terminal device 30.

  As described above, the usage registration for the user to use the cloud cooperation print provided by the service providing system 10 according to the present embodiment is completed. In step S 701 in FIG. 7, when the user has already completed use registration of the cloud cooperation print (that is, when the user ID is already stored in the cooperation information table 111), whether to additionally register or not A screen to be confirmed by the user may be displayed.

<< Print job accumulation processing >>
In the following, the process of causing the service providing system 10 to store print jobs by the user using the terminal device 30 to perform printing using the cloud print service will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing an example of print job accumulation processing according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 9, as an example, it is assumed that the near field communication for the terminal device 30 to receive the device ID from the image forming apparatus 20 is Bluetooth.

  First, the device ID transmission unit 202 of the image forming apparatus 20 transmits a packet (advertisement packet) including the device ID and the device name within a predetermined range around the image forming apparatus 20 by advertisement. (Step S901).

  That is, the plurality of image forming apparatuses 20 such as the image forming apparatus 20-1, the image forming apparatus 20-2, and the image forming apparatus 20-3 are advertised by the device ID transmitting unit 202 that the device ID and the device name are included, respectively. Packets are being sent around.

  The UI control unit 301 of the terminal device 30 receives an operation for selecting print target data by the user (step S902). The user selects desired print target data from the print target data list G211 on the print target selection screen G210 displayed by pressing the print button G112 on the top screen G110 shown in FIG. By pressing, it is possible to perform an operation of selecting print target data. At this time, the user may specify print settings (for example, double-sided printing, single-sided printing, color printing, monochrome printing, etc.).

  The device ID receiving unit 303 of the terminal device 30 receives the device ID and the device name of the image forming device 20 by scanning the image forming device 20 installed around the terminal device 30 (step S 903). . More specifically, when an operation to select print target data is performed, the device ID reception unit 303 is in a scan state for a predetermined time, and the device ID and the device name are displayed from the advertise packet received during the scan state. get.

  While the device ID reception unit 303 is in the scan state, the UI control unit 301 displays a search screen G220 illustrated in FIG. 10 on the terminal device 30. In the search screen G220 shown in FIG. 10, when the cancel button G221 is pressed by the user, the device ID receiving unit 303 cancels the scan state (that is, cancels the scan of the image forming apparatus 20).

  When the scan of the image forming apparatus 20 is completed by the device ID receiving unit 303, the UI control unit 301 displays, for example, a selection screen G230 of the image forming apparatus 20 illustrated in FIG. The selection screen G230 of the image forming apparatus 20 shown in FIG. 10 includes a list G231 of the image forming apparatuses 20 (that is, the image forming apparatuses 20 installed around the terminal device 30) that have received the device ID and the device name. Be

  The user can select the image forming apparatus 20 by selecting the image forming apparatus 20 desired to print from the list G 231 of the image forming apparatuses 20 and pressing the determination button G 232.

  The UI control unit 301 of the terminal device 30 receives a selection operation of the image forming apparatus 20 (step S904). Then, the printer ID acquisition unit 304 of the terminal device 30 searches for the printer ID of the cloud print service (step S905). That is, the printer ID acquisition unit 304 searches a predetermined storage area such as the HDD 58 to acquire a printer ID indicating a virtual printer (that is, the service providing system 10).

  Next, the print request unit 302 of the terminal device 30 transmits a print request to the external print system 40 (step S906). The print request includes the printer ID acquired in step S905 (that is, the printer ID of the virtual printer), print target data selected by the user, and print setting information indicating the print setting of the print target data. included. Further, the print request includes the account ID of the user and the device ID of the image forming apparatus 20 selected by the user.

  When the external print system 40 receives a print request from the terminal device 30, for example, the external print system 40 creates a print job based on the print request, and notifies the service providing system 10 of a new job notification indicating that a print job is newly created. Send. The new job notification includes user identification information that identifies the user of the terminal device 30 that is the transmission source of the print request.

