JP5704330B2 - Printing system, printing apparatus, and mediation apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system using a printing apparatus, a printing apparatus, and an intermediary apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, printing apparatuses that are connectable to a network and that execute printing in accordance with instructions from other apparatuses connected to the network are known. Patent Document 1 describes an example thereof.

  On the other hand, in recent years, a new printing service concept has been announced. According to this, the user can issue a print instruction for a desired image using a print service website prepared by the service provider. For example, Google Cloud Print is an example of the print service. By using such a printing service, the user can print a desired image without installing a printer driver on his or her PC or mobile terminal. As long as there is a PC or mobile terminal equipped with a web browser, the user can print an image using the website of the print service. On the website of the print service, an image to be printed and a printing apparatus that executes printing can be designated. If the image to be printed has already been uploaded to the website of the print service or another website linked to the print service, simply select the image to be printed on those sites and specify the image to be printed. can do. When the image to be printed is not uploaded to the website of the print service or another website linked to the print service, the user prints the image by uploading the image to the website using a PC or the like. An image can be specified.

  The image designated by the user is converted into print data by the service device provided by the service provider and transmitted to the printing device designated by the user. As a result, the user can freely print without worrying about the presence or absence of the printer driver.

JP 2007-122739 A

  However, in order to perform printing using the printing service as described above, a function for coordinating with the printing service is required on the printing apparatus side. For example, many printing services may publish a method for coordinating with a printing service, such as an API (Application Program Interface) for cooperating with a printing apparatus. In this case, the manufacturer of the printing apparatus needs to develop a printing apparatus having a function to cooperate with the printing service in accordance with a method disclosed by the printing service. However, the cooperation method such as API published by the print service may be updated for the convenience of the service provider. Even if the cooperation method such as the API is updated, in order to maintain the cooperation between the printing apparatus and the printing service, the manufacturer of the printing apparatus must update the function of the printing apparatus owned by the user.

  Even when a print service that can be linked with the printing apparatus is added or deleted, the manufacturer of the printing apparatus needs to update the function of the printing apparatus owned by the user.

  Also, from the user's standpoint, if the manufacturer of the printing device does not update these functions, use a print service with an updated linkage method, or use a new print service. In this case, it is necessary to purchase a new type of printing apparatus corresponding to those services.

  In order to solve such a problem, the present invention provides a printing system and a printing apparatus that can perform printing in cooperation with a printing service even if the printing apparatus does not have a function of directly cooperating with the printing service. For the purpose.

In order to solve the above-described problem, one aspect of the present invention includes an intermediary device connected to a network in which service devices for a plurality of printing services exist, a printing unit that prints an image, and is connected to the network. A printing system comprising a plurality of printing devices, wherein the intermediary device is an acquisition method predetermined by the print service, and print data indicating a location of print data stored in the service device A first acquisition method storage unit that stores, for each print service, a first acquisition method that is an address acquisition method; first identification information that is identification information for the mediating device to identify the printing device; A printing device address storage unit that stores the printing device address indicating the location of the printing device in association with each other, the first identification information, and the service device that identifies the printing device. A printing apparatus storage unit that associates and stores second identification information that is identification information for determination, and a print instruction when a user print instruction is issued to the service apparatus A first notification receiving unit that receives from the service device a first notification that includes second identification information for specifying a printing device that performs printing, and the service device that is the transmission source of the first notification. Based on the second identification information included in the first notification, the print data address acquisition unit that acquires the print data address from the service device using the corresponding first acquisition method, and the print data address acquisition unit A first printing device address identifying unit that identifies a printing device address of a printing device that transmits the acquired print data address; and a printing device address identified by the first printing device address identifying unit. A print data address transmission unit that transmits the print data address acquired by the print data address acquisition unit to the printing device using the address as a destination, and the printing device receives the print data address from the mediation device. A print data address receiving unit for receiving, a first print data acquiring unit for acquiring print data stored in the print data address received by the print data address receiving unit, and print data acquired by the first print data acquiring unit And a first print control unit that causes the printing unit to print the print system .
According to this, the mediation apparatus acquires a print data address using a first acquisition method predetermined by the print service. The printing device acquires print data from the service device based on the print data address received from the mediation device. Therefore, even if the printing apparatus does not store the first acquisition method for each printing service in advance, it can acquire print data and perform printing.

In the above printing system, the intermediary device associates user identification information, which is identification information for the service device to identify a user, with user authentication information identified by the user identification information. An authentication information storage unit for storing, wherein the first notification receiving unit receives the first notification including user identification information for identifying a user who has given the print instruction, and the print data address acquiring unit is configured to receive the first notification. The print data address may be acquired from the service device using the one acquisition method and authentication information corresponding to the user identification information included in the first notification.
According to this, the print data address can be acquired from the service device that authenticates the user when the print data address is acquired.

In the printing system described above , the intermediary device is an acquisition method predetermined by the print service, and a second acquisition method that is an acquisition method of print data stored on the network by the print service. The second acquisition method storage unit stored for each print service and the print device that has transmitted the print data address by the print data address transmission unit correspond to the service device that is the transmission source of the first notification. A second acquisition method transmission unit that transmits a second acquisition method, wherein the printing device includes a second acquisition method reception unit that receives the second acquisition method from the mediation device, and the first print data acquisition The unit may acquire the print data by using the second acquisition method received by the second acquisition method reception unit.
According to this, when acquiring the print data, the printing apparatus can acquire the print data from the service apparatus that needs to use the second acquisition method predetermined by the print service.

In the above printing system, the intermediary device associates user identification information, which is identification information for the service device to identify a user, with user authentication information identified by the user identification information. An authentication information storage unit for storing, wherein the first notification receiving unit receives the first notification including user identification information for specifying a user who has given the print instruction, and the second acquisition method transmitting unit is configured to receive the first acquisition method 2 acquisition method and authentication information corresponding to the user identification information included in the first notification is transmitted to the printing device, and the printing device receives the second acquisition method reception unit from the mediation device to the second mETHOD acquisition and, to receive the authentication information, the first print data acquisition unit, second acquisition method received by the second acquisition method receiving unit, and, by using the authentication information, acquires the print data It may be.
According to this, the printing apparatus can acquire the print data from the service apparatus that authenticates the user when acquiring the print data.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a mediating apparatus connected to a network in which a plurality of printing service service apparatuses are present, a printing unit that prints an image, and a plurality of printing connected to the network. An intermediary device, wherein the intermediary device is an acquisition method predetermined by the print service, the second acquisition method being an acquisition method of print data stored in the service device, Corresponding second acquisition method storage unit stored for each printing service, first identification information that is identification information for the mediating device to identify the printing device, and a printing device address indicating the location of the printing device A printing apparatus address storage unit that stores the information; the first identification information; and the second identification information that is identification information for the service apparatus to identify the printing apparatus. And a printing device storage unit that stores information and a notification that the printing instruction has been issued when a user's printing instruction is given to the service device, and a second that identifies the printing device that is to execute printing The print data from the service device using a first notification receiving unit that receives a first notification including identification information from the service device, and a second acquisition method corresponding to the service device that is the transmission source of the first notification. A print device address of the printing device that transmits the print data acquired by the second print data acquisition unit based on the second identification information included in the first notification Print data acquired by the second print data acquisition unit using the second printing device address specifying unit and the printing device address specified by the second printing device address specifying unit as destinations. A print data transmission unit that transmits the print data to the printing device, the print device receiving the print data from the mediation device, and the print data received by the print data reception unit. A printing system comprising: a second print control unit that causes a printing unit to perform printing .
According to this, the mediation apparatus acquires print data using the second acquisition method predetermined by the print service. The printing device acquires print data from the mediation device. Therefore, even if the printing apparatus does not previously store the second acquisition method for each print service, it can acquire print data and perform printing.

In the above printing system, the intermediary device associates user identification information, which is identification information for the service device to identify a user, with user authentication information identified by the user identification information. An authentication information storage unit for storing, wherein the first notification receiving unit receives the first notification including user identification information for identifying a user who has issued the print instruction, and the second print data acquiring unit includes the first print data acquisition unit (2) Print data may be acquired using an acquisition method and authentication information corresponding to user identification information included in the first notification.
According to this, the printing apparatus can acquire the print data from the service apparatus that authenticates the user when acquiring the print data.

In the printing system described above , the intermediary apparatus stores a registration method for registering a new printing apparatus in the printing service, which is a predetermined registration method for each printing service. And a second notification receiving unit that receives a second notification including a new printing device address indicating the location of the new printing device from a new printing device that is a printing device newly added to the printing system. The printing device address stored in the printing device address storage unit in association with the new printing device address received by the second notification receiving unit and the new first identification information for specifying the new printing device Register the storage control unit and the new printing device that is the transmission source of the second notification with the service device using the registration method stored in the registration method storage unit. A registration unit, a second identification information acquisition unit for acquiring, from the service device, second identification information assigned by the service device to the new printing device after registration by the registration unit, and specifying the new printing device A printing apparatus storage control unit that associates the new first identification information for use with the second identification information acquisition unit acquired by the second identification information acquisition unit and stores the first identification information in the printing apparatus storage unit. May be .
According to this, the user can register a new printing apparatus in the printing system and register it as a printing apparatus that uses the registered printing apparatus. Even if the printing apparatus does not store a registration method for each printing service, it can be registered as a printing apparatus to be used.

In the printing system described above , the intermediary device stores a registration method for registering a new printing device in the service device for each printing service, which is a registration method predetermined by the printing service. The user identification information of the user and the printing device designated as the printing device used by the user are specified from the registered registration method storage unit and the terminal used by the user to which user identification information is assigned in advance from the printing service. Registration information stored in the registration method storage unit as a printing device used by the user, a user information acquisition unit that acquires printing device identification information that is information, and a printing device specified by the printing device identification information A registration unit for registering with the service device using a method and user identification information acquired by the user information acquisition unit; It may be e.
According to this, it is possible to register a printing apparatus to be used for each user.

In the above-described printing system, the mediating apparatus specifies the print service designated as the print service used by the user, together with the user identification information and the printing apparatus specifying information. get the print service specifying information is information, the registration unit may I row registers the print service corresponding to the print service specific information that the user information acquisition unit has acquired.
According to this, it is possible to register a print service to be used for each user.

In the printing system described above , the intermediary apparatus stores a registration method for registering a new printing apparatus in the printing service, which is a predetermined registration method for each printing service. And a second notification receiving unit that receives a second notification including a new printing device address indicating the location of the new printing device from a new printing device that is a printing device newly added to the printing system. The printing device address stored in the printing device address storage unit in association with the new printing device address received by the second notification receiving unit and the new first identification information for specifying the new printing device The first new identification information for specifying the new printing device is displayed to the new printing device for output and display by the storage control unit and the new printing device. A first identification information transmitting unit to be transmitted, and a terminal used by a user to which user identification information has been assigned in advance from the printing service, and the user identification information of the user and a printing apparatus designated as the printing apparatus used by the user A registration method stored in the registration method storage unit as a printing device used by the user, a user information acquisition unit that acquires the first identification information, and a printing device specified by the first identification information; Using the user identification information acquired by the user information acquisition unit, a registration unit for registering in the service device, and after the registration by the registration unit, the second identification information assigned to the printing device by the service device is The second identification information acquisition unit acquired from the service device, the first identification information acquired by the user information acquisition unit, and the second identification information acquisition unit Ri and acquired second identification information, the association, the printing apparatus storage control unit to be stored in the printing apparatus storage unit, it may be provided.
According to this, the user can designate a printing apparatus to be used using the first identification information assigned by the mediation apparatus.

