JP2019101722A - Image processing system, image processing device, server program, and image processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an image processing system and the like capable of saving image data into storage sections in other image processing devices on a network, on the basis of the latest free space information of the storage sections in other image processing devices on the network, while preventing the communication traffics from increasing.SOLUTION: A transmission processing section 271 transmits, when the free space in a storage section 26 of itself changes, update information indicating the free space after the change to a server device 3. A reception processing section 272 receives, from the server 3, free space information indicating free spaces in storage sections 26 in other image processing devices 2. A selection processing section 273 selects, based on the space free information received by the reception processing section 272, an image processing device 2 that can become a destination to save image data. A saving processing section 274 saves the image data into the storage section 26 in the image processing device 2 selected by the selection processing section 273.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing system, an image processing apparatus, a server program, and an image processing method.

  There is known an information processing apparatus capable of temporarily using free space of storage devices of other information processing apparatuses on a network when performing processing that requires temporary storage of a large amount of image data (for example, Patent Document 1).

  In the information processing apparatus, for example, a jam backup area at the time of printing processing in a plotter, an image expansion area at the time of performing aggregation printing processing, an image expansion area at the time of performing electronic sort processing, or composition processing of a plurality of image data The free space of the storage device of the other information processing apparatus can be temporarily used as an image expansion area at the time of performing.

JP 2007-87083 A

  The information processing apparatus periodically transmits, by broadcast, information of a search request for searching for free capacity of storage devices of other information processing apparatuses, and receives information of free capacity from each of the other information processing apparatuses. Therefore, if the transmission frequency of the information including the search request is increased, the communication traffic of the network is increased. Also, if the transmission frequency of the information including the search request is lowered to suppress the increase in the communication traffic, the possibility that the information on the free space received from the other information processing apparatus and the actual free space increases may increase. I will.

  The object of the present invention is to suppress the increase in communication traffic and to store image data in the storage unit of another image processing apparatus on the network based on the latest space information of the storage unit of the other image processing apparatus on the network. Abstract: An image processing system, an image processing apparatus, a server program, and an image processing method that can be stored.

  An image processing system according to an aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of image processing apparatuses communicably connected to each other, and a server apparatus communicably connected to the plurality of image processing apparatuses. The image processing apparatus includes a transmission processing unit, a reception processing unit, a selection processing unit, and a storage processing unit. The transmission processing unit transmits update information indicating the changed free space to the server device when the free space of its own storage unit changes. The reception processing unit receives available capacity information indicating available capacity of storage units of other image processing apparatuses from the server apparatus. The selection processing unit selects an image processing apparatus as a storage destination of image data based on the free space information received by the reception processing unit. The storage processing unit stores the image data in a storage unit of the image processing apparatus selected by the selection processing unit. The server device includes a free space information storage unit, an update processing unit, and a reply processing unit. The free space information storage unit stores the current free space of the storage unit of each of the image processing apparatuses as the free space information. The update processing unit updates the free capacity information stored in the free capacity information storage unit based on the update information received from the image processing apparatus. The reply processing unit returns the free space information on another image processing apparatus to the image processing apparatus of the request source in response to a request from the image processing apparatus.

  An image processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention includes a transmission processing unit, a reception processing unit, a selection processing unit, and a storage processing unit. The transmission processing unit transmits update information indicating the changed free space to the server apparatus when the free space of the storage unit of the transmission unit changes. The reception processing unit receives available capacity information indicating available capacity of storage units of other image processing apparatuses from the server apparatus. The selection processing unit selects an image processing apparatus as a storage destination of image data based on the free space information received by the reception processing unit. The storage processing unit stores the image data in a storage unit of the image processing apparatus selected by the selection processing unit.

  A server program according to one aspect of the present invention includes a server including a free space information storage unit that stores, as the free space information, current free capacities of storage units of a plurality of image processing apparatuses communicably connected to each other. A server program for causing a processor of a device to execute an update step and a return step. In the update step, when the free space of the storage unit of the image processing apparatus changes, the free space information storage unit stores the free space information received from the image processing apparatus based on the update information indicating the changed free space. The free space information being updated is updated. In the replying step, the free space information on another image processing apparatus is returned to the image processing apparatus of the request source in response to a request from the image processing apparatus.

  An image processing method according to an aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of image processing apparatuses communicably connected to each other and a plurality of the image processing apparatuses communicably connected, and the present of the storage unit of each of the image processing apparatuses And a server apparatus including a free space information storage unit which stores the free space of the above as the free space information. The image processing method includes a transmitting step, an updating step, a returning step, a receiving step, a selecting step, and a storing step. In the transmission step, when the free space of the storage unit of the image processing apparatus changes, update information indicating the free space after the change is transmitted to the server apparatus. In the update step, the free capacity information stored in the free capacity information storage unit is updated in the server apparatus based on the update information received from the image processing apparatus. In the replying step, the free space information on another image processing apparatus is sent back to the image processing apparatus as the request source in response to a request from the image processing apparatus in the server apparatus. In the receiving step, the image processing apparatus receives, from the server apparatus, free capacity information indicating free capacities of storage units of other image processing apparatuses. In the selection step, in the image processing apparatus, an image processing apparatus to be a storage destination of the image data is selected based on the free space information received in the reception step. In the storage step, in the image processing apparatus, the image data is stored in a storage unit of the image processing apparatus selected in the selection step.