  As the user identification information, any identification information that identifies the user of the terminal device 30 that is the transmission source of the print request may be used between the service providing system 10 and the external print system 40. In the present embodiment, for example, an account ID may be used as the user identification information.

  The print job created by the external print system 40 includes, for example, a job ID for identifying the print job, the status of the print job, print data obtained by converting print target data, print setting information, and an account ID. , And the device ID.

  When the list acquisition unit 104 of the service providing system 10 receives a new job notification, the external print system requests a job list acquisition request for acquiring a print job of an account ID corresponding to the user identification information included in the new job notification. It transmits to 40 (step S907). Then, the external printing system 40 sends a job list back to the service providing system 10. Note that, as described above, the job list includes, for example, the job ID of the print job and the status of the print job.

  When receiving the job list, the notification unit 105 of the service providing system 10 transmits a status notification indicating the status (for example, "in process", "printable", etc.) of the service providing system 10 to the external print system 40 ( Step S908). Here, the notification unit 105 may transmit, for example, a status notification indicating “processing in progress” to the external print system 40.

  Next, the job acquisition unit 106 of the service providing system 10 transmits, to the external print system 40, an acquisition request for a print job whose status is “unprocessed” in the job list acquired in step S907 described above (step S909). ). Then, the external print system 40 sends back a print job (that is, a print job whose status is “unprocessed”) related to the acquisition request.

  When there are a plurality of print jobs whose status is “unprocessed” in the job list acquired in step S 907, the job acquisition unit 106 requests acquisition of the plurality of print jobs in step S 909. Is sent to the external printing system 40.

  Next, the print conversion unit 107 of the service providing system 10 converts the print data included in the print job acquired by the job acquisition unit 106 into a data format suitable for printing by the image forming apparatus 20 (step S 910). If the print data included in the print job acquired by the job acquisition unit 106 has a data format suitable for printing by the image forming apparatus 20, the print conversion unit 107 does not have to convert the data format.

  For example, when the data format of print data included in the print job is not a data format printable by the image forming apparatus 20, the print conversion unit 107 may print the data format of the print data by the image forming apparatus 20. Convert to Further, for example, when print data can be converted to allow high-speed printing by the image forming apparatus 20, the print conversion unit 107 converts the data format of the print data into a predetermined data format. .

  Next, the job management unit 108 of the service providing system 10 stores the print job in the job storage unit 120 (step S911). Thus, the print job 121 is accumulated in the job storage unit 120.

  The job storage unit 120 may store the print job 121 in association with a job state indicating an execution state of the print job 121 in the service providing system 10, for example. In addition, the job storage unit 120 may store the print job 121 in association with a user ID identifying the user of the terminal device 30 that has transmitted the print request.

  Next, the notification unit 105 of the service providing system 10 transmits a status notification indicating the status of the service providing system 10 to the external print system 40 (step S912). Here, the notification unit 105 may transmit, for example, a status notification indicating “printable” to the external printing system 40. As described above, the service providing system 10 according to the present embodiment notifies the external print system 40 that the processing from acquisition to storage of the print job is “processing”, and “printing is possible” after the storage of the print job. The external printing system 40 is notified of the presence.

  As described above, print jobs by the cloud print service provided by the external print system 40 are accumulated in the service providing system 10 according to the present embodiment. At this time, the print job stored in the service providing system 10 according to the present embodiment includes the device ID of the image forming apparatus 20 selected by the user. As a result, as described later, the image forming apparatus 20 of the device ID can execute a print job to perform printing.

  In FIG. 9, after the user performs the selection operation of the print target data (step S902), the selection operation of the image forming apparatus 20 may be performed (step S904), but the order may be reversed. That is, after the selection screen G230 of the image forming apparatus 20 is displayed on the terminal device 30, the print target selection screen G210 may be displayed.