In the printing system described above , the printing apparatus includes a third notification transmission unit that performs a third notification indicating that the printing is completed to the mediation device after printing by the printing unit, The intermediary device receives the third notification from the printing device, and after receiving the third notification by the third notification receiving unit, the printing is completed for the service device by the printing device. it may comprise a fourth notification transmission unit indicating that.
According to this, the service device can update the printing status. The user can check the printing status by accessing the service device.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, a mediating apparatus connected to a network including a plurality of printing service service apparatuses, a printing unit that prints an image, and a plurality of connected to the network. A printing apparatus in a printing system comprising a printing apparatus, wherein the printing apparatus receives a print data address indicating a location of print data stored in the service device from the intermediary device; and A first print data acquisition unit that acquires print data stored in a print data address received by the print data address reception unit, and a first that causes the print unit to print the print data acquired by the first print data acquisition unit. a print controller, a printing apparatus characterized by comprising a.
According to this, the mediation apparatus acquires a print data address using a first acquisition method predetermined by the print service. The printing device acquires print data from the service device based on the print data address received from the mediation device. Therefore, even if the printing apparatus does not store the first acquisition method for each printing service in advance, it can acquire print data and perform printing.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, a mediating apparatus connected to a network including a plurality of printing service service apparatuses, a printing unit that prints an image, and a plurality of connected to the network. A printing device of a printing system comprising a printing device, wherein the printing device receives a print data stored in the service device from the intermediary device, and a print data received by the print data receiving unit. And a second print control unit that prints data by the printing unit .
According to this, the mediation apparatus acquires print data using the second acquisition method predetermined by the print service. The printing device acquires print data from the mediation device. Therefore, even if the printing apparatus does not previously store the second acquisition method for each print service, it can acquire print data and perform printing.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, a mediating apparatus connected to a network including a plurality of printing service service apparatuses, a printing unit that prints an image, and a plurality of connected to the network. An intermediary device of a printing system comprising a printing device, wherein the intermediary device is an acquisition method predetermined by the print service, and a print data address indicating a location of print data stored in the service device A first acquisition method storage unit that stores the first acquisition method for each printing service, first identification information that is identification information for the mediating device to identify the printing device, and the printing A printing device address storage unit that stores a printing device address indicating the location of the device in association with each other, the first identification information, and the service device specifying the printing device A printing apparatus storage unit that stores the second identification information, which is identification information for use in association with each other, and a print instruction when a user print instruction is issued to the service apparatus. Corresponding to a first notification receiving unit that receives from the service device a first notification including second identification information for specifying a printing device that performs printing, and the service device that is the transmission source of the first notification The print data address acquisition unit that acquires the print data address from the service device using the first acquisition method, and the print data address acquisition unit based on the second identification information included in the first notification. A first printing device address specifying unit that specifies a printing device address of a printing device that transmits the print data address, and a printing device address specified by the first printing device address specifying unit. Using as a destination, a print data address acquired by the print data address obtaining unit, a mediation device being characterized in that and a print data address transmission unit that transmits to the printing apparatus.
According to this, the mediation apparatus acquires a print data address using a first acquisition method predetermined by the print service. The printing device acquires print data from the service device based on the print data address received from the mediation device. Therefore, even if the printing apparatus does not store the first acquisition method for each printing service in advance, it can acquire print data and perform printing.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, a mediating apparatus connected to a network including a plurality of printing service service apparatuses, a printing unit that prints an image, and a plurality of connected to the network. A second intermediary device of a printing system comprising a printing device, wherein the intermediary device is an acquisition method predetermined by the print service and is an acquisition method of print data stored in the service device A second acquisition method storage unit that stores a method for each printing service; first identification information that is identification information for the mediating device to identify the printing device; and a printing device address that indicates the location of the printing device. And a second identification that is identification information for the service device to identify the printing device. A printing device storage unit that stores information in association with the service device, and a print notification when the user issues a print instruction to the service device. Using a first notification receiving unit that receives a first notification including second identification information for specifying a device from the service device, and a second acquisition method corresponding to the service device that is the transmission source of the first notification, A second print data acquisition unit that acquires the print data from the service device, and a printing device that transmits the print data acquired by the second print data acquisition unit based on the second identification information included in the first notification The second printing data acquisition unit uses the second printing device address identification unit that identifies the printing device address and the printing device address identified by the second printing device address identification unit as the destination. The resulting print data is a mediation device being characterized in that and a print data transmitting unit for transmitting to the printing apparatus.
According to this, the mediation apparatus acquires print data using the second acquisition method predetermined by the print service. The printing device acquires print data from the mediation device. Therefore, even if the printing apparatus does not previously store the second acquisition method for each print service, it can acquire print data and perform printing.

1 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of a printing system 10. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a printing system 10. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a storage area of a storage unit 130. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a storage area of a storage unit 230. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a printer management table. FIG. It is the conceptual diagram which showed an example of the user management table. It is the conceptual diagram which showed an example of the utilization printer management table. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the printing system 10 according to the first embodiment. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the printing system 10 according to the first embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the printing system 10 according to the second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a printing system 10 according to a third embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a printing system 10 according to a third embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed operation | movement of the printing system 10 in 4th Embodiment.

<First Embodiment>
Hereinafter, a first embodiment embodying the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings to be referred to are used for explaining technical features that can be adopted by the present invention. The configuration of the apparatus described, flowcharts of various processes, and the like are merely illustrative examples. It is not intended to limit the present invention only to that.

<Outline of printing system 10>
With reference to FIG. 1, the outline of the printing system 10 which is 1st Embodiment which actualized this invention is demonstrated. The printing system 10 includes a plurality of printers 100 and an intermediary device 200. The printing system 10 can print a predetermined image using a printing service provided by a service provider. In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, three printers 100, a printer 100 </ b> A, a printer 100 </ b> B, and a printer 100 </ b> C are arranged as the printer 100 of the printing system 10. In the description of the present embodiment, when any one of the printer 100A, the printer 100B, and the printer 100C is described, it is simply referred to as the printer 100.

  The printing system 10 is connected to a user terminal 500 and a plurality of service devices 300 via a network 400. In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, three print services of the service device 300A, the service device 300B, and the service device 300C are connected. The service device 300A is a device installed by the service provider A to provide the service A. Service device 300B is a device installed by service provider B in order to provide service B. The service device 300C is a device installed by the service provider C to provide the service C. Services A to C are printing services such as Google Cloud Print, respectively. In the description of the present embodiment, when any of the service devices 300A to 300B is described, the service device 300 is simply referred to as the service device 300.

  The printing service is provided by the service device 300 installed on the Internet by each service provider. Specifically, the service device 300 is configured by a known Web server or the like. The service device 300 may be configured by a single physical device, but may also be configured by a plurality of devices connected to each other via a network. The service device 300 communicates with other terminals connected to the Internet, and provides predetermined services to the other terminals.

  The printer 100 has a printing function. In addition, the user of the printer 100 can acquire print data of a desired electronic file from the print service and can print using the print function of the printer 100.

  The intermediary device 200 may be a device having a known server function. The mediation device 200 may be prepared by the manufacturer of the printer 100 by itself, but it is also conceivable to use a known rental server or a virtual machine represented by Amazon EC2. The intermediary device 200 may be configured by a single physical device, but may also be configured by a plurality of devices connected to each other via a network. In the present embodiment, description will be made assuming that the device is physically a single device.

<Hardware Configuration of Printing System 10>
The hardware configuration of the printing system 10 will be described with reference to FIG. The printer 100, the mediation device 200, the service device 300, and the user terminal 500 are connected to each other via a network 400. As the network 400, for example, an Internet network can be adopted. The printer 100, the mediation device 200, the service device 300, and the user terminal 500 exchange data with each other according to the TCP / IP protocol.

  First, the hardware configuration of the printer 100 will be described. The printer 100 includes a communication unit 110, a control unit 120, a storage unit 130, a display unit 150, a printing unit 160, and an operation unit 180.

  The communication unit 110 is a device for communicating with other devices connected to the network. As the communication unit 110, a known network card can be adopted.

  The control unit 120 includes a CPU (not shown) and ROM and RAM connected to the CPU. The CPU controls the operation of the printer 100 according to a program stored in the ROM. Specifically, the ROM stores a program for transmitting / receiving various data via the mediation apparatus 200 and the network 400. The RAM is a storage device that temporarily stores various data.

  The storage unit 130 is a non-volatile storage device such as a NAND flash memory. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the storage unit 130 includes a serial number storage area 131, an intermediary device address storage area 132, and a printer ID storage area 133.

  The serial number storage area 131 is an area for storing a serial number. The serial number is a serial number assigned by the printer manufacturer to manage its own product.

  The mediation device address storage area 132 is an area in which an address such as a URL of the mediation device 200 is stored.

  The printer ID storage area 133 is an area for storing INPID that is an ID assigned to the mediation apparatus 200.

  The display unit 150 is a display device including a known display such as an LCD. The display unit 150 displays and outputs various types of information in accordance with instructions from the control unit 120.

  The printing unit 160 is a device that prints an image in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 120.

  The operation unit 180 is a device that includes a plurality of operation buttons operated by the user and transmits a signal corresponding to the user's pressing operation to the control unit 120. The user can input a desired instruction by operating the operation unit 180.

  Next, a hardware configuration of the mediation device 200 will be described. In the description of the present embodiment, the mediation device 200 is described as one server that physically exists. However, as described above, the mediation device 200 includes a plurality of physical devices in cooperation with each other. It may be a virtual machine such as EC2 that functions as a server.

  The mediation apparatus 200 includes a communication unit 210, a control unit 220, and a storage unit 230.

  The communication unit 210 is a device for communicating with other devices connected to the network. As the communication unit 210, a known network card can be adopted.

  The control unit 220 includes a CPU (not shown), and a ROM and a RAM connected to the CPU. The CPU controls the operation of the mediation apparatus 200 according to the program stored in the ROM and the storage unit 230. The RAM is a storage device that temporarily stores various data.

  The storage unit 230 is a non-volatile storage device such as a hard disk drive. As shown in FIG. 4, the storage unit 230 includes a printer management table storage area 231, a user management table storage area 232, a used printer management table storage area 233, a registration method storage area 234, a first acquisition method storage area 235, a second An acquisition method storage area 236, a model information storage area 237, a print data storage area 238, a print job storage area 239, and an application ID storage area 240 are provided.

  The printer management table storage area 231 is an area for storing a printer management table. An example of the printer management table is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the printer management table is a table that stores the INPID assigned to the printer 100, the serial number of the printer 100, and the address of the printer 100 in association with each other. The INPID is an ID assigned to the printer 100 by the mediation device 200 in order to uniquely identify the printer 100. The address of the printer 100 is an IP address of the printer 100 and an address such as a port number.

  The user management table storage area 232 is an area for storing a user management table. An example of the user management table is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the user management table stores INUID, user name, user information, service A authentication information, service B authentication information, and service C authentication information in association with each other. It is. The INUID is an ID for uniquely identifying the user. The user name is a character string used when the mediation apparatus 200 displays a predetermined message or the like to the user. The user information is various kinds of information required by the business operator who provides the printing system 10 such as the user's age, sex, address, telephone number, e-mail address, credit card number, and the like. The service A authentication information is authentication information for the service device 300A to authenticate the user. The service B authentication information is authentication information for the service device 300B to authenticate the user. The service C authentication information is authentication information for the service device 300C to authenticate the user.

  The used printer management table storage area 233 is an area for storing a used printer management table for each user. An example of the used printer management table is shown in FIG. The used printer management table shown in FIG. 7 is a used printer management table of the user A whose INUID is yamamoto. The used printer management table is a table that stores the printer name, INPID, SPID of the printing service A, SPID of the printing service B, and SPID of the printing service C in association with each other. The printer name is a character string displayed when the user selects a printer to print on the website of the print service. The SPID is an ID assigned to the printer 100 so that the service device 300 uniquely identifies the printer 100. Each printing service service device 300 assigns a unique SPID to the printer 100.

