JP5543833B2 - Compound machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a multifunction machine having an automatic login / automatic logout function.

  In the automatic login / automatic logout computer system of Patent Document 1, an ID card reader with a built-in power switch is attached to the computer system, and the ID card is inserted into and removed from the computer system. And allows the operator to automatically log in / out.

  By applying the above technology, some MFPs have an IC card authentication function, and an IC card reader stores and removes an IC card storing personal information, reads the personal information, and automatically logs in / out. is there.

  Further, in the user authentication system of Patent Document 2, in the login process, there is a problem even if the authentication method is selected by using information such as the previous login time, the terminal used, and the logout method, and the confirmation information for authentication is reduced. When there is no password, there is no need to enter a password, and when the user leaves the room temporarily, a mechanism is provided to ensure authentication with simple re-authentication.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-251331 JP 2005-20993 A

  Recently, while using an application by performing IC card authentication, there have been increased opportunities to authenticate other applications with an IC card different from the authenticated IC card, and to use a credit card for purchase settlement.

  However, in the above-described conventional technology, once an IC card for authentication is inserted and logged in, the IC card for authentication cannot be removed during login and another IC card cannot be used. .

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and in a multi-function machine that automatically logs in / out by inserting / removing an authentication IC card into / from an IC card reader, the login authentication is performed during login. An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-function device that can read an IC card different from the IC card of the above.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a multifunction device according to the present invention is a multifunction device capable of executing automatic application / logout and executing an application during login by inserting / removing an authentication IC card into / from an IC card reader. Based on the authentication request of the second IC card other than the authentication IC card transmitted from the application , the automatic logout function is temporarily disabled before the authentication IC card is removed , and the authentication IC After authentication of the second IC card inserted into the IC card reader from which the card was removed, an authentication IC card for login was inserted into the IC card reader from which the second IC card was removed By detecting, the automatic logout function temporarily disabled is enabled.

The MFP of the present invention is an MFP that can automatically log in / out automatically when an authentication IC card is inserted and removed from the IC card reader, and can execute an application during login, and is associated with the application. If it is determined that authentication of the second IC card other than the authentication IC card is necessary, the automatic logout function is temporarily disabled before the authentication IC card is removed , and the authentication IC card is The card information read from the second IC card inserted into the extracted IC card reader is transmitted to the application, and the authentication IC at the time of login to the IC card reader from which the second IC card has been extracted Automatic logout temporarily disabled by detecting card insertion To enable the function.

  In the multi-function device, when the notification of completion of acquisition of the card information of the second IC card from the application or the notification of completion of execution of the application is received, a message prompting insertion of the authentication IC card is displayed again.

Further, in the above-mentioned multifunction device, after displaying a message prompting the user to insert the authentication IC card, (1) monitoring the insertion of the IC card into the IC card reader, and the IC card is not inserted within a predetermined time. If this happens, execute automatic logout. Or (2) if it is determined that the card information read from the IC card inserted into the IC card reader is not the card information of the authentication IC card at the time of login, automatic logout is executed and the IC card reader User authentication is performed based on the card information read from the inserted IC card .

  According to the present invention, an MFP that performs automatic login / automatic logout by inserting and removing an authentication IC card into and from an IC card reader can read an IC card that is different from the logged-in authentication IC card during login. it can.

It is an example of a screen of an application for explaining the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration example of a multifunction peripheral according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process from user authentication to the execution start of an application. It is an example of a screen at the time of login. It is a structural example of an application management part. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing when a multifunction peripheral issues a card reading request from an application server. It is a flowchart which shows the process at the time of authenticating again in order to validate the automatic logout function which is invalid.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments according to a multifunction machine of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an example in which one article is purchased and printed from the “special article of the month” stored in the article information distribution server.
Further, as a premise, an IC card for authentication for user authentication and an IC card for settlement (for example, a credit card) are required for purchase.

  First, in order to use the multifunction device, the user's authentication IC card is inserted into the IC card reader, and the authentication data is read to perform automatic login. Since this authentication IC card is automatically logged out when it is removed from the IC card reader, it must be inserted until the use of the multi-function peripheral is completed.

  Next, when you access the article information distribution server that distributes “this month's feature articles” from the MFP, the screen shown in FIG. 1 (A) is displayed. Select the title of the feature article you want to read, When the purchase button is pressed, a purchase instruction for the selected article is transmitted to the article information distribution server.

The article information distribution server transmits a settlement IC card reading request to the multifunction peripheral together with settlement screen data.
However, an IC card for authentication is inserted into the IC card reader, and if it is removed, automatic logout occurs. Therefore, when the MFP receives a IC card reading request for settlement, the IC card reader receives an authentication card from the IC card reader. The automatic logout function is set to be invalid so that automatic logout is not performed even if the IC card is removed, and the screen data for settlement as shown in FIG. 1B is displayed.