  In addition, although the case where the UI control unit 301 searches for the printer ID of the virtual printer in step S 905 in FIG. 9 has been described, for example, the user may select the printer ID after displaying a list of printer IDs. . This enables the user to select, for example, a printer ID for using a normal cloud print service (for example, Google cloud print) instead of the cloud cooperation print.

  However, when a printer ID for using a normal cloud print service (for example, Google cloud print) is selected, printing is performed by the printer indicated by the printer ID, so the selection screen G230 of the image forming apparatus 20 is displayed. It is preferable not to display.

  Although FIG. 9 describes the case where the external print system 40 performs the new job notification, some external print systems 40 may not perform the new job notification. In this case, the service providing system 10 may obtain a print job by polling the external print system 40 at predetermined time intervals, for example.

<< Print execution processing >>
Hereinafter, a case where the image forming apparatus 20 executes a print job and prints the print data included in the print job will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing an example of print execution processing according to the present embodiment.

  The job monitoring unit 203 of the image forming apparatus 20 transmits a job acquisition request to the service providing system 10, for example, at predetermined time intervals (step S1101). The job acquisition request includes the device ID of the image forming apparatus 20.

  When receiving the job acquisition request, the job management unit 108 of the service providing system 10 determines whether the print job 121 of the device ID included in the acquisition request is stored in the job storage unit 120 (step S1102). .

  If it is determined that the print job 121 of the device ID is stored in the job storage unit 120, the job management unit 108 acquires the print job 121 of the device ID from the job storage unit 120 (step S1103). When a plurality of print jobs 121 of the device ID are stored in the job storage unit 120, the job management unit 108 may obtain the plurality of print jobs 121 from the job storage unit 120.

  Then, the job management unit 108 of the service providing system 10 sends the print job 121 acquired from the job storage unit 120 back to the image forming apparatus 20 that is the transmission source of the job acquisition request.

  When the print processing unit 204 of the image forming apparatus 20 receives the print job 121, the print processing unit 204 executes the print job 121 to print the print data included in the print job 121 (step S1104). Thereby, the print job 121 is executed in the image forming apparatus 20, and the print data is printed.

  As described above, in the printing system 1 according to the present embodiment, printing is performed by the image forming apparatus 20 selected by the user. As described above, in the printing system 1 according to the present embodiment, by using the cloud cooperation print provided by the service providing system 10, printing can be performed even with the image forming apparatus 20 not registered in the cloud print service. Moreover, the user can perform printing with a desired image forming apparatus 20 selected from among the image forming apparatuses 20 installed near him / her by short distance wireless communication such as Bluetooth.

  Note that the cloud cooperation print provided by the service providing system 10 according to the present embodiment can coexist with a so-called "location free printing service". In the location free printing service, for example, by not including the device ID in the print request in step S 906 of FIG. 9, the print job stored in the service providing system 10 may be acquired and executed by any image forming apparatus 20. It is a service that can

<< Modification of print job accumulation processing >>
Here, hereinafter, a modification of the print job storage process described with reference to FIG. 9 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram showing a modification of print job accumulation processing according to the present embodiment. In addition, since step S901-step S912 of FIG. 12 are the same as that of FIG. 9, the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  Subsequent to step S903, when the scan of the image forming apparatus 20 by the device ID receiving unit 303 is completed, the UI control unit 301 of the terminal device 30 transmits a device information acquisition request to the service providing system 10 (step S1201). The device information acquisition request includes the device ID received by the device ID reception unit 303.

  When the service providing system 10 receives an acquisition request for device information from the terminal device 30, the service providing system 10 sends back the device information of the device ID included in the acquisition request. The device information includes, for example, the installation location of the image forming apparatus 20, the remaining amount of toner, the remaining amount of paper, and the state (for example, “in operation” or “in failure”). Such device information is collected from the image forming apparatus 20 at predetermined time intervals by the service providing system 10, for example, and stored in a predetermined storage area such as the HDD 58 or the like.