  The registration method storage area 234 is an area for storing a registration method for registering a new printer in the print service. The registration method is a method predetermined by the printing service. The registration method storage area 234 stores a plurality of registration methods corresponding to each of a plurality of printing services.

  The first acquisition method storage area 235 is an area for storing a first acquisition method that is a method for acquiring a print data address from the service device 300. The first acquisition method is a method for acquiring a print data address. The print data address is information indicating the location of the print data stored in the service device 300. The first acquisition method is a method predetermined by the print service. The first acquisition method storage area 235 stores a plurality of first acquisition methods corresponding to each of the plurality of print services.

  The second acquisition method storage area 236 is an area for storing a second acquisition method that is a method for acquiring print data from the service device 300. The second acquisition method is a method for acquiring print data stored in the service device 300. The second acquisition method is a method predetermined by the print service. The second acquisition method storage area 236 stores a plurality of second acquisition methods corresponding to each of the plurality of print services.

  The model information storage area 237 is an area in which various types of information relating to the model of the printer manufactured by the printer manufacturer is stored. Specifically, a printer model, a serial number assigned to the model, and information indicating the performance of the model are stored in association with each other. The mediation device 200 transmits information indicating the model performance and the like to the service device 300 as necessary.

  The print data storage area 238 is an area for storing print data received from the service device 300.

  The print job storage area 239 is an area for storing information related to a print job to be described later.

  The application ID storage area 240 is an area for storing an application ID issued by the service device 300. The application ID is an ID issued from each service device 300 to an application that performs OAuth authentication.

  Next, the hardware configuration of the user terminal 500 will be described. The user terminal 500 may be a known personal computer installed with a web browser. Of course, devices other than personal computers may be used. For example, mobile terminals such as smartphones and tablet terminals may be used.

  The user terminal 500 includes a communication unit 510, a control unit 520, and a storage unit 530.

  The communication unit 510 is a device for communicating with other devices connected to the network. As the communication unit 510, a known network card can be employed.

  The control unit 520 includes a CPU (not shown) and ROM and RAM connected to the CPU. The CPU controls the operation of the user terminal 500 according to the program stored in the ROM and the storage unit 530. The RAM is a storage device that temporarily stores various data.

  The storage unit 530 is a non-volatile storage device such as a hard disk drive. The storage unit 530 stores application programs such as a web browser.

  The display unit 550 is a display device including a known display such as an LCD. Display unit 550 displays and outputs various types of information in accordance with instructions from control unit 520.

  The operation unit 580 is a device that includes a plurality of operation buttons operated by the user and transmits a signal corresponding to the user's pressing operation to the control unit 520. The user can input a desired instruction by operating the operation unit 580.

<Operation of Printing System 10>
Next, the operation of the printing system 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9 are flowcharts showing the operation of the printing system 10. The operation of the printer 100 is realized by the control unit 120 executing a program stored in the ROM and controlling the hardware of the printer 100. Further, the operation of the mediation device 200 is realized by the control unit 220 executing the program stored in the ROM and the storage unit 230 and controlling the hardware of the mediation device 200.

  First, an operation when adding the printer 100 to the printing system 10 will be described with reference to FIG. When adding the printer 100 to the printing system 10, the user inputs a printer management request operation to the printer 100. The user can input a printer management request operation by operating the operation unit 180. The printer management request operation is an operation that is input when the printer 100 is added to the printing system 10. The user installs the printer 100 in a home or office, connects the printer 100 and the network 400, and then inputs a printer management request operation. The printer 100 that has received the input of the printer management request operation transmits a printer management request to the mediation apparatus 200 (S100). The printer management request includes the serial number of the printer 100. The serial number included in the printer management request is stored in advance in the serial number storage area 131 of the storage unit 130. It should be noted that the address of the mediation device 200 that is the address of the printer management request transmission destination is also stored in advance in the mediation device address storage area 132 of the storage unit 130.

  Upon receiving the printer management request, the mediation apparatus 200 assigns an INPID to the printer 100 that has transmitted the printer management request (S101). The INPID is an ID that the mediation apparatus 200 assigns to uniquely identify the printer 100. The mediation apparatus 200 stores the INPID, the serial number received from the printer 100, and the address of the printer 100 in the printer management table in association with each other. The mediation apparatus 200 can specify the address of the printer 100 based on the transmission source address of the printer management request. Then, the mediation apparatus 200 transmits the newly assigned INPID to the printer 100 (S102).

  The printer 100 that has received the INPID displays the received INPID on the display unit 150 (S103). In addition, the printer 100 stores the received INPID in the printer ID storage area 133. Thereafter, the INPID displayed on the display unit 150 is used for registering a printer when the user creates an account for the printing system 10. With the above operation, the process for adding the printer 100 to the mediation apparatus 200 is completed.

  Next, the operation of the printing system 10 when the user creates an account for the printing system 10 will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the processes from S100 to S103 described above are executed for a plurality of printers 100 in advance. The user can designate a printer that uses a desired printer 100 from among a plurality of printers 100.

  The user can create an account for the printing system 10 on the registration page provided by the mediation apparatus 200. First, the user activates the web browser of the user terminal 500 and performs an operation for displaying a registration page for a new account. The operation performed by the user at this time is, for example, an operation of inputting a URL or the like of the registration page into the web browser. Upon receiving the URL input, the user terminal 500 transmits a registration page transmission request to the mediation apparatus 200 (S104).

  Upon receiving the registration page transmission request, the mediation apparatus 200 transmits the HTML document of the registration page to the user terminal 500 (S105).

  The user terminal 500 that has received the HTML document of the registration page displays the registration page on the display unit 550. On the registration page, an input box for inputting an INUID, a user name, various types of user information, an INPID of the printer to be used, a printer name of the printer to be used, and five types of information is arranged.

  In the input box for INUID, the user needs to input an INUID that is not yet used by other users. The INUID is an ID for the mediation apparatus 200 to specify a user.

  In the user name input box, the user can input a character string to be used as the user name. The user can input a favorite character string.

  In the input boxes for various user information, the user inputs various information required by the provider providing the printing system 10 such as the user's age, gender, address, telephone number, e-mail address, credit card number, and the like. There is a need to.

  In the INPID input box, the user inputs the INPID of the printer that the user wants to use. The user inputs the INPID confirmed on the display unit 150 of the printer 100.

  In the printer name input box, the user can input a character string that the user wants to use. The user can input a favorite character string as a printer name.

  It is desirable that a plurality of INPID input boxes be prepared so that the user can designate a printer that uses a plurality of printers 100. The printer name input box is arranged to be paired with the INPID input box. When there are a plurality of INPIDs to be input, a plurality of printer name input boxes are prepared in accordance with the number of INPID input boxes.

  When the user inputs various information in each input box and then presses the send button displayed on the registration page, the user terminal 500 displays the INUID, user name, various user information, and usage input in the input box. The INPID of the printer to be used and the printer name information of the printer to be used are transmitted to the mediation apparatus 200 (S106).

  When receiving the information input in the input box, the mediation apparatus 200 stores the received information in association with each other in the user management table. The user management table has columns for storing INUID, user name, user information, service A authentication information, service B authentication information, and service C authentication information. However, the information received this time among the information stored in the user management table includes only three types of information: INUID, user name, and user information. Here, the mediation apparatus 200 stores these three types of information in the user management table. The service A authentication information, the service B authentication information, and the service C authentication information are stored after the user selects a service to be used. Also, the mediation apparatus 200 that has received the information input in the input box creates a new user-used printer management table and stores it in the used printer management table storage area 233. The used printer management table includes columns for storing a printer name, INPID, SPID of the printing service A, SPID of the printing service B, and SPID of the printing service C. However, the information received this time among the information stored in the used printer management table includes only two types of information, that is, the printer name and INPID. Here, the mediation apparatus 200 stores these two types of information in the newly created used printer management table. Note that the SPID of the print service A, the SPID of the print service B, and the SPID of the print service C are stored after the mediation apparatus 200 registers the printer for each service. After storing the printer name and INPID received from the user terminal 500 in the used printer management table, the mediation apparatus 200 transmits the HTML document of the print service list page to the user terminal 500 (S107). The print service list page is a page that presents a list of print services mediated by the printing system 10.

  The user terminal 500 that has received the HTML document of the print service list page displays the print service list page. On the print service list page, the user can select a print service to be used and input account information of the selected print service. The user needs to create an account for a printing service to be used in advance. The print service account information is composed of two types of information: a SUID and a password. The SUID is an ID for the service apparatus 300 to uniquely identify a user, and is an ID assigned by the print service when creating a print service account. The password is a password set by the user when creating the print service account. On the print service list page, a plurality of print services that can be mediated by the mediation apparatus 200 can be selected. When the user selects a plurality of print services, the user needs to input account information corresponding to each print service.

  When the user selects a print service and inputs account information on the print service list page and then presses a send button displayed on the service list page, the user terminal 500 identifies the print service selected by the user. The information and the account information input by the user are transmitted to the mediation apparatus 200 (S108).

  The mediation apparatus 200 that has received the information for specifying the print service and the account information updates the user management table. Specifically, when the user selects service A, service A account information received from user terminal 500 as service A authentication information is stored in the user management table. For example, when the user selects the service A and the service B, the account information of each service received from the user terminal 500 is stored in the user management table as the authentication information of the service A and the service B.

  The mediation apparatus 200 storing the user authentication information transmits a registration request to the service apparatus 300 of the print service selected by the user (S109). The mediation device 200 transmits a registration request to the service device 300 using the registration method stored in the registration method storage area 234. Information included in the registration request transmitted by the mediation apparatus 200 differs depending on the print service. Further, as an example of the communication form between the mediation device 200 and the service device 300, it is conceivable to communicate using a protocol such as HTTP / 1.1, but the method used for the registration request is the same for all print services. Not exclusively. Also, the same communication protocol itself may not be usable. As described above, the registration method is different for each service device 300. Therefore, the intermediary device 200 stores the registration method corresponding to each service device 300 in the registration method storage area 234 in advance, and creates a registration request using the registration method corresponding to each print service. The intermediary device 200 transmits a registration request created using a registration method corresponding to each print service to the service device 300.

  Note that the service apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment will be described as requiring user account information, a printer name, and information regarding the printer model as a registration request. Therefore, the mediation apparatus 200 transmits a registration request including user account information, a printer name, and information regarding the printer model.

  The mediation apparatus 200 can use the account information stored in the user management table as the account information used for the registration request. Further, the mediation apparatus 200 can use the printer name stored in the used printer management table as the printer name used for the registration request. Further, the intermediary device 200 identifies a model from the serial number of the printer designated to be used by the user, and transmits a registration request using information on the model stored in the model information storage area 237.

  The service device 300 that has received the registration request from the mediation device 200 assigns an SPID to the new printer. Then, the newly assigned SPID, the account information, the printer name, the printer model information, and the print job notification transmission destination address included in the received registration request are stored in association with each other. . The service device 300 stores the address of the transmission source of the registration request as the address of the transmission destination of the print job notification. Therefore, the address stored in the service device 300 here is not the address of the printer 100 but the address of the mediation device 200. Therefore, the print job notification from the service device 300 is transmitted to the mediation device 200 instead of the printer 100.

  After storing various types of information, the service device 300 transmits the SPID assigned by the service device 300 to the registration request transmission source device, that is, the mediation device 200 (S110).

  The mediation apparatus 200 that has received the SPID from the service apparatus 300 stores the received SPID in the use printer management table. When received from the service device 300A, the received SPID is stored in the SPID column of the print service A in the used printer management table. When received from the service device 300B, the received SPID is stored in the SPID column of the print service B. When received from the service device 300C, the received SPID is stored in the SPID column of the print service C.