  According to the present invention, while suppressing an increase in communication traffic, the image data is stored in the storage unit of another image processing apparatus on the network based on the latest space information of the storage unit of the other image processing apparatus on the network. An image processing system, an image processing apparatus, a server program, and an image processing method that can be stored are provided.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an image processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of the image processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of the server apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of apparatus information used in the image processing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a view showing an example of image data information used in the image processing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of the client process executed by the image processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of the server process executed by the server device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings for understanding of the present invention. The following embodiments are merely specific examples of the present invention, and do not limit the technical scope of the present invention.

[Configuration of image processing system]
As shown in FIG. 1, an image processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes image processing devices 2A to 2E and a server device 3. The image processing apparatuses 2A to 2E are communicably connected to each other via a communication network N1 such as a LAN, for example. The server device 3 is communicably connected to the image processing devices 2A to 2E via the communication network N1. Hereinafter, when the image processing apparatuses 2A to 2E do not need to be distinguished from one another, each of the image forming apparatuses 2A to 2E is referred to as an image forming apparatus 2.

  By the way, there is known an information processing apparatus capable of temporarily using free space of storage devices of other information processing apparatuses on the network when performing processing that requires temporary storage of a large amount of image data. In the information processing apparatus, for example, a jam backup area at the time of printing processing in a plotter, an image expansion area at the time of performing aggregation printing processing, an image expansion area at the time of performing electronic sort processing, or composition processing of a plurality of image data The free space of the storage device of the other information processing apparatus can be temporarily used as an image expansion area at the time of performing. The information processing apparatus periodically transmits, by broadcast, information of a search request for searching for free capacity of storage devices of other information processing apparatuses, and receives information of free capacity from each of the other information processing apparatuses. Therefore, if the transmission frequency of the information including the search request is increased, the communication traffic of the network is increased. Also, if the transmission frequency of the information including the search request is lowered to suppress the increase in the communication traffic, the possibility that the information on the free space received from the other information processing apparatus and the actual free space increases may increase. I will. On the other hand, according to the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment, while suppressing an increase in communication traffic, the network based on the latest availability information of the storage unit 26 of the other image processing apparatus 2 on the network Image data can be stored in the storage unit 26 of the other image processing apparatus 2 described above.

[Configuration of image processing apparatus]
As shown in FIG. 2, the image processing apparatus 2 includes an operation display unit 21, an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) 22, an image reading unit 23, an image forming unit 24, a communication I / F 25, a storage unit 26, and a control unit 27. Equipped with Specifically, the image processing apparatus 2 is a multifunction peripheral having a printer function, a scanner function, a copy function, a facsimile function, and the like. The present invention is applicable to any image processing apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile machine, as well as the multi-function machine.

  The operation display unit 21 includes a display unit such as a liquid crystal display that displays information, and an operation unit such as a touch panel that receives a user operation and an operation button.

  The ADF 22 is an automatic document feeder that includes a document setting unit, a conveyance roller, a document pressing unit, and a paper discharge unit, and conveys a document to be read by the image reading unit 23.

  The image reading unit 23 includes a document table, a light source, a mirror, an optical lens, and a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), and can read an image of a document and output it as image data.

  The image forming unit 24 can execute print processing based on image data by an electrophotographic method or an inkjet method, and forms an image on a sheet based on the image data. For example, when the image forming unit 24 is an electrophotographic image forming unit, the image forming unit 24 includes a photosensitive drum, a charger, an exposure device, a developing device, a transfer device, a fixing device, and the like.

  The communication I / F 25 is a communication interface capable of executing communication processing with another image processing apparatus 2 or the server apparatus 3 according to a predetermined communication protocol via the communication network N1.

  The storage unit 26 is a non-volatile storage unit such as a hard disk or an EEPROM (registered trademark). The storage unit 26 stores various control programs executed by the control unit 27 and various data.

  The control unit 27 includes control devices such as a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM. The CPU is a processor that executes various arithmetic processing. The ROM is a non-volatile storage unit in which information such as a control program for causing the CPU to execute various processes is stored in advance. The RAM is a volatile or non-volatile storage unit used as a temporary storage memory (work area) of various processes executed by the CPU.

  Specifically, the control unit 27 includes a transmission processing unit 271, a reception processing unit 272, a selection processing unit 273, a storage processing unit 274, a determination processing unit 275, an acquisition processing unit 276, and an instruction processing unit 277. The control unit 27 functions as each processing unit by executing various processes in accordance with the control program. In addition, the control unit 27 may include an electronic circuit that realizes a part or a plurality of processing functions of each of the processing units.

  The transmission processing unit 271 transmits update information indicating the changed free space to the server device 3 when the free space of the storage unit 26 of its own changes. For example, when the transmission processing unit 271 stores new image data in the storage unit 26 and deletes the image data stored in the storage unit 26, the transmission information unit 27 indicates the update information indicating the free space of the storage unit 26. Send to device 3

  The reception processing unit 272 receives, from the server device 3, free space information (for example, information of “free space” in the device information D 1 described later) indicating the free space of the storage unit 26 of the other image processing apparatus 2.

