JP5705787B2 - Authentication apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an authentication apparatus and an image forming apparatus including the authentication apparatus.

  In recent years, MFPs (Multi Function Peripherals) having functions such as scanners, facsimiles, printers, and copiers have been used in offices and the like. A multifunction machine is often used in a situation where it is connected to an information processing terminal such as a personal computer through a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network). Then, it functions as an image forming device that prints image data input from the information processing terminal on paper, functions as an image reading device that acquires image data used in the information processing terminal, and searches document image data. It functions as a document management device that accumulates as possible.

  In an environment such as an office where a single multifunction device is shared by multiple users, the usage status can be managed by counting the number of printed pages of each user by individual or department, and stored in the multifunction device. It is required to secure security for document image data and the like. Therefore, in this type of multi-function peripheral, the above-described use status management and security are realized by specifying the user by inputting authentication information. As such authentication information, a user ID and a password associated with the user ID are widely used.

  The input of the user ID and password to the multifunction device is performed, for example, through an operation device provided in the multifunction device. As an example of such an operation device, for example, an operation device including a touch panel is widely known. As is well known, the touch panel has a function of a display device and a function of an input device, displays operation buttons, and detects a pressed position (touch position) by a sensor or the like disposed on the display surface. In such an operation device, the user inputs a user ID and a password by operating a keyboard constituted by operation buttons displayed on the touch panel. Also, an authentication method for causing a multifunction device to read user identification information from a portable storage medium such as an IC card in which user identification information is recorded instead of inputting a user ID through the operation device, and inputting only a password from the operation device. Are also widely used.

  As such an operation device including a touch panel, Patent Document 1 described later discloses an input by a GUI (Graphical User Interface) operation from a touch panel and an input by a UI (User Interface) operation using a touch action from the touch panel. The structure which switches suitably is disclosed. In this technique, information associated with the operation button displayed at the button down position on the touch panel is input in the GUI operation, and the button down position and the button up position on the touch panel are recognized in the UI operation. Information associated with the slide direction, slide distance, and slide speed is input.

JP 2005-82086 A

  As described above, in the authentication method for inputting the user ID and password, the user needs to input the user ID and password through the operation device every time the multifunction device is used. In particular, in an environment where a large number of users use the same multifunction device, the number of input characters of the user ID tends to increase, and the user needs to input many characters each time the multifunction device is used. In addition, since the size of the touch panel provided in the operation device of the multifunction machine is limited, the key size is smaller than a general keyboard provided in a personal computer or the like. Therefore, it takes a relatively long time to input a large number of characters, which impairs the user's convenience of use.

  On the other hand, if an authentication method using a portable storage medium in which user identification information is recorded as described above is used, the user ID is not required. Convenience is improved. However, in order to employ this authentication method, it is necessary to install a portable storage medium reading device in the multifunction peripheral and to create and distribute a portable storage medium that records the identification information of the user for each user. is there. Therefore, there is a demerit that the cost becomes high.

  The UI technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above is a technology that enables the user to input to the operation device without visually recognizing the display screen. The UI technology disclosed herein is based on the slide direction, slide distance, and slide speed on the touch panel. The associated information can be entered. Such an input method can increase / decrease the set value, such as an audio volume operation, and improve the operational convenience for an operation target that can be recognized without the user's visual perception. However, when a large number of character types such as user IDs and passwords are continuously input, the operational convenience cannot be particularly improved.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an authentication apparatus and an image forming apparatus that can improve user convenience when inputting information. .

  In order to achieve the above object, the authentication apparatus according to the present invention employs the following technical means. First, an authentication device according to the present invention includes a touch panel, an operation recognition unit, and an authentication unit. The touch panel displays a plurality of operation buttons on the display surface and detects a pressed position on the display surface. The operation recognizing unit recognizes input content including information indicated by an operation button corresponding to the pressed position on the touch panel display surface and variation information of the pressed position on the touch panel display surface starting from the pressed position. Here, the variation information is information indicating variation in the pressed position in a series of operations performed with the pressed position used for recognizing the information indicated by the operation button as a starting point. For example, the direction and amount of movement when the pressing position is moved in the pressed state, the direction from the first point to the second point when the other pressing position is detected while the first pressing position remains in the pressing state, and 2 The distance between points is included. Then, the authentication unit determines whether or not authentication information including one or more input contents recognized by the operation recognition unit satisfies a pre-registered authentication condition.

