JP4617952B2 - Printing system and server device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a printing system and a server device , and more specifically, a print job related to a print instruction from a client device is stored in the server device, and the server is based on authentication data acquired from a card reader provided corresponding to the printing device. The present invention relates to a printing system and a server device that allow printing of a print job stored in the apparatus .

  Recently, there are many systems that can use a printer in a so-called network environment in which a plurality of client devices are connected to a network, a plurality of printers are connected, and the plurality of printers are shared by a plurality of client devices. Has been built.

  In a system that shares a printer in such a network environment, ensuring the security of the printed document is a problem.

For example, in such a network environment, it is possible to instruct printing of a document from an arbitrary client device to an arbitrary printer, and the printer is not necessarily arranged near the client device.
1) A print instruction may be issued from a user who does not have the authority to print a document. 2) Even if a print instruction is issued from a user having a valid authority, the user outputs a document output from the printer based on the print instruction. There is a problem that this document may be taken away by a third party or the contents of the document may be seen by the time it is taken.

  In order to solve this problem, conventionally, as shown in Patent Document 1, when printing is performed from a printer in a network environment, an input of a personal identification number is requested from the operation panel of the printer, and the personal authentication is performed using the personal identification number. A configuration has been proposed in which printing is permitted by performing the above.

Also, as shown in Patent Document 2, a configuration has been proposed in which printing is performed by performing personal authentication using an IC card when printing from a printer.
In addition, a configuration is also known in which personal authentication is performed by biometric authentication such as fingerprint authentication, and printing is permitted or printed matter is permitted to be taken out.
JP-A-8-256239 JP2002-240398

  However, since both of those disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 perform personal authentication on the printer side, it is difficult to cope with the variety of authentication media and biometric authentication devices. .

  Because there are so many authentication devices in the market and there are many types that are not compatible for each authentication device, providing a part to perform authentication judgment for each authentication device in the printer There was a problem that the cost was significantly increased.

  Further, in a configuration in which identity authentication is performed using an IC card as shown in Patent Document 2, generally, there is a tendency that card configuration information and usage information are not disclosed except for a specific OS environment. There is also a problem that it is difficult to provide a personal authentication configuration using a card in a printer in a general network environment.

  In addition, since both the configurations of Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 need to provide a configuration for performing authentication determination in the printer body, the network environment that has already been introduced is changed with the change of the configuration of the printer. It was difficult to employ various authentication devices.

  In the configuration in which a print job related to a print instruction from the client device is stored in the server device and the print job stored in the server device is executed based on authentication of the authentication device provided on the printer side, the user can If authentication is not performed indefinitely, the print job remains stored in the server device, and an unprinted print job remains stored in the server device for a long time. There is also a problem that it is not preferable in terms of securing the print job storage capacity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a printing system and a server apparatus that can appropriately manage print jobs of a server apparatus that accumulates print jobs that require security.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 includes a card reader connected to a network, a printing device associated with the card reader, and a server device, and printing instructions from a plurality of client devices. a print job relating to accumulated in the server apparatus, in the printing system the print jobs accumulated in the server device based on the acquired authentication data from the card reader to execute a printing device associated with the card reader, the The card reader includes means for acquiring authentication data from an authentication medium, and the server device transmits a print job to a printing device corresponding to the card reader based on an authentication result based on the authentication data acquired from the card reader. When a print job monitoring means for monitoring the print jobs accumulated in the server device, the print-di If there is a print job not executed a fixed hour or more in the print job stored in the server device based on the monitoring by blanking monitoring means, notification for notifying the fact to the client device is a print instruction source of the print job Means.

  Further, in the invention of claim 2, in the invention of claim 1, the notification means pops up that there is a print job that is not executed for the predetermined time or longer on the display unit of the client device that has instructed printing of the print job. It is characterized by displaying.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the notifying means transmits by mail that there is a print job that has not been executed for the predetermined time or longer to the client device that has issued a print instruction for the print job. It is characterized by.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a card reader connected to a network, a printing device associated with the card reader, and a server device, and print jobs relating to print instructions from a plurality of client devices. In a printing system that executes a print job stored in the server device and based on the authentication data acquired from the card reader , the print device associated with the card reader executes the print job. Means for acquiring authentication data from a medium, wherein the server device transmits a print job to a printing device corresponding to the card reader based on an authentication result of the authentication data acquired from the card reader; and the server device Print job monitoring means for monitoring print jobs stored in the print job monitoring means, and the print job monitoring means If there is a print job not executed a fixed hour or more in the print jobs accumulated in the server device based on visual, characterized by comprising a print job deletion means for automatically deletes the job.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a card reader connected to a network, a printing device associated with the card reader, and a server device, and print jobs related to printing instructions from a plurality of client devices. the accumulated in the server apparatus, in the printing system the print jobs accumulated in the server device based on the acquired authentication data from the card reader to execute a printing device associated with the card reader, the card reader authentication Means for acquiring authentication data from a medium, wherein the server device transmits a print job to a printing device corresponding to the card reader based on an authentication result of the authentication data acquired from the card reader; and the server device Print job monitoring means for monitoring print jobs stored in the print job monitoring means, and the print job monitoring means If there is a first print job not executed time or more that is pre Me set in the print job stored in the server device based on visual, and informing means for informing to that effect, monitored by the printing job monitoring means If there is the first print job is not executed long second time or more than the time pre Me set in the print job stored in the server based on the a deleting means for automatically delete the print job It is characterized by comprising.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fifth aspects, the transmission unit includes a correspondence table that stores a correspondence relationship between the printing apparatus and the card reader, and the authentication data. The printing apparatus corresponding to the card reader that acquired the above is specified with reference to the correspondence table .

