JP6281343B2 - Authority delegation system, authority delegation method, and authority delegation program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an authority delegation system, an authority delegation method, and an authority delegation program.

  Conventionally, a hold print function (on-demand print function) that outputs a print job stored in a device such as an LP (Laser Printer) or MFP (Multi Function Printer) or a server after user authentication performed on the device side is known. . According to such a hold printing function, it is possible to prevent the output material from being left unattended. Recently, there is a technique for delegating the print job output authority to another user different from the user who has performed the operation of accumulating the print job with respect to such a hold print function. For example, in Patent Document 1, an IC card reader is connected to a client PC, and identification information of a mobile terminal owned by a user who has performed an operation of storing a print job or another user is exchanged. Information related to output authority is sent to the terminal by e-mail.

  However, the above-described conventional technique has a problem that it is difficult to easily delegate print job output authority. Specifically, the prior art is costly to install an IC card reader, and the operation for sending an e-mail is complicated, so that it is difficult to easily delegate print job output authority.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to easily delegate print job output authority.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, an authority delegation system according to the present invention is an authority delegation system having a terminal device and an information processing device, and the terminal device is a user who owns the terminal device. A search unit for searching for an authentication device owned by another user different from the above, an acquisition unit for acquiring a device identifier for identifying the authentication device from the authentication device detected by the search, and an output of the user A generation unit that generates delegation information indicating delegation of authority to the other user, the acquired device identifier, and a job identifier for identifying a print job for which the user has an output authority are generated. A transmission unit that transmits the delegation information to the information processing apparatus, wherein the information processing apparatus is a job for identifying a print job. An authority delegation storage unit that associates and stores an identifier and the device identifier of an authentication device owned by a user whose output authority has been delegated; the device identifier transmitted by the terminal device; and the job identifier; A receiving unit that receives the delegation information; and an authority delegation processing unit that stores the received job identifier and the device identifier in the authority delegation storage unit when the delegation information is received.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, the print job output authority can be easily delegated.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration example of an authority delegation system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of each device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in the print job information storage unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in the authority delegation storage unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the flow of a print job accumulation process according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the flow of output authority delegation processing according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the flow of image processing according to the first embodiment. FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of each apparatus according to the second embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in the print job information storage unit according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the flow of output authority delegation processing according to the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of each device according to the third embodiment. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in the print job information storage unit according to the third embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in the authority delegation storage unit according to the third embodiment. FIG. 14A is a diagram illustrating an update example of the print job information storage unit and the authority delegation storage unit when the number of times is set for each of a plurality of users who are the output authority delegation destinations. FIG. 14B is a diagram for explaining an update example of the print job information storage unit and the authority delegation storage unit when the number of times is set for each of a plurality of users who are output authority delegation destinations. FIG. 14C is a diagram illustrating an update example of the print job information storage unit and the authority delegation storage unit when the number of times is set for each of a plurality of users who are output authority delegation destinations. FIG. 15A is a diagram for describing an update example of the print job information storage unit and the authority delegation storage unit when the number of times is set for all of the plurality of users to whom the output authority is delegated. FIG. 15B is a diagram illustrating an update example of the print job information storage unit and the authority delegation storage unit when the number of times is set for all the plurality of users who are the output authority delegation destinations. FIG. 16 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the flow of output authority delegation processing according to the third embodiment. FIG. 17 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the flow of image processing when output authority is delegated after printing is interrupted. FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the mobile terminal. FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of an image processing apparatus as an MFP.

  Embodiments of an authority delegation system, an authority delegation method, and an authority delegation program according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited by the following embodiment. Moreover, each embodiment can be combined suitably as long as the content is not contradicted.

(Embodiment 1)
[System configuration]
The system configuration of the authority delegation system according to Embodiment 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration example of an authority delegation system according to the first embodiment.

  As illustrated in FIG. 1, the authority delegation system 1 includes a client device 10, an authentication server 20, a mobile terminal 30, an authentication device 40, a print server 50, and an image processing device 60. Among these, the client device 10, the authentication server 20, the print server 50, and the image processing device 60 are connected to a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet. Such a network is realized by wireless or wired. The portable terminal 30 is connected to the network by wireless communication. Further, the mobile terminal 30 and the authentication device 40 can communicate with each other by short-range wireless communication such as NFC (Near Field Communication). Similarly, the authentication device 40 and the image processing apparatus 60 can communicate with each other by short-range wireless communication such as NFC. A plurality of devices included in the authority delegation system 1 may be arranged. In the authority delegation system 1, it is assumed that printing is performed by the hold printing function.

  In the configuration described above, the client device 10 generates a print job in response to a user operation, and transmits the generated print job to the print server 50. The client device 10 is an information processing device such as a PC. As a result, print jobs to be output by the image processing apparatus 60 are accumulated in the print server 50. The authentication server 20 performs an authentication process for a user who uses the authority transfer system 1. A user who uses the authority delegation system 1 refers to a user who owns the mobile terminal 30 or the authentication device 40. That is, the authentication server 20 holds information related to a user ID, a password, and a device ID for identifying the mobile terminal 30 and the authentication device 40 in association with each other, and performs authentication processing using these. Note that a user who owns the mobile terminal 30 or the authentication device 40 may use the client device 10 to generate a print job.

  When the portable terminal 30 receives an operation for delegating the output authority of the print job generated by the client device 10, the portable terminal 30 acquires the print job information from the print server 50 after authenticating the user who owns the portable terminal 30. The list of acquired print job information is displayed on the screen. Then, when print job information is selected from the list, the portable terminal 30 acquires the device ID of the authentication device 40 using near field communication. Here, the acquired device ID is the device ID of the authentication device 40 owned by the user to whom the print job output authority is transferred. Subsequently, the mobile terminal 30 transmits the acquired device ID, a job ID for identifying the selected print job information, and delegation information indicating that the output authority is delegated to the print server 50. . The mobile terminal 30 is a terminal device such as a smartphone or a mobile phone. The mobile terminal 30 is an example of a “terminal device”.

