JP4476586B2 - Image output management apparatus, image output apparatus, image output management system, image output management method, image output management program, and recording medium recording the program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image output management device for instructing an image output device such as printing to an image output device such as a printer or a copier based on a request for image output. More specifically, the present invention relates to an image output management apparatus that counts the usage status in units of persons who actually use printed materials for cost sharing.

  Conventionally, in a billing system that shares charges generated by the use of copiers for each department in a company, an IC card is prepared in advance for each department, and the copying machine is used after identifying the department with the IC card. The number of copies can be recorded on the IC card, the total number of copies recorded on the IC card can be checked every predetermined period such as January, the end of the month, etc., and each department can be charged based on the unit price and total number Has been done.

  In addition, in a billing system that shares charges incurred by the use of printers for each department, a usage code is preset for each department, and a recording means for recording the total number of prints for each usage code is provided in the printer server. When the user sends print data from the user terminal to the printer via the print server, the user code is sent from the user terminal to the print server, thereby updating the total number of prints for the sent use code. The total number of prints for each usage code is checked every predetermined period such as the end of the period, and a charge is charged to each department based on the unit price and the total number.

In Patent Document 1 below, a charging system is proposed in which appropriate users are identified and costs are distributed according to an appropriate ratio for toner and malfunction costs.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-118514 (published on April 30, 1999) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-134137 (published on May 21, 1999)

  However, in the conventional billing system, the person who created the printed material and the department to which the person belongs belong to the expense, and for example, the printed material provided to people belonging to other departments at meetings etc. In some cases, the company may also pay for the cost of duplicates and printed materials that are not used. This makes it difficult to say that the sharing of costs is fair.

  Further, from the viewpoint of cost saving, there are cases where a limit counter is provided in a printer or copier in a company to limit the use of each department or person. In this case, the counters of departments and people who provide prints to other departments and others increase, and even if you try to print the materials you need, the counter limit is exceeded and you may not be able to print. It was.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and its purpose is to clearly separate what is used by itself from what is used by others and share the cost fairly. The object is to provide an image output management device and the like.

In order to solve the above problems, an image output management apparatus according to the present invention is an image output management apparatus that instructs an image output apparatus to output an image based on a request for image output. User acquisition means for acquiring information on an output product user who uses the output product output by the image output device, information on the output product user acquired by the user acquisition unit, and the image Based on history information stored in the storage means as history information, the amount related to the output, and based on the history information stored in the storage means, the amount related to the image output is aggregated for each output product user And a user permission / acquisition acquisition means for requesting and acquiring image output permission for the output product user acquired by the user acquisition means, and the history storage means Up Among the output product users acquired by the user acquisition unit, the storage unit stores, as history information, information on the output product user on which the user permission / acquisition acquisition unit has acquired permission for the image output and the amount related to the image output. It is characterized by accumulation .

  Further, in the image output management apparatus according to the present invention, in the configuration described above, the user acquisition unit requests and acquires the information on the output product user from the requester who requests the image output. It is characterized by that.

  Further, in the image output management device according to the present invention, in the above configuration, the information on the output product user requested by the user acquisition unit is information on whether or not the requester is the output product user. It is characterized by being.

  Furthermore, in the image output management apparatus according to the present invention, in the above configuration, the information on the output product user requested by the user acquisition unit includes a plurality of use candidates that the requester can become the output product user. It is characterized by the information of the person designated by the requester from among them.

  Furthermore, the image output management apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that, in the above configuration, the plurality of use candidates are acquired from a directory service.

  Furthermore, in the image output management apparatus according to the present invention, in the above configuration, when the user acquisition unit is an image output request for use other than the requester, the output user of the output product is sent to the requester. It is characterized by requesting and obtaining information.

  Furthermore, the image output management apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the above configuration, the information on the output product user acquired by the user acquisition means is information on a group to which the output product user belongs. .

  Furthermore, in the image output management device according to the present invention, in the above configuration, the image output request is a request from a meeting invitation server that calls a terminal via a communication network, and the user acquisition unit Is characterized in that the meeting attendee acquired from the meeting convocation server is the output user.

  Furthermore, the image output management apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the above-described configuration, the counting means includes a counting time setting means for setting a timing for counting.

  Further, in the image output management device according to the present invention, in the above configuration, the aggregation unit acquires the aggregation information totaled by the aggregation unit of another image output management device, and the own unit totals the acquired aggregation information. It is characterized by adding to the total information.

  An image output apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the image output management apparatus having the above configuration is integrally provided.

  An image output management system according to the present invention includes an image output management device having the above configuration, an image output device that outputs an image based on an image output instruction from the image output management device, and the image output management device. The terminal that requests the image output is connected via a communication network.

An image output management method for an image output management apparatus according to the present invention is an image output management method for an image output management apparatus that instructs the image output apparatus to output an image based on a request for image output. a user obtaining step of obtaining information of the output object user is a person to utilize the output product which is an image output by the image output apparatus in accordance with an instruction output, the output product usage acquired by the user obtaining step The user permission acquisition step for requesting and acquiring image output permission from the user, and the output permission of the image output by the user permission acquisition step among the output product users acquired by the user acquisition step. and the obtained output was user information, history accumulation step and the history information stored in said storage means for storing in the storage means and the amount relating to the image output as the history information Based on, it is characterized by including the aggregation step of creating a summary information by the amount of aggregation for the above image output for each of the output product user.

  An image output management program according to the present invention is an image output management program for operating the image output management apparatus having the above-described configuration, and functions as a user acquisition unit, a history storage unit, and a totalization unit. It is an image output management program for making it happen.

  The computer-readable recording medium of the present invention is characterized in that the image output management program is recorded.

