JP2020046864A - Billing control device, image formation system, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a billing control device, an image formation system, and a program that can restrict billing based on an amount of money for an image formation device limited by the number of pages or the number of sheets.SOLUTION: A billing control device 18 includes: balance acquisition means 36 for acquiring balance data; reception means 30 for receiving print data; print amount calculation means 34 for calculating an amount of money from the print data received by the reception means 30; and comparison means 38 for comparing the print amount calculated by the print amount calculation means 34 with the balance acquired by the balance acquisition means 36.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a charging control device, an image forming system, and a program.

  Patent Literature 1 discloses an operation in a case where the upper limit number of prints is set for each user in a searchable predetermined MIB and a new cumulative number of prints obtained by printing according to a print command from the host exceeds the upper limit number of prints. If the new cumulative number of prints does not exceed a predetermined allowable value, it is previously selected and set as a first operation for continuing printing or as a second operation for interrupting the printing. . Further, a printer system is disclosed which controls to perform the above-described operation set in advance when printing is performed in accordance with a print command from a host, and when the new cumulative number of prints exceeds the upper limit number of prints. .

  Patent Document 2 discloses a printing system including a printer shared on a network, in which a print job from a client device is transmitted to a printer via a print server. A print limit managing unit that manages the print limit for each user in units of the number of sheets used regardless of whether it is single-sided or single-sided, and adds information on the print limit for the user to the print job from the client device And a print limit information transmitting means for transmitting the print limit information to the printer.

JP-A-11-95937 JP 2005-339383 A

  The present invention provides a charging control device, an image forming system, and a program that can limit charging by an amount for an image forming apparatus that is limited by the number of pages or the number of prints.

  The present invention according to claim 1, wherein: a balance obtaining means for obtaining balance data; a receiving means for receiving print data; a print price calculating means for calculating a price from the print data received by the receiving means; And a comparing means for comparing the printing amount calculated by the means with the balance obtained by the balance obtaining means.

  The present invention according to claim 2 is the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print amount calculating unit analyzes print contents from print data and calculates an amount from the analyzed print contents.

  The present invention according to claim 3 is the billing control device according to claim 2, wherein the printing amount calculation means calculates the amount from the number of pages or the number of sheets to be printed in color and black and white.

  The present invention according to claim 4 is the billing control device according to claim 1, wherein the print amount calculating means predicts the print content from print data and calculates the amount from the predicted print content.

  The present invention according to claim 5 further comprises specification data obtaining means for obtaining specification data of the image forming apparatus to be printed, and predicts a print content from the specification data obtained by the specification data obtaining means and the print data. A charging control device according to claim 4, wherein

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, when the image forming apparatus to be printed is capable of color printing and there is no color printing instruction in the print data, all the pages to be printed are in color. 6. The charging control device according to claim 5, wherein the amount is calculated as being present.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, when the image forming apparatus to be printed is capable of color printing and it is not possible to analyze whether the printing data is color or black and white, 6. The charging control device according to claim 5, wherein the amount is calculated assuming that all pages are color.

  According to a still further aspect of the present invention, when the image forming apparatus to be printed is capable of color printing and the instruction of color printing is color printing in the print data, all the pages to be printed are printed. 6. The charging control apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the amount is calculated assuming that the color is a color.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, when the image forming apparatus to be printed is capable of printing only in black and white, the printing amount calculation means is configured to print all pages to be printed in black and white irrespective of a color printing instruction. The charging control device according to claim 5, wherein the amount is calculated as follows.

  The present invention according to claim 10 is the billing control device according to claim 1, further comprising control means for controlling whether to permit image formation based on the comparison result of said comparison means.

  The present invention according to claim 11, wherein the balance obtaining means obtains the balance from the subtraction account assigned to the user and determines that the balance of the subtraction account is equal to or less than the amount when the print data is printed by the comparing means. 11. The charging control device according to claim 10, wherein the control unit permits image formation when the operation is performed.

  According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, the balance acquisition unit acquires the balance from the subtraction account assigned to the user, and the comparison unit determines that the balance of the subtraction account exceeds the amount when the print data is printed. 11. The charging control device according to claim 10, wherein the control unit rejects the image forming when the control is performed.

  According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium, and a charging control device for controlling charging for printing by the image forming device, wherein the charging control device acquires balance data. A balance obtaining unit that performs printing, a receiving unit that receives print data, a printing amount calculating unit that calculates an amount from the printing data received by the receiving unit, a printing amount calculated by the printing amount calculating unit, and the balance obtaining unit. An image forming system comprising: a comparing unit that compares the acquired balance with the acquired balance; and a control unit that controls whether to permit the image forming apparatus to form an image based on a comparison result of the comparing unit.