  When the device information is returned from the service providing system 10, the UI control unit 301 displays, for example, a selection screen G230 of the image forming apparatus 20 shown in FIG. On the selection screen G230 of the image forming apparatus 20 shown in FIG. 13, the device ID and device name, and various information (for example, installation location, toner remaining amount, paper remaining amount, status etc.) contained in the device information are displayed. A list G 231 of the image forming apparatuses 20 is included.

  By displaying the installation location in the list G 231 of the image forming apparatuses 20, the user can select, for example, the image forming apparatus 20 closest to the user. In addition, by displaying the toner remaining amount, the remaining amount of paper, the state, and the like in the list G 231 of the image forming apparatuses 20, the user can check, for example, the image forming apparatus 20 with sufficient toner and paper and The forming device 20 can be selected.

Second Embodiment
Next, a second embodiment will be described. In the second embodiment, when the device ID of the image forming apparatus 20 selected by the user among the image forming apparatuses 20 installed around the user is associated with the virtual printer registered in the external print system 40 Will be explained. Thus, when printing using the terminal device 30, the user performs printing with the image forming apparatus 20 corresponding to the selected virtual printer by selecting a desired virtual printer from among a plurality of virtual printers. Will be able to

  In the second embodiment, mainly the differences from the first embodiment will be described, and the description of the components substantially the same as the first embodiment will be omitted or simplified as appropriate. It shall be.

<Functional configuration>
First, the functional configuration of the printing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the printing system 1 according to the present embodiment.

  The link information storage unit 110 of the service providing system 10 stores a device ID link information table 112 in which the printer ID of the virtual printer and the device ID are associated.

  Here, the device ID cooperation information table 112 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of the device ID cooperation information table 112. As shown in FIG.

  The device ID cooperation information table 112 shown in FIG. 15 has a printer ID and a device ID as data items. The printer ID is identification information for identifying a virtual printer. The device ID is identification information for identifying the image forming apparatus 20.

  As described above, in the device ID cooperation information table 112, the printer ID and the device ID are associated. As described above, the printer ID identifies a virtual printer on the external printing system 40. Therefore, for example, in the case where the initial settings are different for each user and each department and a virtual printer is created for each user account, a plurality of printer IDs are associated with one device ID. Also good.

<Details of processing>
Next, details of processing of the printing system according to the present embodiment will be described. The print execution process is the same as that of the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

«Use registration process»
Hereinafter, processing in the case where the user performs usage registration of the cloud cooperation print using the terminal device 30 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 16 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the usage registration process according to the present embodiment.

  First, the device ID transmission unit 202 of the image forming apparatus 20 transmits an advertisement packet including the device ID and the device name within a predetermined range around the image forming apparatus 20 by advertisement (step S1601). ).

  Further, it is assumed that the top screen G310 shown in FIG. 17 is displayed on the terminal device 30 by the UI control unit 301, for example. At this time, when the use registration button G311 is pressed by the user, the UI control unit 301 transmits a registration request to the service providing system 10 (step S1602).

  When receiving the registration request, the registration reception unit 101 of the service providing system 10 sends an agreement screen to the terminal device 30. Thus, on the terminal device 30, the UI control unit 301 displays, for example, a consent screen G320 illustrated in FIG.

  After confirming the terms of use displayed in the display field G321, the user depresses the agreement button G322 when performing agreement with the terms of use, and performs the consent operation. When the consent operation is performed by the user, the UI control unit 301 receives the operation (step S1603).

  When the consent operation is accepted by the UI control unit 301, the device ID receiving unit 303 of the terminal device 30 scans the image forming apparatus 20 installed around the terminal device 30 (step S1604), The device ID of the forming device 20 and the device name are received.

  While the device ID reception unit 303 is in the scan state, the UI control unit 301 displays a search screen G330 illustrated in FIG. 17 on the terminal device 30. When the cancel button G331 is pressed, the device ID reception unit 303 cancels the scan state.