As described above, the image output management device according to the present invention acquires a user who acquires information on an output product user who uses an output product output by the image output device according to the image output instruction. Based on the history information stored in the storage means, the history information stored in the storage means as history information, the information on the output product user acquired by the user acquisition means, and the amount related to the image output A totaling unit that aggregates the amount related to the image output for each user of the output product and creates total information, and requests the permission of image output from the user of the output product acquired by the user acquisition unit. And the history accumulating unit acquires the permission for image output by the user permission acquiring unit among the output product users acquired by the user acquiring unit. Out And information of the object user, is configured to accumulate in the storage means and the amount relating to the image output as the history information.

  Here, the print request for image output may be made from a user terminal such as a PC (Personal Computer) used by the user, or may be made from the operation unit of the image output apparatus operated by the user. Further, the user may request an image output to a certain server using a terminal or the like, and the server may request the image output management apparatus to output an image.

  Examples of the amount related to image output include the number of printed sheets and the print size in the printing apparatus. It should be noted that the amount related to image output is preferably the amount to be charged. The amount related to image output may be a set amount when an image output instruction is given to the image output device, or may be an amount actually performed by the image output device.

According to the above configuration, the history information including the information on the output product user and the amount related to the image output is accumulated in the storage unit, and the counting unit relates to the image output for each output product user based on the accumulated history information. The amount is tabulated. As a result, the amount related to image output is aggregated not for each requester of image output but for each user of the output product, so that it is possible to achieve fair cost sharing. Further, when the amount related to image output is limited for each user, even if many requests for image output for use by others are made, it is possible to prevent the request for image output for own use from being reduced. Play.
Further, since the output product user is permitted to output the image, it is possible to prevent the image output unintended by the user, and the information on the output product user who has obtained the permission to output the image and the amount related to the image output. Since the amount related to image output is aggregated for each output product user based on the included history information, there is an effect that the cost sharing can be further equalized.

  The user acquisition means may request and acquire the information on the output product user from the requester who requests the image output. In this case, the information on the output product user requested by the user acquisition means may be information on whether or not the requester is the output product user. It may be information on a person designated by the requester from among a plurality of use candidates who can be users. At this time, two or more use candidates may be designated. When designating from among a plurality of use candidates, it is possible to grasp all of the output product users, and to achieve fair and accurate cost sharing.

  The acquisition of the use candidate list may be performed by the image output management device or by a device operated by the user. Further, the list of use candidates can be acquired from a directory service already provided on the communication network. In this case, there is an effect that a list of use candidates can be easily obtained without adding new functions and information.

  Further, the user acquisition means may request and acquire the information on the output product user from the requester in the case of an image output request for use other than the requester. Here, as an example in the case of an image output request for use other than the above requester, there is a case where the number of copies to be output is two or more. In this case, in the case of an image output request for use by the requester himself / herself, information on the output user is not requested, so that the burden on the requester is reduced.

  By the way, the sharing of the cost for image output is generally performed by group units such as department units and project units rather than individual units. Therefore, the output product user information acquired by the user acquisition unit may be information on a group to which the output product user belongs. Thereby, there exists an effect that the sharing of the cost per group is realizable.

  In addition, as described above, when a meeting invitation server that already invites a meeting to a terminal via a communication network is already provided, an image output may be requested from the meeting invitation server. In this case, the user acquisition unit may use the meeting attendee acquired from the meeting invitation server as an output product user. As a result, since the conference call system is used, it is possible to determine the burden of expenses for all the attendees at the time of image output, and it is possible to realize printing of an appropriate number of copies.

  Moreover, it is desirable that the counting means includes a counting time setting means for setting a timing for counting. As a result, it is possible to change the timing of aggregation to any time such as weekly, monthly, or end-of-period. It should be noted that it is desirable to adapt the timing of aggregation to the timing of charging.

  Further, when another image output management device is provided for another image output device, the totaling unit acquires and acquires the total information totaled by the totaling unit of another image output management device It is desirable to add up the total information to the total information collected by the means. In this case, there is an effect that costs for a plurality of image output apparatuses can be strictly shared for each true user. In addition, it is desirable that the timing for acquiring the total information totaled by the totaling unit of another image output management apparatus can be set.

  Note that the image output management apparatus having the above-described configuration can be provided integrally with the image output apparatus. In addition, the image output management apparatus having the above configuration, an image output apparatus that outputs an image based on an image output instruction from the image output management apparatus, and a terminal that requests the image output management apparatus for the image output The above-described effects can be obtained even in an image output system in which and are connected via a communication network. Furthermore, by using the communication network, it is possible to execute an image output request, output user selection, output user approval, etc. from a remote location.

Also, the image output management method of the image output management apparatus according to the present invention, as described above, is an output product user who uses the output product output by the image output device according to the image output instruction. A user acquisition step for acquiring information, a user permission acquisition step for requesting and acquiring image output permission for the output user acquired in the user acquisition step, and the user acquisition step. History of accumulating in the storage means as history information the information of the output product user whose permission for image output has been acquired in the user permission acquisition step and the amount related to the image output among the acquired output product users Aggregation step and aggregating information to create aggregating information by aggregating the amount related to the image output for each output product user based on the history information stored in the storage means It is a method including the steps.

According to the above method, the history information including the information on the output product user and the amount related to the image output is accumulated in the storage unit, and based on the accumulated history information, the output step is performed for each output product user by the aggregation step. The amount is aggregated. As a result, the amount related to image output is aggregated not for each requester of image output but for each user of the output product, so that it is possible to achieve fair cost sharing. Further, when the amount related to image output is limited for each user, even if many requests for image output for use by others are made, it is possible to prevent reduction of the request for image output for own use. There is an effect.
Further, since the output product user is permitted to output the image, it is possible to prevent the image output unintended by the user, and the information on the output product user who has obtained the permission to output the image and the amount related to the image output. Since the amount related to image output is aggregated for each output product user based on the included history information, there is an effect that the cost sharing can be further equalized.