  When the user designates a plurality of printers 100 on the registration page, the mediation apparatus 200 registers the plurality of printers 100 in the service apparatus 300 by transmitting the registration request in S109 a plurality of times. When the mediation apparatus 200 transmits a registration request a plurality of times, the service apparatus 300 returns a newly assigned SPID in response to each registration request (S110). The mediation device 200 updates the used printer management table every time a new SPID is received from the service device 300.

  If the user specifies a plurality of print services that the user wants to use on the registration page, the mediation apparatus 200 transmits the registration request in S109 described above and receives it from the service apparatus 300 in S110 for each print service selected by the user. The operation of storing the SPID to be stored in the used printer management table is repeated.

  After registering all the printers 100 for all the service apparatuses 300, the mediation apparatus 200 transmits an HTML document of a registration completion page to the user terminal 500 (S111). The registration completion page is a page for notifying the user that registration has been completed.

  Through the operations from S104 to S111 described above, the printer 100 is registered as a printer that can be used for the print service.

  Next, the operation of the printing system 10 when the user prints a desired image using the printing service will be described with reference to FIG. When a user prints an image using a print service, the user gives a print instruction on a website provided by the service device 300.

  First, the user activates the web browser of the user terminal 500 and performs an operation for displaying an authentication page of a desired print service. For example, an operation for inputting the URL of the authentication page into the web browser. When receiving the input of the URL, the user terminal 500 transmits an authentication page transmission request to the service device 300 (S120).

  Receiving the authentication page transmission request, the service apparatus 300 transmits the authentication page HTML document to the user terminal 500 (S121).

  The user terminal 500 that has received the HTML document of the authentication page causes the display unit 550 to display the authentication page. The authentication page is a page for the user to input print service account information. Specifically, an input box for inputting a print service SUID and password is arranged on the authentication page. When the user inputs the print service SUID and password, the user terminal 500 transmits the input SUID and password to the service apparatus 300 (S122).

  When receiving the user ID and password from the user terminal 500, the service device 300 authenticates the user based on the received SUID and password. When the authentication is successful, the service device 300 transmits an HTML document of a print instruction reception page to the user terminal 500 (S123). The print instruction reception page is a page for the user to issue a print instruction for a desired image. On the print instruction reception page, a list of images uploaded in advance by the user to the service apparatus 300 and a list of printers 100 that can be used by the user are displayed. The user can select an image to be printed and a printer 100 to be used on the print instruction reception page. The HTML document transmitted by the service device 300 includes image identification information and information on the SPID of the printer 100 assigned by the print service in order to identify the image selected by the user and the printer 100. Yes. In the list of printers 100 that can be used by the user, a list of printer names transmitted by the mediation apparatus 200 in S109 described above is displayed. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the user has uploaded a plurality of images in advance on the upload page provided by the service device 300.

  When the user selects an image to be printed on the print instruction reception page and the printer 100 to be used, the user terminal 500 sends information for identifying the selected image and the SPID of the selected printer 100 to the service device 300. Transmit (S124).

  When the service device 300 receives information for identifying the selected image and the SPID of the selected printer 100 from the user terminal 500, the service device 300 creates print data for the selected image, and the created print data is used as the service device 300. Stored in a predetermined storage area. The print data here is data in a format that can be printed by the printer 100. Data in any format may be used as long as the printer 100 can print. For example, when the printer 100 can print only with data described in a predetermined printer language, the service device 300 generates print data in a printer language that can be understood by the printer 100 based on an electronic file of an image selected by the user. create. Therefore, the service device 300 includes printer drivers corresponding to various printers. Further, when the printer 100 has a function capable of executing printing from data in a predetermined file format such as PDF format, the service apparatus 300 creates a PDF format electronic file as print data based on the image electronic file. May be. Of course, in this case, if the electronic file of the image is originally an electronic file in PDF format, the service apparatus 300 may not create a new electronic file in PDF format. The service device 300 newly assigns an SJID that is the ID of the print job, this SJID, the print data address that is the address of the print data stored in the service device 300, the SUID of the user who issued the print instruction, and the user The SPID of the printer selected by the above and the status of the print job are stored in association with each other. Here, “QUEUED” is stored as the status of the print job. “QUEUED” is information indicating that printing has not yet been completed.

  In this way, the service device 300 storing the print data sends a print job notification to the transmission destination address of the print job notification stored in association with the SPID received in S124 (S125). In the service device 300, the address stored in association with the SPID is not the address of the printer 100 but the address of the mediation device 200. Therefore, the service device 300 notifies the mediation device 200 of a print job. The print job notification includes the SJID, SUID, and SPID stored in association with the print data address.

  The mediation apparatus 200 that has received the print job notification identifies the printer based on the received print job notification (S126). Specifically, the mediation apparatus 200 specifies an INPID corresponding to the SPID included in the print job notification and the address of the printer. The INPID is extracted from the used printer management table based on the received SPID. The printer address is extracted from the printer management table based on the extracted INPID.

  The mediation apparatus 200 that has specified the printer transmits a print data address request to the service apparatus 300 to the service apparatus 300 (S127). The print data address request includes SJID and account information. The SJID included in the print data address request is the SJID received from the service device 300. Account information corresponding to the SUID included in the print job notification is extracted from the user management table, and the account information is used for the print data address request. Note that the first acquisition method, which is the method for acquiring the print data address, also differs for each print service, similar to the registration method described above. For this reason, the intermediary device 200 stores a first acquisition method corresponding to each print service in the first acquisition method storage area 235 in advance. The mediation apparatus 200 transmits a print data address request corresponding to each print service by using the first acquisition method stored in the first acquisition method storage area 235.

  Receiving the print data address request, the service device 300 transmits the print data address to the mediation device 200. The service device 300 performs authentication based on account information included in the print data address request. If the authentication is successful, the service device 300 transmits the print data address stored in association with the SJID included in the print data address request to the mediation device 200 (S128).

  The mediation apparatus 200 that has received the print data address transmits a print data request to the service apparatus 300 (S129). Note that the second acquisition method, which is the print data acquisition method, also differs for each print service, similar to the registration method described above. For this reason, the intermediary device 200 stores a second acquisition method corresponding to each print service in the second acquisition method storage area 236 in advance. The mediation apparatus 200 transmits a print data request corresponding to each print service by using the second acquisition method stored in the second acquisition method storage area 236. The print data request includes the print data address acquired from the service device 300 and the account information included in the user management table.

  The service device 300 that has received the print data request transmits the print data to the mediation device 200 (S130). The service device 300 performs user authentication based on account information included in the print data request. When the authentication is successful, the service device 300 transmits the print data stored in the print data address included in the print data request to the mediation device 200.

  The mediation device 200 stores the print data received from the service device 300 in the print data storage area 238 of the storage unit 230. The mediation apparatus 200 also newly assigns an INJID that is the ID of the print job, and uses this INJID, INPID, identification information for specifying the print service, SJID, and the address of the print data stored in the mediation apparatus 200. The second print data address is stored in the print job storage area 239 in association with each other. As the INPID stored at this time, the INPID specified in S126 described above is used.

  The mediation apparatus 200 that has received the print data transmits a print job notification to the printer 100 (S131). The print job notification transmitted at this time includes the INJID and INPID stored in the print job storage area 239. As the destination of the print job notification, the address of the printer specified in S126 described above is used.

  The printer 100 that has received the print job notification transmits a print data address request to the mediation apparatus 200 (S132). The printer 100 confirms whether the INPID included in the print job notification matches the INPID stored in the printer ID storage area 133, and transmits a print data address request to the mediation apparatus 200 only if it matches. The print data address request transmitted at this time includes the INPID stored in the printer ID storage area 133 and the INJID received from the mediation apparatus 200. Since the printer 100 transmits a print data address request to the mediation apparatus 200, it is not necessary to store a first acquisition method that is a method for acquiring a print data address corresponding to each print service. Only the method for acquiring the print data address from the intermediary device 200 needs to be stored. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the print data address acquisition method from the mediation apparatus 200 is stored in a program stored in the ROM.

  The mediation apparatus 200 that has received the print data address request transmits the print data address to the printer 100 (S133). The mediation apparatus 200 acquires the second print data address corresponding to the combination of the INPID received from the printer 100 and the INJID from the print job storage area 239, and transmits the acquired second print data address to the printer 100. .

  The printer 100 that has received the print data address transmits a print data request to the mediation apparatus 200 (S134). The print data request includes the second print data address acquired from the mediation apparatus 200.

  The mediation apparatus 200 that has received the print data request transmits the print data to the printer 100 (S135). The mediation apparatus 200 transmits the print data stored at the print data address included in the print data request to the printer 100.

  The printer 100 that has received the print data executes printing (S136). The printer 100 causes the printing unit 160 to print an image based on the received print data.

  The printer 100 that has printed the image transmits a print completion notification to the mediation apparatus 200 (S137). The print completion notification transmitted by the printer 100 includes INPID and INJID. The printer 100 transmits a print completion notification using the INJID received in the print job notification in S <b> 130 and the INPID stored in the printer ID storage area 133.

  The mediation device 200 that has received the print completion notification transmits a print completion notification to the service device 300 (S138). The print completion notification transmitted by the mediation apparatus 200 includes the SJID. The mediation apparatus 200 searches the print job storage area 239 for the SJID corresponding to the INJID included in the print completion notification received from the printer 100 and uses it.

  The service device 300 that has received the print completion notification updates the status of the print job. The service device 300 updates the status of the print job corresponding to the SJID included in the received print completion notification to information “DONE” indicating that printing has been completed.

  Note that the user can check the print status of the print that the user has instructed to print on the website provided by the service device 300. When the user performs an operation for displaying a print status confirmation page on the user terminal 500, the user terminal 500 transmits a print status confirmation page request to the service device 300 (S139).

  Receiving the print status confirmation page request, the service device 300 transmits an HTML document of the print status confirmation page to the user terminal 500 (S140).

  The user terminal 500 that has received the HTML document for the print status confirmation page displays the print status confirmation page. On the print status confirmation page, the status of the print job stored in the service device 300 is displayed. Thus, the user can confirm whether or not the printing instructed by the user has been completed.

Second Embodiment
Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the printing system 10 of the first embodiment, the print data of the service device 300 is transmitted to the printer 100 via the mediation device 200. In the printing system 10 of the second embodiment, print data is directly transmitted from the service device 300 to the printer 100. Since the hardware configuration of the printing system 10 according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the printing system 10 according to the first embodiment, description will be made using the same reference numerals. The operation when adding a new printer 100 and the operation when the user creates an account for the printing system 10 are the same as those in the first embodiment shown in FIG. Since only the operation when the user performs printing using the service apparatus 300 is different, this portion will be described below.

  Next, the operation of the printing system 10 when the user prints a desired image using the print service will be described with reference to FIG. When a user prints an image using a print service, the user gives a print instruction on a website provided by the service device 300.

  First, the user activates the web browser of the user terminal 500 and performs an operation for displaying an authentication page of a desired print service. Upon receiving the authentication page display operation, the user terminal 500 transmits an authentication page transmission request to the service device 300 (S220).

  The service apparatus 300 that has received the authentication page transmission request transmits an HTML document of the authentication page to the user terminal 500 (S221).

  The user terminal 500 that has received the HTML document of the authentication page causes the display unit 550 to display the authentication page. The authentication page is the same as in the first embodiment. When the user inputs the print service SUID and password, the terminal device 500 transmits the input SUID and password to the service device 300 (S222).

  When receiving the user ID and password from the user terminal 500, the service device 300 authenticates the user based on the received SUID and password. When the authentication is successful, the service device 300 transmits the HTML document of the print instruction reception page to the user terminal 500 (S223). The print instruction reception page is the same as in the first embodiment.

  When the user selects an image to be printed on the print instruction reception page and the printer 100 to be used, the user terminal 500 sends information for identifying the selected image and the SPID of the selected printer 100 to the service device 300. Transmit (S224).