  The selection processing unit 273 selects the image processing apparatus 2 as the storage destination of the image data based on the free space information received by the reception processing unit 272. Note that various selection methods can be considered as a selection method by the selection processing unit 273. For example, the selection processing unit 273 selects the image processing apparatus 2 having the largest free space in the storage unit 26 among the image processing apparatuses 2 having the storage unit 26 having a free space equal to or larger than the data size of the image data. It may be selected as the storage destination of As a result, it is possible to suppress the shortage of free space of the storage unit 26 of the image processing apparatus 2 at the storage destination of the image data. As another example, the selection processing unit 273 selects one of the image data based on installation position information (for example, information of “installation position” in the device information D1 described later) indicating the installation position of each of the other image processing apparatuses 2. Among the image processing devices 2 having the storage unit 26 having a free space equal to or larger than the data size, the image processing device 2 installed at a position closest to the own image processing device 2 is selected as a storage destination of the image data. May be As a result, when the image processing apparatus 2 at the storage destination of the image data performs printing based on the image data, the sheet is output from the image processing apparatus 2 close to the image processing apparatus 2 itself. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the time and effort for taking out the output sheet. As still another example, when the image data is a color image data, the selection processing unit 273 includes an image processing apparatus 2 having a storage unit 26 having a free space equal to or larger than the data size of the image data. The image processing apparatus 2 capable of printing a color image may be selected as a storage destination of the image data. Thereby, when the print processing based on the image data is performed in the image processing apparatus 2 of the storage destination of the image data, it becomes possible to print a color image based on the image data. As another example, the selection processing unit 273 causes the operation display unit 21 to display a list of the image processing apparatus 2 having the storage unit 26 having a free space equal to or larger than the data size of the image data, and the user selects from the list The image processing device 2 to be stored may be selected as the storage destination of the image data.

  The storage processing unit 274 stores the image data in the storage unit 26 of the image processing apparatus 2 selected by the selection processing unit 273. For example, the storage processing unit 274 transmits the image data to the image processing apparatus 2 selected by the selection processing unit 273 through the communication I / F 25 and the communication network N1. Then, the control unit 27 of the image processing apparatus 2 that has received the image data stores the image data in the storage unit 26.

  The selection processing unit 273 selects a plurality of image processing apparatuses 2 as a storage destination of the image data when there is no image processing apparatus 2 having a storage unit 26 having a free space equal to or larger than the data size of the image data. You may Then, the storage processing unit 274 may divide and store the image data in the storage units 26 of the plurality of image processing apparatuses 2 selected by the selection processing unit 273. In this case, the “storage place” of the image data information D2 described later includes information of a plurality of image processing apparatuses 2 in which each part of the divided image data is stored.

  When the print instruction for the image data stored in the storage unit 26 of the other image processing apparatus 2 is input, the determination processing unit 275 executes the printing process based on the image data in the image processing apparatus 2 of its own. It is determined in accordance with the user operation whether to execute the image processing apparatus 2 or the other image processing apparatus 2. For example, when the print instruction for the image data stored in the storage unit 26 of the other image processing apparatus 2 is input, the determination processing unit 275 may perform the printing process based on the image data as the image processing apparatus 2 of its own. The operation display unit 21 displays a selection screen for allowing the user to select whether to execute at the other image processing apparatus 2 or at the same time. Then, in accordance with the user operation on the selection screen, the image processing apparatus 2 to which the printing process based on the image data is to be executed is selected.

  The acquisition processing unit 276 acquires the image data from the other image processing apparatus 2 when it is determined by the determination processing unit 275 that the printing process is to be performed by the image processing apparatus 2 of its own. For example, the acquisition processing unit 276 transmits an acquisition request for the image data to the other image processing apparatus 2 when the determination processing unit 275 determines that the printing process is to be performed by the image processing apparatus 2 of its own. And receives the image data from the other image processing apparatus 2. Then, the image forming unit 24 executes an image forming process based on the image data, and a sheet on which an image corresponding to the image data is formed is output from the image processing apparatus 2 itself.

  The instruction processing unit 277 instructs the other image processing apparatus 2 to execute the printing process when the determination processing unit 275 determines that the other image processing apparatus 2 is to execute the printing process. For example, when the determination processing unit 275 determines that the print processing is to be performed by the other image processing apparatus 2, the instruction processing unit 277 sets an instruction signal for instructing to execute the print processing based on the image data. To the image processing apparatus 2 of FIG. As a result, the image forming unit 24 of the other image processing apparatus 2 executes an image forming process based on the image data, and a sheet on which an image corresponding to the image data is formed is output from the other image processing apparatus 2 Be done.

[Server device configuration]
As illustrated in FIG. 3, the server device 3 includes an operation display unit 31, a communication I / F 32, a storage unit 33, and a control unit 34.

  The operation display unit 31 includes a display unit such as a liquid crystal display that displays information, and an operation unit such as a mouse and a keyboard that receive user operations.