  In this authentication device, when a user presses a specific operation button displayed on the display surface of the touch panel, information indicated by the operation button and pressed position variation information starting from the pressed position are provided. Recognized as input content. For example, when a software keyboard is displayed on the touch panel, the user can input pressing position variation information simultaneously with character information indicated by a specific operation button. Therefore, using the pressed position variation information, other information can be input simultaneously with the input of information indicated by one operation button. And since the said other information can be used as authentication information, compared with the past, it becomes possible to simplify the input of authentication information by a user. For example, in the above-described one or a plurality of input contents, a series of information including information indicated by each operation button constitutes identification information for specifying a user who operates the touch panel, and the touch panel display surface starts from each pressed position It is possible to adopt a configuration in which a series of information including variation information of each pressed position forms a password corresponding to the identification information.

  In another aspect, since other information can be input simultaneously with the input of the information indicated by one operation button, the strength of security is increased compared to a conventional password composed only of information indicated by the operation button. Is possible.

  The authentication apparatus may further include a display control unit that displays, on the touch panel display surface, variation information of the pressed position on the touch panel display surface that is recognized by the operation recognition unit and that starts from the pressed position. In this configuration, the user can visually confirm the pressing position variation information recognized by the operation recognition unit.

  On the other hand, in another aspect, the present invention can provide an image forming apparatus including the above-described authentication device.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to simplify the input of authentication information by the user, and it is possible to improve the convenience for the user. In another aspect, the security strength of the password can be increased.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the overall configuration of a multifunction machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an operation panel of a multifunction machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the multifunctional device in one Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a multifunction machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. The flowchart which shows an example of the authentication procedure which the multifunctional machine in one Embodiment of this invention implements The figure which shows an example of the authentication information input screen which the multifunctional device in one Embodiment of this invention displays The figure which shows an example of the authentication information input screen which the multifunctional device in one Embodiment of this invention displays The figure which shows an example of the authentication information input screen which the multifunctional device in one Embodiment of this invention displays The figure which shows an example of the authentication information input screen which the multifunctional device in one Embodiment of this invention displays

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. In the following, the present invention is embodied as a digital multifunction machine.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an example of the overall configuration of a digital multifunction peripheral according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the multifunction peripheral 100 includes a main body 101 including an image reading unit 120 and an image forming unit 140, and a platen cover 102 attached above the main body 101. A document table 103 is provided on the upper surface of the main body 101, and the document table 103 is opened and closed by a platen cover 102. Further, the platen cover 102 includes a document conveying device 110.

  An image reading unit 120 is provided below the document table 103. The image reading unit 120 reads an image of a document with the scanning optical system 121 and generates digital data (image data) of the image. The document can be placed on the document table 103 or the document transport device 110. The scanning optical system 121 includes a first carriage 122, a second carriage 123, and a condenser lens 124. The first carriage 122 is provided with a linear light source 131 and a mirror 132, and the second carriage 123 is provided with mirrors 133 and 134. The light source 131 illuminates the document. The mirrors 132, 133, and 134 guide reflected light from the document to the condenser lens 124, and the condenser lens 124 forms an optical image on the light receiving surface of the line image sensor 125. In the scanning optical system 121, the first carriage 122 and the second carriage 123 are provided so as to be able to reciprocate in the sub-scanning direction 135. By moving the first carriage 122 and the second carriage 123 in the sub-scanning direction 135, the image of the document placed on the document table 103 can be read by the image sensor 125. When reading an image of a document set on the document conveying device 110, the image reading unit 120 temporarily fixes the first carriage 122 and the second carriage 123 according to the image reading position, and passes the image reading position. Are read by the image sensor 125. The image sensor 125 generates image data of a document corresponding to, for example, each color of R (red), G (green), and B (blue) from the light image incident on the light receiving surface. The generated image data can be printed on paper in the image forming unit 140. Further, the data can be transmitted to other devices (not shown) through the network 162 by the network interface 161.