  Note that the user acquisition means, history storage means, and totalization means in the image output management apparatus can be executed on a computer by an image output management program. Further, the image output management program can be executed on an arbitrary computer by storing the image output management program in a computer-readable recording medium.

[Embodiment 1]
One embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to FIGS. In the following description, printing, which is a form of image output, is described. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to other forms of image output such as copying and FAX.

  FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of the print management system of the present embodiment. The print management system 1 includes one or more user terminals (PCs) 2, one or more multi-function printers (MFPs) 3, and a print management apparatus 4 that are connected to each other via a communication network 5. It is the structure connected so that communication was possible.

  The user terminal 2, the composite printer 3, and the print management apparatus 4 have the same configuration as a general computer. That is, these devices include a processing device (CPU (Central Processing Unit)), a storage device, and an interface device that interfaces with an external device, and various operations are stored in the storage device. This is done by causing the processing device to execute the program.

  Furthermore, the user terminal 2 includes a display device that displays at least various information and provides the user with an input device that converts a user input operation into data. In the present embodiment, the user terminal 2 transmits various information related to document printing to the print management apparatus 4. Specifically, the user terminal 2 transmits document print request data, print setting data, and print product user designation data to the print management apparatus 4. Further, the user terminal 2 receives the print result from the print management apparatus 4.

  Note that the user terminal 2 is preferably set to prompt the user name input immediately after activation. In this case, by including the user name in the print request data transmitted from the user terminal 2 to the print management apparatus 4, the print management apparatus 4 can easily identify the user who has made the print request. If it is desired to more accurately specify the user who made the print request, the user terminal 2 or the print management apparatus 4 may identify the user by performing user authentication.

  Further, the user terminal 2 may transmit document data to be printed together with the print request data or instead of the print request data to the print management apparatus 4, or send the print request data to the print management apparatus 4 and the document data. You may transmit to the composite type printer 3, respectively.

  The composite printer 3 is a digital printer that integrates functions such as a printing function, a copying function, and a FAX function, and includes an image reading unit, an image recognition / processing unit, an image transfer unit, a paper feeding / paper conveying / paper discharging unit, a communication It consists of units. In the present embodiment, the composite printer 3 receives document data from the user terminal 2 or the print management device 4 and prints the document on a print sheet according to a print instruction from the print management device 4. Further, the composite printer 3 transmits information on the print result such as the completion or failure of printing, the number of actually printed sheets, and the size to the print management apparatus 4.

  The composite printer 3 is set so as to execute printing based only on the print instruction from the print management apparatus 4 and not accept the print instruction from the user terminal 2. When the user performs a print execution operation on the operation unit (not shown) of the composite printer 3, the composite printer 3 issues a print request to the print management apparatus 4, and print instructions from the print management apparatus 4. The printer is set to execute printing after it is acquired.

  As a result, when printing is performed by the composite printer 3, the print management apparatus 4 always knows all the printing statuses in the print management system 1 because the print management apparatus 4 is used.

  The communication network 5 constitutes a communication path between the devices 2 and 3. As the communication network 5, a known communication network such as the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), or a unique line can be used.

  The print management device 4 collectively manages printing of all the composite printers 3. In the present embodiment, the print management apparatus 4 stores the print history data of all the composite printers 3 together with information about the user of the printed matter that has been printed. As a result, the number of printed sheets can be tabulated and charged for each user of the printed matter, and a fair share of costs can be realized.

  Hereinafter, a detailed configuration of the print management apparatus 4 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 to 6. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of the print management apparatus 4. As illustrated, the print management apparatus 4 includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, an output unit 13, and a communication unit 14.

  The control unit 11 has a function of comprehensively controlling various configurations in the print management apparatus 4, and is realized by executing a program on the CPU, for example. The configuration of the control unit 11 in this embodiment will be described later.

  The storage unit 12 has a function of storing various types of information, and is configured by, for example, a semiconductor memory or a hard disk. In the present embodiment, the storage unit 12 stores a usage status DB (database). The usage status DB includes print history data in which information on a print result acquired by execution of printing, information on a user of a printed material obtained by the printing, and tabulated data for each user of the printed material.

  The output unit 13 has a function of receiving output information from the control unit 11 using an output unit, and outputting the received output information to an administrator. Examples of output means include various displays such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display).

  The communication unit 14 is connected to the communication network 5 and has a function of communicating various data to the external user terminal 2 and the composite printer 3. The communication unit 14 converts the data to be transmitted into a format suitable for communication and then transmits the data to the communication network 5, and converts the received data into a format suitable for processing inside the apparatus and sends it to the control unit 11. Send it out. The communication unit 14 is configured by, for example, a modem, a terminal adapter, a network adapter, and the like.

  Next, the configuration of the control unit 11 will be described with reference to FIG. The control unit 11 includes a print request acquisition unit 20, a printed product user acquisition unit 21, a print instruction unit 22, a print history update unit 23, and a usage status totaling unit 24.

  The print request acquisition unit 20 acquires print request data from the user terminal 2. The acquired print request data includes a user name. Thereby, the print requester can be specified.

  Further, the print request data acquired includes print setting data. Note that print setting data may be acquired instead of the print request data. Information included in the print setting data includes the file name of the document file to be printed (for example, “meeting material.doc”), the printer name of the composite printer 3 that performs printing (for example, “LPT1”), the number of copies, and the paper. Type (for example, “A4”).

  When the print setting data acquisition unit 21 acquires the print setting data from the print request acquisition unit 20, the print product user acquisition unit 21 acquires information on a print product user who is a user of the print product. In the present embodiment, the printed product user acquisition unit 21 acquires the print request by requesting the user terminal 2 that is the transmission source of the print request to specify the print user. In the present embodiment, it is specified whether the print user is a print requester or another person.