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, print jobs related to print instructions from a plurality of client apparatuses are stored, and the stored print jobs are stored on the basis of authentication data acquired from a card reader connected to the network and corresponding to the print apparatus. A server device that causes a printing device associated with the card reader to execute printing, and that transmits a print job to a printing device corresponding to the card reader based on an authentication result based on authentication data acquired from the card reader And a print job monitoring unit that monitors a print job stored in the server device, and a print job that is not executed for a predetermined time or more among the print jobs stored in the server device based on the monitoring by the print job monitoring unit In this case, the printing apparatus includes a print job deletion unit that automatically deletes the job .

  According to the present invention, the print job stored in the server device is monitored by the print job monitoring unit, and the print job stored in the server device based on the monitoring by the print job monitoring unit is not executed for a certain time or more. In some cases, the notification means notifies the fact, so that it is possible to appropriately manage the print job of the server device that stores the print job that requires security and to store the print job of the server device. There is an effect that the capacity can be effectively secured.

Embodiments of a printing system and a server device according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an outline of a printing system according to the present invention.

  1, this printing system includes a plurality of client devices 10-1,... 10-m, a print server 20, a plurality of printing devices 30-1,... 30-n, and a plurality of printing devices 30-1. ,..., 30-n are connected to the network 50, respectively.

  Here, the client apparatuses 10-1,..., 10-m issue a print instruction for a desired document using this printing system, and perform a plurality of user authentications as to whether the user has the authority for this print instruction. Authentication apparatuses 11-1,... 11-m are connected locally.

  The authentication devices 40-1,... 40-n are connected to the network 50 corresponding to the printing devices 30-1,..., 30-n, respectively, and the above-described printing devices 30-1,. When printing a document related to a print instruction, user authentication is performed to determine whether the user has authority to print.

  User authentication in the authentication devices 11-1, ... 11-m and the authentication devices 40-1, ... 40-n is a card-like storage medium (hereinafter referred to as security) in which user identification information (user ID) carried by the user is stored. User authentication using a card), user authentication that reads biometric feature information such as a user's fingerprint, and the like can be employed. In this embodiment, a case where user authentication is performed using a security card will be described as an example. .

  Here, the security card can be composed of an IC card equipped with an IC (integrated circuit), a magnetic card using a magnetic stripe as a storage means, and the like, in addition to the user ID, department information to which the user belongs. In addition, various information necessary for user authentication such as a range of authority, a secret key used for encryption of a print job formed based on a print instruction, a public key used for encoding, and the like are stored in advance.

  The client apparatuses 10-1,... 10-m issue a print instruction using the printing apparatuses 30-1,... 30-n of documents created and edited by themselves or documents acquired from a document management system (not shown).

  When a print instruction is issued from the client device 10-1,... 10-m of this document, user authentication as to whether or not the user has authority to issue a print instruction of this document is given to the client device 10-1,. This is performed using authentication devices 11-1,... 11-m connected locally.

  The authentication devices 11-1,... 11-m include a card reader that reads information necessary for user authentication from a security card carried by the user, and information required for user authentication from the security card is used for user authentication. (Hereinafter referred to as “authentication data”), and this authentication data is input to the corresponding client device 10-1,.

  The client apparatuses 10-1,... 10-m perform necessary user authentication based on this authentication data. This user authentication is performed by an inquiry to the print server 20.

  That is, the client apparatuses 10-1,... 10-m transmit all or part of the authentication data read from the security card to the print server 20 via the network 50, and the user sends this document to the print server 20. An inquiry is made as to whether or not the user has the authority to issue a print instruction.

  The print server 20 performs user authentication processing based on an inquiry to its own database or a separately provided user management system to determine whether or not the user has authority to issue a print instruction for the document, and the response is sent to the client device. Return to 10-1, ..., 10-m.

  In the client apparatuses 10-1,... 10-m, if it is determined that the user does not have the authority to print the document, the print job based on the print instruction is not submitted and discarded.

  However, if it is determined that the user has authority to issue a print instruction for the document, a print job based on the print instruction is generated, and the print job is read using the secret key read from the security card. The encrypted print job is transmitted to the print server 20 via the network 50.

  The print server 20 accumulates and manages the encrypted print jobs transmitted from the client apparatuses 10-1,... 10-m, for example, corresponding to the user ID of the user who issued the print instruction. At this time, printing related to this print job stored in the print server 20 is not started.

  When the user who has issued a print instruction on the client device 10-1,... 10-m or the user who has the authority to acquire the printed material based on the print instruction acquires the printed material based on the print instruction, print output is performed. .., 30-n, and user authentication is performed by the authentication devices 40-1,..., 40-n arranged near the printing devices 30-1,.

  This user authentication is performed using a security card in the same manner as the user authentication by the authentication devices 11-1,.