  The authentication device 40 is a device used for authentication when a print job is output using the image processing apparatus 60. The authentication device 40 may be an IC (Integrated Circuit) card or a device similar to the mobile terminal 30 described above. That is, the portable terminal 30 described above can also be used for authentication when a print job is output using the image processing apparatus 60. In the present embodiment, for ease of explanation, the device owned by the output authority transfer source user is assumed to be the portable terminal 30, and the output authority transfer destination user (image processing apparatus 60 is used to output a print job). A device owned by a user will be described as an authentication device 40.

  The print server 50 holds a print job, print job information of the print job, and information regarding delegation of output authority. The print server 50 transmits print job information to the portable terminal 30 and the image processing apparatus 60 and transmits a print job to the image processing apparatus 60 in response to a request. Further, when the print server 50 receives the device ID, the job ID, and the delegation information from the portable terminal 30, the print server 50 associates the received job ID and the device ID with each other and adds them to the storage unit. Execute the delegation process. Thereby, when the print server 50 is requested, the print server 50 can transmit the corresponding print job information based on the output authority of the corresponding user.

  After authenticating the user who owns the authentication device 40, the image processing apparatus 60 acquires print job information corresponding to the output authority of the user from the print server 50, and displays and outputs a list of print job information. Then, the image processing apparatus 60 receives selection of print job information and acquires a corresponding print job from the print server 50. Thereafter, the image processing apparatus 60 outputs the acquired print job. The image processing device 60 is an image processing device such as an LP or MFP. The print server 50 and the image processing device 60 are examples of “information processing device”. That is, the print server 50 and the image processing device 60 may be integrated as one device including each function.

  That is, in the authority delegation system 1, the device ID of the authentication device 40 owned by the output authority delegation destination user is acquired using short-range wireless communication mounted on the mobile terminal 30, and the acquired device ID and output The job ID of the print job that is the authority delegation target is managed in association with it. As a result, the authority delegation system 1 detects the job ID associated with the device ID of the authenticated authentication device 40 when the print job is output from the image processing apparatus 60, and the print job corresponding to the detected job ID. Is acquired from the print server 50. As a result, the authority delegation system 1 can easily delegate the print job output authority.

[Functional configuration according to Embodiment 1]
Next, the functional configuration of each apparatus according to Embodiment 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of each device according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 2, functional configurations of the mobile terminal 30 that is an example of the “terminal device” and the print server 50 and the image processing device 60 that are examples of the “information processing device” will be mainly described.

  As illustrated in FIG. 2, the mobile terminal 30 includes a communication unit 31, an operation display unit 32, a print job information acquisition unit 33, a search unit 34, and a generation unit 35. In addition, about each said part, some or all of these may be implement | achieved by software (program), and may be implement | achieved by the hardware circuit.

  The communication unit 31 communicates with an external device. The communication unit 31 is an example of a “transmission unit”. For example, the communication unit 31 transmits information used in the authentication process to the authentication server 20 and receives an authentication result from the authentication server 20 after the authentication process. The communication unit 31 transmits a print job information transmission request and an output authority delegation processing execution request to the print server 50, and receives the print job information from the print server 50 in response to the transmission request.

  The operation display unit 32 receives various user operations and displays processing results for the user operations. As one aspect, the operation display unit 32 is a touch panel. The operation display unit 32 is an example of a “display unit” or “accepting unit”. For example, the operation display unit 32 accepts an operation for authentication when delegating output authority. The information used for authentication may be a user ID, a password, or the like, a device ID that is an identifier for identifying the portable terminal 30, or a combination thereof.

  When using the user ID and password, the operation display unit 32 requests the communication unit 31 to transmit the input user ID and password when receiving the input of the user ID and password. Thereby, the communication unit 31 transmits the user ID and password to the authentication server 20 for authentication. Further, when using the device ID, the operation display unit 32 requests the communication unit 31 to transmit the device ID of the portable terminal 30 when receiving an operation such as a button image indicating that authentication is performed. Thereby, the communication unit 31 transmits the device ID of the mobile terminal 30 to the authentication server 20 for authentication. Then, the operation display unit 32 displays the authentication result received by the communication unit 31.

  At this time, when the operation display unit 32 receives an operation for proceeding to the next step when the authentication result is valid, the operation display unit 32 acquires print job information corresponding to the device ID (or user ID) of the mobile terminal 30. The print job information acquisition unit 33 is requested. Accordingly, the print job information acquisition unit 33 transmits a print job information transmission request corresponding to the device ID to the print server 50 via the communication unit 31, and the print job information transmitted by the print server 50 is transmitted. get. Then, the operation display unit 32 displays a list of print job information acquired by the print job information acquisition unit 33. Here, the user performs an operation of selecting print job information for which output authority is to be delegated from the displayed list of print job information.

  The operation display unit 32 requests the search unit 34 to search for the authentication device 40 when accepting selection of print job information for which output authority is to be delegated. Accordingly, the search unit 34 searches for the authentication device 40, acquires the device ID of the authentication device 40 that has been connected, and outputs the acquired device ID to the generation unit 35. At this time, the operation display unit 32 displays the search progress and the detection result of the authentication device 40. The operation display unit 32 may display information on the detected authentication device 40 and allow the user to select whether or not to execute a process of delegating output authority to the authentication device 40. The search unit 34 is an example of a “search unit” or “acquisition unit”.

  The search by the search unit 34 is performed by short-range wireless communication. For example, when the authentication device 40 is an IC card or the like, the mobile terminal 30 is operated in the reader / writer mode. Further, when the authentication device 40 is a terminal device similar to the mobile terminal 30, the P2P (Peer to Peer) mode, or Bluetooth (registered trademark) or Wi-Fi (registered trademark) is handed over.

  The generation unit 35 generates delegation information. More specifically, when the generation unit 35 receives the device ID of the authentication device 40 output by the search unit 34, the generation unit 35 gives the output authority of the print job owned by the user who owns the mobile terminal 30 to the authentication device 40. Generate delegation information indicating delegation to the owning user. Then, the generation unit 35 requests the communication unit 31 to transmit the job ID of the print job information received by the operation display unit 32, the device ID of the authentication device 40, and the generated delegation information to the print server 50. To do. As a result, the communication unit 31 transmits the job ID, device ID, and delegation information to the print server 50.