  When the scan of the image forming apparatus 20 is completed by the device ID receiving unit 303, the UI control unit 301 displays, for example, a selection screen G340 of the image forming apparatus 20 illustrated in FIG. 17 on the terminal device 30.

  The user can select the image forming apparatus 20 by selecting the image forming apparatus 20 desired to print from the list G341 of the image forming apparatuses 20 and pressing the determination button G422.

  When the UI control unit 301 of the terminal device 30 receives a selection operation of the image forming apparatus 20 (step S1605), the UI control unit 301 provides information indicating that the user has agreed to the terms, and the device ID of the selected image forming apparatus 20 It transmits to the provision system 10 (step S1606).

  Upon receiving the information indicating that the user has agreed to the terms of use and the device ID, the authorization unit 102 of the service providing system 10 transmits a request for a request token compliant with OAuth to the external printing system 40 (step S1607) . Then, the external printing system 40 sends a request token back to the service providing system 10.

  Next, when receiving the request token, the authorization unit 102 of the service providing system 10 transmits the URL of the authentication screen of the external print system 40 to the terminal device 30 for redirection (step S1608). Thus, on the terminal device 30, the UI control unit 301 displays, for example, an authentication screen G350 of the external print system 40 shown in FIG.

  In the authentication screen G350 of the external print system 40 shown in FIG. 17, after the account ID and the password are respectively input in the account ID input field G351 and the password input field G352, it is assumed that the OK button G353 is pressed. The UI control unit 301 transmits an authentication request to the external printing system 40 (step S1609). The authentication request includes the account ID entered in the account ID entry field G351 and the password entered in the password entry field G352.

  Then, in the external printing system 40, an authentication process is performed based on the authentication request. Then, when the processing result of the authentication processing indicates that the authentication is successful, the external printing system 40 sends an authorization confirmation screen to the terminal device 30. As a result, on the terminal device 30, the UI control unit 301 displays, for example, an authorization confirmation screen G360 shown in FIG.

  In the authorization confirmation screen G360 shown in FIG. 17, when the user presses the authorization button G361, the UI control unit 301 transmits an authorization request to the external print system 40 (step S1610). Then, the external printing system 40 returns an authorized request token to the terminal device 30.

  When the UI control unit 301 of the terminal device 30 receives an authorized request token from the external printing system 40, the UI control unit 301 transmits the authorized request token to the service providing system 10 (step S1611).

  Upon receiving the authorized request token, the authorization unit 102 of the service providing system 10 transmits the authorized request token to the external printing system 40 (step S1612). Then, the external printing system 40 sends an access token back to the service providing system 10. Thereby, the authorization process for the service providing system 10 to use the external print system 40 for use registration of the cloud print service is completed.

  The registration unit 103 of the service providing system 10 transmits a registration request for performing use registration of the cloud print service to the external print system 40 using the access token acquired in step S1612 (step S1613). At this time, when the registration unit 103 can designate the device ID of the image forming apparatus 20 selected by the user, the registration unit 103 designates the device ID and registers the service providing system 10 as a virtual printer.

  For example, when the cloud print service is Google Cloud Print, a tag can be specified in addition to the printer name, default display name, proxy (or printer client), manufacturer, model name, etc. in the above registration request. is there. Therefore, in this case, the registration unit 103 designates the information indicating the service providing system 10 in the printer name, the default display name, the proxy (or printer client), the manufacturer, the model name, etc., and makes the device ID in the tag The registration request is sent to the external printing system 40.

  Hereinafter, in the present embodiment, as an example, the case where the registration unit 103 registers the service providing system 10 as a virtual printer without specifying a device ID will be described.

  Then, when the external printing system 40 registers the service providing system 10, the external printing system 40 sends the registration result back to the service providing system 10. The registration result includes, for example, a printer ID for identifying a printer registered in the external print system 40 (that is, the service providing system 10 registered as a virtual printer for each device ID).