  According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, when the control unit permits image formation by the image forming apparatus based on a comparison result of the comparison unit, the control unit sets an upper limit of printing for the image forming apparatus. 14. An image forming system according to claim 13.

  The invention according to claim 15 is the image forming system according to claim 14, wherein the image forming apparatus executes printing within a range not exceeding an upper limit.

  The present invention according to claim 16 is the image forming system according to claim 14, wherein the image forming apparatus prohibits printing on pages subsequent to the upper limit when the upper limit is exceeded.

  The present invention according to claim 17 is a step of obtaining balance data, a step of receiving print data, a step of calculating an amount from the received print data, and comparing the calculated print amount with the obtained balance. And a program for causing a computer to execute the steps.

  According to the first, thirteenth, or seventeenth aspects of the present invention, it is possible to limit the charging of an image forming apparatus limited by the number of pages or the number of prints by the amount.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to calculate a printing amount from print data.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to calculate the printing amount separately for color and black and white.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to predict a printing amount from print data.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the fourth aspect, it is possible to predict the printing amount so that the printing amount differs depending on the specifications of the image forming apparatus.

  According to the present invention according to any one of claims 6 to 8, in addition to the effect of the invention according to claim 5, it is possible to predict the printing amount as a color print having a high printing amount.

  According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the fifth aspect of the present invention, when it is clear that monochrome printing is performed, the printing amount can be predicted as a black and white consultation.

  According to the tenth or eleventh aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, it is possible to control image formation by the image forming apparatus.

  According to the fourteenth aspect, in addition to the effect of the thirteenth aspect, an upper limit value for printing can be set in the image forming apparatus.

  According to the fifteenth or sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the fourteenth aspect, it is possible to perform control so as not to exceed the upper limit set in the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an entire image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram showing hardware of the billing control device concerning an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram showing the function of the billing control device concerning the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating a control flow of the image forming system according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a control flow for calculating an upper limit surface number in the image forming system according to the embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a chart showing a method of calculating a printing amount according to specifications of an image forming apparatus to be output in the image forming system according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating a flow for controlling an image forming apparatus in the image forming system according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an entire image forming system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In the image forming system 10, a plurality of personal computers 12 a and 12 b as terminal devices are connected via a network 14. The network 14 may be a local area network or the Internet. Further, the network 14 is connected to image forming apparatuses 16a and 16b. The image forming apparatus 16a is a so-called multifunction machine having a printing function, a facsimile function, a scanning function, and the like, and is capable of performing color printing. The image forming apparatus 16b is, for example, a monochrome printer having only a monochrome printing function.

  The network 14 is connected to an accounting control device 18 that is, for example, a print server.

The charging controller 18 controls charging for services by the image forming apparatuses 16a and 16b.
As shown in FIG. 2, the billing control device 18 has a CPU 20, a memory 22, a storage device 24, and a network interface 26. The CPU 20, the memory 22, the storage device 24, and the network interface 26 are connected via a bus 28. Have been.

  The CPU 20 executes a predetermined process based on a control program stored in the memory 22. The storage device 24 is composed of, for example, a hard disk, and stores necessary software and data. The network interface 26 inputs and outputs data via the network 14 described above.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing functions of the charging control device 18. As shown in FIG.

  The billing control device 20 includes a receiving unit 30 that receives print data (job) via the network 14 described above. A job is a series of data that is submitted to a print service function by a user and printed.

  The analysis unit 32 analyzes the print data received by the reception unit 30. The analysis of the print data includes the number or number of color and black and white pages to be printed. The number of faces is analyzed when charged by the number of pages, and the number of sheets is analyzed when charged by the number of pages. Hereinafter, the number of surfaces will be described. The analysis of the print data may be performed based on the print settings included in the print data, or may be performed for each page of the print data. The print contents analyzed by the analysis unit 32 are managed in association with print data.

  However, print data described in page description language (PDL) may not be analyzed or may be incorrect even if analyzed. For example, the page determined as a black and white page may actually be a color page, and the charge for the entire job may be different.

  Further, the charging control device 18 includes a printing amount calculation unit 34. The print amount calculator 34 calculates the print amount from the print contents analyzed by the analyzer 32.

  The balance obtaining unit 36 obtains the user's balance from the user's subtraction account. Here, the subtraction account is an account that stores an amount of money so that the service can be used, and the amount of money stored is subtracted according to the service. This subtraction account is set for each user.

  The comparison unit 38 compares the print amount calculated by the print amount calculation unit 34 with the balance acquired by the balance acquisition unit 36.