  The print server 50 includes a communication unit 51, a print job information acquisition unit 52, a print job information storage unit 53, an authority delegation processing unit 54, an authority delegation storage unit 55, and a print job management processing unit 56. Have. In addition, about each said part, some or all of these may be implement | achieved by software (program), and may be implement | achieved by the hardware circuit.

  The communication unit 51 communicates with an external device. For example, the communication unit 51 receives a print job transmitted by the client device 10. When the print job is received by the communication unit 51, the print job management processing unit 56 extracts print job information related to the print job and stores it in the print job information storage unit 53. The print server 50 receives print jobs from a plurality of client devices 10, and a plurality of print job information is stored in the print job information storage unit 53.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in the print job information storage unit 53 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the print job information storage unit 53 includes a job ID, a job name, a device ID, the number of pages, color / monochrome, single-sided / double-sided, number of copies, paper size, status, and the like. , Information relating to the printed page is stored in association with each other.

  The job ID is identification information for identifying a print job. The job name is the name of the print job. The device ID is identification information for identifying the portable terminal 30 owned by the user who has generated the print job using the client device 10. A user ID may be used for the device ID item. The page number is the number of pages of the print job. Color / monochrome is a setting for color printing or monochrome printing at the time of print job output. Single-sided / double-sided is a setting for single-sided printing or double-sided printing at the time of print job output. The number of copies is a setting of the number of copies at the time of print job output. The paper size is a setting of the paper size when outputting the print job. The status is the status of print processing in the image processing apparatus 60. The printed page is the number of pages printed by the image processing apparatus 60.

  For example, the print job information storage unit 53 includes a job ID “1”, a job name “job A”, a device ID “D0001”, a page number “1”, a color / monochrome “color”, One-sided / double-sided “single-sided”, the number of copies “3”, the paper size “A3”, the status “printing completed”, and the printed page “1” are stored in association with each other.

  Further, the communication unit 51 receives a print job information acquisition request from the mobile terminal 30 or the image processing device 60, and uses the print job information acquired by the print job information acquisition unit 52 as the mobile terminal 30 or the image processing device 60. Send to. Further, the communication unit 51 receives the job ID, device ID, and delegation information from the portable terminal 30 and outputs them to the authority delegation processing unit 54.

  The print job information acquisition unit 52 acquires print job information. More specifically, the print job information acquisition unit 52 corresponds to a device ID (or user ID) when a request for print job information is received from the mobile terminal 30 or the image processing device 60 via the communication unit 51. The print job information to be acquired is acquired from the print job information storage unit 53. Then, the print job information acquisition unit 52 requests the communication unit 51 to transmit the acquired print job information to the portable terminal 30 or the image processing device 60. Further, when acquiring the print job information, the print job information acquisition unit 52 also uses the authority transfer storage unit 55. Acquisition of print job information using the authority transfer storage unit 55 will be described later.

  The authority delegation processing unit 54 executes authority delegation processing when delegation information is received. More specifically, when the delegation information is received by the communication unit 51, the authority delegation processing unit 54 associates the job ID received with the delegation information with the device ID (or user ID) and stores the authority delegation storage. Stored in section 55. The authority delegation storage unit 55 stores a job ID for identifying a print job and a device ID of the authentication device 40 owned by the user whose output authority has been delegated.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in the authority delegation storage unit 55 according to the first embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the authority delegation storage unit 55 stores information related to the job ID and the device ID in association with each other. The job ID is the same information as the job ID stored in the print job information storage unit 53, and is identification information for identifying the print job. The device ID is identification information for identifying the authentication device 40 owned by the user who has been delegated the print job output authority. A user ID may be used for the device ID item. For example, the authority delegation storage unit 55 stores a job ID “1” and a device ID “D0002” in association with each other.

  That is, when the job ID “1” and the device ID “D0002” are stored in the authority transfer storage unit 55, the user who owns the authentication device 40 whose device ID is “D0002” has the job ID “1”. Represents that the print job output authority is transferred. Further, since the job ID “1” and the device ID “D0001” are associated with each other in the print job information storage unit 53 illustrated in FIG. 3, the mobile terminal 30 having the device ID “D0001” is owned. It can be seen that the user who has transferred the output authority of the print job with the job ID “1” to the user who owns the authentication device 40 with the device ID “D0002”.

  Since the job ID and the device ID whose output authority has been transferred by the process of the authority transfer processing unit 54 are stored in the authority transfer storage unit 55, the print job information acquisition unit 52 performs the print job as described below. Get information. Specifically, the print job information acquisition unit 52 refers to the print job information storage unit 53 and the authority transfer storage unit 55, searches for a job ID corresponding to the device ID (or user ID), and sets the job ID. Corresponding print job information is acquired from the print job information storage unit 53.

  For example, the print job information acquisition unit 52 refers to the authority transfer storage unit 55 and searches for a job ID corresponding to the device ID. Then, the print job information acquisition unit 52 acquires the print job information corresponding to the job ID detected by the search from the print job information storage unit 53. In addition, the print job information acquisition unit 52 acquires print job information corresponding to the device ID from the print job information storage unit 53. In other words, the print job information storage unit 53 receives, from the print job information storage unit 53, print job information corresponding to the job ID of the print job to which the output authority has been delegated and the device ID of the print job to which the output authority originally exists. Will get. As a result, in the portable terminal 30 and the image processing apparatus 60, all print job information for which the authenticated user has an output authority is displayed.

  When print processing information is acquired via the communication unit 51 with the progress of the print processing in the image processing apparatus 60, the print job management processing unit 56 appropriately stores information stored in the print job information storage unit 53. Update. Further, the print job management processing unit 56 periodically deletes information whose status stored in the print job information storage unit 53 is “printing complete”.

  The image processing device 60 includes a communication unit 61, an operation display unit 62, a search unit 63, a print job information acquisition unit 64, and an image processing unit 65. In addition, about each said part, some or all of these may be implement | achieved by software (program), and may be implement | achieved by the hardware circuit.