  When receiving the registration result from the external print system 40, the registration unit 103 of the service providing system 10 generates a user ID (step S1614).

  Next, the registration unit 103 of the service providing system 10 associates the user ID and the account ID and stores them in the cooperation information table 111 (step S1615).

  Next, the registration unit 103 of the service providing system 10 associates the printer ID with the device ID, and stores the association in the device ID cooperation information table 112 (step S1616). That is, the registration unit 103 associates the printer ID of the virtual printer registered in the external print system 40 with the device ID of the image forming apparatus 20 selected by the user, and stores the association in the device ID cooperation information table 112. As described above, a plurality of printer IDs may be associated with one device ID.

  Then, the registration unit 103 of the service providing system 10 returns the registration completion to the terminal device 30. The registration completion includes, for example, a printer ID. The printer ID is stored in a predetermined storage area such as the HDD 58 of the terminal device 30.

  As described above, the usage registration for the user to use the cloud cooperation print provided by the service providing system 10 according to the present embodiment is completed. At this time, in the present embodiment, a virtual printer for each device ID of the image forming apparatus 20 selected by the user is registered in the external print system 40. As a result, as described later, the user can print using the image forming apparatus 20 of the device ID corresponding to the virtual printer only by selecting the virtual printer.

<< Print job accumulation processing >>
In the following, the process of causing the service providing system 10 to store print jobs by the user using the terminal device 30 to perform printing using the cloud print service will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 18 is a sequence diagram showing an example of print job accumulation processing according to the present embodiment.

  First, it is assumed that the top screen G310 illustrated in FIG. 19 is displayed on the terminal device 30 by the UI control unit 301, for example. The user selects desired print target data from the print target data list G411 on the print target selection screen G410 displayed by pressing the print button G312 on the top screen G310 shown in FIG. By pressing, it is possible to perform an operation of selecting print target data.

  The UI control unit 301 of the terminal device 30 receives a selection operation of print target data (step S1801). Then, the printer ID acquisition unit 304 of the terminal device 30 transmits a printer list acquisition request to the external print system 40 (step S1802). The virtual printer list acquisition request includes the account ID of the user.

  When receiving the printer list acquisition request, the external printing system 40 sends back the printer ID of the printer corresponding to the account ID included in the acquisition request.

  When the printer ID is returned from the external print system 40, the UI control unit 301 causes the terminal device 30 to display, for example, a printer selection screen G420 shown in FIG. The printer selection screen G420 shown in FIG. 19 includes a list G421 of printers indicated by the printer ID returned from the external print system 40 (that is, printers registered by the user in the external print system 40).

  The user can select a desired printer from the list G421 of printers, and depress the determination button G422 to perform a printer selection operation. Hereinafter, it is assumed that the user selects a printer registered as a virtual printer from the printer list G421.

  Although the printer ID is acquired by transmitting the printer list acquisition request to the external print system 40 in step S1802 described above, the present invention is not limited thereto. The printer ID acquisition unit 304 may acquire, for example, the printer ID stored in a predetermined storage area such as the HDD 58 of the terminal device 30.

  The UI control unit 301 of the terminal device 30 receives a printer selection operation (step S1803). When the UI control unit 301 receives a printer selection operation, the print request unit 302 of the terminal device 30 transmits a print request to the external print system 40 (step S1804). The print request includes the printer ID selected by the user, print target data, print setting information, and an account ID.

  When the external print system 40 receives a print request from the terminal device 30, for example, the external print system 40 creates a print job based on the print request, and notifies the service providing system 10 of a new job notification indicating that a print job is newly created. Send. The new job notification includes user identification information that identifies the user of the terminal device 30 that has sent the print request, and the above-described printer ID.

  The print job created by the external print system 40 includes, for example, a job ID for identifying the print job, the status of the print job, print data obtained by converting print target data, print setting information, and an account ID. Is included.

