JP6192620B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus capable of transmitting backup data to an external apparatus in a disaster.

  In an image forming apparatus, when an emergency alert is received, a mechanism for taking safety measures such as turning off the main power supply or backing up data to an external apparatus has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). In the technique of Patent Document 2, in order not to leak confidential information backed up to an external device, when a disaster has not been detected after a certain period of time has elapsed since the reception of an emergency alert, or the image forming apparatus has been minimally damaged. In this case, the backup data of the external device is deleted.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-143029 JP 2008-244892 A

  By the way, in the case of a disaster such as an earthquake, even if the initial damage is minor, a new disaster such as an aftershock may cause a serious damage. However, the conventional technique has a problem that backup data of the external device has already been deleted when a new disaster occurs.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said subject, and it aims at providing the technique which can solve the said subject.

The image forming apparatus of the present invention is an image forming apparatus including a backup control unit that receives disaster sign information and stores backup data in an external device, and the backup control unit determines that there is a sign of disaster convergence In this case, the backup data stored in the external device is deleted step by step.
In addition, the backup data stored in the external device has an importance level, and when it is determined that there is a sign of disaster convergence, the backup control unit deletes the backup data in descending order of importance. May be.
The backup control unit takes the difference between the backup target data set as data to be backed up to the external device and the backup data currently stored in the external device when the disaster sign information is received, Difference data may be stored in the external device.
The backup control unit determines that there is a sign of disaster convergence every time a predetermined time elapses when new disaster sign information is not received in a state where backup data is stored in the external device. You may have a determination part.
Further, the disaster convergence sign determination unit may determine that there is a sign of the disaster convergence when an alarm release corresponding to the disaster sign information is received.
The backup control unit may change the amount of backup data to be deleted from the external device according to the reliability of the determination that there is a sign of disaster convergence.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the technique which can improve the maintainability of the backup data of an external apparatus can be provided in consideration of a new disaster.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic control configuration of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. It is an example which showed the setting content of the backup setting part shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a state transition diagram of the backup control processing unit shown in FIG. 2. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the backup control process part shown in FIG.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.
An image forming apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is a multifunction machine having a copying function, a printing function, a scanner function, and the like. Referring to FIG. 1, a document reading unit 120, a document feeding unit 130, and a recording unit 140. The document reading unit 120 is disposed above the recording unit 140, and the document feeding unit 130 is disposed above the document reading unit 120.

  On the front side of the image forming apparatus 100, an operation panel 4 for setting and operating instructions of the image forming apparatus 100 is disposed. The operation panel 4 is provided with a touch panel 41 and operation buttons 42. The user operates the operation panel 4 and inputs an instruction to perform various settings of the image forming apparatus 100 and execute various functions such as image formation. The touch panel 41 is provided on a display surface of a display unit that displays various operation keys that accept operation inputs, detects an input by pressing an operator's fingertip, stylus, or the like, and outputs a signal corresponding to a position where the input is detected. As a result, an operation to the operation key displayed on the display unit is accepted. As the operation button 42, a start button for instructing the user to start image formation, a stop / clear button used for stopping image formation, and the like, used for setting various settings of the image forming apparatus 100 to default states. A reset button, a numeric keypad and the like are provided.

  The document reading unit 120 includes a scanner 121, a platen glass 122, and a document reading slit 123. The scanner 121 includes an exposure lamp, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) sensor, and the like, and is configured to be movable in the conveyance direction of the document MS by the document feeding unit 130. The platen glass 122 is an original table made of a transparent member such as glass. The document reading slit 123 has a slit formed in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the document MS is conveyed by the document feeding unit 130.

  The document feeding unit 130 is configured to be retractable, and by lifting the document feeding unit 130 upward, the upper surface of the platen glass 122 can be opened and the document MS can be placed on the platen glass 122. When reading the document MS placed on the platen glass 122, the scanner 121 is moved to a position facing the platen glass 122 and reads the document MS while scanning the document MS placed on the platen glass 122. Get image data.