  The image forming unit 140 prints image data obtained by the image reading unit 120 or image data received from another device connected to the network 162 on a sheet. The image forming unit 140 includes a photosensitive drum 141. The photosensitive drum 141 rotates in one direction at a constant speed. Around the photosensitive drum 141, a charger 142, an exposure unit 143, a developing unit 144, and an intermediate transfer belt 145 are arranged in this order from the upstream side in the rotation direction. The charger 142 uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 141. The exposure device 143 irradiates the surface of the uniformly charged photoconductor drum 141 with light according to the image data, and forms an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor drum 141. The developing device 144 attaches toner to the electrostatic latent image and forms a toner image on the photosensitive drum 141. The intermediate transfer belt 145 transfers the toner image on the photosensitive drum 141 onto a sheet. When the image data is a color image, the intermediate transfer belt 145 transfers each color toner image onto the same sheet. The RGB color image is converted into C (cyan), M (magenta), Y (yellow), and K (black) format image data, and the image data of each color is input to the exposure unit 143.

  The image forming unit 140 feeds paper from the manual feed tray 151, the paper feed cassettes 152, 153, and 154 to the transfer unit between the intermediate transfer belt 145 and the transfer roller 146. Various sizes of paper can be placed or stored in the manual feed tray 151 and the paper feed cassettes 152, 153, and 154. The image forming unit 140 selects a sheet specified by the user or a sheet corresponding to the automatically detected document size, and feeds the selected sheet from the manual feed tray 151 or the cassettes 152, 153, and 154 by the feeding roller 155. . The fed paper is transported to the transfer section by transport rollers 156 and registration rollers 157. The sheet on which the toner image is transferred is conveyed to the fixing device 148 by the conveyance belt 147. The fixing device 148 has a fixing roller 158 and a pressure roller 159 with a built-in heater, and fixes the toner image on the sheet by heat and pressing force. The image forming unit 140 discharges the sheet that has passed through the fixing device 148 to the discharge tray 149.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an appearance of an operation panel included in the multifunction peripheral. The user can use the operation panel 200 to give the MFP 100 a start of copying and other instructions, and to confirm the status and settings of the MFP 100. On the operation panel 200, a display 201 with a touch panel and operation keys 203 are arranged. The display 201 includes a display surface including a liquid crystal display that displays operation buttons, messages, and the like, and a sensor that detects a pressed position on the display surface. The detection method of a press position is not specifically limited. Any method such as a resistance film method, a capacitance method, a surface acoustic wave method, and an electromagnetic wave method can be employed. The user can input through the display 201 using his / her finger or the touch pen 202.

  The display 201 displays an operation screen having a button display unit 204, a message display unit 205, and a status display unit 206. A plurality of tabs 208 are prepared in the button display unit 204, and operation buttons corresponding to the tab category are arranged on each tab. The “easy setting” tab has operation buttons used for basic setting. In the example of FIG. 2, operation buttons for setting paper size, copy magnification, density, printing surface, page aggregation, and post-processing are arranged. For example, when the user performs an operation of pressing the “density” button 207, a pop-up screen having selection buttons such as “light”, “normal”, and “dark” for selecting the density is displayed over the operation button. The density is set by the user's selection (pressing). In the example of FIG. 2, in addition to the “easy setting” tab, a “document / paper / finish” tab, a “color / image quality” tab, a “layout / edit” tab, and an “application / others” tab are also provided. The user can switch to the display of these tabs by performing an operation of selecting the tab button 208. While one tab is selected, other tabs and their elements are hidden on the operation screen.

  The message display unit 205 displays a message notifying the user of settings such as whether copying is possible and the number of copies. Note that the MFP 100 according to the present embodiment is configured to perform user authentication processing (login processing) for confirming the user (operator) usage qualification when the MFP 100 is used. FIG. 2 shows a state before the user authentication processing is performed, and a message “Please enter authentication information” requesting input of user authentication information is displayed on the message display unit 205. . Here, the user inputs user authentication information using the software keyboard displayed on the display 201 by selecting (pressing) the software keyboard display button 209.

  The status display unit 206 displays device status information as necessary. In this display, detection results of various sensors included in the multifunction peripheral 100 are reflected. The device status information means a message that notifies the user of a warning that prompts the user to respond to an abnormality although the device is in an operable state. For example, the fact that the remaining amount of paper is low, the document platen 103 is dirty, and the facsimile document is stored in the memory when the facsimile memory reception is set is included. Further, the device status information may include out-of-paper, conveyance jam, and the like.