  When the service device 300 receives information for identifying the selected image and the SPID of the selected printer 100 from the user terminal 500, the service device 300 creates print data for the selected image, and the created print data is used as the service device 300. Stored in a predetermined storage area. Then, the service device 300 newly assigns an SJID that is the ID of the print job, and this SJID, the print data address that is the address of the print data stored in the service device 300, and the SUID of the user who issued the print instruction The SPID of the printer selected by the user and the status of the print job are stored in association with each other. Here, “QUEUED” is stored as the status of the print job. “QUEUED” is information indicating that printing has not yet been completed.

  In this way, the service apparatus 300 storing the print data performs a print job notification to the print job notification transmission destination address stored in association with the SPID received in S124 as in the first embodiment ( S225). The service device 300 sends a print job notification to the mediation device 200. The print job notification includes the SJID, SUID, and SPID stored in association with the print data address.

  The mediation apparatus 200 that has received the print job notification identifies the printer based on the received print job notification (S226). Specifically, the mediation apparatus 200 specifies an INPID corresponding to the SPID included in the print job notification and the address of the printer. The INPID is extracted from the used printer management table based on the received SPID. The printer address is extracted from the printer management table based on the extracted INPID.

  The mediation apparatus 200 that has specified the printer transmits a print data address request to the service apparatus 300 to the service apparatus 300 (S227). The print data address request includes SJID and account information. The SJID included in the print data address request is the SJID received from the service device 300. Account information corresponding to the SUID included in the print job notification is extracted from the user management table, and the account information is used for the print data address request. Note that the first acquisition method, which is a method for acquiring the print data address, also differs for each print service, like the first acquisition method of the first embodiment. For this reason, the intermediary device 200 stores a first acquisition method corresponding to each print service in the first acquisition method storage area 235 in advance. The mediation apparatus 200 transmits a print data address request corresponding to each print service by using the first acquisition method stored in the first acquisition method storage area 235.

  Receiving the print data address request, the service device 300 transmits the print data address to the mediation device 200. The service device 300 performs authentication based on account information included in the print data address request. If the authentication is successful, the service device 300 transmits the print data address stored in association with the SJID included in the print data address request to the mediation device 200 (S228).

  The mediation apparatus 200 that has received the print data address newly assigns an INJID that is the ID of the print job, and this INJID, INPID, identification information that identifies the print service, SJID, and print data received from the service apparatus 300 Addresses are stored in the print job storage area 239 in association with each other. The INPID stored at this time uses the INPID specified in S226 described above.

  The mediation apparatus 200 that stores various types of information in the print job storage area 239 transmits a print job notification to the printer 100 (S231). The print job notification transmitted at this time includes the INJID and INPID stored in the print job storage area 239. As the destination of the print job notification, the address of the printer identified in S226 described above is used.

  The printer 100 that has received the print job notification transmits a print data address request and a second acquisition method request to the mediation apparatus 200 (S232). The printer 100 checks whether the INPID included in the print job notification matches the INPID stored in the printer ID storage area 133. Only when the printer 100 matches, the printer 100 requests the mediation apparatus 200 for a print data address request and an acquisition method request. Send. The print data address request and the second acquisition method request transmitted at this time include the INPID stored in the printer ID storage area 133 and the INJID received from the mediation apparatus 200.

  Receiving the print data address request and the second acquisition method request, the mediation apparatus 200 transmits the print data address and the second acquisition method to the printer 100 (S233). The mediation apparatus 200 acquires a print data address corresponding to the combination of the INPID received from the printer 100 and the INJID from the print job storage area 239 and transmits the acquired print data address to the printer 100. The mediation device 200 also transmits a second acquisition method, which is a method for acquiring print data from the service device 300, to the printer 100. Similarly to the second acquisition method of the first embodiment, the second acquisition method, which is a print data acquisition method, is different for each print service. For this reason, the intermediary device 200 stores a second acquisition method corresponding to each print service in the second acquisition method storage area 236 in advance. The mediation apparatus 200 transmits the second acquisition method stored in the second acquisition method storage area 236 to the printer 100. If user account information or the like is also required in order to acquire print data from the service apparatus 300, the service apparatus 300 also transmits account information for the user print service together with the print data address and the second acquisition method.

  The printer 100 that has received the print data address and the second acquisition method transmits a print data request to the service device 300 (S234). The print data request includes the print data address acquired from the mediation apparatus 200. The printer 100 creates a print data request based on the second acquisition method acquired from the mediation apparatus 200. If the user account information is required for the print data request, the printer 100 creates a print data request based on the account information acquired from the mediation apparatus 200. The printer 100 transmits the print data request created in this way to the service device 300.

  Receiving the print data request, the service device 300 transmits the print data to the printer 100 (S235). When receiving the print data request, the service device 300 may perform authentication based on account information included in the print data request.

  The printer 100 that has received the print data executes printing (S236). The printer 100 causes the printing unit 160 to print an image based on the received print data.

  The printer 100 that has printed the image transmits a print completion notification to the mediation apparatus 200 (S237). The print completion notification transmitted by the printer 100 includes INPID and INJID. The printer 100 transmits a print completion notification using the INJID received in the print job notification in S230 and the INPID stored in the printer ID storage area 133.

  The mediation device 200 that has received the print completion notification transmits a print completion notification to the service device 300 (S238). The print completion notification transmitted by the mediation apparatus 200 includes the SJID. The mediation apparatus 200 searches the print job storage area 239 for the SJID corresponding to the INJID included in the print completion notification received from the printer 100 and uses it.

  The service device 300 that has received the print completion notification updates the status of the print job. The service device 300 updates the status of the print job corresponding to the SJID included in the received print completion notification to information “DONE” indicating that printing has been completed.

  Note that the user can check the print status of the print that the user has instructed to print on the website provided by the service device 300. When the user performs an operation for displaying the print status confirmation page on the user terminal 500, the user terminal 500 transmits a print status confirmation page request to the service device 300 (S239).

  Receiving the print status confirmation page request, the service device 300 transmits an HTML document of the print status confirmation page to the user terminal 500 (S240).

  The user terminal 500 that has received the HTML document for the print status confirmation page displays the print status confirmation page. Thus, the user can confirm whether or not the printing instructed by the user has been completed.

  As described above, in the printing system according to the second embodiment, print data is directly transmitted from the service device 300 to the printer 100 without relaying the mediation device 200.

<Third Embodiment>
Hereinafter, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The printing system 10 of the first embodiment uses account information for the service device 300 to authenticate a user. However, the printing system 10 of the third embodiment uses OAuth authentication for the service device 300 to authenticate a user. Since the hardware configuration of the printing system 10 of the third embodiment is the same as that of the printing system 10 of the first embodiment, the description will be made using the same reference numerals.

  In order to perform OAuth authentication, the mediation device 200 is registered in advance with respect to each service device 300 by a provider providing the printing system 10. The intermediary device 200 holds an application ID issued from each service device 300. The application ID is an ID issued from the service device 300 to an application that permits OAuth authentication. Further, an agreement regarding communication performed between the mediation device 200 and the service device 300 is also determined in advance at the time of registration.

  First, the operation when adding the printer 100 to the printing system 10 will be described with reference to FIG. When adding the printer 100 to the printing system 10, the user operates the operation unit 180 of the printer 100 to input a printer management request operation. The printer 100 that has received the input of the printer management request operation transmits a printer management request to the mediation apparatus 200 (S300). The printer management request includes the serial number of the printer 100.

  The mediation apparatus 200 that has received the printer management request assigns an INPID to the transmission source printer 100 (S301). The mediation apparatus 200 stores the INPID, the serial number received from the printer 100, and the address of the printer 100 in the printer management table in association with each other. Then, the mediation apparatus 200 transmits the INPID assigned to the printer 100 to the printer 100 (S302).

  The printer 100 that has received the INPID displays the received INPID on the display unit 150 (S303). In addition, the printer 100 stores the received INPID in the printer ID storage area 133. With the above operation, the process for adding the printer 100 to the mediation apparatus 200 is completed. About the above-mentioned process, it is the same as 1st Embodiment.

  Next, the operation of the printing system 10 when the user creates an account for the printing system 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, the user activates the web browser of the user terminal 500 and performs an operation for displaying a registration page for a new account. When receiving an operation for displaying the registration page, the user terminal 500 transmits a registration page transmission request to the mediation apparatus 200 (S304).

  Receiving the registration page transmission request, the mediation apparatus 200 transmits the HTML document of the registration page to the user terminal 500 (S305).

  The user terminal 500 that has received the HTML document of the registration page displays the registration page on the display unit 550. Information that the user can input on the registration page is the same as in the first embodiment.

  When the user inputs various information in each input box and then presses the send button displayed on the registration page, the user terminal 500 displays the INUID, user name, various user information, and usage input in the input box. The INPID of the printer to be used and the printer name information of the printer to be used are transmitted to the mediation apparatus 200 (S306).

  When receiving the information input in the input box, the mediation apparatus 200 stores the received information in association with each other in the user management table. Here, the mediation apparatus 200 stores three types of information, that is, an INUID, a user name, and user information, in the user management table. The service A authentication information, the service B authentication information, and the service C authentication information are stored after the user selects a service to be used. Further, the intermediary device 200 newly creates a user printer management table and stores it in the printer usage table storage area 233. Here, the intermediary device 200 stores information of two types of information, that is, a printer name and INPID, in a newly created used printer management table. Note that the SPID of the print service A, the SPID of the print service B, and the SPID of the print service C are stored after the mediation apparatus 200 registers the printer for each service in the processing described later. After storing the printer name and INPID received from the user terminal 500 in the used printer management table, the mediation apparatus 200 transmits the HTML document of the print service list page to the user terminal 500 (S307). The print service list page is a page that presents a list of print services mediated by the printing system 10.

  The user terminal 500 that has received the HTML document of the print service list page displays the print service list page. On the print service list page, the user can input a selection of a print service to be used. On the print service list page, a plurality of print services that can be mediated by the mediation apparatus 200 can be selected. Unlike the first embodiment, the user does not need to input account information of each print service on the print service list page of the third embodiment. Authentication from the mediation device 200 to the service device 300 is performed based on a token described later. For this reason, it is not necessary for the intermediary device 200 to hold account information for each print service of the user.

  After the user inputs the selection of the print service on the print service list page, when the user presses the transmission button displayed on the service list page, the user terminal 500 transmits the mediation authorization instruction page to the selected service device 300. A request is transmitted (S308). The user can authenticate the user to the service device 300 using the mediation authorization instruction page. Then, the mediation device 200 can be allowed to perform mediation processing for a user who has been successfully authenticated.

  The service device 300 transmits the HTML document of the mediation authorization instruction page to the user terminal 500 (S309).

  The user terminal 500 that has received the HTML document of the mediation authorization instruction page displays the mediation authorization instruction page. On the mediation authorization instruction page, an input box for inputting print service account information is arranged. Since the user needs to input account information for the print service on the mediation authorization instruction page, the user needs to create an account for the print service to be used in advance.

  When the user inputs his / her SUID and password and presses the send button, the user terminal 500 transmits a mediation authorization request to the service device 300 (S310). The broker authorization request includes the account information input by the user. The application ID included in the HTML document on the mediation authorization instruction page is used.

  The service device 300 that has received the mediation authorization request performs user authentication based on the account information included in the mediation authorization request. When the user authentication is successful, the service device 300 transmits the token issued to the user and the redirect destination URL to the mediation device 200 to the user terminal 500 (S311).

  The user terminal 500 transmits token information to the mediation apparatus 200 according to the redirect destination URL (S312). In order for the service device 300 to specify the redirect destination URL, it is necessary to acquire the application ID assigned to the mediation device 200 from the user terminal 500 at any timing. Therefore, the mediation apparatus 200 transmits the application ID assigned to the own apparatus at the timing of either S305 or S307 described above, and the user terminal 500 transmits the above-described S308 or S310. The application ID received from the mediation device 200 at any timing may be transmitted to the service device 300. As a result, the service device 300 can specify the redirect destination URL of the mediation device 200.