  The communication I / F 32 is a communication interface capable of executing communication processing with the image processing apparatus 2 according to a predetermined communication protocol via the communication network N1.

  The storage unit 33 is a non-volatile storage unit such as a hard disk or an EEPROM (registered trademark). The storage unit 33 stores various control programs executed by the control unit 34, various data, and the like. For example, the storage unit 33 stores a server program for causing the control unit 34 to execute server processing described later. Further, the storage unit 33 stores device information D1 (see FIG. 4) and image data information D2 (see FIG. 5).

  The device information D1 is information on each of the image processing devices 2 connected to the communication network N1. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the device information D1 includes information such as “device name”, “IP address”, “free space”, “installation position”, and “color printing” for each image processing device 2. Be The “device name” is a name for identifying the image processing device 2. For example, “first MFP” in FIG. 4 corresponds to the image processing apparatus 2A in FIG. 1, and “second MFP” in FIG. 4 corresponds to the image processing apparatus 2B in FIG. The “third MFP” in FIG. 4 corresponds to the image processing apparatus 2C in FIG. 1, and the “fourth MFP” in FIG. 4 corresponds to the image processing apparatus 2D in FIG. The “fifth MFP” in FIG. 4 corresponds to the image processing apparatus 2E in FIG. The “IP address” is address information for communicating with the image processing apparatus 2. The “free space” is free space information indicating the current free space of the storage unit 26 provided in the image processing apparatus 2. The storage unit 33 is an example of the free space information storage unit of the present invention. The “installation position” is installation position information indicating the installation position of the image processing apparatus 2. In the example of FIG. 4, the room in which the image processing apparatus 2 is installed is registered as the “installation position”, but the installation position information is not limited to this. For example, information such as a floor on which the image processing apparatus 2 is installed, coordinates, and latitude and longitude may be stored in the storage unit 33 as the installation position information. “Color printing” is information indicating whether the image processing apparatus 2 can print a color image. In the example of FIG. 4, the “first MFP”, the “third MFP”, and the “fifth MFP” are the image processing apparatuses 2 capable of printing both color images and monochrome images. On the other hand, the “second MFP” and the “fourth MFP” are the image processing apparatuses 2 capable of printing only monochrome images.

  The image data information D2 is information on each of the image data stored in the storage unit 26 of the plurality of image processing apparatuses 2 connected to the communication network N1. As shown in FIG. 5, the image data information D2 includes information such as “file name”, “storage location”, “source device”, “data size”, “color image”, etc. for each image data. . "File name" is a name for identifying image data. The “storage place” is storage place information indicating the image processing apparatus 2 in which the image data is stored. The storage unit 33 is an example of the storage location information storage unit of the present invention. The “source device” is information indicating the image processing device 2 to which the storage instruction of the image data is input. In the example of FIG. 5, “image data D” is transferred to “fifth MFP” according to the save instruction input to “first MFP” (for example, the save instruction input through operation display unit 21 of “first MFP”). It is input image data. “Data size” is the data size (data capacity) of image data. "Color image" is information indicating whether or not image data is a color image. In the example of FIG. 5, "image data D" and "image data E" are color images, and "image data A", "image data B" and "image data C" are monochrome images.

  The control unit 34 includes control devices such as a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM. The CPU is a processor that executes various arithmetic processing. The ROM is a non-volatile storage unit in which information such as a control program for causing the CPU to execute various processes is stored in advance. The RAM is a volatile or non-volatile storage unit used as a temporary storage memory (work area) of various processes executed by the CPU.

  Specifically, the control unit 34 includes an update processing unit 341, a reply processing unit 342, and a movement processing unit 343. The control unit 34 functions as each processing unit by executing various processes according to the server program. In addition, the control unit 34 may include an electronic circuit that realizes a part or a plurality of processing functions of each of the processing units.

  Based on the update information received from the image processing apparatus 2, the update processing unit 341 determines the free space information stored in the storage unit 33 (that is, the information on “free space” included in the device information D 1). Update. As a result, the latest free space information in the storage units 26 of the plurality of image processing apparatuses 2 connected to the communication network N1 is always stored in the storage unit 33.

  In response to a request from the image processing apparatus 2, the reply processing unit 342 sends the free space information on another image processing apparatus 2 back to the image processing apparatus 2 as the request source. For example, when receiving an acquisition request for available capacity information from the image processing apparatus 2A, the reply processing unit 342 acquires available capacity information on the other image processing apparatuses 2B to 2E from the apparatus information D1, and transmits the acquired available capacity information to the image processing apparatus 2A. Send back.

  Note that, even if the update information includes identification information (for example, “file name” or the like) of the image data newly stored in the storage unit 26 of the image processing apparatus 2 or deleted from the storage unit 26. Good. In this case, based on the update information received from the image processing apparatus 2, the update processing unit 341 stores the storage location information stored in the storage unit 33 (that is, the “storage location” included in the image data information D2). Information) may be updated. As a result, the storage unit 33 always stores the storage location of each of the image data stored in the storage units 26 of the plurality of image processing apparatuses 2 connected to the communication network N1. Then, the reply processing unit 342 may return the storage location information to the image processing apparatus 2 of the request source in response to a request from the image processing apparatus 2. Thereby, the image processing device 2 grasps the storage location of any image data stored in the storage unit 26 of the other image processing device 2 based on the storage location information returned from the server device 3. Can.