  The operation keys 203 include a numeric keypad 210, a start key 211, a clear key 212, a LogOut key 213, a main power key 214, and the like. For example, the numeric keypad 210 can be used for specifying the number of copies and setting the copy magnification. When the user makes these settings, the multi-function device 100 displays a message such as “Can be copied (with settings)” on the message display unit 205 to notify the user that the settings have been made. The start key 211 is used for a start instruction for copying or image printing. The user operates the clear key 212 when canceling the setting made by the user. Since whether or not the machine accepts the setting by the user can be determined by the above-described message, the clear key 212 may be operated if the setting becomes unnecessary. The main power key 214 is used to switch the main power supply of the multifunction peripheral 100 on and off. Although not particularly limited, in the present embodiment, the operation through the operation panel 200 is prohibited except for the input of information related to the authentication until the user's use qualification is confirmed by the user authentication process described above. . When the authenticated user presses the LogOut key 213 after using the multifunction peripheral, or when the operation of the operation panel 200 and the operation of the image reading unit 120 and the image forming unit 140 are not performed for a predetermined time after the authentication, the multifunction peripheral 100 It is configured to return to the state before the authentication process is performed.

  FIG. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram of a control system in the multifunction machine. The multifunction peripheral 100 according to the present embodiment includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 301, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 302, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 303, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 304, an original transport device 110, and an image reading unit 120. A driver 305 corresponding to each drive unit in the image forming unit 140 is connected via an internal bus 306. The ROM 303, the HDD 304, and the like store programs, and the CPU 301 controls the multifunction peripheral 100 in accordance with the instructions of the control program. For example, the CPU 301 uses the RAM 302 as a work area, and controls the operation of each driving unit by exchanging data and commands with the driver 305. The HDD 304 is also used to store image data obtained by the image reading unit 120 and image data received from other devices through the network interface 161.

  An operation panel 200, a network interface 161, and various sensors 307 are also connected to the internal bus 306. The operation panel 200 receives a user operation and supplies a signal based on the operation to the CPU 301. The display 201 of the operation panel 200 displays the above-described operation screen according to a control signal from the CPU 301. The sensor 307 includes various sensors such as an open / close detection sensor for the platen cover 102, a document detection sensor on the document table 103, a temperature sensor for the fixing device 148, and a detection sensor for the conveyed paper or document.

  The CPU 301 executes, for example, a program stored in the ROM 303 to realize each of the following means (functional blocks) and controls the operation of each means according to signals from these sensors.

  FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the MFP according to the present embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the present embodiment includes an operation recognition unit 401, an authentication unit 402, and a display control unit 403.

  The operation recognition unit 401 recognizes pressing of the operation key 203 and pressing of the display 201 on the operation panel 200 and recognizes the operation content of the user. Further, the operation recognition unit 401 displays the above-described various operation screens including a plurality of operation buttons on the display surface of the display 201 through the display control unit 403. In the present embodiment, the coordinates of the pressed position detected by the sensor that detects the pressed position of the display 201 (touch panel) are input to the operation recognition unit 401, and the operation recognition unit 401 has screen elements such as operation buttons held by itself. The user's operation content on the display 201 is recognized based on the coordinates of the input and the coordinates of the input pressing position. The operation recognized by the operation recognition unit 401 is input to the authentication unit 402 or the operation control unit 404.

  In the present embodiment, the operation recognizing unit 401 includes a pressed position information recognizing unit 411 and a pressed position variation information recognizing unit 412, and the information indicated by the operation button corresponding to the pressed position on the display surface of the display 201 and the pressed position are displayed. The input content including the starting point and the variation information of the pressed position on the display surface of the display 201 is recognized.

  The pressed position information recognition unit 411 recognizes information indicated by the operation button corresponding to the pressed position on the display surface of the display 201 based on the coordinates of the pressed position and the coordinates of the screen element input from the display 201. The pressing position variation information recognizing unit 412 starts from the pressing position (hereinafter referred to as the first pressing position) used by the pressing position information recognizing unit 411 for recognizing the information indicated by the operation button. Recognize variation information of the pressed position on the display surface.

  The pressing position variation information is information indicating the variation of the pressing position in a series of operations performed with the first pressing position as a starting point. For example, when the user presses the first pressing position and the pressing position moves without releasing the pressing (that is, without detaching from the display surface), the direction and amount of movement can be used as variation information. . In this case, a series of operations is performed from the start of pressing until the pressing is canceled. Further, when the second pressing position different from the first pressing position is detected in a situation where the first pressing position is in the pressing state, the first pressing position moves from the first pressing position to the second pressing position. The direction and the distance between the first pressing position and the second pressing position can also be used as variation information. In this case, a series of operations is performed from the start of pressing at the first pressing position to the release of pressing at the first pressing position.