The user removes the authentication IC card from the IC card reader and inserts the IC card for settlement.
The multi-function peripheral transmits the card information read from the inserted IC card for settlement to the article information distribution server, and inserts the authentication IC card at the time of login to display a message for re-authentication. .
When the user removes the IC card for settlement from the IC card reader and inserts the authentication IC card at the time of login, the user authentication is performed again based on the read card information, and the automatic logout function is set to be valid.

  When the article information distribution server receives the card information and the settlement is completed, the article data is transmitted to the multifunction device, and the multifunction device prints the sent article information.

  Thus, according to the present invention, before and after reading an IC card different from the authentication IC card, automatic logout is temporarily avoided so that an IC card different from the IC card used for user authentication can be read. ing.

Next, the configuration of the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration example of a multifunction peripheral according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a multifunction device 10 includes a device control unit 11 that controls each function of the multifunction device, a touch panel that accepts user input, an input unit 12a having various input keys, and a display that is displayed on an LCD (liquid crystal display). An operation unit 12 having a unit 12b, a user authentication unit 13 for storing authentication information of a user who can log in to the multifunction device 10 and enabling automatic login according to the authentication information read from the IC card for authentication, the multifunction device Application management unit 14 that stores connection information of applications that can be started from 10, communication unit 15 that communicates with application server 20 via communication network 30 such as a LAN, and one IC connected to multifunction device 10 An IC card control unit 16 that controls the card reader 17 is included.

The application server 20 stores one or more application software, and the application software designated by a request from the multifunction machine 10 is executed.
These application software reads an IC card (for example, a credit card) that stores information required during execution of the software.
This IC card is an IC card other than the authentication IC card for logging in to the multifunction machine 10, and will be referred to as an application IC card hereinafter.

  One or more application servers 20 that execute application software are connected to the multifunction machine 10 via a communication network 30. As the communication network 30, the Internet, a telephone line, a serial cable, or another communication line such as a wired line or a wireless line can be used.

Next, the operation of the part related to the present invention in the device control unit 11 will be described.
Hereinafter, the automatic logout function being effective means that when the IC card for authentication of the multifunction machine 10 is removed from the IC card reader 17, the user is automatically logged out.
The automatic logout function is invalid if the IC card for authentication of the MFP 10 is removed from the IC card reader 17 and the logout is not automatically performed.

(Application execution start)
First, processing from user authentication for login to the start of application execution will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When the multifunction device 10 is turned on and both the user authentication unit 13 and the IC card control unit 16 are available, the automatic logout function is enabled and the user authentication input screen illustrated in FIG. 4 is displayed (step) S1).

  Next, when the user inserts an authentication IC card into the IC card reader 17, the IC card information is read (step S2), and the user authentication unit 13 performs user authentication based on the read card information (step S2). S3).

  When the authentication is completed, a function selection screen such as copy or application execution request is displayed. When the activation request for the application software selected by the user is detected, the application management unit 14 provides the application name and connection information of the requested application software. The application name is acquired, and the application name is transmitted to the application server 20 corresponding to the acquired connection information via the communication network 30 by the communication unit 15, and an application execution request is made (step S4).

  Here, as shown in FIG. 5, the application management unit 14 holds application names and connection information of application software registered and executable in the multifunction machine 10. The connection information is, for example, the URL of the application server 20 that executes this application software.

When the application server 20 receives an application software execution request from the multifunction device 10, the application server 20 executes the processing of the application software having the designated application name, and when the IC card information needs to be read during the execution, for example, FIG. The IC card reading request with the IC card reading request screen data as shown in (B) is transmitted to the multifunction device 10, the IC card information transmitted from the multifunction device 10 is received, and the IC card reading completion notification is transmitted. continue processing.
When the execution of the application software is completed, an execution completion notification is transmitted to the multifunction machine 10.

(Reading IC cards for applications)
When the card information stored in the application IC card is required during the execution of the application software, the application IC card must be inserted into the IC card reader 17 and read.
Therefore, if the authentication IC card inserted into the IC card reader 17 is removed, the automatic logout is performed. Therefore, in this embodiment, the authentication IC card is removed by temporarily disabling the automatic logout function. Try to remove it.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing in the device control unit 11 when an application requests to read an IC card for an application.

  First, when an application IC card read request is received from the application server 20 (step S10), the automatic logout function is disabled, and the application IC card read request screen added to the IC card read request is displayed. Display (step S11).

  After detecting that the authentication IC card has been removed by the user and the authentication IC card has been removed, and detecting that the application IC card has been inserted into the IC card reader 17, the card information is read (step S12), and transmits to the application server 20 via the communication unit 15 (step S13). The application software continues processing using the received card information.

(User re-authentication)
Since the automatic logout function is disabled after the application IC card is read, if the automatic logout function is disabled as it is, any subsequent operation of the MFP can be used without logging in. The automatic logout function must be enabled.