  For example, when a user who has performed near the printing apparatus 30-1 that performs print output inserts a security card carried by the user into the authentication apparatus 40-1 near the printing apparatus 30-1, the authentication apparatus 40- 1, the authentication data necessary for user authentication is read from the security card.

  The read authentication data is sent to the print server 20 via the network 50, and the print server 20 authenticates whether or not the user has the authority to acquire a printed material based on the print instruction.

  This user authentication is also performed based on an inquiry to the database of the print server 20 or a separately provided user management system.

  If it is determined by the user authentication that the user does not have the authority to acquire a printed material based on the printing instruction in the printing apparatus 30-1, printing based on the printing instruction is prohibited.

  If it is determined by the user authentication that the user has the authority to acquire a printed matter based on the print instruction in the printing apparatus 30-1, the print server 20 authenticates the authentication apparatuses 40-1,. Search for the corresponding print job from the encrypted print jobs stored and managed based on the user ID included in the authentication data sent from -n, and print the print job list data indicating the searched print job list as the user authentication It transmits to the authentication apparatus 40-1 which performed.

  As a result, the print job list is displayed on the authentication apparatus 40-1, and the user selects a print job to be printed and designates the print order based on the display of the print job list. The job list to be displayed may be only those related to the authenticated user, or may be a person who selects printing based on the display.

  The print job selected based on the display of the print job list is notified to the print server 20.

  The print server 20 extracts the corresponding print job from the encrypted print job stored and managed based on the selected print job, and decrypts the print job using the public key included in the authentication data.

  Further, the print server 20 stores a correspondence table that stores the correspondence between the printing devices 30-1,... 30-n and the authentication devices 40-1,. The printing apparatus 30-1 corresponding to the apparatus 40-1 is identified with reference to the correspondence relationship table, and the decrypted print data is transmitted to the identified printing apparatus 30-1.

  As a result, the printing apparatuses 30-1,... 30-n start printing based on the decrypted print data.

  According to such a configuration, there is no security inconvenience that the printed matter is taken away by a third party or the contents are seen, and the printing apparatus 30-1,. Since an authentication determination configuration is not provided, various authentication devices are employed as the authentication devices 11-1, ... 11-m and the authentication devices 40-1, ... 40-n without changing the already installed network environment. It becomes possible.

  In this embodiment, the print server 20 monitors the accumulated print jobs, and after a predetermined time has elapsed in the print jobs accumulated in the print server 20, the authentication devices 40-1,. If there is a print job that remains without being authenticated at -n, the client device 10-1, ... 10-m that is the transmission source of this print job is notified that there is a print job that remains. It is configured as follows.

Notifications to the client devices 10-1,.
1) Instruct to display pop-up that there is a print job staying in a display device (not shown) of the client device 10-1, ... 10-m 2) Stay in the client device 10-1, ... 10-m This is done by sending an e-mail indicating that there is a print job.

  Here, when there is a print job accumulated in the print server 20 that has not been authenticated by the authentication devices 40-1,. It may be configured to automatically delete the staying print job.

  This is because, because of the nature of this system, documents and the like that require security are handled, and there is a security problem if there is a print job that has not been printed on the print server 20 and stays for a long time.

  In this case, instead of immediately deleting a print job that has stayed in the print server 20 for a certain period of time, the client device 10-1,. You may comprise.

  According to such a configuration, it is possible to rescue a print job that is not printed for some reason.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a detailed configuration of the print server 20 shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 2, the print server 20 includes a network interface unit 201 that constitutes an interface with the network 50, a print job reception unit 202, a print job accumulation management unit 203, an authentication data reception unit 204, an authentication processing unit 205, and an authentication result transmission. Unit 206, print job selection unit 207, print job decryption unit 208, print data generation unit 209, printing device authentication device correspondence storage unit 210, printing device identification unit 211, print data transmission unit 212, print job list transmission unit 213 A print request receiving unit 214, a print job monitoring unit 215, a mail transmission control unit 216, and a pop-up display instruction unit 217.

  Here, the print job accepting unit 202 accepts an encrypted print job related to a print instruction from the client apparatuses 10-1 to 10 -m via the network interface unit 201.

  The print job accumulation management unit 203 accumulates and manages the encrypted print job received by the print job reception unit 202 in correspondence with the user ID.

  The authentication data receiving unit 204 receives authentication data related to an inquiry from the client devices 10-1,... 10-m and authentication data from the authentication devices 40-1,.

  Based on the authentication data received by the authentication data receiving unit 204, the authentication processing unit 205 authenticates the authentication data from the client devices 10-1, ... 10-m and the authentication data from the authentication devices 40-1, ... 40-n. And a public key for decrypting the print job related to the print instruction is extracted from the authentication data from the authentication devices 40-1,... 40-n.

  Here, the user authentication based on the authentication data related to the inquiry from the client devices 10-1,..., 10-m in the authentication processing unit 205 is a print instruction from the client devices 10-1,. The user authentication based on the authentication data from the authentication devices 40-1,... 40-n obtains a printed matter related to the print instruction. Authentication is performed to determine whether or not the user who has the right is authorized.

  This user authentication can be performed with reference to a database (not shown) in the print server 20 or a database of a user management system (not shown) linked to the printing system.