  Although not particularly limited, in this embodiment, the first pressing position is pressed, and the direction when the pressing position moves without canceling the pressing is used as the pressing position variation information. Further, here, as the direction, a direction toward the upper side of the display 201 (hereinafter referred to as “upper”), a direction toward the lower side of the display 201 (hereinafter referred to as “lower”), and a direction toward the right side of the display 201. (Hereinafter, referred to as “right”), and the four directions of the direction toward the left side of the display 201 (hereinafter referred to as “left”) are used.

  The authentication unit 402 executes user authentication by determining whether user authentication information configured by one or more input contents recognized by the operation recognition unit 401 satisfies a pre-registered authentication condition. .

  As described above, the user inputs user authentication information using the software keyboard displayed on the display 201. In the present embodiment, a user ID uniquely assigned to each user and a password associated with the user ID are used as user authentication information. The user ID may be any information that can identify the user, and here is constituted by information (hereinafter simply referred to as a character string) composed of characters, symbols, and the like that can be input with the software keyboard. Moreover, the password is comprised by the above-mentioned press position fluctuation | variation information matched with each character which comprises the character string of the above-mentioned user ID. For example, the user ID is “user”, the direction “up” for the character “u”, the direction “down” for the character “s”, the direction “left” for the character “e”, and the direction “right” for the character “r”. Are associated with each other, “up, down, left, right” is the password corresponding to the user ID.

  In the present embodiment, the authentication unit 402 is registered in advance with an authorized user list in which a user ID of a user who is permitted to use the multifunction device 100 and a password associated with the user ID are recorded. If the user ID and password recognized by the operation recognition unit 401 are included in the authorized user list, the authentication unit 402 determines that the user authentication condition is satisfied. When the user authentication condition is satisfied, the authentication unit 402 permits the user to use the multifunction peripheral 100 (generation of image data in the image reading unit 120, printing of image data in the image forming unit 140, etc.), and user authentication. When the condition is not satisfied, the use of the multifunction device 100 by the user is prohibited. In the present embodiment, the various processes in the MFP 100 are configured to be executed by the operation control unit 404 based on user instructions recognized by the operation recognition unit 401, and the authentication unit 402 is configured to operate the operation control unit 404. Various processes are realized by removing the operation restrictions.

  In the present embodiment, the display control unit 403 is configured to display the pressed position variation information recognized by the pressed position variation information recognition unit 412 of the operation recognition unit 401 on the display surface of the display 201.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an authentication procedure performed by the multifunction peripheral 100. The procedure starts with a trigger that the MFP 100 is in an authentication standby state.

  When the user authentication process is not performed, as described above, the MFP 100 is only allowed to input information related to authentication as an operation through the operation panel 200. In this state, the multi-function device 100 stands by until the user inputs authentication information (No in step S501).

  When the user inputs authentication information, the user displays the software keyboard on the display 201 by selecting (pressing) the software keyboard display button 209 in the operation screen. Then, using the displayed software keyboard, the above-described user ID and password assigned to itself are input.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which a software keyboard screen is displayed on the display 201. As shown in FIG. 6, the software keyboard screen 601 includes an input button group 602, an input display field 603, a “cancel” button 604, and an “OK” button 605. The input button group 602 is used for inputting authentication information. When the user presses one input button in the input button group 602, information (character information) corresponding to the input button is displayed in the input display field 603. A “cancel” button 604 is used to stop the operation and close the software keyboard screen 601 (return to the operation screen shown in FIG. 2). An “OK” button 605 is used to confirm the input of authentication information.

  Here, a case will be described in which a user whose user ID is “user” and whose password is “up / down / left / right” inputs the user ID and password. FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically showing the input procedure. In FIG. 7, a circle indicates a position where the user touches his / her finger. An arrow starting from each circle indicates a direction in which the user moves the finger while maintaining the contact of the finger with the display 201. Furthermore, the tip of the arrow indicates the position where the user has canceled the contact between the display 201 and the finger.