  The communication unit 61 communicates with an external device. For example, the communication unit 61 transmits information used in the authentication process to the authentication server 20 and receives an authentication result from the authentication server 20 after the authentication process. The communication unit 61 transmits print job information and a print job transmission request to the print server 50, and receives the print job information and the print job from the print server 50 in response to the transmission request.

  The operation display unit 62 receives various user operations and displays processing results for the user operations. As one aspect, the operation display unit 62 is a touch panel. For example, the operation display unit 62 requests the search unit 63 to search for the authentication device 40 when receiving an operation for performing authentication when outputting a print job. Upon receiving the request, the search unit 63 searches for the authentication device 40, acquires the device ID of the authentication device 40 that has been connected, and requests the communication unit 61 to transmit the acquired device ID. Accordingly, the communication unit 61 transmits the device ID of the authentication device 40 to the authentication server 20 for authentication. The operation display unit 62 displays the authentication result received by the communication unit 61.

  At this time, when the operation display unit 62 accepts an operation for proceeding to the next step when the authentication result is valid, the operation display unit 62 acquires the print job information corresponding to the device ID of the authentication device 40. Request to 64. Accordingly, the print job information acquisition unit 64 transmits a print job information transmission request corresponding to the device ID to the print server 50 via the communication unit 61, and the print job information transmitted by the print server 50 is transmitted. get. As described above, the print job information acquired here includes information on the print job to which the output authority has been delegated. The operation display unit 62 displays a list of print job information acquired by the print job information acquisition unit 64. Here, the user performs an operation of selecting print job information to be output from the displayed list of print job information. When the operation display unit 62 accepts selection of print job information to be output, the operation display unit 62 outputs the job ID of the print job information accepted to the image processing unit 65.

  The image processing unit 65 executes image processing for a print job. More specifically, when receiving the job ID output from the operation display unit 62, the image processing unit 65 requests the communication unit 61 to send a print job corresponding to the received job ID. Thus, the communication unit 61 transmits a print job transmission request corresponding to the job ID to the print server 50 and receives the print job transmitted by the print server 50. Thereafter, the image processing unit 65 executes print processing for the print job received by the communication unit 61.

[Print Job Accumulation Processing According to Embodiment 1]
Next, a flow of print job accumulation processing according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the flow of a print job accumulation process according to the first embodiment. The print job accumulation process mainly refers to a process performed by the client device 10 and the print server 50.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the client apparatus 10 generates a print job in response to a user operation (step S101). Then, the client device 10 transmits the generated print job to the print server 50 (step S102). Further, the print server 50 receives the print job transmitted by the client device 10 (step S103). Then, the print server 50 stores the received print job and print job information related to the print job in the print job information storage unit 53 (steps S104 and S105).

[Output Authority Delegation Processing According to Embodiment 1]
Next, the flow of the output authority delegation process according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the flow of output authority delegation processing according to the first embodiment. Note that the output authority delegation processing mainly refers to processing by the mobile terminal 30 and the print server 50.

  As illustrated in FIG. 6, the mobile terminal 30 receives an operation for authentication from the user (step S201). And the portable terminal 30 transmits device ID (or user ID, password) of this portable terminal 30 to the authentication server 20, and requests | requires an authentication process (step S202). Here, the portable terminal 30 receives the authentication result returned by the authentication server 20, and determines whether or not the authentication is successful based on the received authentication result (step S203).

  At this time, when the authentication is successful (step S203: Yes), the mobile terminal 30 requests the print server 50 to transmit print job information corresponding to the device ID (or user ID) of the mobile terminal 30. (Step S204). On the other hand, when the authentication is not successful (step S203: No), the mobile terminal 30 displays information indicating that the authentication has failed, and enters a state of waiting for an operation.

  The print server 50 receives the device ID (or user ID) transmitted by the portable terminal 30, and receives a print job information transmission request corresponding to the device ID (or user ID) (step S205). Then, the print server 50 acquires print job information corresponding to the device ID (or user ID) from the print job information storage unit 53, and transmits the acquired print job information to the portable terminal 30 (step S206).

  The portable terminal 30 receives the print job information transmitted by the print server 50 and displays a list of received print job information (step S207). Then, the mobile terminal 30 accepts selection from the list of print job information and an operation for delegating output authority (step S208). Subsequently, the mobile terminal 30 searches for the authentication device 40 to which the output authority is delegated (Step S209). At this time, when the authentication device 40 can be detected (step S210: Yes), the mobile terminal 30 acquires the device ID of the authentication device 40 that can be detected (step S211). On the other hand, when the authentication device 40 cannot be detected (step S210: No), the mobile terminal 30 executes the process in step S209 and tries to search for the authentication device 40. In addition, when the mobile terminal 30 times out a predetermined number of times in the search, the mobile terminal 30 may display that the search is not possible and end the process.

  Thereafter, the portable terminal 30 transmits to the print server 50 delegation information indicating that the output authority is delegated, the job ID corresponding to the selected print job information, and the device ID of the authentication device 40. As a result, a print job output authority delegation process is requested (step S212). When receiving the output authority delegation processing request from the portable terminal 30, the print server 50 adds the job ID for delegating the output authority and the device ID of the authentication device 40 to the authority delegation storage unit 55 (step S213).

[Image Processing According to Embodiment 1]
Next, the flow of image processing according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the flow of image processing according to the first embodiment. Note that image processing mainly refers to processing by the image processing device 60 and the print server 50.

  As shown in FIG. 7, when outputting a print job, the image processing apparatus 60 searches for the authentication device 40 and accepts an operation for performing authentication (step S301). Then, the image processing device 60 searches for the authentication device 40 (step S302). At this time, if the authentication device 40 can be detected (step S303: Yes), the image processing apparatus 60 acquires the device ID of the detected authentication device 40 and transmits the acquired device ID to the authentication server 20. Then, an authentication process is requested (step S304).

  On the other hand, when the authentication device 40 cannot be detected (step S303: No), the image processing apparatus 60 executes the process in step S302 again. However, the image processing apparatus 60 ends the process when an operation for canceling the search for the authentication device 40 is performed due to a timeout or the like. Subsequently, the image processing apparatus 60 receives the authentication result returned by the authentication server 20, and determines whether the authentication is successful based on the received authentication result (step S305).