  Specifically, when the user terminal 2 obtains a print user designation request from the print management apparatus 4, a printed product user designation window shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the display screen of the display device. As shown in the figure, a designation button for designating either the user (print requester) or another person is provided at the center of the window, and a designation end button for ending the designation is provided at the lower right of the window. Is provided. When the “self” designation button is selected, this means that the print requester himself / herself uses the printed matter printed by this print request, and when the “other” designation button is selected, It means that a person other than the print requester uses the printed matter.

  When the user selects one of the designation buttons using the input device and selects the designation end button in the printed product user designation window shown in FIG. 4, the user terminal 2 corresponds to the selected designation button. The designated data is created and transmitted to the print management apparatus 4 via the communication network 5. The print management apparatus 4 acquires the designated printed matter user by receiving the designated data at the printed matter user obtaining unit 21 via the communication unit 14.

  When the print instruction unit 22 acquires the print setting data from the printed product user acquisition unit 21, the print instruction unit 22 transmits a print instruction to the complex printer 3 having the printer name included in the print setting data, and executes printing to the complex printer 3. It is something to be made. The print instruction unit 22 acquires print result data from the composite printer 3 after printing and sends the print result data to the print history update unit 23. Note that the print instruction unit 22 may transmit the print result data to the user terminal 2 that has made the print request via the communication unit 14 and the communication network 5. In this case, the user can check the printing status.

  The print history update unit 23 acquires the print requester data from the print request acquisition unit 20, acquires the print product user data from the print product user acquisition unit 21, acquires the print result data from the print instruction unit 22, and Is added as one record to the history data of the usage status DB 12. FIG. 5 shows an example data structure of history data. As illustrated, the history data includes items of a printer name, a print start time, a print requester, a printed product user, a paper type, and the number of printed sheets. Further, in the illustrated case, it can be understood that the user A and the user B are requesting printing by the composite printer LPT1.

  Note that each time printing is performed in response to a print request, the operations of the print request acquisition unit 20, the printed product user acquisition unit 21, the print instruction unit 22, and the print history update unit 23 are repeated.

  FIG. 3 shows a processing operation for a print request from the user terminal 2 in the control unit 11 having the above configuration. First, when the print request acquisition unit 20 acquires print request data from the user terminal 2, the print requester is specified from the user name included in the acquired print request data (step S10). Next, the printed matter user acquisition unit 21 requests and acquires the designation of the printed matter user from the user terminal 2 that is the transmission source of the print request data (step S11).

  Next, the print instruction unit 22 transmits a print instruction to the composite printer 3 having the printer name included in the print setting data to execute printing, and after the printing is completed, print result data is received from the composite printer 3. Obtain (step S12). The print history update unit 23 obtains the print requester data acquired from the print request acquisition unit 20, the print product user data acquired from the print product user acquisition unit 21, and the print result data acquired from the print instruction unit 22. The record is added to the history data of the usage status DB 12 as one record (step S13). Thereafter, the process for the print request is terminated.

  Returning to the description of the configuration of the control unit 11 shown in FIG. 1, the usage status totaling unit 24 prints the number of prints for each printed product user from the history data in the usage status DB 12 at a predetermined timing or based on an administrator's request. Are aggregated to create aggregated data, and the created aggregated data is stored in the usage situation DB 12.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of total data created by the usage status totaling unit 24. In the example shown in the figure, out of the total number 240 + 20 = 260 prints executed in response to the print request of user A, the number of prints that user A himself is a printed product user is 240. On the other hand, out of the total number of prints 30 + 662 = 692 executed in response to the print request of user B, there are 30 prints where user B himself is a printed product user.

  That is, from this usage situation, the printed matter printed by the user A's print request is mainly used by the user A himself, while the printed matter printed by the user B's print request is mainly by a person other than the user B. It can be understood that it is used. Further, in terms of the total number of prints, printing by the user B print request is more frequent than printing by the user A print request, but in terms of the number of prints used by the user B, printing by the user B print request is performed. It can be understood that the printing by the printing request of the user A is more than the printing by the user A. Therefore, it can be understood that a person who has a large total number of prints does not always have a large number of prints that he / she uses, as in the illustrated example.

  As described above, in the print management system 1 according to the present embodiment, for example, when the number of printed pages per month for each user is limited, by setting the limited number of printed sheets as the number of printed user's printed sheets, Even if printing for use is performed, the number of printable sheets for printing for use does not decrease. Accordingly, it is possible to solve the problem that it becomes impossible to perform printing for own use by performing many printings for use by others. Further, by excluding the number of prints not used by the user himself / herself, the number of prints used by each user can be grasped.

  In the present embodiment, the print product user acquired by the print product user acquisition unit 21 is only the print requester himself or another person. In this case, it becomes a problem who bears the cost of printing when the printed product user is a person other than the print requester.

  Therefore, it is desirable that the printed product user designation window shown in FIG. 4 includes designation buttons respectively corresponding to all users who can use the printed material, as shown in FIG. It is desirable that a plurality of designation buttons can be selected. Furthermore, it is particularly desirable to select the designation button for the number of copies to be printed.

  When a plurality of buttons are selected, the print history update unit 23 creates a record for each of the plurality of printed product users specified by the button selection and adds it to the history data. For example, when a user makes a request to print three copies of a document and the user B / user C / user D button is selected in the print user designation window shown in FIG. Three records are created and added to the history data.

  Thereby, in the total data created by the usage status totaling unit 24, the printed product user is specified as compared with the above embodiment, so that the sharing of costs can be made fair.

  In this embodiment, an individual user is designated as the printed product user. However, the sharing of expenses within a company is generally performed on a group basis, a department basis, or a job project basis. Therefore, the group, department, or project to which the person who uses the printed material belongs may be designated as the printed material user.