  The control unit 40 controls the print data based on the comparison result of the comparison unit 38. That is, when the comparison unit 38 determines that the print amount is equal to or less than the balance, the print data received by the reception unit 30 is transmitted to the image forming apparatuses 12a and 12b, and it is determined that the print amount exceeds the balance. If so, the transmission of the print data to the image forming apparatuses 12a and 12b is canceled (stopped).

FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing a control flow of the entire stem 10 for forming an image.
First, in step S10, the user instructs printing from the personal computer 12a or 12b. In the personal computer 12a or 12b, information of the user who has logged in to the operating system (OS) of the personal computer 12a or 12b or information of the user explicitly instructed by the printer driver is set in the print data.

  The personal computer 12a or 12b acquires the user information in step S12, creates print data in the next step S14, and transmits the print data to the charging control device 18 in the next step S16.

  Upon receiving the print data from the personal computer 12a or 12b, the accounting controller 18 analyzes the print data in step S18. As a result of analyzing the print data in step S18, in step S20, user information is obtained, and in the next step S22, the number of pages for each color / black and white of the print data is obtained. The user information acquired in step S20 and the number-of-planes information acquired in step S22 are managed in association with print data.

  In the next step S24, the charging control device 18 acquires balance information and unit price information of the user. The user's balance information is obtained from the user's subtraction account as described above. The unit price information is obtained from, for example, a unit price list stored in the storage device 24 in advance. Generally, the unit price is set higher in color printing than in monochrome printing.

In the next step S26, the upper limit number of faces of the user is calculated.
FIG. 5 shows details of the calculation of the upper limit surface number.

  In FIG. 5, first, in step S260, it is determined whether the number of color / monochrome planes can be acquired from the print data. If it can be obtained from the print data, the process proceeds to step S262, and the printing amount is calculated from the number of color / black and white pages of the print data and the unit price information of the color printing and the monochrome printing obtained in step S24.

  In the next step S264, it is determined whether or not the printing amount calculated in step S260 is equal to or less than the balance of the user's deduction account acquired in step S24. If it is determined in step S264 that the printing amount is equal to or less than the balance, the process proceeds to step S266, and the upper limit value for each of color and black and white is calculated. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S264 that the print amount exceeds the balance, the flow advances to step S268 to instruct cancellation of the print data.

  If it is determined in step S260 that it is not possible to obtain the print data or the number of color / monochrome pages, the process advances to step S270 to determine whether to print in monochrome. In step S270, if it is not determined that printing in black and white is acceptable, the process proceeds to step S272. In step S272, the upper limit is calculated assuming that printing is to be performed in color printing. Is used to calculate the upper limit.

The processing of steps S270 to S274 is performed according to FIG.
That is, first, it is determined whether the user has selected either the image forming apparatus 16a or 16b. As described above, the specification of the image forming apparatus 16a is a color machine, and the specification of the image forming apparatus 16b is a monochrome machine. If the image forming apparatus 16a is selected and there is no color / black and white instruction in the print data, the balance is divided by the color unit price as color printing, and the upper limit of color is calculated. On the other hand, when there is a black and white instruction, the balance is divided by the black and white unit price as black and white printing, and the upper limit value of black and white is calculated. If the image forming apparatus 12b is selected, color printing is not possible, so the balance is divided by the unit price of black and white, and the upper limit value of black and white is calculated, regardless of whether the print data includes a color / black and white instruction. I do.

  Returning to FIG. 4, in step S28, the charging control device 18 compares the print amount with the balance. Further, the user moves to the front of the image forming apparatus 16a or 16b selected by himself, and in step S30, for example, inputs a user name and a password, or inserts an IC card into a card connected to the image forming apparatus 16a or 16b. Enter the authentication data by holding it over the reader. When the user is authenticated in step S32, the image forming apparatus 16a or 16b sends the information of the user who has authenticated the user to the charging control apparatus 18 in the next step S34, confirms that print data is stored, and In step S36, printing of print data is controlled.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 7, in step S360, billing control device 18 instructs the setting of the upper limit surface number. When the image forming apparatus 16a or 16b receives the instruction to set the upper limit number of faces from the charging control unit 18, in step S362, the image forming apparatus 16a or 16b sets the upper limit value for each of color and monochrome.

  Next, in Step 364, the billing control device 18 transmits the print data to the image forming device 16a or 16b. In step S366, the image forming apparatus 16a or 16b acquires the number of color / monochrome planes of the print data. In the next step S368, it is determined whether or not the number of print data pages actually being printed is equal to or less than the upper limit. If it is determined in step S368 that the number of pages of the print data is equal to or smaller than the upper limit, the printing is continued in step S370. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S368 that the number of print data exceeds the upper limit, the print data is canceled in step 372, and control is performed so that the number of print data does not exceed the upper limit.