  When the authentication processing unit 205 performs user authentication based on the authentication data related to the inquiry from the client devices 10-1,... 10-m, the authentication result transmission unit 206 passes the authentication result via the network interface unit 201. When the user authentication is performed based on the authentication data from the authentication devices 40-1,... 40-n, the authentication result is passed through the network interface unit 201. To the authentication devices 40-1,... 40-n.

  When the authentication processing unit 205 authenticates the user based on the authentication data from the authentication devices 40-1,... 40-n and authenticates that the user is a valid user who obtains the printed matter, the print job selection unit 207 Based on the user ID of the user, a print job permitted to be printed is selected from print jobs stored and managed in the print job storage manager 203.

  In addition, the print job selection unit 207 transmits print job list data indicating a list of print jobs permitted to be printed to the print job list transmission unit 213 based on the selection of the print job, and the print request reception unit 214 receives the print job list data. A print job to be printed is selected based on the print request from the authentication devices 40-1,.

  Here, the print job list data includes a print job name and various attribute information of the print job.

  The print job decryption unit 208 decrypts the print job selected by the print job selection unit 207 based on the public key extracted by the authentication processing unit 205, and the print data generation unit 209 decrypts the print job by the print job decryption unit 208. Based on the data, print data to be transmitted to the printing apparatuses 30-1,.

  The printing apparatus authentication device correspondence storage unit 210 stores a correspondence table that stores the correspondence between the printing devices 30-1, ... 30-n and the authentication devices 40-1, ... 40-n. The identification unit 211 stores the above-mentioned printing apparatus authentication apparatus correspondence relationship according to which authentication apparatus 40-1,... 40-n the authentication apparatuses 40-1,. Referring to the correspondence table stored in the unit 210, the printer that transmits the print data is identified from the printers 30-1,... 30-n.

  The print data transmission unit 212 transmits the print data generated by the print data generation unit 209 to the printing device specified by the printing device specification unit 211 via the network interface unit 201.

  The print job list transmission unit 213 transmits the print job list data from the print job selection unit 207 to the authentication devices 40-1,.

  The print request receiving unit 214 receives print requests from the authentication devices 40-1,. Here, the print request from the authentication devices 40-1,... 40-n includes information on the print job selected based on the print job list displayed by the authentication devices 40-1,. .

  The print job monitoring unit 215 monitors the print job stored in the print job storage management unit 203.

  Specifically, the monitoring of the print job by the print job monitoring unit 215 is performed by the authentication devices 40-1,..., 40-n after a predetermined time has elapsed in the print jobs stored in the print server 20. This is monitoring whether there is a print job that has not been performed. This monitoring can be performed based on, for example, time stamp information indicating the reception time of a print job added to each print job.

  The print job monitoring unit 215, when there is a print job that stays in the print server 20 for a predetermined time or more, is a client device that is a print instruction source of the staying print job 10-1,... 10-m are checked, and the mail transmission control unit 216 or pop-up display indicates that there is a print job that has been retained for a certain period of time in the client device 10-1,. Notify the instruction unit 217.

  When the mail transmission control unit 216 receives a notification from the print job monitoring unit 215 that there is a print job that stays for a certain period of time, it creates an email indicating that there is a print job that stays for a certain period of time. Then, this mail is transmitted via the network interface unit 201 and the network 50 to the client apparatuses 10-1,.

  When the pop-up display instructing unit 217 receives a notification from the print job monitoring unit 215 that there is a print job that stays for a certain period of time, the pop-up display instruction unit 217 indicates that there is a print job that stays for a certain period of time. In order to display the display on the display device of the client device 10-1,... 10-m that is the print instruction source of this print job, pop-up display instruction information is created. 50 to the client apparatus 10-1,... 10-m that is the print instruction source of this print job.

  3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a detailed configuration of the client apparatuses 10-1,... 10-m (collectively referred to as client apparatus 10) illustrated in FIG.

  In FIG. 3, a client device 10 issues a print instruction using this printing system, and is composed of a personal computer or the like, and authentication devices 11-1,... 11-m (collectively referred to as authentication device 11) are locally provided. Connected.

  The client apparatus 10 includes a print instruction reception unit 101, a print job generation unit 102, an authentication data reception unit 103, an authentication processing unit 104, an authentication data transmission unit 105, an authentication result reception unit 106, a print job encryption unit 107, a print job. A transmission unit 108 and a network interface unit 109 are provided.

  Here, the print instruction receiving unit 101 receives a print instruction using this printing system based on an input selection operation such as a keyboard and a mouse (not shown).

  The authentication data receiving unit 103 receives authentication data related to this print instruction from the authentication device 11.

  The authentication processing unit 104 performs user authentication based on the authentication data received by the authentication data receiving unit 103 to determine whether or not the user who issues the print instruction is a user who has a valid authority.

  User authentication by the authentication processing unit 104 is performed by an inquiry to the print server 20.

  That is, when user authentication is performed by the authentication processing unit 104, a part or all of the authentication data from the authentication device 11 is transmitted to the print server 20 via the authentication data transmission unit 105 and the network interface unit 109, thereby An inquiry is made as to whether the user involved in this is a user who has the authority to issue a print instruction using this printing system.