  By the way, when the number of print copies is two or more, one copy is considered to be used by the print requester itself, and the rest is considered to be used by other than the print requester. Therefore, steps S14 and S15 shown in FIG. 8 may be added between step S10 and step S12 in the processing operation shown in FIG.

  That is, after specifying the print requester (step S10), the print setting data included in the print request data is referred to determine whether or not the number of print copies is one (step S14). In the case of a copy, the print requester is set as a printed product user (step S15), and a print instruction is issued (step S12). In this case, step S11 that is requested and acquired by the user of the printed material is omitted, so that communication between the user terminal 2 and the print management apparatus 4 can be reduced, and the burden of resources related to communication can be reduced. In addition, since it is not necessary to specify a printed product user in the user terminal 2, it is possible to reduce the user's trouble.

[Embodiment 2]
Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The print management system of the present embodiment is different from the print management system shown in FIG. 2 in that a designated user permission acquisition unit 25 is added to the control unit of the print management apparatus, and other configurations are the same. is there. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the structure which has the function similar to the structure demonstrated in the said embodiment, and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  A designated user permission acquisition unit 25 is inserted between the printed product user acquisition unit 21 and the print instruction unit 22 in the control unit 11a of the print management apparatus 4a of the present embodiment. The designated user permission acquisition unit 25 receives information about the printed product user specified on the user terminal 2 from the printed product user acquisition unit 21, and provides the user terminal 2 used by the specified printed product user with respect to the user terminal 2. This is obtained by requesting whether printing is permitted or not.

  A usage permission request window as shown in FIG. 11 is displayed on the display device of the user terminal 2 that is requested to permit printing. As shown in the figure, a print permission button for permitting printing and a print rejection button for rejecting printing are provided at the bottom of the use permission request window. When the user selects any button using the input device of the user terminal 2, permission / rejection result data is transmitted from the user terminal 2 to the designated user permission acquisition unit 25 of the print management apparatus 4.

  The designated user permission acquisition unit 25 notifies the print instruction unit 22 of only the users who have permitted printing based on the permission / refusal result data received from the user terminal 2 as the printed product users. It is desirable that the designated user permission acquisition unit 25 sends the permission / rejection result data to the user terminal 2 that has requested printing. In this case, a use permission result window as shown in FIG. 12 is displayed on the display device of the user terminal 2 that has issued the print request. In addition, the print history update unit 23 acquires information about the print product user from the designated user permission acquisition unit 35 instead of acquiring the print product user information from the print product user acquisition unit 21.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the processing operation for the print request from the user terminal 2 in the control unit 11a is shown in FIG. 10 between step S11 and step S12 as compared with the processing operation of the control unit 11 shown in FIG. Steps S16 and S17 are added to the processing operation.

  That is, after obtaining and requesting the designation of a printed product user from the user terminal 2 (step S11), the designated user is requested to obtain a determination as to whether or not printing is permitted (step S16). Based on the acquired determination, only a user who has permitted printing is designated as a printed product user (step S17), and a printing instruction is issued (step S12).

  Accordingly, since the designated user determines whether or not to permit printing, it is possible to prevent the user from being unable to print due to an unauthorized print request of another person. Further, since printing can be performed only for those who need printing, waste of resources can be prevented.

  In order to display a message such as a print permission request on the display device of the user terminal 2, an e-mail system or WEB (Word Wide Web) technology may be used. In particular, in order to display the window as shown in FIG. 11, each item of the e-mail is displayed in the window using a custom form function of the e-mail system, and a print permission button and a print permission button are displayed. Can be realized.

[Embodiment 3]
Next, still another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The print management system according to the present embodiment is different from the print management system shown in FIG. 2 in that the print management apparatus is connected to the meeting invitation server 7 via another communication network 6. It is the same. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the structure which has the function similar to the structure demonstrated in the said embodiment, and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  The print management system according to the present embodiment is characterized in that a print product user is specified by using a meeting calling function of groupware. First, the groupware meeting convocation function will be described.

  The conference call function of the groupware allows the caller to execute the call program on the user terminal 2 and to store the meeting name, location, start date / time, end date / time, caller, attendance candidate, meeting contents, and document file to be printed. Set and register in the meeting invitation server 7. The meeting invitation server 7 transmits the registered content to the user terminal 2 of the attendance candidate, and requests and acquires the attendance to the meeting. Then, the meeting invitation server 7 transmits the acquisition result data to the user terminal 2 of the inviter. Thereby, the convener can know the attendance of attendance candidates.

  FIG. 15 shows a meeting invitation window displayed on the display device of the user terminal 2 that has received the acquisition result data. As shown in the figure, the meeting invitation window includes attendees of the meeting and incidental information of the meeting.

  The processing operations described above are processing operations related to the groupware meeting convening function, and are not directly related to the processing operations in the print management apparatus 4 of the present embodiment.

  Next, when the invitee requests the conference invitation server 7 to print the document file attached to the conference invitation information (“sales strategy meeting.doc” in the example shown in the figure), the conference invitation server 7 receives the attendee (shown in the figure). In the example, a print request is made to the print management apparatus 4b by the number of copies (4 copies in the illustrated example) corresponding to the number of users B, user D, user E, and user F).

  Print request data from the meeting invitation server 7 is received by the print request acquisition unit 20b of the control unit 11b of the print management apparatus 4b via the communication network 6 and the external communication unit 15 of the print management apparatus 4b. The print request acquisition unit 20b detects that the print request data is from the meeting invitation server 7, and the print setting data and the acquisition result data included in the print request data determine the number of print copies and the number of meeting attendees. Detect whether they match. If they match, the conference attendee information is sent to the printed product user acquisition unit 21b.