  At this time, if the authentication is successful (step S305: Yes), the image processing apparatus 60 requests the print server 50 to transmit print job information corresponding to the detected device ID of the authentication device 40 (step S306). ). On the other hand, when the authentication is not successful (step S305: No), the image processing apparatus 60 displays information indicating that the authentication has failed and enters an operation waiting state.

  The print server 50 receives the device ID transmitted by the image processing apparatus 60, and accepts a transmission request for print job information corresponding to the device ID (step S307). Then, the print server 50 print job corresponding to the job ID corresponding to the device ID stored in the authority transfer storage unit 55 and the job ID corresponding to the device ID stored in the print job information storage unit 53. Information is acquired from the print job information storage unit 53 (step S308). Thereafter, the print server 50 transmits the acquired print job information to the image processing apparatus 60 (step S309).

  The image processing apparatus 60 receives the print job information transmitted by the print server 50 and displays a list of received print job information (step S310). Then, the image processing apparatus 60 accepts selection from the list of print job information and an operation for outputting the print job (step S311). Subsequently, the image processing apparatus 60 transmits the job ID of the selected print job information and the print job request corresponding to the job ID to the print server 50 (step S312).

  The print server 50 receives a job ID and a request for a print job corresponding to the job ID from the image processing apparatus 60 (step S313). Then, the print server 50 acquires a print job corresponding to the job ID from the print job information storage unit 53, and transmits the acquired print job to the image processing apparatus 60 (step S314). As a result, the image processing apparatus 60 receives the print job transmitted by the print server 50, and performs printing by executing image processing of the received print job (step S315).

[Effects of Embodiment 1]
The mobile terminal 30 detects the authentication device 40 to which the output authority is transferred using short-range wireless communication or the like, and determines the device ID of the authentication device 40 and the job ID of the print job to be transferred to the print server 50. Send to. The print server 50 stores the device ID and the job ID received from the mobile terminal 30 in the authority transfer storage unit 55 in association with each other. When the user who owns the authentication device 40 performs an operation for printing, the image processing apparatus 60 specifies a job ID corresponding to the device ID stored in the authority transfer storage unit 55, and specifies the specified job ID The print job information that can be output is displayed including the print job corresponding to. As a result, the authority delegation system 1 can easily delegate the print job output authority.

(Embodiment 2)
In the first embodiment, the case where the user who owns the mobile terminal 30 delegates the print job output authority to the user who owns the authentication device 40 has been described. After delegation of the print job output authority, the user who owns the mobile terminal 30 may not want to output the print job. In the second embodiment, after delegating the print job output authority, a case will be described in which the delegated print job is not included in the display of print job information that can be output by the delegation source user. The system configuration of the authority delegation system 1 according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment.

[Functional configuration according to Embodiment 2]
The functional configuration of each device according to Embodiment 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of each apparatus according to the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description of the same components may be omitted.

  As illustrated in FIG. 8, the mobile terminal 30a includes a communication unit 31a, an operation display unit 32a, a print job information acquisition unit 33, a search unit 34, and a generation unit 35. In addition, about each said part, some or all of these may be implement | achieved by software (program), and may be implement | achieved by the hardware circuit.

  The operation display unit 32a accepts a display setting for setting whether or not to display as print job information that can be output by the user who is the transfer authority of the output authority after the output authority of the print job is transferred. More specifically, the operation display unit 32a displays and displays a screen for setting whether or not to display a list of print job information that can be output by the user who owns the mobile terminal 30a. The display setting which is a setting of whether or not is accepted. For example, the display setting can be used when the output authority is delegated to allow other users to output a print job as a proxy. That is, since the user does not output the corresponding print job after delegating the output authority, the user sets so that the print job information corresponding to the print job is not displayed in the list display.

  Such display setting may be performed when an operation for delegating output authority is performed or at an arbitrary timing. The operation display unit 32a requests the communication unit 31a to transmit the received display setting and the corresponding job ID to the print server 50a. When the communication unit 31a receives a display setting from the operation display unit 32a, the communication unit 31a transmits the job ID and the display setting to the print server 50a. As a result, when a transmission request for print job information is made by the portable terminal 30a, the print job information that is set not to be displayed is not transmitted from the print server 50a, and is therefore included in the list of print job information. Disappear.

  The display setting may be performed by the client device 10 when the generated print job is transmitted to the print server 50a. However, if display settings are made when a print job is sent to the print server 50a, the job ID is not assigned, so the display settings are sent together with the print job, and the display settings are set when setting the print job information. Can also be registered.

  The print server 50a includes a communication unit 51a, a print job information acquisition unit 52a, a print job information storage unit 53a, an authority delegation processing unit 54, an authority delegation storage unit 55, and a print job management processing unit 56a. Have. In addition, about each said part, some or all of these may be implement | achieved by software (program), and may be implement | achieved by the hardware circuit.

  For example, the communication unit 51a receives the display setting and the job ID transmitted by the portable terminal 30a and outputs them to the print job management processing unit 56a. Based on the display setting and job ID output by the communication unit 51a, the print job management processing unit 56a stores the display setting corresponding to the job ID in the print job information storage unit 53a.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in the print job information storage unit 53a according to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 9, the print job information storage unit 53a includes a job ID, a job name, a device ID, the number of pages, color / monochrome, single-sided / double-sided, number of copies, paper size, and status. , Information relating to printed pages and display settings is stored in association with each other.

  For example, the print job information storage unit 53a includes a job ID “2”, a job name “job B”, a device ID “D0002”, a page number “5”, a color / monochrome “monochrome”, One-sided / double-sided “double-sided”, the number of copies “1”, the paper size “A4”, the status “printing suspended”, the printed page “2”, and the display setting “non-display” are stored in association with each other.