  When the list acquisition unit 104 of the service providing system 10 receives a new job notification, the external print system requests a job list acquisition request for acquiring a print job of an account ID corresponding to the user identification information included in the new job notification. It transmits to 40 (step S1805). The job list acquisition request includes user identification information and the above-described printer ID.

  When receiving the job list acquisition request, the external printing system 40 sends the job list back to the service providing system 10.

  When receiving the job list, the notification unit 105 of the service providing system 10 transmits a status notification indicating the status (for example, "in process", "printable", etc.) of the service providing system 10 to the external print system 40 ( Step S1805). Here, the notification unit 105 may transmit, for example, a status notification indicating “processing in progress” to the external print system 40.

  Next, the job acquisition unit 106 of the service providing system 10 transmits, to the external print system 40, an acquisition request for a print job whose status is “unprocessed” in the job list acquired in step S1805 described above (step S1807). ). Then, the external print system 40 sends back a print job (that is, a print job whose status is “unprocessed”) related to the acquisition request.

  Next, the print conversion unit 107 of the service providing system 10 converts the print data included in the print job acquired by the job acquisition unit 106 into a data format suitable for printing by the image forming apparatus 20 (step S1808). If the print data included in the print job acquired by the job acquisition unit 106 has a data format suitable for printing by the image forming apparatus 20, the print conversion unit 107 does not have to convert the data format.

  Next, the job management unit 108 of the service providing system 10 acquires the device ID from the above-described printer ID (step S1809). That is, the job management unit 108 acquires, from the device ID cooperation information table 112, the device ID associated with the printer ID included in the print request received from the terminal device 30.

  Next, the job management unit 108 of the service providing system 10 causes the job storage unit 120 to store the device ID acquired in step S1809 described above in the print job (step S1810). As a result, the print job 121 including the device ID acquired in step S1809 is accumulated in the job storage unit 120.

  Next, the notification unit 105 of the service providing system 10 transmits a status notification indicating the status of the service providing system 10 to the external print system 40 (step S1810). Here, the notification unit 105 may transmit, for example, a status notification indicating “printable” to the external printing system 40.

  As described above, print jobs by the cloud print service provided by the external print system 40 are accumulated in the service providing system 10 according to the present embodiment. At this time, the print job stored in the service providing system 10 according to the present embodiment includes the device ID corresponding to the virtual printer selected by the user. As a result, the image forming apparatus 20 with the device ID can execute a print job and print.

  In the present embodiment, the virtual printer is registered without specifying the device ID in step S1613 of FIG. 16, but some external printing systems 40 may register the virtual printer by specifying the device ID. it can. When a virtual printer is registered by specifying a device ID, for example, the new job notification in step S1804 in FIG. 18 includes the device ID. Therefore, in this case, there is no need to perform the process of step S1616 of FIG. 16 or the process of step S1809 of FIG. 18 (ie, the device ID cooperation information table 112 is unnecessary).

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, an application program for the terminal device 30 to perform usage registration and an application program for the terminal device 30 to store print jobs may be different.

  Each function of each embodiment described above can be realized by one or more processing circuits. Here, the “processing circuit” in the present specification is a processor that is programmed to execute each function by software like a processor implemented by an electronic circuit, and is designed to execute each function described above. It includes devices such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and a conventional circuit module.

  The present invention is not limited to the above specifically disclosed embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible without departing from the scope of the claims.

Reference Signs List 1 print system 10 service providing system 20 image forming apparatus 30 terminal device 40 external print system 101 registration reception unit 102 authorization unit 103 registration unit 104 list acquisition unit 105 notification unit 106 job acquisition unit 107 print conversion unit 108 job management unit 110 linkage information Storage unit 111 Cooperation information table 120 Job storage unit 121 Print job 201 UI control unit 202 Device ID transmission unit 203 Job monitoring unit 204 Print processing unit 301 UI control unit 302 Print request unit 303 Device ID reception unit

Patent No. 5889943 gazette

Claims (9)