  The document feeding unit 130 includes a document placing unit 131, a document discharge unit 132, and a document transport mechanism 133. The documents MS placed on the document placement unit 131 are sequentially fed out one by one by the document conveyance mechanism 133 and conveyed to a position facing the document reading slit 123 of the document reading unit 120, and then the document discharge unit. It is discharged to 132. When reading the document MS conveyed by the document feeding unit 130, the scanner 121 is moved to a position facing the document reading slit 123, and the document MS is conveyed by the document feeding unit 130 via the document reading slit 123. In synchronization with the operation, the document MS is read to acquire image data.

  The recording unit 140 includes an image forming unit 150, and includes a paper feeding unit 160, a conveyance path 170, a conveyance roller 181, a discharge roller 182, and an in-body discharge tray 190. The in-body discharge tray 190 serving as a paper discharge unit is provided in a paper discharge space 191 formed between the document reading unit 120 and the recording unit 140.

  The paper feed unit 160 includes paper feed cassettes 161 a to 161 d that store the recording paper P, and paper feed rollers 162 that feed the recording paper P from the paper feed cassettes 161 a to 161 d one by one to the transport path 170. The paper feed roller 162, the transport roller 181 and the discharge roller 182 function as a transport unit, and the recording paper P is transported. The recording paper P fed to the transport path 170 by the paper feed roller 162 is transported to the image forming unit 150 by the transport roller 181.

  The image forming unit 150 includes a photosensitive drum 151, a charging unit 152, an exposure unit 153, a developing unit 154, a transfer unit 155, a cleaning unit 156, and a fixing unit 157. The exposure unit 153 is an optical unit that includes a laser device, a mirror, and the like. The exposure unit 153 outputs laser light based on the image data, exposes the photosensitive drum 151 charged by the charging unit 152, and forms an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 151. The developing unit 154 is a developing unit that develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 151 using toner. The developing unit 154 forms a toner image based on the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 151. The transfer unit 155 transfers the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 151 by the developing unit 154 to the recording paper P. The fixing unit 157 heats the recording paper P on which the toner image is transferred by the transfer unit 155 to fix the toner image on the recording paper P.

  The recording paper P on which recording has been performed by the image forming unit 150 is guided to the discharge roller 182 and output as a printed matter to the in-body discharge tray 190.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic control configuration of the image forming apparatus 100. The operation panel 4, the document reading unit 120, the document feeding unit 130, the image forming unit 150, and the transport unit (paper feed roller 162, transport roller 181, discharge roller 182) are connected to the control unit 1 and the control unit 1. The operation is controlled by. In addition, a storage unit 2 and an image processing unit 3 are connected to the control unit 1.

  The storage unit 2 is a storage unit such as a semiconductor memory or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) in which image data acquired by reading a document by the document reading unit 120 is stored. The storage unit 2 stores confidential image data, address book information, a user management list, setting values for various functions, and the like.

  The image processing unit 3 is means for performing predetermined image processing on the image data. In the image processing unit 3, for example, image improvement processing such as enlargement / reduction processing, density adjustment, and gradation adjustment is performed.

  The control unit 1 is an information processing unit such as a microcomputer including a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. The ROM stores a control program for performing operation control of the image forming apparatus 100. The control unit 1 reads out a control program stored in the ROM and develops the control program in the RAM, thereby controlling the entire apparatus.

  In addition, when the control unit 1 receives the disaster sign information, the control unit 1 backs up the data set as the backup target data among the data stored in the storage unit 2 to the external device 300, and there is an indication of disaster convergence. The backup control unit 11 deletes the backup data stored in the external device 300 in descending order of importance of the backup target data.

  The backup control unit 11 includes a backup setting unit 111, a disaster sign reception unit 112, a disaster convergence sign determination unit 113, and a backup control processing unit 114.

  The backup setting unit 111 has a function of setting which data among the data stored in the storage unit 2 is a backup target and setting the importance of the data set as the backup target.