  The mediation apparatus 200 that has received the token from the user terminal 500 updates the user management table. Specifically, when a token is received from the service device 300A, the received token is stored in the user management table as authentication information of the service A. For example, when a token is received from the service device 300B, the received token is stored in the user management table as service B authentication information. For example, when a token is received from the service device 300C, the received token is stored in the user management table as service C authentication information.

  The mediation apparatus 200 storing the user authentication information transmits a registration request to the service apparatus 300 of the print service selected by the user (S313). The mediation device 200 transmits a registration request to the service device 300 using the registration method stored in the registration method storage area 234. The registration request transmitted by the intermediary device 200 differs depending on the print service as in the first embodiment. Therefore, the intermediary device 200 stores the registration method corresponding to each service device 300 in the registration method storage area 234 in advance, and creates a registration request using the registration method corresponding to each print service. The intermediary device 200 transmits a registration request created using a registration method corresponding to each print service to the service device 300.

  Note that the service apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment will be described as requiring a user token, a printer name, and information regarding a printer model as a registration request. Therefore, the mediation apparatus 200 transmits a registration request including a user token, a printer name, and information regarding the printer model.

  The mediation apparatus 200 can use the token stored in the user management table as account information used for the registration request. Further, the mediation apparatus 200 can use the printer name stored in the used printer management table as the printer name used for the registration request. Further, the intermediary device 200 identifies a model from the serial number of the printer designated to be used by the user, and transmits a registration request using information on the model stored in the model information storage area 237.

  The service device 300 that has received the registration request from the mediation device 200 assigns an SPID to the new printer. Then, the newly assigned SPID, the account information, the printer name, the printer model information, and the print job notification transmission destination address included in the received registration request are stored in association with each other. . The service device 300 stores the address of the transmission source of the registration request as the address of the transmission destination of the print job notification. Therefore, the address stored in the service device 300 here is not the address of the printer 100 but the address of the mediation device 200. Therefore, the print job notification from the service device 300 is transmitted to the mediation device 200 instead of the printer 100.

  After storing various types of information, the service device 300 transmits the SPID assigned by the service device 300 to the registration request transmission source device, that is, the mediation device 200 (S314).

  The mediation apparatus 200 that has received the SPID from the service apparatus 300 stores the received SPID in the use printer management table. When received from the service device 300A, the received SPID is stored in the SPID column of the print service A in the used printer management table. When received from the service device 300B, the received SPID is stored in the SPID column of the print service B. When received from the service device 300C, the received SPID is stored in the SPID column of the print service C.

  When the user specifies a plurality of printers 100 that the user wants to use on the registration page, the mediation apparatus 200 registers the plurality of printers 100 in the service apparatus 300 by transmitting the registration request in S313 a plurality of times. When the mediation device 200 transmits a registration request a plurality of times, the service device 300 returns a newly assigned SPID in response to each registration request (S314). The mediation device 200 updates the used printer management table every time a new SPID is received from the service device 300.

  When the user specifies a plurality of print services that the user wants to use on the registration page, the user terminal 500 requests a mediation authorization instruction page request to the next service device 300 every time the printer registration to one print service is completed. Is transmitted (S308). Then, by repeating the processes of S309 to S314 described above, registration of all printers 100 for all service devices 300 is completed.

  After registering all the printers 100 for all the service devices 300, the mediation device 200 transmits an HTML document of a registration completion page to the user terminal 500 (S315). The registration completion page is a page for notifying the user that registration has been completed.

Through the operations from S304 to S314 described above, the printer 100 is registered as a printer that can be used for the print service. In addition, a token for each print service necessary for authenticating the print service is also stored in the mediation apparatus 200.

  Next, the operation of the printing system 10 when the user prints a desired image using the printing service will be described with reference to FIG. When a user prints an image using a print service, the user gives a print instruction on a website provided by the service device 300.

  First, the user activates the web browser of the user terminal 500 and performs an operation for displaying an authentication page of a desired print service. When receiving the operation for displaying the authentication page, the user terminal 500 transmits an authentication page transmission request to the service device 300 (S320).

  The service device 300 that has received the authentication page transmission request transmits the HTML document of the authentication page to the user terminal 500 (S321).

  The user terminal 500 that has received the HTML document of the authentication page causes the display unit 550 to display the authentication page. The authentication page is a page for the user to input print service account information. Specifically, an input box for inputting a print service SUID and password is arranged on the authentication page. When the user inputs the print service SUID and password, the terminal device 500 transmits the input SUID and password to the service device 300 (S322).

  When receiving the user ID and password from the user terminal 500, the service device 300 authenticates the user based on the received SUID and password. When the authentication is successful, the service device 300 transmits the HTML document of the print instruction reception page to the user terminal 500 (S323). The print instruction reception page is a page for the user to issue a print instruction for a desired image. The print instruction reception page is the same as that in the first embodiment.

  When the user selects an image to be printed on the print instruction reception page and the printer 100 to be used, the user terminal 500 sends information for identifying the selected image and the SPID of the selected printer 100 to the service device 300. Transmit (S324).

  When the service device 300 receives information for identifying the selected image and the SPID of the selected printer 100 from the user terminal 500, the service device 300 creates print data for the selected image, and the created print data is used as the service device 300. Stored in a predetermined storage area. The service device 300 newly assigns an SJID that is the ID of the print job, this SJID, the print data address that is the address of the print data stored in the service device 300, the SUID of the user who issued the print instruction, and the user The SPID of the printer selected by the above and the status of the print job are stored in association with each other. Here, “QUEUED” is stored as the status of the print job. “QUEUED” is information indicating that printing has not yet been completed.

  In this way, the service device 300 storing the print data issues a print job notification to the transmission destination address of the print job notification stored in association with the SPID received in S324 (S325). The service device 300 sends a print job notification to the mediation device 200. The print job notification includes the SJID, SUID, and SPID stored in association with the print data address.

  The mediation apparatus 200 that has received the print job notification specifies a printer based on the received print job notification (S326). Specifically, the mediation apparatus 200 specifies an INPID corresponding to the SPID included in the print job notification and the address of the printer. The INPID is extracted from the used printer management table based on the received SPID. The printer address is extracted from the printer management table based on the extracted INPID.

  The mediation apparatus 200 that has specified the printer transmits a print data address request to the service apparatus 300 to the service apparatus 300 (S327). The print data address request includes an SJID and a token. The SJID included in the print data address request is the SJID received from the service device 300. A token corresponding to the SUID included in the print job notification is extracted from the user management table, and the token is used for the print data address request. Note that the first acquisition method, which is the method for acquiring the print data address, also differs for each print service, as in the first embodiment. For this reason, the intermediary device 200 stores a first acquisition method corresponding to each print service in the first acquisition method storage area 235 in advance. The mediation apparatus 200 transmits a print data address request corresponding to each print service by using the first acquisition method stored in the first acquisition method storage area 235.

  Receiving the print data address request, the service device 300 transmits the print data address to the mediation device 200. The service device 300 performs authentication based on the token included in the print data address request. If the authentication is successful, the service device 300 transmits the print data address stored in association with the SJID included in the print data address request to the mediation device 200 (S328).

  The mediation apparatus 200 that has received the print data address transmits a print data request to the service apparatus 300 (S329). Note that the second acquisition method, which is the print data acquisition method, also differs for each print service, as in the first embodiment. For this reason, the intermediary device 200 stores a second acquisition method corresponding to each print service in the second acquisition method storage area 236 in advance. The mediation apparatus 200 transmits a print data request corresponding to each print service by using the second acquisition method stored in the second acquisition method storage area 236. The print data request includes the print data address acquired from the service device 300 and the token stored in the user management table.

  The service device 300 that has received the print data request transmits the print data to the mediation device 200 (S330). The service device 300 performs authentication based on the token included in the received print data request. When the authentication is successful, the service device 300 transmits the print data stored in the print data address included in the print data request to the mediation device 200.

  The mediation device 200 stores the print data received from the service device 300 in the print data storage area 238 of the storage unit 230. The mediation apparatus 200 also newly assigns an INJID that is the ID of the print job, and uses this INJID, INPID, identification information for specifying the print service, SJID, and the address of the print data stored in the mediation apparatus 200. The second print data address is stored in the print job storage area 239 in association with each other. The INPID stored at this time is the INPID specified in S326 described above.

  The mediation apparatus 200 that has received the print data transmits a print job notification to the printer 100 (S331). The print job notification transmitted at this time includes the INJID and INPID stored in the print job storage area 239. As the destination of the print job notification, the address of the printer specified in S326 described above is used.

  The printer 100 that has received the print job notification transmits a print data address request to the mediation apparatus 200 (S332). The printer 100 confirms whether the INPID included in the print job notification matches the INPID stored in the printer ID storage area 133, and transmits a print data address request to the mediation apparatus 200 only if it matches. The print data address request transmitted at this time includes the INPID stored in the printer ID storage area 133 and the INJID received from the mediation apparatus 200. Since the printer 100 transmits a print data address request to the mediation apparatus 200, it is not necessary to store a first acquisition method that is a method for acquiring a print data address corresponding to each print service. Only the method for acquiring the print data address from the intermediary device 200 needs to be stored.

  The mediation apparatus 200 that has received the print data address request transmits the print data address to the printer 100 (S333). The mediation apparatus 200 acquires the second print data address corresponding to the combination of the INPID received from the printer 100 and the INJID from the print job storage area 239, and transmits the acquired second print data address to the printer 100. .

  The printer 100 that has received the print data address transmits a print data request to the mediation apparatus 200 (S334). The print data request includes the second print data address acquired from the mediation apparatus 200.

  The mediation apparatus 200 that has received the print data request transmits the print data to the printer 100 (S335). The mediation apparatus 200 transmits the print data stored at the print data address included in the print data request to the printer 100.

  The printer 100 that has received the print data executes printing (S336). The printer 100 causes the printing unit 160 to print an image based on the received print data.

  The printer 100 that has printed the image transmits a print completion notification to the mediation apparatus 200 (S337). The print completion notification transmitted by the printer 100 includes INPID and INJID. The printer 100 transmits a print completion notification using the INJID received in the print job notification in S330 and the INPID stored in the printer ID storage area 133.

  The mediation device 200 that has received the print completion notification transmits a print completion notification to the service device 300 (S338). The print completion notification transmitted by the mediation apparatus 200 includes the SJID. The mediation apparatus 200 searches the print job storage area 239 for the SJID corresponding to the INJID included in the print completion notification received from the printer 100 and uses it.

  The service device 300 that has received the print completion notification updates the status of the print job. The service device 300 updates the status of the print job corresponding to the SJID included in the received print completion notification to information “DONE” indicating that printing has been completed.

  Note that the user can check the print status of the print that the user has instructed to print on the website provided by the service device 300. When the user performs an operation for displaying a print status confirmation page on the user terminal 500, the user terminal 500 transmits a print status confirmation page request to the service device 300 (S339).

  The service apparatus 300 that has received the print status confirmation page request transmits an HTML document of the print status confirmation page to the user terminal 500 (S340).

  The user terminal 500 that has received the HTML document for the print status confirmation page displays the print status confirmation page. Thus, the user can confirm whether or not the printing instructed by the user has been completed.

<Fourth embodiment>
Hereinafter, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the printing system 10 according to the third embodiment, the print data of the service device 300 is transmitted to the printer 100 via the mediation device 200. In the printing system 10 of the second embodiment, print data is directly transmitted from the service device 300 to the printer 100. Since the hardware configuration of the printing system 10 of the fourth embodiment is the same as that of the printing system 10 of the first embodiment, description will be made using the same reference numerals. The operation when adding a new printer 100 and the operation when the user creates an account for the printing system 10 are the same as those in the third embodiment shown in FIG. Since only the operation when the user performs printing using the service apparatus 300 is different from that of the third embodiment, this portion will be described below.