  In addition, when the print job information acquisition unit 52a receives a print job information acquisition request from the portable terminal 30a or the like, the print job information acquisition unit 52a displays the display setting of the print job information corresponding to the job ID stored in the print job information storage unit 53a. Print job information for which is displayed. In addition, the print job management processing unit 56a has received a notification from the image processing apparatus 60 that printing has been completed for information whose display setting is “non-display” among the print job information to which the output authority has been delegated. In this case, since it is not used after that, it may be deleted from the print job information storage unit 53a.

  The image processing device 60 includes a communication unit 61, an operation display unit 62, a search unit 63, a print job information acquisition unit 64, and an image processing unit 65. In addition, about each said part, some or all of these may be implement | achieved by software (program), and may be implement | achieved by the hardware circuit. Further, since the image processing apparatus 60 has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, detailed description thereof is omitted.

[Output Authority Delegation Processing According to Embodiment 2]
Next, the flow of the output authority delegation process according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the flow of output authority delegation processing according to the second embodiment. That is, FIG. 10 shows an example in which display settings are performed during the output authority delegation process. Note that detailed description of the same processing as the flow of the output authority delegation processing according to Embodiment 1 is omitted. Specifically, steps S401 to S407 are the same as the processes in steps S201 to S207. Steps S409 to S411 are the same as the processes in steps S209 to S211.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the mobile terminal 30a accepts selection from the list of print job information, display settings, and operations for delegating output authority (step S408). After acquiring the device ID of the authentication device 40, the mobile terminal 30a transfers the delegation information indicating that the output authority is delegated, the job ID corresponding to the selected print job information, the device ID of the authentication device 40, By sending the display setting to the print server 50a, a print job output authority delegation process is requested (step S412). When the print server 50a receives the output authority delegation processing request from the portable terminal 30a, the print server 50a adds the job ID for delegating the output authority and the device ID of the authentication device 40 to the authority delegation storage unit 55, and also adds the job ID to the job ID. Corresponding display settings are stored in the print job information storage unit 53a (step S413).

[Effects of Embodiment 2]
The authority delegation system 1 accepts a display setting for setting whether or not to display the print job information to which the output authority has been delegated after delegating the output authority, and displays the print job information that is set not to be displayed in a list. Do not let it. As a result, the authority delegation system 1 can suppress erroneous output of a print job that is not desired to be printed, and can reduce a communication load when transmitting / receiving print job information.

(Embodiment 3)
In the first embodiment, a case has been described in which a print job to which output authority has been delegated is output. For print jobs to which the output authority is delegated, the number of times that can be output can also be set. Therefore, in the third embodiment, a case will be described in which the number of output times of a print job to which output authority is delegated is set. The system configuration of the authority delegation system 1 according to the third embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment.

[Functional configuration according to Embodiment 3]
The functional configuration of each apparatus according to Embodiment 3 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of each device according to the third embodiment. In the third embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description of the same components may be omitted.

  As illustrated in FIG. 11, the mobile terminal 30 b includes a communication unit 31 b, an operation display unit 32 b, a print job information acquisition unit 33, a search unit 34, and a generation unit 35. In addition, about each said part, some or all of these may be implement | achieved by software (program), and may be implement | achieved by the hardware circuit.

  The operation display unit 32b accepts the number of times setting that represents the number of times the user who is the delegation destination of the output authority can output after delegating the output authority of the print job. More specifically, the operation display unit 32b displays a screen for setting the number of times that a user to whom the output authority has been delegated can output a print job, and accepts the number setting that is the value of the number of times that the output can be output. Such setting of the number of times may be performed when an operation for delegating the output authority is performed or at an arbitrary timing after the delegation of the output authority. The operation display unit 32b requests the communication unit 31b to transmit the received number of times setting, the corresponding job ID, and the device ID to the print server 50b. When the communication unit 31b receives the number of times setting from the operation display unit 32b, the communication unit 31b transmits the job ID, the device ID, and the number of times setting to the print server 50b. In addition, as described below, there are at least two types of setting of the number of times when there are a plurality of users to whom the output authority is transferred.

  The first is a case where the number of times is set for each of a plurality of users to whom the output authority is transferred. In such a case, the operation display unit 32b receives the number of times setting for each of a plurality of users to whom the output authority is transferred. The second is a case where the number of times is set for all of a plurality of users to whom the output authority is transferred. In such a case, the operation display unit 32b accepts the number-of-times setting regardless of the number of multiple users to whom the output authority is transferred. In other words, in the second case, a user who has been delegated output authority can output the set number of times, so other users who have been delegated output authority may not be able to output. .

  The print server 50b includes a communication unit 51b, a print job information acquisition unit 52, a print job information storage unit 53b, an authority delegation processing unit 54b, an authority delegation storage unit 55b, and a print job management processing unit 56b. Have. In addition, about each said part, some or all of these may be implement | achieved by software (program), and may be implement | achieved by the hardware circuit.

  For example, the communication unit 51b receives the number-of-times setting, the job ID, and the device ID transmitted by the portable terminal 30b, and outputs them to the print job management processing unit 56b and the authority delegation processing unit 54b.

  The print job management processing unit 56b derives the total number of times that can be output based on the number of times setting output by the communication unit 51b, and stores the total number of times that can be output corresponding to the job ID in the print job information storage unit 53b. . The total number of times that can be output is derived when the number of times is set for each of a plurality of users. In addition, the print job management processing unit 56b indicates that the print job corresponding to the job ID to which the output authority has been delegated has been output via the communication unit 51b with the progress of the print processing in the image processing apparatus 60. Is acquired, the value of the total number of output times corresponding to the corresponding job ID is decremented by “1”.

  The authority delegation processing unit 54b stores, in the authority delegation storage unit 55b, the number of times setting corresponding to the job ID and the device ID based on the number of times setting, the job ID, and the device ID output by the communication unit 51b. Further, the authority delegation processing unit 54b reports that the print job corresponding to the job ID and device ID to which the output authority has been delegated has been output via the communication unit 51b as the printing process in the image processing apparatus 60 progresses. Is acquired, the value of the number of times setting corresponding to the corresponding job ID and device ID is decremented by “1”.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in the print job information storage unit 53b according to the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 12, the print job information storage unit 53b includes a job ID, a job name, a device ID, the number of pages, color / monochrome, single-sided / double-sided, number of copies, paper size, status, and the like. , Information relating to the printed page and the total number of times that can be output are stored in association with each other.