  The movement processing unit 343 stores the image data stored in the image processing apparatus 2 having a relatively small free space in the storage unit 26 based on the free space information stored in the storage unit 33 in the storage unit 26. It is moved to the storage unit 26 of another image processing apparatus 2 having a relatively large free space. For example, when the free space of the storage unit 26 of a certain image processing apparatus 2 falls below a predetermined threshold, the movement processing unit 343 may store one or more of the storage units 26 of the image processing apparatus 2. The image data of may be moved to the storage unit 26 of another image processing apparatus 2 in which the free space of the storage unit 26 is equal to or more than the threshold. For example, the movement processing unit 343 causes the image processing device 2 at the movement source of the image data to include identification information (for example, a file name) of the image data to be moved and identification information (for example, the device at the movement destination). Send name, IP address etc.) As a result, image data to be moved is moved from the image processing device 2 at the movement source to the image processing device 2 at the movement destination. That is, the image data is deleted from the storage unit 26 of the image processing apparatus 2 at the movement source, and is stored in the storage unit 26 of the image processing apparatus 2 at the movement destination.

  Note that, as another embodiment, the movement processing unit 343 sets the image data (for example, "image data D" in FIG. 5) stored in the image processing apparatus 2 different from the "source apparatus" to the "source apparatus". When the free space of the storage unit 26 becomes sufficiently large, the current “storage location” may be moved to the storage unit 26 of the “source device”. For example, in the example of FIG. 5, when the free space of the “first MFP” becomes larger than the data size (101.2 MB) of the “image data D”, the movement processing unit 343 selects “image data D” It may be moved from the “5th MFP” to the “first MFP”. As a result, when the user wants to print the "image data D" with the "first MFP" which is the "original apparatus", the process of transferring the "image data D" from the "fifth MFP" to the "first MFP" is unnecessary. Therefore, the time required for the printing process can be shortened.

[Client processing]
Next, with reference to FIG. 6, an example of the procedure of the client process executed by the control unit 27 of the image processing apparatus 2 will be described. Here, steps S11, S12,... Indicate the numbers of processing procedures (steps) executed by the control unit 27. The client process is started, for example, in response to the power supply of the image processing apparatus 2 being turned on, and thereafter terminated in response to the power supply of the image processing apparatus 2 being turned off.

<Step S11>
First, in step S11, the control unit 27 determines whether the free space of its own storage unit 26 has changed. For example, when new image data is stored in storage unit 26, control unit 27 determines that the free space of storage unit 26 of itself has changed, for example, when image data stored in storage unit 26 is deleted. Do. When it is determined that the free space of its own storage unit 26 has changed (S11: Yes), the process proceeds to step S12. On the other hand, when it is determined that the free space of its own storage unit 26 has not changed (S11: No), the process proceeds to step S13.

<Step S12>
In step S12, the control unit 27 transmits, to the server device 3, update information indicating the current free space of the storage unit 26 of itself. The update information may include identification information of image data that is newly stored in the storage unit 26 of the image processing apparatus 2 or deleted from the storage unit 26. The process of step S12 is executed by the transmission processing unit 271 of the control unit 27. The step S12 is an example of the transmission step of the present invention.

<Step S13>
In step S13, control unit 27 determines whether or not a save instruction has been input. The storage instruction may be input through the operation display unit 21 or may be input from an external information processing apparatus (for example, a print host apparatus) through the communication I / F 25. The storage instruction may be an execution instruction of any job including processing of storing image data in the storage unit 26. For example, the storage instruction may be a job for storing image data read by the image reading unit 23 in the storage unit 26, a job for storing image data received from an external information processing apparatus in the storage unit 26, external information processing It may be an execution instruction such as a job of printing only one copy of the image data received from the apparatus and storing the image data in the storage unit 26. When it is determined that the storage instruction has been input (S13: Yes), the process proceeds to step S14. On the other hand, when it is determined that the storage instruction has not been input (S13: No), the process proceeds to step S19.

<Step S14>
In step S14, control unit 27 determines whether the free space of storage unit 26 of itself is insufficient. For example, when the free space of the storage unit 26 of the control unit 27 is smaller than the data size of the image data, the control unit 27 determines that the free space of the storage unit 26 of itself is insufficient. Then, when it is determined that the free space of the storage unit 26 of itself is insufficient (S14: Yes), the process proceeds to step S16. On the other hand, when it is determined that the free space of the storage unit 26 of itself is not insufficient (S14: No), the process proceeds to step S15.

<Step S15>
In step S15, the control unit 27 stores the image data in the storage unit 26 of itself. Note that when the image data is stored in its own storage unit 26 in step S15, the free space of the storage unit 26 changes as a result. Therefore, the update information is stored in the server device 3 through the step S11 and the step S12. Will be sent to Then, the process proceeds to step S19.