  This detects that the card information of the IC card for the application has been transmitted to the application, or detects that the IC card reading completion notification has been received from the application server 20, or notifies the execution end of the application software This is achieved by performing re-authentication shown in the flowchart of FIG.

First, it is detected that the reading of the application IC card has been completed (step S20), and a message prompting the user to remove the application IC card and insert the authentication IC card is displayed (step S21).
If an IC card for application is inserted into the IC card reader 17, it is detected that the IC card has been removed, and if it is detected that the IC card has been inserted, card information is read from the IC card (step S22). ).

  When it is determined by the user authentication unit 13 that the read card information matches the card information of the authentication IC card when logging in to the multifunction machine 10 (YES in step S23), the automatic logout function is returned to the valid state (YES in step S23). Step S24), re-authentication is terminated, and the process during login is continued.

  On the other hand, when it is determined by the user authentication unit 13 that the read card information does not match the card information of the authentication IC card when logging in to the multifunction machine 10 (NO in step S23), a different user tries to log in. The user who is logged in is automatically logged out (step S16), and user authentication is executed based on the read card information.

  As described above, by configuring the present embodiment, a multifunction peripheral having an automatic login function / automatic login function can read IC card information different from an authentication IC card at a timing required by application software. it can.

<Modification of Embodiment>
In the above description, if the user leaves the office when he / she is mistaken for logging out of the IC card requested from the application software, the authentication IC card insertion promotion message is displayed at the time of re-authentication. However, the authentication IC card is not inserted and cannot be used by another user.

  In this case, in step S21 of FIG. 7, the insertion of the IC card is monitored from the display start of the authentication IC card insertion promotion message, and when the IC card is not inserted within a predetermined time, the process proceeds to step S25. The above problem can be solved by executing automatic logout.

  Alternatively, it may be detected that the execution of the application software has been completed, whether or not the automatic logout function is valid, and re-authenticated only when it is invalid.

  If the authentication IC card for login is not inserted in step S23 of FIG. 7, the process returns to step S21 without automatically logging out the logged-in user, and the authentication IC card for login is You may make it read repeatedly until it is inserted.

  In the above embodiment, the IC card for the application is read in response to the IC card reading request from the application software. However, the IC card for the application that is set in advance when the application software is started is read. The card information may be transmitted and activated.

  In the above-described embodiment, the application software is described as a system provided by the application server. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to a case where these application software are provided in the multifunction peripheral.

  In the above-described embodiment, the multi-function device has been described. However, an automatic login / automatic logout is performed by inserting / removing an authentication IC card into / from an IC card reader, and an IC card different from the authentication IC card during login. The present invention can be similarly applied to a computer system or a device that reads data.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it is needless to say that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... MFP, 11 ... Apparatus control part, 12 ... Operation part, 12a ... Input part, 12b ... Display part, 13 ... User authentication part, 14 ... Application management part, 15 ... Communication part, 16 ... IC card control part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 16 ... Card control part, 17 ... IC card reader, 20 ... Application server, 30 ... Communication network.

Claims (5)

An MFP that can automatically log in / out automatically by inserting / removing an authentication IC card into / from an IC card reader and can execute an application during login,
Based on the authentication request of the second IC card other than the authentication IC card transmitted from the application , the automatic logout function is temporarily disabled before the authentication IC card is removed ,
After authentication of the second IC card inserted into the IC card reader from which the authentication IC card has been removed, an authentication IC card at the time of login is entered into the IC card reader from which the second IC card has been removed. A multifunction device characterized by enabling an automatic logout function temporarily disabled by detecting insertion. An MFP that can automatically log in / out automatically by inserting / removing an authentication IC card into / from an IC card reader and can execute an application during login,
If it is determined that authentication of a second IC card other than the authentication IC card associated with the application is necessary, the automatic logout function is temporarily disabled before the authentication IC card is removed , The card information read from the second IC card inserted into the IC card reader from which the authentication IC card has been removed is transmitted to the application,
The automatic logout function temporarily disabled is enabled by detecting that the authentication IC card at the time of login is inserted into the IC card reader from which the second IC card has been removed. Multifunction machine.   A message prompting the user to insert the authentication IC card is displayed again when a notification of completion of acquisition of card information of the second IC card from the application or a notice of completion of execution of the application is received. Item 3. The multifunction device according to item 1 or 2.   After displaying a message prompting the user to insert the authentication IC card, the insertion of the IC card into the IC card reader is monitored, and if the IC card is not inserted within a predetermined time, automatic logout is executed. The multifunction device according to claim 3.   After displaying a message prompting insertion of the authentication IC card, if it is determined that the card information read from the IC card inserted into the IC card reader is not the card information of the authentication IC card at the time of login, 4. The multifunction device according to claim 3, wherein logout is executed and user authentication is performed based on card information read from an IC card inserted into the IC card reader.

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