  Based on the information on the meeting attendee received from the print request acquisition section 20b, the printed matter user acquiring unit 21b considers that the meeting participant has permitted the printing of the document file, and uses the printed matter as the meeting participant as the printed matter user. Information of the user is notified to the print instruction unit 22 and the print history acquisition unit 23. In addition, the other structure in the control part 11b functions similarly to the structure shown by FIG.

  FIG. 14 shows a processing operation for a print request from the meeting invitation server 7 in the control unit 11b. As shown in the figure, first, the print request acquisition unit 20b acquires information on the number of copies to be printed and conference attendees based on the print setting data and the acquisition result data included in the print request data from the meeting invitation server 7 (step S20), it is determined whether the number of copies to be printed is equal to the number of meeting attendees (step S21). If they are not equal, error processing is performed (step S23), and the processing operation is terminated.

  On the other hand, in the case of equality, the printed material user acquisition unit 21b sets the meeting attendee as the printed material user (step S22). Thereafter, the same processing as steps S12 and S13 shown in FIG. 3 is performed, and the processing operation is terminated.

  Therefore, the print management system according to the present embodiment automatically acquires the attendees of the meeting as printed matter users by using the meeting invitation function of the groupware. Thereby, it is possible to share the costs without fraud, and it is possible to omit the designation of the user of the printed material by the convener and the selection of whether printing is permitted or not by the user of the printed material. As a result, it is possible to save the user's trouble and reduce the burden of communication resources.

  In this embodiment, the permission for attending the meeting and the permission for printing are the same, but the attendance for the meeting and the permission for printing may be handled separately. In this case, the meeting attendee notifies the meeting invitation server 7 of whether or not to permit printing, and print request data from the meeting invitation server 7 to the print management apparatus 4b is printed on behalf of the meeting attendee. Information will be included. By handling meeting attendance and printing permission separately, for example, when attending a meeting, but attendees want to print and prepare the meeting materials themselves, they can print according to the user's wishes. it can.

[Embodiment 4]
Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The wide area print management system of this embodiment is configured to include a plurality of print management systems of the above embodiment. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the structure which has the function similar to the structure demonstrated in the said embodiment, and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  FIG. 16 shows a schematic configuration of the wide area print management system of the present embodiment. As illustrated, the wide area print management system includes print management systems 1 a and 1 b for each of the department α and department β, and the print management apparatuses 4 c and 4 d of the print management systems 1 a and 1 b are connected via the communication network 6. It is connected.

  In the illustrated example, user A, user B, and user C belong to department α, and print management system 1a is provided. User terminals 2a to 2c, a composite printer (LPT1) 3a, and a print management apparatus 4c are connected to the print management system 1a via a communication network 5a so that they can communicate with each other. On the other hand, the user α and the user E belong to the department α, and the print management system 1b is provided. User terminals 2d and 2e, a composite printer (LPT2) 3b, and a print management apparatus 4d are connected to the print management system 1b through a communication network 5b so as to communicate with each other.

  In the configuration as shown in FIG. 16, one composite printer 3 is arranged in each department, and the composite printer 3 is connected to a plurality of user terminals 2 and a plurality of host PCs so that the composite printer 3 can be connected. This is a model of the usage pattern in a common company used jointly.

  FIG. 17 shows a main configuration of the print management apparatuses 4c and 4d in the present embodiment. Compared with the print management apparatus 4 shown in FIG. 1, the print management apparatuses 4c and 4d of the present embodiment include an external communication unit 15 connected to the communication network 6, and the control units 11c and 11d have other departments. The other points are the same except that the user total information sending unit 30, the own department user total information receiving unit 31, and the own department usage status totaling unit 32 are added.

  The control units 11c and 11d according to the present embodiment operate in response to a print request (a print request acquisition unit 20, a printed product user acquisition unit 21, a print instruction unit 22, and a print history acquisition unit 23). Since this is the same as the configuration of the control unit 11 shown in FIG.

  Although not shown in FIG. 17, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 19, affiliation list data indicating a list of user names and printer names belonging to each department is stored in the storage unit 12. ing. Although not shown in the figure, in the present embodiment, a unit price list of printing paper is stored in the storage unit 12.

  In the present embodiment, the printing history acquisition unit 23 acquires the department to which the printing user belongs from the membership list data stored in the storage unit 12. The print history acquisition unit 23 acquires the unit price of the printing paper from the unit price list stored in the storage unit 12, and calculates a subtotal of the charging cost from the unit price of the printing paper and the number of printed sheets. The print history acquisition unit 23 includes the acquired printing user's department and the unit price of the printing paper and the calculated subtotal of the charging cost in one record, and adds it to the history data.

  FIG. 20 shows history data stored in the storage unit 12 in the present embodiment. FIG. 9A shows an example of history data related to the composite printer (LPT1) 3a in the department α, which is stored in the storage unit 12 of the print management apparatus 4c. On the other hand, FIG. 5B shows an example of history data related to the composite printer (LPT2) 3b in the department β, and is stored in the storage unit 12 of the print management apparatus 4d.

  The usage status totaling unit 24 totals billing costs for each user based on the history data stored in the storage unit 12 and creates total data. FIG. 21 shows an example of the created total data. FIG. 21A shows an example of total data created based on the historical data example shown in FIG. 20A, which is created by the usage status totaling unit 24 of the control unit 11c in the print management apparatus 4c. The On the other hand, FIG. 21B shows an example of the total data created based on the historical data example shown in FIG. 20B, and the usage status totaling unit 24 of the control unit 11d in the print management apparatus 4d. Created.

  The other department user total information sending unit 30 corresponds to the total data related to users in other departments from the total data created by the usage status totaling unit 24 via the external communication unit 15 and the communication network 6. To the print management apparatus. Also, the own department user total information receiving unit 31 receives the total data regarding the users of the own department transmitted from other departments via the communication network 6 and the external communication unit 15.