<Step S16>
On the other hand, in step S <b> 16, the control unit 27 receives, from the server device 3, free space information indicating the free space of the storage unit 26 of the other image processing apparatus 2. For example, the control unit 27 transmits a request signal for requesting the free capacity information to the server device 3, and receives the free capacity information from the server device 3. The process of step S16 is performed by the reception processing unit 272 of the control unit 27. The step S16 is an example of the receiving step of the present invention.

<Step S17>
In step S17, the control unit 27 selects the image processing apparatus 2 which is the storage destination of the image data, based on the free space information received in step S16. For example, among the image processing apparatus 2 having the storage unit 26 having a free space equal to or larger than the data size of the image data, the control unit 27 sets the image processing device 2 having the largest free space in the storage unit 26 Select as storage destination. The process of step S17 is performed by the selection processing unit 273 of the control unit 27. The step S17 is an example of the selection step of the present invention.

<Step S18>
In step S18, the control unit 27 stores the image data in the storage unit 26 of the image processing apparatus 2 selected in step S17. The processing of step S18 is executed by the storage processing unit 274 of the control unit 27. The step S18 is an example of the storage step of the present invention.

<Step S19>
In step S19, control unit 27 determines whether or not a print instruction for any image data stored in storage unit 26 of a plurality of image processing apparatuses 2 connected to communication network N1 is input. . For example, when the setting screen of the print job is called through the operation display unit 21 of any image processing apparatus 2, the control unit 27 is stored in the storage unit 26 of the plurality of image processing apparatuses 2 connected to the communication network N1. The information related to the image data (that is, various information included in the image data information D2) is acquired from the server device 3, and a list of the image data is displayed on the operation display unit 21. Then, when a print job execution instruction based on any image data included in the list is input through the operation display unit 21, the control unit 27 determines that the print instruction has been input. If it is determined that the print instruction has been input (S19: Yes), the process proceeds to step S20. On the other hand, when it is determined that the print instruction has not been input (S19: No), the process returns to the step S11.

<Step S20>
In step S20, the control unit 27 determines whether the image data corresponding to the print instruction is image data in its own device (that is, image data stored in its own storage unit 26). Then, if it is determined that the image data is image data in the own apparatus (S20: Yes), the process proceeds to step S24. On the other hand, when it is determined that the image data is image data stored in the storage unit 26 of another image processing apparatus 2 (S20: No), the process proceeds to step S21.

<Step S21>
In step S21, the control unit 27 determines the image processing apparatus 2 on which the printing process based on the image data is to be performed. Specifically, the control unit 27 determines whether the printing process based on the image data is to be executed by the image processing apparatus 2 of its own or the other image processing apparatus 2 according to the user operation. The process of step S21 is executed by the determination processing unit 275 of the control unit 27.

<Step S22>
In step S22, the control unit 27 determines, based on the determination result in step S21, whether or not the print processing based on the image data is to be executed by the image processing apparatus 2 itself. When it is determined that the printing process based on the image data is to be executed by the image processing apparatus 2 of its own (S22: Yes), the process proceeds to step S23. On the other hand, when it is determined that the other image processing apparatus 2 executes the printing process based on the image data (S22: No), the process proceeds to step S25.

<Step S23>
In step S23, the control unit 27 acquires the image data from the other image processing apparatus 2 through the communication network N1 and the communication I / F 25. For example, the control unit 27 transmits an acquisition request for the image data to the other image processing apparatus 2 and receives the image data from the other image processing apparatus 2. The process of step S23 is executed by the acquisition processing unit 276 of the control unit 27.

<Step S24>
In step S24, the control unit 27 executes print processing based on the image data. For example, the control unit 27 causes the image forming unit 24 to execute an image forming process based on the image data. As a result, a sheet on which an image corresponding to the image data is formed is output from its own image processing device 2. Then, the process returns to the step S11.

<Step S25>
On the other hand, in step S25, the control unit 27 instructs the other image processing apparatus 2 to execute the printing process based on the image data. For example, the control unit 27 transmits, to the other image processing apparatus 2, an instruction signal instructing execution of print processing based on the image data. As a result, the image forming unit 24 of the other image processing apparatus 2 executes an image forming process based on the image data, and a sheet on which an image corresponding to the image data is formed is output from the other image processing apparatus 2 Be done. The process of step S25 is executed by the instruction processing unit 277 of the control unit 27. Then, the process returns to the step S11.

[Server processing]
Next, an example of the procedure of the server process executed by the control unit 34 of the server device 3 will be described with reference to FIG. 7. Here, steps S31, S32,... Indicate the numbers of the processing procedures (steps) executed by the control unit 34. The server process is started, for example, in response to the power of the server device 3 being turned on, and then terminated in response to the power of the server device 3 being turned off.

<Step S31>
First, in step S31, the control unit 34 determines whether the update information has been received from any of the image processing apparatuses 2 connected to the communication network N1. When it is determined that the update information has been received (S31: Yes), the process proceeds to step S32. On the other hand, when it is determined that the update information has not been received (S31: No), the process proceeds to step S33.