  Then, the result of this inquiry is received by the authentication result receiving unit 106 in the network interface unit 109, and the authentication processing unit 104 uses the printing system by the user related to the authentication data based on the received information of the authentication result receiving unit 106. It is determined whether the user is authorized to issue a print instruction.

  When it is determined by the user authentication in the authentication processing unit 104 that the user related to the authentication data is a valid user who has the authority to issue a print instruction using the print system, the print job generation unit 102 receives a print instruction. Based on the print instruction received by the unit 102, a print job for issuing a print instruction is generated using this printing system.

  The print job encryption unit 107 encrypts the print job generated by the print job generation unit using a print job encryption secret key included in the authentication data.

  The print job transmission unit 108 transmits the print job encrypted by the print job encryption unit 107 to the print server 20 via the network interface unit 109 and the network 50.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing of the client apparatus 10 shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 4, the client apparatus 10 first checks whether the print instruction receiving unit 101 has received a print instruction (step 401). If the print instruction has not been received (NO in step 401), the client apparatus 10 returns to step 401 to print. Although it waits for acceptance of the instruction, if it is determined that the printing instruction has been accepted (YES in step 401), it is next checked whether the authentication data receiving unit 102 has received the authentication data related to this printing instruction (step 402).

  If authentication data has not been received (NO in step 402), the process returns to step 402 and waits for reception of authentication data.

  When the authentication data is received (YES in step 402), the authentication processing unit 104 performs user authentication based on the received authentication data to determine whether the user related to the authentication data has the authority to issue a print instruction using the printing system. Perform (step 403).

  If the user authentication determines that the user has authority to issue a print instruction using the printing system (YES in step 404), the print job related to the print instruction received by the print instruction receiving unit 101 is transmitted. Generated by the print job generation unit 103, the generated print job is encrypted by the print job encryption unit 107 using the secret key included in the authentication data (step 406), and the encrypted print job is transmitted to the print job transmission unit. Then, the data is transmitted to the print server 20 via the network interface unit 109 (step 407), and the processing in the client device 10 is terminated.

  If it is determined in step 404 that the user related to the authentication data does not have the authority to issue a print instruction using this printing system (NO in step 404), the user issues a print instruction using this printing system. Therefore, a print instruction prohibition message is displayed on the display device of the client apparatus 10 and the like indicating that the print instruction authority is not granted (step 408), and the print instruction received by the print instruction receiving unit 101 is displayed. Print prohibition processing such as discarding is performed (step 409), and the processing in the client device 10 is terminated.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing of the print server 20 shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 5, the print server 20 first checks whether the print job reception unit 202 has received an encrypted print job from the client device 10 (step 501). If an encrypted print job from the client device 10 has not been received (NO in step 501), the process proceeds to step 503.

  When the print job accepting unit 202 accepts an encrypted print job from the client device 10 (YES in step 501), the encrypted print job is accumulated in the print job accumulation managing unit 203 and related to a print instruction. Management is performed corresponding to the user ID (step 502).

  In step 503, it is checked whether the authentication data receiving unit 204 has received the authentication data based on the inquiry from the client device 10 or the authentication data from the authentication device 40 (step 503). If the authentication data has not been received (NO in step 503), the process returns to step 501.

  If it is determined in step 503 that authentication data has been received (YES in step 503), user authentication is performed by the authentication processing unit 205 (step 504).

  Next, it is checked whether the user authentication is authentication based on an inquiry from the client device 10, that is, an authentication request from the client device 10 (step 505). If the user authentication is an authentication request from the client device 10 (YES in step 505), the authentication result is transmitted to the client device 10 via the authentication result transmitting unit 206 and the network interface 201 (step 505). 506), the processing of the print server 20 is terminated.

  In step 505, if the user authentication is not an authentication request from the client device 10 (NO in step 505), the user authentication is based on the authentication data from the authentication device 40. It is determined whether or not the user has authority to acquire a printed material based on the instruction (step 507).

  If it is determined that the user has the authority to acquire the printed material (YES in step 507), then it is checked whether the print job list acquisition request is received from the authentication device 40 (step 508). If it is a request (YES in step 5087), the print job selection unit 207 encrypts the print job stored and managed in the print job storage management unit 203 based on the user ID included in the authentication data sent from the authentication device 40. The corresponding print job is searched from the received print job, and print job list data indicating a list of print jobs that can be printed based on the searched print job is sent via the print job list transmission unit 213 and the network interface unit 201. This is transmitted to the authentication device 40 that has performed user authentication (step 509), and the processing of the print server 20 is terminated.

  If it is determined in step 508 that the request is not a print job list acquisition request from the authentication device 40 (NO in step 508), then it is checked whether the print request is from the authentication device 40 (step 510). (YES in step 510), the print job selection unit 207 selects a print job related to the print instruction from the encrypted print jobs stored and managed in the print job storage management unit 203 (step 511). The selected encrypted print job is decrypted by the print job decrypting unit 208 using the public key included in the authentication data (step 512).

  Further, the printing apparatus 30 corresponding to the authentication apparatus 40 that has transmitted the authentication data is specified with reference to the correspondence table stored in the printing apparatus authentication apparatus correspondence storage unit 210 (step 513).