  For example, FIG. 3 is an example showing the setting contents in the backup setting unit 111. In FIG. 3, confidential image data, address book information, a user management list, and setting values for various functions are set as backup target data. The confidential image data, address book information, user management list, and setting values of various functions are data stored in the storage unit 2 respectively. In addition, regarding the importance of each backup target data, the confidential image data is set to “1”, the address book information is set to “2”, the user management list is set to “3”, and the setting values of various functions are set to “4”. The smaller the numerical value, the higher the importance. The importance of the backup target data is set so that the more important the data is for security, the higher the importance is. The type and number of backup target data and the importance of the backup target data may be arbitrarily set by the user.

  The disaster sign receiving unit 112 is connected to the Internet 200 and has a function of receiving emergency sign information for predicting the occurrence of an earthquake, and disaster sign information such as a tsunami warning and a tornado warning via the Internet 200.

  The disaster convergence sign determination unit 113 is connected to the Internet 200 and receives an earthquake warning, a tsunami warning cancellation, or a tornado warning cancellation for notifying the magnitude of an earthquake that has occurred via the Internet 200. It has a function to determine that there is a sign of. The disaster convergence sign determination unit 113 starts a timer (not shown) when the disaster sign receiving unit 112 receives the disaster sign information, and new disaster sign information is received by the disaster sign receiving unit 112 within a predetermined time. Then, the timer is reset and it is determined that there is no sign of disaster convergence. If no new disaster sign information is received by the disaster sign receiving unit 112 even after a predetermined time has elapsed, the disaster convergence sign determination unit 113 determines that there is a sign of disaster convergence. If new disaster predictor information is not received, the disaster convergence sign determination unit 113 performs disaster convergence at predetermined time intervals until all backup data stored in the external device 300 is deleted by the backup control processing unit 114 described later. It is determined that there is a sign.

  The backup control processing unit 114 is communicably connected to an external device 300 that includes a storage device such as an HDD. The backup control processing unit 114 and the external device 300 may be connected via a dedicated line or may be connected via a network such as the Internet 200. The backup control processing unit 114 copies the data corresponding to the backup target data set by the backup setting unit 111 from the storage unit 2 when the disaster sign receiving unit 112 receives the disaster sign information, and the copied data As backup data to the external device 300 for backup. In addition, the backup control processing unit 114 sequentially starts with the most important data based on the importance set by the backup setting unit 111 every time the disaster convergence sign determination unit 113 determines that there is a sign of disaster convergence. It has a function of deleting backup data of the external device 300.

  FIG. 4 is a state transition diagram of the backup control processing unit 114.

  The normal state is a state in which backup data is not stored in the external device 300. In the normal state, when the disaster sign receiving unit 112 receives the disaster sign information, the backup control processing unit 114 copies all of the backup target data from the storage unit 2, saves all backup data to the external device 300, Transition to the data saving state.

  When the disaster convergence sign determination unit 113 determines that there is a sign of disaster convergence in the all data evacuated state, the backup control processing unit 114 selects the backup data with the highest importance among the backup data currently stored in the external device 300. Delete and move to partial data save state.

  In the partial data evacuation state, when the disaster sign receiving unit 112 receives the disaster sign information, the backup control processing unit 114 stores the backup data stored in the external device 300 and the backup target data set by the backup setting unit 111. The difference is taken. Then, the backup control processing unit 114 copies the data corresponding to the difference from the storage unit 2 and saves it as the differential backup data in the external device 300. As a result, backup data corresponding to all backup target data is stored in the external device 300, and the backup control processing unit 114 shifts to the all data saving state.

  When the disaster convergence sign determination unit 113 determines that there is a sign of disaster convergence in the partial data saving state, the backup control processing unit 114 determines that the backup data having the highest importance among the backup data currently stored in the external device 300 Is deleted. When the backup data is deleted from the external apparatus 300 due to the deletion of the backup data, the backup control processing unit 114 shifts to a normal state, and when the backup data remains in the external apparatus 300, a part of the data is saved. State is maintained.