  Here, “−1”, “0”, or a positive integer is stored in the “total number of outputs”. For example, “−1” is an initial value and represents a state in which print job output authority is not delegated. Others represent the remaining number of times that all users to whom the print job output authority has been delegated can output. That is, “0” represents that output is not possible because the number of times that was initially set has already been output. In addition, “1” and “2” indicate that all users who have been delegated the print job output authority can output the same number of times.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in the authority delegation storage unit 55b according to the third embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 13, the authority delegation storage unit 55b stores information related to the job ID, the device ID, and the number of times setting in association with each other.

  Here, “−1”, “0”, or a positive integer is stored in “number of times setting”. For example, “−1” indicates that unlimited output is possible. Others represent the remaining number of times that each user to whom the print job output authority has been delegated can output. That is, “0” represents that output is not possible because the number of times that was initially set has already been output. In addition, “1” and “2” indicate that each user who has been delegated the print job output authority can output as many times as the value.

  The update of the print job information storage unit 53b and the authority delegation storage unit 55b when the number of times is set for each of a plurality of users who are delegation destinations of output authority will be described with reference to FIGS. 14A to 14C. FIG. 14A to FIG. 14C are diagrams for explaining an update example of the print job information storage unit 53b and the authority delegation storage unit 55b when the number of times is set for each of a plurality of users who are output authority delegation destinations. .

  The upper part of FIG. 14A is an example of information stored in the print job information storage unit 53b before the number of times is set. For example, in the print job information storage unit 53b, the job ID “3”, the job name “job C”, the device ID “D0003”, the number of pages “10”, the color / monochrome “color”, and the single side / The double-sided “single-sided”, the number of copies “1”, the paper size “A4”, the status “printing completed”, the printed page “10”, and the total number of possible outputs “−1” are stored in association with each other. Yes.

  In the state described above, the user who owns the portable terminal 30b whose device ID is “D0003”, the user who owns the authentication device 40 whose device ID is “D0001”, and the authentication device 40 whose device ID is “D0002”. As an example, the output authority of a print job whose job ID is “3” is delegated to the user who owns the user ID, and the number of times is set once for each user. As a result, as shown in the lower part of FIG. 14A, the print job information storage unit 53b is updated to “2” for the total number of times that can be output. In the authority delegation storage unit 55b, the number-of-times setting is updated to “1”.

  Thereafter, it is assumed that the user who owns the authentication device 40 whose device ID is “D0001” has output a print job corresponding to the job ID “3” to which the output authority has been delegated. As a result, as shown in FIG. 14B, the print job information storage unit 53b is updated to “1” for the total number of times it can be output. In the authority delegation storage unit 55b, the number-of-times setting corresponding to the job ID “3” and the device ID “D0001” is updated to “0”. At this time, the user who owns the authentication device 40 whose device ID is “D0001” cannot output a print job whose job ID is “3”.

  Furthermore, it is assumed that the user who has the authentication device 40 with the device ID “D0002” outputs a print job corresponding to the job ID “3” to which the output authority has been delegated. As a result, as shown in FIG. 14C, the print job information storage unit 53b is updated to “0” for the total number of times it can be output. In the authority delegation storage unit 55b, the number-of-times setting corresponding to the job ID “3” and the device ID “D0002” is updated to “0”. At this point, the user who owns the authentication device 40 whose device ID is “D0002” cannot output a print job whose job ID is “3”. Note that information whose number setting is “0” may be deleted as appropriate, and information whose total outputtable number is “0” may be deleted as appropriate.

  Next, the update of the print job information storage unit 53b and the authority delegation storage unit 55b when the number of times is set for all the plurality of users who are the output authority delegation destinations will be described with reference to FIGS. 15A and 15B. To do. FIG. 15A and FIG. 15B are diagrams for explaining an update example of the print job information storage unit 53b and the authority delegation storage unit 55b when the number of times is set for all the plurality of users who are the output authority delegation destinations. .

  The upper part of FIG. 15A is an example of information stored in the print job information storage unit 53b before the number of times is set. For example, in the print job information storage unit 53b, the job ID “2”, the job name “job B”, the device ID “D0001”, the number of pages “5”, the color / monochrome “monochrome”, and the single side / The double-sided “single-sided”, the number of copies “1”, the paper size “A4”, the status “printing aborted”, the printed page “2”, and the total number of possible outputs “−1” are stored in association with each other. Yes.

  In the state described above, the user who owns the portable terminal 30b whose device ID is “D0001”, the user who owns the authentication device 40 whose device ID is “D0002”, and the authentication device 40 whose device ID is “D0003”. As an example, the output authority of a print job whose job ID is “2” is delegated to the user who owns the user ID, and the number of times is set once for all users. As a result, as shown in the lower portion of FIG. 15A, the print job information storage unit 53b is updated to “1” for the total number of times that can be output. In the authority delegation storage unit 55b, the number-of-times setting is updated to “1”.

  Thereafter, it is assumed that the user who owns the authentication device 40 whose device ID is “D0003” outputs a print job corresponding to the job ID “2” to which the output authority has been delegated. As a result, as shown in FIG. 15B, the print job information storage unit 53b is updated to “0” for the total number of times it can be output. In the authority delegation storage unit 55b, the number-of-times setting corresponding to the job ID “2” and the device ID “D0003” is updated to “0”. At this time, the user who owns the authentication device 40 whose device ID is “D0003” cannot output a print job whose job ID is “2”. Further, since the user who owns the authentication device 40 whose device ID is “D0002” has the total number of times that can be output corresponding to the job ID “2” as “0”, even if the number of times setting is “1”. The print job with the job ID “2” cannot be output. Alternatively, when the user who owns the authentication device 40 with the device ID “D0003” outputs a print job corresponding to the job ID “2”, the number of times corresponding to the device ID “D0002” and the job ID “2” is set. May be updated to “0”. Note that information whose number setting is “0” may be deleted as appropriate, and information whose total outputtable number is “0” may be deleted as appropriate. At this time, the information in the authority delegation storage unit 55b corresponding to the job ID whose total number of outputs is “0” is also deleted even if the number of times setting is not “0”.