  Then, the print data generated by the print data generation unit 209 based on the decrypted print job is transmitted to the printing apparatus 30 specified in step 513 via the print data transmission unit 212 and the network interface unit 201 (step 514). The process of the print server 20 is finished.

  If it is determined in step 507 that the user related to the authentication data does not have the authority to acquire a printed material based on the print instruction (NO in step 507), printing based on the print instruction cannot be performed. Printing prohibition processing is performed (step 515), and the processing of the print server 20 is terminated.

  In the above embodiment, the encrypted print job stored and managed in the print server 20 is decrypted in the print server 20 by using the public key included in the authentication data from the authentication device 40, and the print data is printed. Although it is configured to transmit to the apparatus 30, the print job may be decrypted in the authentication apparatus 40 or may be configured to be performed in the printing apparatus 30.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing of the authentication devices 40-1,... 40-n (collectively referred to as authentication device 40) shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 6, the authentication device 40 first checks whether authentication data has been accepted by inserting a security card (step 601). If authentication data is accepted (YES in step 601), an authentication request is made to the print server 20 based on this authentication data (step 602).

  When an authentication result is received from the print server 20 in response to this authentication request (YES in step 603), it is checked whether there is a print request authority based on this authentication result (step 604).

  If it is determined that the user has authority to request printing (YES in step 604), the print server 20 is requested for a list of print jobs that can be printed (step 605). Then, based on the print job list data received from the print server 20 in response to the print job list request, the print job list is displayed on the display unit of the operation panel provided in the authentication device 40 (step 616).

  The authentication device 40 selects a print job that makes a print request to the print server 20 based on the print job list displayed on the display unit of the operation panel.

  In this print job list, “print attribute”, “paper attribute”, “paper direction attribute”, and the like are displayed together with “job name”.

  As described above, a print job is selected by operating the operation panel provided in the authentication device 40 (step 607), and a print request including selection and order designation of the print job is transmitted to the print server 20 (step 607). 608), the processing of the authentication device 40 ends.

  If it is determined in step 604 that there is no authority for print request (NO in step 604), a print prohibition process is performed (step 609), and the process of the authentication device 40 is terminated.

  In the above-described embodiment, a list of print jobs that can be printed is displayed using the display unit of the operation panel provided in the authentication device 40, and print jobs requested to be printed to the print server 20 based on the print job list are displayed. The print job list is displayed on the display unit of the corresponding printing device 30-1,... 30-n (hereinafter referred to as the printing device 30), and the print request is sent to the print server 20 here. The print job to be selected and the print order may be designated.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing of the authentication device 40 when the print job list is displayed on the display device of the printing device 30 and the print job to be requested for printing to the print server 20 is selected.

  In FIG. 7, the authentication device 40 first checks whether authentication data has been accepted by inserting a security card (step 701). If authentication data is accepted (YES in step 701), an authentication request is made to the print server 20 based on the authentication data (step 702).

  When an authentication result is received from the print server 20 in response to this authentication request (YES in step 703), it is checked whether there is a print request authority based on this authentication result (step 704).

  If it is determined that the user has authority to request printing (YES in step 704), the print server 20 is requested for a list of print jobs that can be printed (step 705). When the print job list data is received from the print server 20 in response to the print job list request (YES in step 706), the received print job list data is transferred to the corresponding printing apparatus 30 (step 707).

  Accordingly, in the printing apparatus 30, the print job list is displayed on the display unit of the operation panel provided in the printing apparatus 30 based on the transferred print job list data.

  The printing apparatus 30 selects a print job that makes a print request to the print server 20 based on the print job list displayed on the display unit of the operation panel.

  As described above, when the print job is selected and the order is specified by operating the operation panel 900 provided in the printing apparatus 30, the print request data including the print job selection and the order is specified from the printing apparatus 30. Sent to the device 40.

  Upon receiving this print request data (step 708), the authentication device 40 transmits a print request including print job selection and order designation based on the print request data to the print server 20 (step 709). This process ends.

  If it is determined in step 704 that there is no authority for the print request (NO in step 704), a print prohibition process is performed (step 710), and the process of the authentication device 40 is terminated.

  In this embodiment, the print job monitoring apparatus 215 shown in FIG. 2 monitors the print job stored in the print job storage management unit 203, and the print job stored in the print server 20 has a fixed time. If there is a print job that has not been authenticated by the authentication device 40 and has stayed, the print job that has stayed for a certain period of time is notified to the client device 10 that issued the print job. Is configured to do.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing of the print server 20 in the case where notification of a print job staying in the print server 20 for a predetermined time or longer is performed by the pop-up display instruction unit 217 shown in FIG.

  The process of the flowchart shown in FIG. 8 is repeatedly performed at a predetermined time in the print server 20.

  When the processing shown in FIG. 8 is started, the print job monitoring apparatus 215 first prints that have not been executed for a certain period of time among the print jobs stored in the print job storage management unit 203, that is, an authentication apparatus. In step S801, a print job that has not been printed due to authentication and is staying at 40 is searched. Then, it is checked by this search whether there is a corresponding print job, that is, a print job staying for a certain time (step 802).

  If there is a corresponding print job (YES in step 802), print instruction source information of the print job is acquired from the corresponding print job stored in the print job storage management unit 203 (step 803).