  The processing flow of the backup control processing unit 114 will be specifically described with reference to FIG. Note that the processing of the backup control processing unit 114 starts from the normal state.

  The backup control processing unit 114 determines whether disaster predictor information has been received via the disaster predictor receiving unit 112 (step s11). If no disaster warning information is received (No in step s11), the process returns to step s11.

  When disaster predictor information is received (Yes in step s11), a timer (not shown) is started, and the backup control processing unit 114 is set by the backup setting unit 111 among the data stored in the storage unit 2. All data corresponding to the backup target data is copied to create backup data, and the backup data is transmitted to the external device 300 (step s12). When all the backup data is transmitted to the external device 300, the backup control processing unit 114 shifts to the all data saving state (step s13). Subsequently, the backup control unit 11 determines whether there is a sign of disaster convergence based on the timer value or the like via the disaster convergence sign determination unit 113 (step s14), and if there is no sign of disaster convergence, the process proceeds to step s14. To return.

  When there is a sign of disaster convergence (Yes in step s14), the backup control processing unit 114 determines whether or not the external device 300 is damaged (step s15). For example, the backup control unit 11 determines that the external device 300 is not damaged when the external device 300 can be connected, and determines that there is damage when the external device 300 cannot be connected. Good.

  If the external device 300 is damaged (No in step s15), the backup control processing unit 114 cannot connect to the external device 300, and thus ends this processing without doing anything.

  On the other hand, when there is no damage to the external device 300 (Yes in step s15), the backup control processing unit 114 acquires backup data holding information from the external device 300 (step s16). The backup data holding information is information indicating the content of backup data currently stored in the external apparatus 300.

  Subsequently, the backup control processing unit 114 deletes the backup data having the highest importance from the backup data currently stored in the external device 300 from the external device 300 (step s17). Note that the backup control processing unit 114 may instruct the external device 300 to delete the data, or may directly delete the data from the external device 300. When the backup data having the highest importance is deleted, the backup control processing unit 114 shifts to a partial data saving state (step s18).

  Subsequently, the backup control processing unit 114 determines whether or not disaster predictor information has been received via the disaster predictor receiving unit 112 (step s19). When disaster predictor information is received (Yes in step s19), a timer (not shown) is reset, and the backup control processing unit 114 acquires backup data holding information from the external device 300 (step s20). Subsequently, the backup control processing unit 114 takes a difference between the backup data stored in the external device 300 and the backup target data set by the backup setting unit 111 based on the backup data holding information, and corresponds to the difference. Data is copied from the storage unit 2 and transmitted to the external device 300 (step s21). Thus, by backing up the differential data, the network load can be reduced. Subsequently, the backup control processing unit 114 proceeds to step s13 to shift to the all data saving state.

  On the other hand, when no disaster sign information is received (No in step s19), the disaster convergence sign determination unit 113 determines whether there is a sign of disaster convergence based on the timer value or the like (step s22). If there is no sign (No in step s22), the process returns to step s19.

  When there is a sign of disaster convergence (Yes in step s22), the backup control processing unit 114 acquires backup data holding information from the external device 300 (step s23), and among the backup data currently stored in the external device 300 The most important backup data is deleted (step s24).

  Subsequently, the backup control processing unit 114 determines whether or not backup data remains in the external device 300 (step s25). If the backup data remains (Yes in step s25), the process returns to step s19. The processing from step s19 to step s25 is repeated.

  When all the backup data of the external device 300 is exhausted (No in step s25), the backup control processing unit 114 shifts to a normal state (step s26) and returns the process to step s11. Note that when the backup data stored in the external device 300 becomes a predetermined amount or less, the backup control processing unit 114 may determine that all the backup data of the external device 300 has been lost.