  The own department usage status totaling unit 32 receives the aggregated data related to the users of the own department from the usage status totaling unit 24 and the own department user totaling information receiving unit 31, and sums the accounting costs for each user of the own department. The aggregate data is output to the output unit 13.

  FIG. 22 shows an example of totaled data. FIG. 22A shows an example of aggregated data in which the accounting costs are totaled for each user belonging to the department α based on the aggregated data example shown in FIGS. 21A and 21B, and the print management apparatus 4c. Is generated by the own department usage status totaling unit 32 of the control unit 11c. On the other hand, FIG. 22B shows an example of aggregated data in which the accounting costs are totaled for each user belonging to the department β based on the aggregated data example shown in FIGS. 21A and 21B. It is created by the own department usage status totaling unit 32 of the control unit 11d in the device 4d.

  Referring to FIGS. 21A and 21B, the total charging cost of the composite printer (LPT1) belonging to the department α is 34,460 yen, while the charging of the composite printer (LPT2) belonging to the department β. The total cost is 22,000 yen. Therefore, it can be understood that printing is performed more frequently in the department α than in the department β.

  On the other hand, referring to FIGS. 22 (a) and 22 (b), the total billing cost for the department α is 19,360 yen, while the total billing cost for the department β is 37,100 yen. Therefore, it can be understood that the printed matter is used more frequently in the department β than in the department α. In this way, it can be understood that a department that frequently performs printing does not always use printed matter frequently.

  FIG. 18 shows a processing operation for totaling the usage status in the control units 11c and 11d of the present embodiment. First, based on the history data of the usage status DB stored in the storage unit 12, the usage status totaling unit 24 totals the usage status of the composite printer in its own department (step S30). Next, the other department user total information sending unit 30 sends the total data totaled for each user belonging to the other department to the print management apparatus 4 of the department to which the user belongs (step S31). Next, the own department user total information receiving unit 31 receives the total data aggregated for each user belonging to the own department from the print management apparatus 4 of the other department (step S32). Then, the own department usage status totaling unit 32 adds the received aggregated data to the aggregated data aggregated for each user belonging to the own department, and outputs it to the output unit 13 (step S33). Thereafter, the usage status tabulation process ends.

  As described above, by exchanging the aggregated data between departments, it is possible to grasp the charging cost for printing used by the user of the own department, so that the charging expense of each department can be equalized.

  The exchange of aggregate data between departments can be performed at an arbitrary timing, but it is desirable to perform it at a timing when billing data is required, such as weekly, monthly, or semi-annual.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope shown in the claims. Further, the present invention can be obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments. Embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  For example, in order to display a list of users who can use the printed material as shown in FIG. 7, it is necessary to register the user list in advance in the storage unit 12 of the print management apparatus 4. However, when a directory service, which is a service for searching for a location where desired data or application exists, can be used on a distributed computer system, the directory service is used to obtain the user list. be able to.

  Specifically, when the user terminal 2 or the printed product user acquisition unit 21 first designates a directory service server and designates a company name and affiliation, a list of members belonging to the affiliation can be obtained. By using the list, a list as shown in FIG. 7 can be displayed.

  As described above, by using the directory service in the above-described embodiment, a wider range of users, departments, and printers can be searched, and convenience can be improved. In addition, when using a plurality of print management systems, such as the wide area print management system shown in FIG. 16, it is only necessary to register a server that provides a directory service, and the affiliation for each department as shown in FIG. There is no need to store a list of users and printers and a unit price list of paper in the storage unit of the print management apparatus.

  For directory services, products using the Internet technology's LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) protocol are currently on the market.For example, Microsoft Active Directory (TM), Novell DirXML (R) eDirectory. By using the directory service of these products, resources connected to the communication network can be easily searched in an environment that can be connected to an intranet or the Internet.

  Further, each block of the print management apparatus 4 of the above-described embodiment, in particular, the control unit 11 may be configured by hardware logic, or may be realized by software using a CPU as follows.

  That is, the print management apparatus 4 includes a CPU that executes instructions of a control program that realizes each function, a ROM (read only memory) that stores the program, a RAM (random access memory) that expands the program, the program, and various types A storage device (recording medium) such as a memory for storing data is provided. An object of the present invention is a recording medium on which a program code (execution format program, intermediate code program, source program) of a control program of the print management apparatus 4 which is software for realizing the functions described above is recorded in a computer-readable manner. This can also be achieved by supplying the print management apparatus 4 and reading and executing the program code recorded on the recording medium by the computer (or CPU or MPU).

  Examples of the recording medium include a tape system such as a magnetic tape and a cassette tape, a disk system including a magnetic disk such as a flexible disk / hard disk and an optical disk such as a CD-ROM / MO / MD / DVD / CD-R, and an IC card. A card system such as an optical card (including a memory card) or a semiconductor memory system such as a mask ROM / EPROM / EEPROM / flash ROM can be used.

  The print management apparatus 4 may be configured to be connectable to a communication network, and the program code may be supplied via the communication network. The communication network is not particularly limited. For example, the Internet, intranet, extranet, LAN, ISDN, VAN, CATV communication network, virtual private network, telephone line network, mobile communication network, satellite communication. A net or the like is available. Further, the transmission medium constituting the communication network is not particularly limited. For example, even in the case of wired communication such as IEEE 1394, USB, power line carrier, cable TV line, telephone line, ADSL line, etc., infrared rays such as IrDA and remote control, Bluetooth, It can also be used with radio such as 802.11 radio, HDR, mobile phone network, satellite line, and terrestrial digital network. The present invention can also be realized in the form of a carrier wave or a data signal sequence in which the program code is embodied by electronic transmission.