  As a result, the pop-up display instruction unit 217 issues a warning instruction by a pop-up display indicating that there is a print job staying for a predetermined time or more based on the print instruction source information via the network interface unit 201 and the network 50. This is done by sending it to the client apparatus 10 that is the print instruction source of the print job (step 804), and this process is terminated.

  If it is determined in step 802 that there is no corresponding print job, that is, it is determined that there is no print job that has stayed for a certain period of time (YES in step 802), the processing is terminated as it is.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing of the print server 20 when the mail transmission control unit 216 shown in FIG. 2 performs notification of a print job staying in the print server 20 for a certain period of time.

  The process of the flowchart shown in FIG. 9 is repeatedly performed at predetermined time intervals in the print server 20.

  When the processing shown in FIG. 9 is started, first, the print job monitoring apparatus 215 prints print jobs that have not been executed for a certain period of time among print jobs stored in the print job storage management unit 203, that is, authentication apparatuses. In step S901, a print job that has not been printed by authentication and stays in step 40 is searched. Then, it is checked by this search whether there is a corresponding print job, that is, a print job that has stayed for a certain period of time (step 902).

  If there is a corresponding print job (YES in step 902), print instruction source information (email address) of the print job is acquired from the corresponding print job stored in the print job storage management unit 203 (step S902). 903).

  As a result, the mail transmission control unit 216 creates a notification mail that notifies that there is a print job that has stayed for a certain period of time based on the print instruction source information (step 904). Then, the notification mail is transmitted to the client apparatus 10 that is the print instruction source of the print job via the network interface unit 201 and the network 50 (step 904), and this process is terminated.

  If it is determined in step 902 that there is no corresponding print job, that is, it is determined that there is no print job that has stayed for a certain period of time (YES in step 902), the processing is terminated as it is.

  In the above configuration, if there is a print job that stays in the print job accumulation management unit 203 for a certain period of time, the print job that stays for a certain period of time is displayed as a pop-up display instruction unit 217 or a mail transmission control unit 216. Is used to notify the client apparatus 10 of the print instruction source of this print job. However, if there is a print job that remains in the print job accumulation management unit 203 for a certain period of time, the above notification is not performed. The print job may be automatically deleted by the print monitoring unit 215.

  In addition, if there is a print job that has stayed in the print job accumulation management unit 203 for a certain period of time, the print job is not deleted immediately, but is notified to the client device 10 that has transmitted the print job. You may comprise so that it may delete.

  FIG. 10 shows a print server configured to delete a print job that has stayed in the print job accumulation management unit 203 for a certain period of time after notifying the client device 10 of the print job transmission source. 20 is a flowchart showing 20 processing.

  The process of the flowchart shown in FIG. 10 is repeatedly performed at a predetermined time in the print server 20.

  When the processing shown in FIG. 10 is started, first, the print job monitoring apparatus 215 prints that have not been executed for a first time among print jobs stored in the print job storage management unit 203, that is, authentication. The apparatus 40 searches for a print job that has not been printed by authentication and stays for the first time or more (step 1001). Then, it is checked by this search whether there is a corresponding print job, that is, a print job that stays for the first time or more (step 1002).

  If there is a corresponding print job, the print instruction source information of the print job is acquired from the corresponding print job stored in the print job storage management unit 203 (step 1003).

  Based on the print instruction source information, the client apparatus 10 that is the print instruction source of this print job is notified that there is a print job that has stayed for a certain period of time (step 1004), and the process proceeds to step 1005.

  If it is determined in step 1002 that there is no corresponding print job, that is, it is determined that there is no print job remaining for the first time or longer (YES in step 1002), the process proceeds to step 1005 as it is.

  In step 1005, a print job that has not been executed for the second time (second time> first time) among the print jobs stored in the print job storage management unit 203, that is, printing by authentication by the authentication device 40. A search is made for a print job that has not been performed for more than the second time (step 1005). Then, it is checked by this search whether there is a corresponding print job, that is, a print job staying for the second time or more (step 1006).

  If there is a corresponding print job (YES in step 1006), the corresponding print job stored in the print job storage management unit 203 is deleted (step 1007), and this process ends.

  In step 1006, if there is no corresponding print job, that is, if it is determined that there is no print job staying for the second time or longer (YES in step 1006), the process is terminated as it is.

  In the above-described embodiment, the print job related to the print instruction is encrypted using the secret key included in the authentication data and sent from the client apparatus 10-1,... 10-m to the print server 20, and the encrypted print is performed. Although the job is configured to be decrypted with the public key included in the authentication data, a part of the authentication data may be used as an encryption / encoding key for the print job.

  In the above embodiment, the print job related to the print instruction is encrypted and sent from the client apparatus 10-1,... 10-m to the print server 20, and the encrypted print job is decrypted to print the print apparatus 30-1. ,... 30-n. However, when the network 50 is in an environment where there is no risk of information leakage, it is not always necessary to encrypt and decrypt the print job.

The printing system and server device of the present invention can be applied to a printing system for various documents that require security.

  According to the present invention, a print job stored in the server device is monitored, and if there is a print job that has not been executed for a certain period of time in the print job stored in the server device based on the monitoring, the fact is notified. With this configuration, it is possible to appropriately manage the print job of the server apparatus that stores the print job that requires security, and to effectively ensure the print job storage capacity of the server apparatus.