  Next, the operation of the printing system 10 when the user prints a desired image using the print service will be described with reference to FIG. When a user prints an image using a print service, the user gives a print instruction on a website provided by the service device 300.

  First, the user activates the web browser of the user terminal 500 and performs an operation for displaying an authentication page of a desired print service. Upon receiving the authentication page display operation, the user terminal 500 transmits an authentication page transmission request to the service device 300 (S420).

  Receiving the authentication page transmission request, the service device 300 transmits the authentication page HTML document to the user terminal 500 (S421).

  The user terminal 500 that has received the HTML document of the authentication page causes the display unit 550 to display the authentication page. The authentication page is the same as in the first embodiment. When the user inputs the print service SUID and password, the terminal device 500 transmits the input SUID and password to the service device 300 (S422).

  When receiving the user ID and password from the user terminal 500, the service device 300 authenticates the user based on the received SUID and password. When the authentication is successful, the service device 300 transmits the HTML document of the print instruction reception page to the user terminal 500 (S423). The print instruction reception page is the same as in the first embodiment.

  When the user selects an image to be printed on the print instruction reception page and the printer 100 to be used, the user terminal 500 sends information for identifying the selected image and the SPID of the selected printer 100 to the service device 300. Transmit (S424).

  When the service device 300 receives information for identifying the selected image and the SPID of the selected printer 100 from the user terminal 500, the service device 300 creates print data for the selected image, and the created print data is used as the service device 300. Stored in a predetermined storage area. Then, the service device 300 newly assigns an SJID that is the ID of the print job, and this SJID, the print data address that is the address of the print data stored in the service device 300, and the SUID of the user who issued the print instruction The SPID of the printer selected by the user and the status of the print job are stored in association with each other. Here, “QUEUED” is stored as the status of the print job. “QUEUED” is information indicating that printing has not yet been completed.

  In this way, the service apparatus 300 storing the print data performs a print job notification to the print job notification transmission destination address stored in association with the SPID received in S124 as in the first embodiment ( S425). The service device 300 sends a print job notification to the mediation device 200. The print job notification includes the SJID, SUID, and SPID stored in association with the print data address.

  The mediation apparatus 200 that has received the print job notification identifies the printer based on the received print job notification (S426). Specifically, the mediation apparatus 200 specifies an INPID corresponding to the SPID included in the print job notification and the address of the printer. The INPID is extracted from the used printer management table based on the received SPID. The printer address is extracted from the printer management table based on the extracted INPID.

  The mediation apparatus 200 that has specified the printer transmits a print data address request to the service apparatus 300 to the service apparatus 300 (S427). The print data address request includes an SJID and a token. The SJID included in the print data address request is the SJID received from the service device 300. A token corresponding to the SUID included in the print job notification is extracted from the user management table, and the token is used for the print data address request.

  Note that the first acquisition method, which is a method for acquiring the print data address, also differs for each print service, like the first acquisition method of the first embodiment. For this reason, the intermediary device 200 stores a first acquisition method corresponding to each print service in the first acquisition method storage area 235 in advance. The mediation apparatus 200 transmits a print data address request corresponding to each print service by using the first acquisition method stored in the first acquisition method storage area 235.

  Receiving the print data address request, the service device 300 transmits the print data address to the mediation device 200. The service device 300 performs authentication based on the token included in the print data address request. When the authentication is successful, the service device 300 transmits the print data address stored in association with the SJID included in the print data address request to the mediation device 200 (S428).

  The mediation apparatus 200 that has received the print data address newly assigns an INJID that is the ID of the print job, and this INJID, INPID, identification information that identifies the print service, SJID, and print data received from the service apparatus 300 Addresses are stored in the print job storage area 239 in association with each other. The mediation apparatus 200 extracts the INPID corresponding to the SPID received from the service apparatus 300 from the use printer management table, and stores the extracted INPID in the print job storage area 239. The INPID stored at this time is the INPID specified in S326 described above.

  The mediation apparatus 200 that stores various types of information in the print job storage area 239 transmits a print job notification to the printer 100 (S431). The print job notification transmitted at this time includes the INJID and INPID stored in the print job storage area 239. As the destination of the print job notification, the address of the printer specified in S326 described above is used.

  The printer 100 that has received the print job notification transmits a print data address request and a second acquisition method request to the mediation apparatus 200 (S432). The printer 100 checks whether the INPID included in the print job notification matches the INPID stored in the printer ID storage area 133. Only when the printer 100 matches, the printer 100 requests the mediation apparatus 200 for a print data address request and an acquisition method request. Send. The print data address request and the second acquisition method request transmitted at this time include the INPID stored in the printer ID storage area 133 and the INJID received from the mediation apparatus 200.

  Receiving the print data address request and the second acquisition method request, the mediation apparatus 200 transmits the print data address and the second acquisition method to the printer 100 (S433). The mediation apparatus 200 acquires a print data address corresponding to the combination of the INPID received from the printer 100 and the INJID from the print job storage area 239 and transmits the acquired print data address to the printer 100. The mediation device 200 also transmits a second acquisition method, which is a method for acquiring print data from the service device 300, to the printer 100. Similarly to the second acquisition method of the first embodiment, the second acquisition method, which is a print data acquisition method, is different for each print service. For this reason, the intermediary device 200 stores a second acquisition method corresponding to each print service in the second acquisition method storage area 236 in advance. The mediation apparatus 200 transmits the second acquisition method stored in the second acquisition method storage area 236 to the printer 100. If other information such as a user token is also required to obtain print data from the service device 300, the service device 300 may use a print data address and a second acquisition method together with a token or the like in the user print service. Also send other information.

  The printer 100 that has received the print data address and the second acquisition method transmits a print data request to the service device 300 (S434). The print data request includes the print data address acquired from the mediation apparatus 200. The printer 100 creates a print data request based on the second acquisition method acquired from the mediation apparatus 200. If other information such as a user token is required for the print data request, the printer 100 creates a print data request based on the other information such as the token acquired from the mediation apparatus 200. The printer 100 transmits the print data request created in this way to the service device 300.

  The service device 300 that has received the print data request transmits the print data to the printer 100 (S435). When receiving the print data request, the service device 300 may perform authentication based on a token included in the print data request.

  The printer 100 that has received the print data executes printing (S436). The printer 100 causes the printing unit 160 to print an image based on the received print data.

  The printer 100 that has printed the image transmits a print completion notification to the mediation apparatus 200 (S437). The print completion notification transmitted by the printer 100 includes INPID and INJID. The printer 100 transmits a print completion notification using the INJID received in the print job notification in S230 and the INPID stored in the printer ID storage area 133.

  The mediation device 200 that has received the print completion notification transmits a print completion notification to the service device 300 (S438). The print completion notification transmitted by the mediation apparatus 200 includes the SJID. The mediation apparatus 200 searches the print job storage area 239 for the SJID corresponding to the INJID included in the print completion notification received from the printer 100 and uses it.

  The service device 300 that has received the print completion notification updates the status of the print job. The service device 300 updates the status of the print job corresponding to the SJID included in the received print completion notification to information “DONE” indicating that printing has been completed.

  Note that the user can check the print status of the print that the user has instructed to print on the website provided by the service device 300. When the user performs an operation for displaying a print status confirmation page on the user terminal 500, the user terminal 500 transmits a print status confirmation page request to the service device 300 (S439).

  The service apparatus 300 that has received the print status confirmation page request transmits an HTML document of the print status confirmation page to the user terminal 500 (S440).

  The user terminal 500 that has received the HTML document for the print status confirmation page displays the print status confirmation page. Thus, the user can confirm whether or not the printing instructed by the user has been completed.

  As described above, in the printing system according to the fourth embodiment, print data is directly transmitted from the service device 300 to the printer 100 without relaying the mediation device 200.

<Correspondence relationship with constituent elements described in claims>
Correspondence between each component in the above-described embodiment and each component described in the claims is as follows. The printing system 10 corresponds to a printing system. The printer 100 corresponds to a printing apparatus. The mediation device 200 corresponds to the mediation device. The service device 300 corresponds to a service device. The first acquisition method storage area 235 corresponds to a first acquisition method storage unit. The printer management table storage area 231 corresponds to a printing apparatus address storage unit. The used printer management table storage area 233 corresponds to a printing apparatus storage unit. The control unit 220 of the mediation apparatus 200 that receives the print job transmitted by the service apparatus 300 in S125, S225, S325, or S425 described above corresponds to a first notification reception unit. The control unit 220 of the mediation apparatus 200 that transmits the print data address request in S127 or S327 and acquires the print data address from the service apparatus 300 corresponds to the print data address acquisition unit. The control unit 220 of the mediation apparatus 200 that specifies the printer in the above-described S226 or S426 corresponds to the first printing apparatus address specifying unit. In S233 or S433 described above, the control unit 220 of the mediation apparatus 200 that transmits the print data address corresponds to the print data address transmission unit. The control unit 120 of the printer 100 that receives the print data address transmitted by the mediation apparatus 200 in the above-described S233 or S433 corresponds to the print data address reception unit. The control unit 120 of the printer 100 that transmits the print data request in S234 or S434 described above and acquires the print data from the service device 300 corresponds to the first print data acquisition unit. The control unit 120 of the printer 100 that performs printing in the above-described S236 or S436 corresponds to a first print control unit. The above-described user management table storage area 232 corresponds to the authentication information storage unit. The second acquisition method storage area 236 described above corresponds to a second acquisition method storage unit. The control unit 220 of the mediation apparatus 200 that transmits the second acquisition method in the above-described S233 or S433 corresponds to the second acquisition method transmission unit. The control unit 120 of the printer 100 that receives the second acquisition method transmitted by the mediation apparatus 200 in S233 or S433 described above corresponds to a second acquisition method reception unit. The control unit 220 of the mediation apparatus 200 that transmits the print data request in S129 or S329 and acquires the print data from the service apparatus 300 corresponds to the second print data acquisition unit. The control unit 220 of the mediation apparatus 200 that specifies the printer in S126 or S326 described above corresponds to the second printing apparatus address specifying unit. The control unit 220 of the mediation apparatus 200 that transmits print data in the above-described S135 or S335 corresponds to a print data transmission unit. The control unit 120 of the printer 100 that receives the print data transmitted by the mediation apparatus 200 in the above-described S135 or S335 corresponds to the print data transmission unit. The control unit 120 of the printer 100 that performs printing in S136 or S236 described above corresponds to a second print control unit.

  The registration method storage area 234 corresponds to a registration method storage unit. In S100 or S300 described above, the control unit 220 of the mediation apparatus 200 that receives the printer management request transmitted by the printer 100 corresponds to a second notification receiving unit. The control unit 220 of the mediation apparatus 200 that stores the printer management table based on the printer management request in S100 or S200 corresponds to the printing apparatus address storage control unit. The control unit 220 of the mediation apparatus 200 that transmits a registration request in S109 or S313 described above corresponds to a registration unit. The control unit 220 of the mediation device 200 that receives the SPID transmitted by the service device 300 in S110 or S314 described above corresponds to a second identification information acquisition unit. The control unit 220 of the mediation apparatus 200 that updates the used printer management table based on the SPID transmitted by the service apparatus 300 in S110 or S314 described above corresponds to a printing apparatus storage control unit. The control unit 220 of the mediation apparatus 200 that acquires the account information transmitted by the user terminal 500 in S106 or S306 described above, the information specifying the print service, and the INPID corresponds to the user information acquisition unit. The control unit 120 of the printer 100 that transmits a print completion notification in S137, S237, S337, or S437 described above corresponds to a third notification transmission unit. The control unit 220 of the mediation apparatus 200 that receives the print completion notification transmitted by the printer 100 in S137, S237, S337, or S437 described above corresponds to a third notification reception unit. The control unit 220 of the mediation apparatus 200 that transmits the print completion notification in S138, S238, S338, or S438 described above corresponds to a fourth notification transmission unit.