  In the case of the composite printer 3, the image may be used in a form in which an image is read by a scanner unit and the read image data is transmitted to the user terminal 2 or a server (not shown) via the communication network 5. Even in this case, at least power is consumed, so there is a possibility of being charged. Therefore, in the above embodiment, if printing (image output) is changed to image input and printing on printing paper (output) is changed to transmission of image input data, charging for image input is the same as in the above embodiment. The effect of this can be obtained.

  Although the composite printer 3 has been described here, any image input device that performs image input and transmits image input data can be applied to any device such as a scanner, a camera, or a video camera.

  As described above, the image output management apparatus according to the present invention is a print management server that manages printing of a printing apparatus in a network system in which a plurality of terminals and printing apparatuses are connected via a communication network. This is useful as a print management unit in the printer, and is particularly suitable for an application for sharing a billing cost generated by printing.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a print management apparatus in a print management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the said printing management system. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing operations for a print request from a user in the control unit of the print management apparatus. It is a figure which shows the printed matter user designation | designated window displayed on the display device of a user terminal based on the request | requirement from the said printing management apparatus. It is a figure which shows the data structure of the historical data memorize | stored in the said print management apparatus in a table format. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a tabular form of the number of prints counted for each printed product user in the print management apparatus. It is a figure which shows the printed matter user designation | designated window containing the designation | designated button respectively matched with all the users who can become a printed matter user compared with the said printed matter user designation | designated window. It is a flowchart which shows the processing operation added according to the processing operation in the said control part, Comprising: The processing operation performed according to the number of printing copies. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the printing management apparatus in the printing management system which is another embodiment of this invention. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a main part of processing operation for a print request from a user in the control unit of the print management apparatus. It is a figure which shows the use permission request window displayed on the display device of a user terminal based on the request | requirement from the said printing management apparatus. It is a figure which shows the use permission result window displayed on the display device of the said user terminal by transmitting permission / denial result data to the user terminal which made the print request from the said print management apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the printing management apparatus in the printing management system which is another embodiment of this invention. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing operation for a print request from a meeting invitation server in the control unit of the print management apparatus. It is a figure which shows the meeting invitation window displayed on the display device of this user terminal by transmitting the meeting data set in the said meeting invitation server to a user terminal. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the printing management system which is other embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the printing management apparatus in the said printing management system. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing operation for totalizing the usage status of a printer in the control unit. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a list of users and printers belonging to each department in a table format in the print management system. FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams showing the data structure of print history data stored in the print management apparatus of each department in a tabular format. FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams showing the charging status for each user tabulated in the print management apparatus of each department in a table format. FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams showing the charging status of the entire print management system in tabular form for each user belonging to each department.

Explanation of symbols

2 User terminal (terminal)
3 Combined printer (image output device)
4. Print management device (image output management device)
5 Communication Network 7 Meeting Convocation Server 12 Storage Unit (Storage Unit)
21 Printed product user acquisition unit (user acquisition means)
23 Print history update unit (history storage means)
24 usage status totaling section (counting means)
25 Designated user permission acquisition part (user permission acquisition means)
32 Total department usage status (counting means)

Claims (15)

An image output management device that instructs an image output device to output an image based on a request for image output,
User acquisition means for acquiring information of an output product user who is a person who uses the output product output by the image output device according to the image output instruction;
History storage means for storing information on the output product user acquired by the user acquisition means and the amount related to the image output in the storage means as history information;
Based on the history information stored in the storage means, a totaling means for totaling the amount related to the image output for each output product user to create total information,
A user permission acquisition means for requesting and acquiring image output permission for the output product user acquired by the user acquisition means;
The history accumulating unit includes information on an output product user acquired by the user permission acquisition unit among the output product users acquired by the user acquisition unit, and an amount related to the image output. Is stored in the storage means as history information.   The image output management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the user acquisition unit requests and acquires the output user information from a requester who requests the image output.   3. The image output management apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the information on the output product user requested by the user acquisition means is information indicating whether or not the requester is the output product user. .   The output product user information requested by the user acquisition means is information of a person designated by the requester from among a plurality of use candidates that the requester can become the output product user. The image output management apparatus according to claim 2.   The image output management apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of use candidates are acquired from a directory service.   The user acquisition means requests and acquires the information of the user of the output product from the requester when the request is an image output for use other than the requester. Item 3. The image output management device according to Item 2.   The image output management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the output product user information acquired by the user acquisition unit is information on a group to which the output product user belongs. The image output request is a request from a meeting invitation server that calls a terminal via a communication network.
The image output management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the user acquisition unit sets the attendee of the conference acquired from the conference invitation server as an output product user.   The image output management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the totaling unit includes a totaling time setting unit that sets a totaling time.   The said totaling means acquires the total information totaled by the totaling means of another image output management apparatus, and adds the acquired total information to the total information totalized by its own means. Image output management device.   An image output apparatus integrally comprising the image output management apparatus according to claim 1.   The image output management device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, an image output device that outputs an image based on an image output instruction from the image output management device, and the image output management device An image output management system in which a terminal that makes a request for image output is connected via a communication network. An image output management method for an image output management apparatus that instructs an image output apparatus to output an image based on a request for image output.
A user acquisition step of acquiring information on an output product user who is a person who uses the output product image output by the image output device according to the image output instruction;
A user permission acquisition step for acquiring the output product user acquired by the user acquisition step by requesting permission for image output; and
Among the output product users acquired in the user acquisition step, information on the output product user whose permission for image output has been acquired in the user permission acquisition step and the amount related to the image output are used as history information. A history accumulation step for accumulating in the storage means;
An image output management device comprising: a totaling step of generating total information by totaling the amount related to the image output for each output product user based on history information stored in the storage means Image output management method.   An image output management program for operating the image output management apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the computer functions as the user acquisition unit, the history storage unit, and the aggregation unit. Image output management program. A computer-readable recording medium on which the image output management program according to claim 14 is recorded.

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