1 is a system configuration diagram showing an outline of a printing system according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a detailed configuration of a print server illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a detailed structure of the client apparatus shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the client apparatus shown in FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing of the print server shown in FIG. 2. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the authentication apparatus shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the other process of the authentication apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of notification processing for a print job that has stayed for a certain period of time in the printer server illustrated in FIG. 2. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating another example of a notification process for a print job that has stayed for a certain period of time in the printer server illustrated in FIG. 2. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of notification deletion processing for a print job that has stayed for a certain period of time in the printer server illustrated in FIG. 2.

Explanation of symbols

10, 10-1, ... 10-m Client device 11, 11-1, ... 11-m Authentication device 12 Security card 20 Security print server 30, 30-1, ... 30-n Printing device 40, 40-1, ... 40-n authentication device 50 network 101 print instruction reception unit 102 print job generation unit 103 authentication data reception unit 104 authentication processing unit 105 authentication data transmission unit 106 authentication result reception unit 107 print job encryption unit 108 print job transmission unit 109 network interface Unit 201 Network interface unit 202 Print job reception unit 203 Print job accumulation management unit 204 Authentication data reception unit 205 Authentication processing unit 206 Authentication result transmission unit 207 Print job selection unit 208 Print job decryption unit 209 Print data generation unit 210 Print置認 card device correspondence storage unit 211 the printing device specifying unit 212 the print data transmission unit 213 print job list transmission section 214 print request receiving section 215 print job monitoring unit 216 the mail transmission control unit 217 pops up instruction unit

Claims (7)

Includes a card reader connected to a network, the printing apparatus associated with the card reader, and a server apparatus, accumulates print jobs according to print instructions from a plurality of client devices to the server device, the card In a printing system that executes a print job stored in the server device based on authentication data acquired from a reader by a printing device associated with the card reader ,
The card reader is
Means for obtaining authentication data from an authentication medium
With
The server device
Transmitting means for transmitting a print job to a printing apparatus corresponding to the card reader based on an authentication result obtained from the authentication data acquired from the card reader;
Print job monitoring means for monitoring print jobs stored in the server device;
If there is a print job not executed a fixed hour or more in the print job stored in the server device based on the monitoring by the printing job monitoring means, notifying the fact to the client device is a print instruction source of the print job A printing system comprising: an informing means for performing The notification means includes
The printing system according to claim 1, wherein a pop-up message is displayed on the display unit of the client apparatus that has issued the print job print instruction that there is a print job that has not been executed for a certain period of time. The notification means includes
2. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the client device that has issued the print instruction for the print job transmits by e-mail that there is a print job that has not been executed for a certain period of time. Includes a card reader connected to a network, the printing apparatus associated with the card reader, and a server apparatus, accumulates print jobs according to print instructions from a plurality of client devices to the server device, the card In a printing system that executes a print job stored in the server device based on authentication data acquired from a reader by a printing device associated with the card reader ,
The card reader is
Means for obtaining authentication data from an authentication medium,
The server device
Transmitting means for transmitting a print job to a printing apparatus corresponding to the card reader based on an authentication result obtained from the authentication data acquired from the card reader;
Print job monitoring means for monitoring print jobs stored in the server device;
If there is a print job not executed a fixed hour or more in the print job stored in the server device based on the monitoring by the printing job monitoring means, that comprises a print job deletion means for automatically deletes the job Characteristic printing system. Includes a card reader connected to a network, the printing apparatus associated with the card reader, and a server apparatus, accumulates print jobs according to print instructions from a plurality of client devices to the server device, the card In a printing system that executes a print job stored in the server device based on authentication data acquired from a reader by a printing device associated with the card reader ,
The card reader is
Means for obtaining authentication data from an authentication medium
With
The server device
Transmitting means for transmitting a print job to a printing apparatus corresponding to the card reader based on an authentication result obtained from the authentication data acquired from the card reader;
Print job monitoring means for monitoring print jobs stored in the server device;
If there is the first print job not executed time or more that is pre Me set in the print job stored in the server device based on the monitoring by the printing job monitoring means includes informing means for informing to that effect,
If there is the first print job is not executed long second time or more than the time pre Me set in the print job stored in the server on the basis of the monitoring by the printing job monitoring means, the print job A printing system comprising: deletion means for automatically deleting. The transmission means includes
Correspondence relationship table for storing correspondence relationship between the printing apparatus and the card reader
Comprising
6. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein a printing apparatus corresponding to the card reader that has acquired the authentication data is specified with reference to the correspondence table . A print job related to a print instruction from a plurality of client devices is accumulated, and the print of the accumulated print job is associated with the card reader based on authentication data acquired from a card reader connected to the network and corresponding to the print device. A server device to be executed by the printing device,
  Transmitting means for transmitting a print job to a printing apparatus corresponding to the card reader based on an authentication result obtained from the authentication data acquired from the card reader;
  Print job monitoring means for monitoring print jobs stored in the server device;
  A print job deletion unit that automatically deletes a print job that has not been executed for a certain period of time among print jobs stored in the server device based on monitoring by the print job monitoring unit;
  A server device comprising:

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