<Step S32>
In step S32, based on the update information received from the image processing apparatus 2, the control unit 34 stores free space information stored in the storage unit 33 (that is, “free space” included in the device information D1). Update information). When the update information includes identification information of the image data newly stored in the storage unit 26 of the image processing apparatus 2 or deleted from the storage unit 26, the control unit 34 performs the process as described above. The storage location information stored in the storage unit 33 (that is, the “storage location” information included in the image data information D2) may be updated based on the update information. The process of step S32 is executed by the update processing unit 341 of the control unit 34. The step S32 is an example of the updating step of the present invention.

<Step S33>
In step S33, the control unit 34 determines whether an acquisition request for available capacity information has been received from any of the image processing apparatuses 2 connected to the communication network N1. Then, if it is determined that the acquisition request for the free space information has been received (S33: Yes), the process proceeds to step S34. On the other hand, when it is determined that the acquisition request for the free space information has not been received (S33: No), the process proceeds to step S35.

<Step S34>
In step S34, the control unit 34 sends the free space information on the other image processing apparatus 2 back to the image processing apparatus 2 that is the request source of the free space information acquisition request. At this time, in addition to the free space information, the control unit 34 also includes other information (for example, “device name”, “IP address”, “installation position”, “color printing”, etc.) included in the device information D1. ) May be transmitted to the image processing apparatus 2 of the request source as needed. The process of step S34 is executed by the reply processing unit 342 of the control unit 34. The step S34 is an example of the reply step of the present invention.

<Step S35>
In step S35, control unit 34 determines whether or not a predetermined movement condition is satisfied. The movement conditions are conditions for automatically moving image data stored in one image processing apparatus 2 to another image processing apparatus 2. For example, the control unit 34 determines that the movement condition is satisfied when the free space of the storage unit 26 of any of the image processing apparatuses 2 connected to the communication network N1 falls below a predetermined threshold. You may Then, if it is determined that the movement condition is satisfied (S35: Yes), the process proceeds to step S36. On the other hand, when it is determined that the movement condition is not satisfied (S35: No), the process returns to the step S31.

<Step S36>
In step S36, the control unit 34 performs the movement process based on the free space information stored in the storage unit 33. For example, the control unit 34 may store image data stored in the image processing apparatus 2 having a relatively small free space in the storage unit 26 in another image processing apparatus 2 having a relatively large free space in the storage unit 26. Move to section 26. The process of step S36 is executed by the movement processing unit 343 of the control unit 34. Then, the process returns to the step S31.

  As described above, in the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment, when a storage instruction of image data is input in an image processing apparatus 2 and there is no sufficient free space in the storage unit 26 of the image processing apparatus 2. The image data is stored in the storage unit 26 of the other image processing apparatus 2 connected to the communication network N1. Therefore, according to the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment, the image data can be stored even when the free space of the storage unit 26 of the image processing apparatus 2 is insufficient.

  Further, in the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment, the storage unit 33 of the server device 3 is always connected to the communication network N 1 based on the update information transmitted from the image processing device 2 to the server device 3. The latest free information in the storage unit 26 of the plurality of image processing apparatuses 2 is stored. Therefore, the control unit 27 of the image processing device 2 does not individually query the other image processing devices 2 from the information of the free space of the storage unit 26 of each of the other image processing devices 2. It can be acquired. Therefore, according to the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment, the latest space information of the storage unit 26 of the other image processing apparatus 2 connected to the communication network N1 is acquired while suppressing an increase in communication traffic. be able to.

  Further, in the image processing system 1 according to the present embodiment, each of the image data stored in the storage units 26 of the plurality of image processing apparatuses 2 connected to the communication network N1 is stored in the storage unit 33 of the server device 3. Storage location information indicating the stored image processing apparatus 2 is stored. Therefore, even if the power of the image processing apparatus 2 in which the desired image data is stored is turned off, the image processing apparatus 2 in which the image data is stored is easily identified based on the storage location information. Then, the image processing apparatus 2 can be turned on to execute a job based on the image data.

[Modification]
In the present embodiment, when a print instruction for image data stored in the storage unit 26 of another image processing apparatus 2 is input, print processing based on the image data is performed by the image processing apparatus 2 of its own. Whether to execute or to execute on the other image processing apparatus 2 is determined according to the user operation, but the present invention is not limited to this. In another embodiment, the image processing apparatus 2 that is to execute the printing process based on the image data is the status of the image processing system 1 at that time (processing load on each image processing apparatus 2, standby job on each image processing apparatus 2) It may be determined automatically according to the number, communication traffic of the communication network N1, etc.).