  As described above, when the backup control unit 11 according to the present embodiment determines that there is a sign of disaster convergence, the backup control unit 11 does not delete all the backup data stored in the external device 300 at one time, but backs up in descending order of importance. The data is being deleted step by step. Therefore, leakage of confidential information and the like can be prevented, and data security can be improved. In addition, when new disaster precursor information due to aftershocks or the like is received, since some backup data remains in the external device 300, data integrity can be improved. Further, since some backup data remains in the external device 300, the backup control unit 11 stores the backup data in the external device 300 when transmitting the backup data to the external device 300 using new disaster sign information. It suffices to transmit the difference data as much as possible, and the network load can be reduced.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  For example, the amount of backup data to be deleted from the external device 300 may be changed according to the reliability determined to have a sign of disaster convergence. For example, if the disaster convergence sign determination unit 113 determines that there is a sign of disaster convergence when no new disaster sign information has been received even after a predetermined time has elapsed since the previous reception of the disaster sign information, The control processing unit 114 deletes one backup data having the highest importance among the backup data currently stored in the external device 300. On the other hand, when the disaster convergence sign determination unit 113 receives the tsunami warning cancellation and the tornado warning cancellation via the Internet 200 and determines that there is a sign of disaster convergence, the backup control processing unit 114 Of the backup data stored in the apparatus 300, a plurality of (for example, three) backup data may be deleted together in descending order of importance. This is because when the alarm release is notified, the possibility of a new disaster is low and the reliability is high. In addition, if new disaster predictor information is not received since the previous reception of the disaster predictor information, and the disaster convergence sign determination unit 113 continuously determines that there is a sign of disaster convergence, The backup control processing unit 114 may increase the number of backup data to be deleted each time it is determined that there is a sign of This is because the reliability of the determination increases as it is determined that there is a continuous sign of disaster convergence.

  Further, when receiving backup data from the backup control processing unit 114, the external apparatus 300 may encrypt the received backup data and store only the encrypted backup data. According to this, security can be further improved. Further, in the above embodiment, deletion is performed in order from the backup data with the higher importance with emphasis on security, but deletion may be performed in order from the backup data with the lower importance with emphasis on data integrity. .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control part 2 Storage part 3 Image processing part 4 Operation panel 11 Backup control part 41 Touch panel 42 Operation button 100 Image forming apparatus 111 Backup setting part 112 Disaster sign receiving part 113 Disaster convergence sign judging part 114 Backup control processing part 120 Document reading part 121 Scanner 122 Platen Glass 123 Document Reading Slit 130 Document Feeding Section 131 Document Placement Section 132 Document Discharge Section 133 Document Conveying Mechanism 140 Recording Section 150 Image Forming Section 151 Photosensitive Drum 152 Charging Section 153 Exposure Section 154 Development Section 155 Transfer Section 156 Cleaning unit 157 Fixing unit 160 Paper feeding unit 161a-d Paper feeding cassette 162 Paper feeding roller 170 Carriage path 181 Carrying roller 182 Ejection roller 190 In-body ejection tray 191 Ejection space 200 Internet 300 external devices

Claims (6)

An image forming apparatus including a backup control unit that receives disaster sign information and stores backup data in an external device,
The backup control unit
An image forming apparatus comprising: stepwise deleting backup data stored in the external device when it is determined that there is a sign of disaster convergence. Importance is set for backup data stored in the external device,
The backup control unit
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when it is determined that there is a sign of disaster convergence, the backup data with the highest importance is deleted in order. The backup control unit
When the disaster predictor information is received, the difference between the backup target data set as data to be backed up to the external device and the backup data currently stored in the external device is taken, and the difference data is stored in the external device The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus. The backup control unit
In the state where backup data is stored in the external device and when no new disaster predictor information is received, it has a disaster convergence sign determination unit that determines that there is a sign of disaster convergence every time a predetermined time elapses. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the disaster convergence sign determination unit determines that there is a sign of the disaster convergence when an alarm release corresponding to the disaster sign information is received. The backup control unit
6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the amount of backup data to be deleted from the external device is changed in accordance with the reliability of the determination that there is a sign of the disaster convergence. .

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