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

  In the above-described embodiment, the mediation apparatus 200 transmits the second acquisition method together with the print data address in S233 or S433. However, if the print data can be acquired from the service device 300 by a general method such as the HTTP / 1.1 Get method, the mediation device 200 does not need to transmit the second acquisition method. When the printer 100 acquires the print data address, the printer 100 may acquire the print data by a general method such as a Get method.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Printing system 100 Printer 110 Communication part 120 Control part 130 Storage part 150 Display part 160 Printing part 180 Operation part 200 Mediation apparatus 210 Communication part 220 Control part 230 Storage part 300 Service apparatus 400 Network 500 User terminal 510 Communication part 520 Control part 530 Storage unit 550 Display unit 580 Operation unit

Claims (13)

A printing system comprising an intermediary device connected to a network in which service devices for a plurality of printing services are present, and a plurality of printing devices having a printing unit for printing an image and connected to the network ,
The intermediary device is:
A first acquisition method predetermined by the print service, which is a method for acquiring a print data address indicating the location of print data stored in the service device, is stored for each print service. An acquisition method storage unit;
A printing device address storage unit that stores first identification information, which is identification information for the mediating device to identify the printing device, and a printing device address indicating the location of the printing device;
A printing device storage unit that stores the first identification information and second identification information, which is identification information for the service device to identify the printing device, in association with each other;
When a user print instruction is given to the service device, a notification that the print instruction has been given, and a first notification that includes second identification information that identifies a printing device that performs printing, A first notification receiving unit that receives from the service device;
A print data address acquisition unit that acquires a print data address from the service device using a first acquisition method corresponding to the service device that is the transmission source of the first notification;
A first printing device address identifying unit that identifies a printing device address of a printing device that transmits the printing data address acquired by the printing data address acquisition unit based on the second identification information included in the first notification;
A print data address transmission unit that transmits the print data address acquired by the print data address acquisition unit to the printing device using the printing device address specified by the first printing device address specifying unit as a destination;
The printing apparatus includes:
A print data address receiving unit for receiving a print data address from the mediating apparatus;
A first print data acquisition unit for acquiring print data stored in a print data address received by the print data address reception unit;
A printing system comprising: a first print control unit that causes the print unit to print the print data acquired by the first print data acquisition unit. The intermediary device is:
An authentication information storage unit for storing user identification information, which is identification information for the service device to identify a user, and user authentication information specified by the user identification information in association with each other;
The first notification receiving unit receives the first notification including user identification information that identifies a user who has given the print instruction,
The print data address acquisition unit acquires a print data address from the service device using authentication information corresponding to user identification information included in the first acquisition method and the first notification. The printing system according to claim 1. The intermediary device is:
A second acquisition method storage unit that stores, for each print service, a second acquisition method that is predetermined by the print service and that is a method for acquiring print data stored on the network by the print service. When,
A second acquisition method transmission unit that transmits a second acquisition method corresponding to the service device that is the transmission source of the first notification to the printing device that has transmitted the print data address by the print data address transmission unit; With
The printing apparatus includes:
A second acquisition method receiver that receives the second acquisition method from the mediation device;
The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the first print data acquisition unit acquires print data by using the second acquisition method received by the second acquisition method reception unit. The intermediary device is:
An authentication information storage unit for storing user identification information, which is identification information for the service device to identify a user, and user authentication information specified by the user identification information in association with each other;
The first notification receiving unit receives the first notification including user identification information that identifies a user who has given the print instruction,
A second acquisition method transmission unit that transmits authentication information corresponding to the second acquisition method and user identification information included in the first notification to a printing apparatus;
The printing apparatus includes:
The second acquisition method receiving unit receives the second acquisition method and the authentication information from the mediation device,
The printing according to claim 3, wherein the first print data acquisition unit acquires print data using the second acquisition method received by the second acquisition method reception unit and the authentication information. system. A printing system comprising an intermediary device connected to a network in which service devices for a plurality of printing services are present, and a plurality of printing devices having a printing unit for printing an image and connected to the network ,
The intermediary device is:
A second acquisition method storage unit that stores, for each print service, a second acquisition method that is an acquisition method predetermined by the print service and is a method of acquiring print data stored in the service device;
A printing device address storage unit that stores first identification information, which is identification information for the mediating device to identify the printing device, and a printing device address indicating the location of the printing device;
A printing device storage unit that stores the first identification information and second identification information, which is identification information for the service device to identify the printing device, in association with each other;
When a user print instruction is given to the service device, a notification that the print instruction has been given, and a first notification that includes second identification information that identifies a printing device that performs printing, A first notification receiving unit that receives from the service device;
A second print data acquisition unit that acquires the print data from the service device using a second acquisition method corresponding to the service device that is the transmission source of the first notification;
A second printing device address specifying unit that specifies a printing device address of a printing device that transmits the print data acquired by the second print data acquisition unit based on the second identification information included in the first notification;
A print data transmission unit that transmits the print data acquired by the second print data acquisition unit to the printing device using the printing device address specified by the second printing device address specifying unit as a destination;
The printing apparatus includes:
A print data receiving unit for receiving the print data from the mediation device;
A printing system comprising: a second print control unit that causes the print unit to print the print data received by the print data receiving unit. The intermediary device is:
An authentication information storage unit for storing user identification information, which is identification information for the service device to identify a user, and user authentication information specified by the user identification information in association with each other;
The first notification receiving unit receives the first notification including user identification information that identifies a user who has given the print instruction,
The second print data acquisition unit acquires print data using the second acquisition method and authentication information corresponding to user identification information included in the first notification. Printing system. The printing system according to claim 1 or 5, wherein
The intermediary device is:
A registration method pre-determined by the print service, a registration method storage unit storing a registration method for registering a new printing apparatus in the print service for each print service;
A second notification receiving unit that receives a second notification including a new printing device address indicating the location of the new printing device from a new printing device that is a printing device newly added to the printing system;
A printing device address storage that stores the new printing device address received by the second notification receiving unit in association with the new first identification information for specifying the new printing device in the printing device address storage unit. A control unit;
A registration unit for registering the new printing device as the transmission source of the second notification in the service device using a registration method stored in the registration method storage unit;
A second identification information acquisition unit for acquiring, from the service device, second identification information assigned by the service device to the new printing device after registration by the registration unit;
A printing apparatus that stores new first identification information for specifying the new printing apparatus and the second identification information acquisition unit acquired by the second identification information acquisition unit in association with each other in the printing apparatus storage unit And a storage control unit. The printing system according to claim 1 or 5, wherein
The intermediary device is:
A registration method pre-determined by the print service, wherein a registration method for registering a new printing device in the service device is stored for each print service;
Printing device specifying information which is information for specifying the user identification information of the user and the printing device designated as the printing device used by the user from a terminal used by the user to which user identification information is assigned in advance from the printing service. And a user information acquisition unit for acquiring
Using the printing method specified by the printing device specifying information as the printing device used by the user, using the registration method stored in the registration method storage unit and the user identification information acquired by the user information acquisition unit, A printing system comprising: a registration unit that registers with a service device. The intermediary device is:
The user information acquisition unit acquires print service specifying information that is information specifying a print service designated as a print service used by the user, together with the user identification information and the printing apparatus specifying information.
The printing system according to claim 8, wherein the registration unit registers the print service corresponding to the print service specifying information acquired by the user information acquisition unit. The printing system according to claim 1 or 5, wherein
The intermediary device is:
A registration method pre-determined by the print service, a registration method storage unit storing a registration method for registering a new printing apparatus in the print service for each print service;
A second notification receiving unit that receives a second notification including a new printing device address indicating the location of the new printing device from a new printing device that is a printing device newly added to the printing system;
A printing device address storage that stores the new printing device address received by the second notification receiving unit in association with the new first identification information for specifying the new printing device in the printing device address storage unit. A control unit;
A first identification information transmission unit for transmitting new first identification information for specifying the new printing device to the new printing device for output display on the new printing device;
The user identification information of the user and the first identification information of the printing apparatus designated as the printing apparatus used by the user are acquired from a terminal used by the user to which user identification information is assigned in advance from the printing service. A user information acquisition unit;
The printing device specified by the first identification information is used as the printing device used by the user, using the registration method stored in the registration method storage unit and the user identification information acquired by the user information acquisition unit, A registration unit for registering with the service device;
A second identification information acquisition unit for acquiring, from the service device, second identification information assigned by the service device to the printing device after registration by the registration unit;
A printing device storage control unit that associates the first identification information acquired by the user information acquisition unit with the second identification information acquired by the second identification information acquisition unit and stores them in the printing device storage unit; A printing system comprising: The printing system according to claim 1 or 5, wherein
The printing apparatus includes:
A third notification transmission unit for performing a third notification indicating that the printing is completed in the mediation apparatus after printing by the printing unit;
The intermediary device is:
A third notification receiver for receiving a third notification from the printing device;
A printing system comprising: a fourth notification transmission unit that indicates that the printing is completed by the printing device after the third notification is received by the third notification receiving unit. An intermediary device of a printing system comprising an intermediary device connected to a network in which service devices for a plurality of print services are present, and a plurality of printing devices connected to the network, each having a printing unit for printing an image Because
The intermediary device is:
A first acquisition method predetermined by the print service, which is a method for acquiring a print data address indicating the location of print data stored in the service device, is stored for each print service. An acquisition method storage unit;
A printing device address storage unit that stores first identification information, which is identification information for the mediating device to identify the printing device, and a printing device address indicating the location of the printing device;
A printing device storage unit that stores the first identification information and second identification information, which is identification information for the service device to identify the printing device, in association with each other;
When a user print instruction is given to the service device, a notification that the print instruction has been given, and a first notification that includes second identification information that identifies a printing device that performs printing, A first notification receiving unit that receives from the service device;
A print data address acquisition unit that acquires a print data address from the service device using a first acquisition method corresponding to the service device that is the transmission source of the first notification;
A first printing device address identifying unit that identifies a printing device address of a printing device that transmits the printing data address acquired by the printing data address acquisition unit based on the second identification information included in the first notification;
A print data address transmitting unit that transmits the print data address acquired by the print data address acquiring unit to the printing device using the printer address specified by the first printer address specifying unit as a destination; An intermediary device characterized by that. An intermediary device of a printing system comprising an intermediary device connected to a network in which service devices for a plurality of print services are present, and a plurality of printing devices connected to the network, each having a printing unit for printing an image Because
The intermediary device is:
A second acquisition method storage unit that stores, for each print service, a second acquisition method that is an acquisition method predetermined by the print service and is a method of acquiring print data stored in the service device;
A printing device address storage unit that stores first identification information, which is identification information for the mediating device to identify the printing device, and a printing device address indicating the location of the printing device;
A printing device storage unit that stores the first identification information and second identification information, which is identification information for the service device to identify the printing device, in association with each other;
When a user print instruction is given to the service device, a notification that the print instruction has been given, and a first notification that includes second identification information that identifies a printing device that performs printing, A first notification receiving unit that receives from the service device;
A second print data acquisition unit that acquires the print data from the service device using a second acquisition method corresponding to the service device that is the transmission source of the first notification;
A second printing device address specifying unit that specifies a printing device address of a printing device that transmits the print data acquired by the second print data acquisition unit based on the second identification information included in the first notification;
A print data transmission unit that transmits the print data acquired by the second print data acquisition unit to the printing device using the printing device address specified by the second printing device address specifying unit as a destination. An intermediary device characterized by.

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