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image processing system 2, 2A-2E Image processing apparatus 21 Operation display part 22 ADF
23 image reading unit 24 image forming unit 25 communication I / F
26 storage unit 27 control unit 271 transmission processing unit 272 reception processing unit 273 selection processing unit 274 storage processing unit 275 determination processing unit 276 acquisition processing unit 277 instruction processing unit 3 server device 31 operation display unit 32 communication I / F
33 storage unit 34 control unit 341 update processing unit 342 reply processing unit 343 movement processing unit

Claims (11)

A plurality of image processing devices communicably connected to each other;
A server device communicably connected to the plurality of image processing devices;
The image processing apparatus is
A transmission processing unit that transmits, to the server apparatus, update information indicating the free space after the change in the free space of its own storage unit;
A reception processing unit that receives, from the server device, free space information indicating free space of storage units of other image processing apparatuses;
A selection processing unit that selects an image processing apparatus as a storage destination of image data based on the free space information received by the reception processing unit;
A storage processing unit for storing the image data in a storage unit of the image processing apparatus selected by the selection processing unit;
The server device is
A free space information storage unit for storing the current free space of the storage unit of each of the image processing devices as the free space information;
An update processing unit that updates the free space information stored in the free space information storage unit based on the update information received from the image processing apparatus;
A reply processing unit for returning the free space information on another image processing apparatus to the image processing apparatus of the request source in response to a request from the image processing apparatus;
Image processing system. The selection processing unit selects an image processing apparatus having the largest free space in the storage unit among the image processing apparatuses having a storage unit having a free space equal to or larger than the data size of the image data as a storage destination of the image data. ,
The image processing system according to claim 1. The selection processing unit is an image processing apparatus of its own among the image processing apparatuses having a storage unit having a free space equal to or larger than the data size of the image data based on installation position information indicating installation positions of the other image processing apparatuses. Select the image processing device installed at the closest position to the image data as the storage destination of the image data,
The image processing system according to claim 1. The selection processing unit is an image processing capable of printing a color image among image processing apparatuses having a storage unit having a free space equal to or larger than the data size of the image data when the image data is image data of a color image. Selecting a device as a storage destination for the image data,
The image processing system according to claim 1. The selection processing unit selects a plurality of image processing apparatuses as a storage destination of the image data, when there is no image processing apparatus having a storage unit having a free space equal to or larger than the data size of the image data.
The storage processing unit divides and stores the image data in storage units of a plurality of image processing apparatuses selected by the selection processing unit.
The image processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The server device further includes a storage location information storage unit that stores storage location information indicating the image processing device in which the image data is stored for each of the image data stored in the storage units of the plurality of image processing devices. ,
The update information includes identification information of image data newly stored in the storage unit of the image processing apparatus or deleted from the storage unit.
The update processing unit updates the storage location information stored in the storage location information storage unit based on the update information received from the image processing apparatus.
The reply processing unit returns the storage location information to the image processing apparatus of the request source in response to a request from the image processing apparatus.
The image processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The image processing apparatus is
When a print instruction for image data stored in a storage unit of another image processing apparatus is input, print processing based on the image data is executed by the image processing apparatus itself or by the other image processing apparatus A decision processing unit that decides whether to execute according to a user operation;
An acquisition processing unit that acquires the image data from the other image processing apparatus when it is determined by the determination processing unit that the print processing is to be performed by the own image processing apparatus;
The image processing apparatus further includes an instruction processing unit that instructs the other image processing apparatus to execute the printing process when it is determined that the printing process is to be performed by the other image processing apparatus by the determination processing unit.
The image processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The server apparatus is, based on the free space information stored in the free space information storage unit, the image data stored in the image processing apparatus in which the free space of the storage unit is relatively small, the free space of the storage unit The image processing apparatus further comprises a movement processing unit for moving to a storage unit of another image processing apparatus having a relatively large capacity.
The image processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 7. A transmission processing unit that transmits, to the server apparatus, update information indicating the free space after the change in the free space of its own storage unit;
A reception processing unit that receives, from the server device, free space information indicating free space of storage units of other image processing apparatuses;
A selection processing unit that selects an image processing apparatus as a storage destination of image data based on the free space information received by the reception processing unit;
A storage processing unit for storing the image data in a storage unit of the image processing apparatus selected by the selection processing unit;
An image processing apparatus comprising: In a processor of a server apparatus including a free capacity information storage unit for storing, as the free capacity information, current free capacities of storage units of a plurality of image processing apparatuses communicably connected to each other,
The free space stored in the free space information storage unit based on the update information indicating the free space after the change received from the image processing device when the free space in the storage unit of the image processing device changes. Updating step of updating capacity information;
A reply step of returning the free space information on another image processing apparatus to the request source image processing apparatus in response to a request from the image processing apparatus;
Server program to run. A plurality of image processing apparatuses communicably connected to each other and the plurality of image processing apparatuses are communicably connected, and a free capacity for storing the current free capacity of the storage unit of each of the image processing apparatuses as the free capacity information An image processing method in an image processing system comprising: a server apparatus including an information storage unit;
A transmitting step of transmitting, to the server apparatus, update information indicating the free space after the change in the free space of the storage unit of the image processing apparatus;
An updating step of updating the free capacity information stored in the free capacity information storage unit based on the update information received from the image processing apparatus in the server apparatus;
A reply step of returning the free space information on another image processing apparatus to the image processing apparatus of the request source in response to a request from the image processing apparatus in the server apparatus;
A receiving step of receiving free space information indicating free space of a storage unit of another image processing apparatus from the server apparatus in the image processing apparatus;
A selection step of selecting an image processing device as a storage destination of the image data based on the free space information received in the reception step in the image processing device;
A storage step of storing the image data in a storage unit of the image processing apparatus selected in the selection step in the image processing apparatus;
Image processing method including:

Images