  As shown in FIG. 7, on the software keyboard screen 601, the user first presses the “u” button with, for example, an index finger. The pressing position is detected by a sensor that detects the pressing position of the display 201 and is input to the operation recognition unit 401. As a result, the pressed position information recognition unit 411 recognizes the character “u” that is information associated with the “u” button (step S502). At this time, the pressed position information recognition unit 411 displays the recognized information (character “u”) in the input display field 603 of the software keyboard screen 601 through the display control unit 403.

  Subsequently, the user moves the index finger pressing the “u” button in the upper side direction of the display 201 while maintaining the pressed state. The movement of the pressing position is detected by a sensor that detects the pressing position of the display 201 and input to the operation recognition unit 401. Thereby, the pressing position variation information recognition unit 412 recognizes the movement to “up” (step S503). At this time, the pressed position variation information recognition unit 411 displays the recognized information (direction “up”) on the software keyboard screen 601 through the display control unit 403 (step S504). Although not particularly limited, in the present embodiment, the display control unit 403 highlights the recognized button (“u” button) as shown in FIG. 8, and also recognizes the direction recognized from the button (“up”). The pressing position variation information is displayed on the display 201 in a manner in which an arrow heading in the direction is displayed.

  Similarly, the user presses the “s” button to move the display 201 in the lower side direction while maintaining the pressed state, presses the “e” button, and maintains the pressed state in the left side direction of the display 201. The operation to move to the right side of the display 201 is performed while the pressed state is maintained by pressing the “r” button (steps S505 No, S501 Yes, S502, S503, S504). At this time, the pressed position information recognizing unit 411 recognizes the character “s”, the character “e”, and the character “r” in order, and the pressed position variation information recognizing unit 412 has the direction “down”, the direction “left”, and the direction. Recognize “right” in order.

  In this state, when the user presses the “OK” button 605, the operation recognition unit 401 uses the character information “user” recognized by the pressed position information recognition unit 411 as the user ID, and the pressed position variation information recognition unit 412. Is input to the authentication unit 402 as a password (steps S505 Yes, S506).

  At this time, the authentication unit 402 determines whether or not the user ID input from the operation recognition unit 401 is included in the above-described authorized user list. If it is included in the authorized user list, the authentication unit 402 further collates the password input from the operation recognition unit 401 with the password associated with the user ID. If the two match, the authentication unit 402 is in a state of accepting an operation through the operation panel 200 of the user (Yes in steps S506 and S507). As a result, the user can execute various processes in the multifunction peripheral 100. That is, the multi-function device 100 waits for a user instruction through the operation panel 200, and when there is a user instruction, executes processing according to the instruction. In the above example, the user ID input from the operation recognition unit 401 is included in the authorized user list, and the password input from the operation recognition unit 401 matches the password associated with the user ID. The user can use the multifunction device 100. As described above, when the user presses the LogOut key 213 or when the operation on the operation panel 200 and the operation of the image reading unit 120 or the image forming unit 140 are not performed for a predetermined time after the authentication, the authentication state is canceled. The authentication information input standby state is entered.

  On the other hand, if the user ID input from the operation recognition unit 401 is not included in the authorized user list, the authentication unit 402 does nothing and the MFP 100 enters an authentication information input standby state (No in step S506). ). In this case, this user cannot operate the multifunction device 100.

  Further, even if the user ID input from the operation recognition unit 401 is included in the above-described authorized user list, the password input from the operation recognition unit 401 and the password associated with the user ID Does not match, the authentication unit 402 does nothing and the MFP 100 enters an authentication information input standby state (No in step S506). An example in which this situation occurs is shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 9, the user presses the “u” button and moves it in the upper side direction of the display 201 while maintaining the pressed state. The user presses the “s” button and maintains the pressed state in the lower side direction of the display 201. To move to the left side of the display 201 while maintaining the pressed state, and to move to the lower side of the display 201 while maintaining the pressed state. The operation to be executed is executed. At this time, the pressed position information recognizing unit 411 sequentially recognizes the character “u”, the character “s”, the character “e”, and the character “r”, and the pressed position variation information recognizing unit 412 has the direction “up” and the direction “Down”, direction “left”, and direction “down” are recognized in order. Therefore, the operation recognizing unit 401 uses the character information of “user” recognized by the pressed position information recognizing unit 411 as a user ID, and the variation information of “upper and lower left and lower” recognized by the pressed position change information recognizing unit 412 as a password. Input to the unit 402. In the permitted user list, the password associated with the user ID “user” is “up / down / left / right”, so the passwords do not match, and the user cannot use the multifunction device 100.