  In step S374, the billing control device 18 checks the printing status with the image forming device 16a or 16b. The image forming device 16a or 16b sends the printing status to the charging control device 18 in step S376.

  Referring back to FIG. 4, when the charging control device 18 confirms the printing status of the image forming device 16a or 16b, the charging control device 18 notifies the result of the printing status to the personal computer 12a or 12b in step S38 and ends the processing. I do.

  In the above embodiment, the charging control device 18 and the image forming devices 16a and 16b are described as being separate from each other, but may be integrated. Further, even if a coin kit is provided in the image forming apparatuses 16a and 16b, even if the balance is insufficient, printing may be performed by inserting the insufficient amount into the coin kit.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming system 12a, 12b Personal computer 14 Network 16a, 16b Image forming device 18 Charging control device 20 CPU
Reference Signs List 22 memory 24 storage device 26 network interface 28 bus 30 reception unit 32 analysis unit 34 print amount calculation unit 36 balance acquisition unit 38 comparison unit 40 control unit

Claims (17)

Balance obtaining means for obtaining balance data;
Receiving means for receiving print data;
A print amount calculation unit for calculating an amount from the print data received by the reception unit,
A comparison unit that compares the print amount calculated by the print amount calculation unit with the balance acquired by the balance acquisition unit;
A charging control device having:   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print amount calculating unit analyzes print contents from print data, and calculates an amount from the analyzed print contents.   3. The charging control device according to claim 2, wherein the printing amount calculating unit calculates the amount from the number of sheets or the number of sheets to be printed in color and black and white.   The charging control device according to claim 1, wherein the printing amount calculation unit predicts a print content from print data, and calculates an amount from the predicted print content.   5. The charging control apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising specification data obtaining means for obtaining specification data of the image forming apparatus to be printed, wherein print contents are predicted from the specification data obtained by the specification data obtaining means and the print data. .   6. The printing amount calculating unit calculates the amount assuming that all pages to be printed are in color when the image forming apparatus to be printed is capable of color printing and there is no instruction for color printing in the print data. The charging control device according to the above.   If the image forming apparatus to be printed is capable of color printing, and it is not possible to analyze whether the image is color or black and white from the print data, the printing amount calculating unit determines that all pages to be printed are in color. The charging control device according to claim 5, wherein:   When the image forming apparatus to be printed is capable of color printing and the instruction of color printing is color printing in the print data, the printing amount calculating unit calculates the amount assuming that all pages to be printed are in color. The charging control device according to claim 5.   The printing amount calculating unit calculates the amount assuming that all pages to be printed are black and white irrespective of an instruction of color printing in print data when the image forming apparatus to be printed is capable of printing only in black and white. 6. The charging control device according to 5.   2. The charging control device according to claim 1, further comprising control means for controlling whether or not to permit image formation based on a comparison result of said comparison means.   The balance obtaining means obtains from the subtraction account assigned to the user, and when the comparing means determines that the balance of the subtraction account is equal to or less than the amount when the print data is printed, the control means: 11. The charging control device according to claim 10, wherein image forming is permitted.   The balance obtaining means obtains from the subtraction account assigned to the user, and if the comparing means determines that the balance of the subtraction account exceeds the amount when the print data is printed, the control means sets the image to 11. The charging control device according to claim 10, wherein formation is not permitted. An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium,
A charging control device that controls charging for printing by the image forming apparatus,
The charging control device,
Balance obtaining means for obtaining balance data;
Receiving means for receiving print data;
A print amount calculation unit for calculating an amount from the print data received by the reception unit,
A comparison unit that compares the print amount calculated by the print amount calculation unit with the balance acquired by the balance acquisition unit;
Control means for controlling whether to permit image formation by the image forming apparatus based on a comparison result of the comparison means,
An image forming system having:   14. The image forming system according to claim 13, wherein the control unit sets an upper limit value of printing for the image forming apparatus when permitting image formation by the image forming apparatus based on a comparison result of the comparing unit.   The image forming system according to claim 14, wherein the image forming apparatus performs printing within a range that does not exceed an upper limit.   The image forming system according to claim 14, wherein when the image forming apparatus exceeds the upper limit value, the image forming apparatus prohibits printing on pages that exceed the upper limit value. Obtaining balance data;
Receiving print data;
Calculating an amount from the received print data;
Comparing the calculated printing amount with the obtained balance;
A program for causing a computer to execute.

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