An information processing system having a terminal device, one or more image forming apparatuses, and a service providing system for providing a service in cooperation with a printing service provided by an external printing system,
Selection means for receiving selection of one image forming apparatus among the one or more image forming apparatuses that can communicate with the terminal device via near field communication;
Print request means for transmitting a print request including the device ID for identifying the one image forming apparatus selected by the selection means to the printing system;
A job acquisition unit configured to acquire a print job created by the printing system according to the print request transmitted by the print request unit;
Job management means for storing in the storage means the print job acquired by the job acquisition means;
In response to a request from the image forming apparatus, the print job including the device ID for identifying the image forming apparatus of the request source among the print jobs stored in the storage unit is transmitted to the image forming apparatus Transmission means,
An information processing system having The job acquisition unit
The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the print job is acquired when a notification indicating that the print job has been created is received from the printing system. The transmission means is
In response to the request transmitted from the image forming apparatus at predetermined time intervals, it is determined whether or not a print job including an apparatus ID for identifying the image forming apparatus of the request source is stored in the storage unit. ,
The print job is transmitted to the image forming apparatus when it is determined that the print job including the device ID for identifying the image forming apparatus of the request source is stored in the storage unit. The information processing system according to 1 or 2. The selection means is
Accepting a selection of the one image forming apparatus and the first electronic data to be printed by the one image forming apparatus;
The print request means is
Sending a print request including the device ID for identifying the one image forming apparatus selected by the selection unit and the first electronic data to the printing system;
The job acquisition unit
Obtaining a print job created by the print system in response to the print request sent by the print request means, and converted into the second electronic data of the first data format in a predetermined data format; The information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that:   A conversion unit configured to convert the second electronic data included in the print job acquired by the job acquisition unit into third electronic data in a data format according to the image forming apparatus; An information processing system according to Item 4.   6. The information processing system according to claim 5, further comprising: printing means for printing the third electronic data included in the print job sent by the sending means by the image forming apparatus.   The information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the short distance wireless communication is Bluetooth or BLE. An information processing system having a terminal device, one or more image forming apparatuses, and a service providing system for providing a service in cooperation with a printing service provided by an external printing system,
Selection means for receiving selection of one image forming apparatus among the one or more image forming apparatuses that can communicate with the terminal device via near field communication;
Registration request means for transmitting a registration request for registering the service providing system as a printing apparatus to the printing system, including a device ID for identifying the one image forming apparatus selected by the selection means;
A registration unit that associates the printer ID indicating the printing apparatus registered in the printing system according to the registration request transmitted by the registration request unit with the device ID, and stores the device ID in the first storage unit;
A job acquisition unit that acquires the print job from the printing system when receiving a notification from the printing system indicating that a print job by the printing service has been created;
The device ID associated with the printer ID included in the print job acquired by the job acquisition unit is acquired from the first storage unit, and the acquired device ID is included in the print job to obtain a second storage Job management means stored in the means;
Among the print jobs stored in the second storage unit in response to a request from the image forming apparatus, the print job including the device ID for identifying the image forming apparatus of the request source is the image forming apparatus Means of transmission to
An information processing system having An information processing method for use in an information processing system including a terminal device, one or more image forming apparatuses, and a service providing system for providing a service in cooperation with a printing service provided by an external printing system,
A selection procedure for receiving selection of one image forming apparatus among the one or more image forming apparatuses that can communicate with the terminal device via near field communication;
A print request procedure for transmitting a print request including the device ID for identifying the one image forming apparatus selected by the selection procedure to the printing system;
A job acquisition procedure for acquiring a print job created by the printing system according to the print request transmitted by the print request procedure;
A job management procedure for storing the print job acquired by the job acquisition procedure in a storage unit;
In response to a request from the image forming apparatus, the print job including the device ID for identifying the image forming apparatus of the request source among the print jobs stored in the storage unit is transmitted to the image forming apparatus Sending procedure,
Information processing method having.

Images