  As described above, in the MFP 100, when the user presses a specific operation button displayed on the display surface of the display 201, the information indicated by the operation button and the pressed position variation information are displayed. Since it is recognized as the input content, other information can be input simultaneously with the input of information indicated by one operation button using the pressed position variation information. And since the said other information can be used as authentication information, compared with the past, it becomes possible to simplify the input of authentication information by a user. That is, conventionally, the user ID and the password are individually input, but in the multi-function device 100, the password can be simultaneously input in the process of inputting the user ID. Therefore, user convenience can be improved.

  In the multifunction device 100, the display control unit 403 is configured to display the pressed position variation information on the display 201. Therefore, the user visually confirms the pressed position variation information recognized by the operation recognition unit 401. Can do.

  In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the pressing position variation information is displayed as graphic information on the display 201 is exemplified, but the display method may employ any method that can be recognized by the user. For example, another graphical display such as a display in which the pressed button moves in the moving direction with the movement of the pressed position may be adopted, or may be displayed as character information instead of the graphical display.

  In the above-described embodiment, four directions (up, down, left, and right) are used as variation information. However, eight directions including an oblique direction can be used as variation information. Further, the five directions and nine directions to which “no movement” is added can be used as the variation information. Further, not only the direction but also the movement amount may be used as the fluctuation information. For example, the same effect can be obtained by using the amount of movement up to one button, the amount of movement up to two buttons, the amount of movement up to three buttons,... Can be obtained. Further, the direction and the movement amount may be used in combination.

  Furthermore, in the said embodiment, although fluctuation information was combined with all the characters which comprise user ID, you may combine fluctuation information with only some characters.

  By the way, although the present invention has been described above from the viewpoint of improving user convenience when inputting authentication information, the present invention can also be used to increase the security strength of a password. For example, when the present invention is applied to a password “1234” consisting of four digits, a password such as “1 upper 2 right 3 left 4 lower” can be configured. In this case, even if “1234” as character information leaks, security can be ensured by preventing leakage of direction information (variation information) associated with each number. In addition, when using this invention in order to raise security intensity | strength, it is preferable that a display control part sets it as the structure which does not display press position fluctuation | variation information on a display.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to simplify the input of authentication information by the user as compared with the prior art, and the user convenience can be improved. In another aspect, the security strength of the password can be increased.

  The above-described embodiments do not limit the technical scope of the present invention, and various modifications and applications other than those already described are possible within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, a case where the present invention is applied to authentication using a user ID and a password has been described as a preferred aspect, but the present invention is applicable to authentication in any aspect in which authentication information is input using a touch panel. can do.

  Further, in the flowchart shown in FIG. 5, the order of the steps can be changed as appropriate within a range where the equivalent operation is achieved. For example, the authentication condition can be determined for each input.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the present invention is embodied as a digital multifunction peripheral. However, the present invention is not limited to a digital multifunction peripheral, but may be any image forming apparatus such as a printer or a copier, or an arbitrary authentication apparatus including a touch panel. It is also possible to apply the present invention.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to improve user convenience when inputting information, which is useful as an authentication apparatus and an image forming apparatus.

100 MFP 200 Operation Panel 201 Display (Touch Panel)
401 Operation Recognition Unit 402 Authentication Unit 403 Display Control Unit 411 Pressed Position Information Recognizing Unit 412 Pressed Position Fluctuation Information Recognizing Unit

Claims (3)

A touch panel that displays a plurality of operation buttons on the display surface and detects a pressed position on the display surface;
An operation recognizing unit for recognizing input contents including information indicated by an operation button corresponding to the pressed position on the display surface and variation information of the pressed position on the display surface from the pressed position;
An authentication unit that determines whether or not authentication information configured by one or more of the input contents recognized by the operation recognition unit satisfies a pre-registered authentication condition;
Equipped with a,
In the one or more input contents, a series of information consisting of information indicated by each operation button constitutes identification information for specifying a user who operates the touch panel, and each display surface on the display surface starting from each pressed position A series of information consisting of variation information of the pressed position constitutes a password corresponding to the identification information,
Authentication device.   The authentication apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a display control unit configured to display, on the display surface of the touch panel, variation information of the pressed position on the display surface, which is recognized by the operation recognition unit, starting from the pressed position. Comprising an authentication device according to claim 1 or 2, the image forming apparatus.