  The image processing device 60 includes a communication unit 61, an operation display unit 62, a search unit 63, a print job information acquisition unit 64, and an image processing unit 65. In addition, about each said part, some or all of these may be implement | achieved by software (program), and may be implement | achieved by the hardware circuit. Further, since the image processing apparatus 60 has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, detailed description thereof is omitted.

[Output Authority Delegation Processing According to Embodiment 3]
Next, the flow of output authority delegation processing according to Embodiment 3 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 16 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the flow of output authority delegation processing according to the third embodiment. That is, in FIG. 16, a case where the number of times is set at the time of delegating output authority is taken as an example. Note that detailed description of the same processing as the flow of the output authority delegation processing according to Embodiment 1 is omitted. Specifically, steps S501 to S507 are the same as the processes in steps S201 to S207. Steps S509 to S511 are the same as the processes in steps S209 to S211.

  As shown in FIG. 16, the portable terminal 30b accepts selection from the list of print job information, setting the number of times, and an operation for delegating output authority (step S508). After acquiring the device ID of the authentication device 40, the mobile terminal 30b transmits the device ID indicating that the output authority is delegated and the number of times setting to the print server 50b, thereby outputting the print job output authority. A delegation process is requested (step S512). When the print server 50b receives the output authority delegation processing request from the portable terminal 30b, the job ID for delegating the output authority, the device ID of the authentication device 40, and the value of the number of times setting are added to the authority delegation storage unit 55b. At the same time, the total number of times of output corresponding to the job ID is stored in the print job information storage unit 53b (step S513).

[Effects of Embodiment 3]
Since the authority delegation system 1 sets the number of times that a print job for which output authority is delegated can be output, wasteful use of paper, ink, and the like can be reduced.

(Embodiment 4)
Now, although the embodiment of the authority delegation system 1 according to the present invention has been described so far, it may be implemented in various different forms other than the above-described embodiment. Therefore, different embodiments of (1) delegating output authority after printing interruption, (2) configuration, and (3) program will be described.

(1) Delegation of output authority after interruption of printing In the above embodiment, the authority delegation system 1 that can output a print job to which the output authority has been delegated has been described. In the output of a print job to which the output authority has been delegated, it is also possible to take over the print settings and print status already set by the delegation source user or the like.

  FIG. 17 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the flow of image processing when output authority is delegated after printing is interrupted. Note that FIG. 17 is processing subsequent to step S311 of the image processing (see FIG. 7) according to the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 17, the image processing apparatus 60 checks the “status” of the print job information selected from the list (step S601). At this time, when the status is “printing interrupted” (step S602: Yes), the image processing apparatus 60 displays a screen for selecting whether or not to perform printing from a page in the middle after the interrupting (step S602). S603). On the other hand, when the status is not “printing interrupted” (step S602: No), the image processing apparatus 60, similarly to the above embodiment, prints the job ID of the selected print job information and the print corresponding to the job ID. The job request is transmitted to the print server 50 (step S604).

  Further, when the image processing apparatus 60 is selected to perform printing from a page in the middle after the interruption, the page information in the middle after the interruption (information of “printed page”) and the job of the selected print job information are displayed. The ID and the request for the print job corresponding to the job ID are transmitted to the print server 50 (step S604). Here, when the image processing apparatus 60 is selected to print all pages, not from the middle page after the interruption, as in the above-described embodiment, the job ID of the selected print job information, A request for a print job corresponding to the job ID is transmitted to the print server 50 (step S604).

  The print server 50 receives page information, a job ID, and a request for a print job corresponding to the job ID from the image processing apparatus 60 (step S605). However, the page information is information that is accepted when selection is made to print from a page in the middle after the interruption. Then, the print server 50 obtains a print job corresponding to the job ID from the print job information storage unit 53 (step S606).

  Subsequently, when the print server 50 accepts page information indicating that printing has been selected from the middle page after the interruption (step S607: Yes), the print server 50 acquires the print job according to the page information. The page information is edited (step S608). Thereafter, the print server 50 transmits the print job with the page information edited to the image processing apparatus 60 (step S609). In addition, when the print server 50 has not received page information indicating that printing has been selected from a page in the middle of the interruption (step S607: No), the print server 50 sends the acquired print job to the image processing apparatus 60. Then, it is transmitted (step S609). As a result, the image processing apparatus 60 receives the print job transmitted by the print server 50, and performs printing by executing image processing of the received print job (step S610).

  In the above, the case where “printed page” is taken over based on the “status” of the print job information is taken as an example. In addition to this, it is also possible to select whether or not to take over the print setting information such as “color / monochrome”, “single / double-sided”, “number of copies”, “paper size”, etc. May be.

(2) Configuration In addition, information including processing procedures, control procedures, specific names, various data, parameters, and the like shown in the documents and drawings can be arbitrarily changed unless otherwise specified. Each component of the illustrated apparatus is functionally conceptual and does not necessarily need to be physically configured as illustrated. That is, the specific form of the distribution or integration of the devices is not limited to the illustrated one, and all or a part of the distribution or integration is functionally or physically distributed or arbitrarily in any unit according to various burdens or usage conditions. Can be integrated. For example, the print server 50 and the image processing apparatus 60 may be integrated as one information processing apparatus, or any function may be realized by cloud computing.

  A hardware configuration of the mobile terminal 30 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the mobile terminal 30. As illustrated in FIG. 18, the mobile terminal 30 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 302, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 303, and a ROM (Read Only Memory) 304 connected to a bus 301. In addition, the mobile terminal 30 includes an operation display unit 305, a communication I / F 306, and a short-range communication I / F 307 connected to the bus 301.

  The CPU 302 comprehensively controls the operation of the mobile terminal 30. The CPU 302 controls the overall operation of the portable terminal 30 by executing a program stored in the ROM 304 or the like using the RAM 303 as a work area (work area). The operation display unit 305 receives various inputs according to user operations and displays various types of information according to user operations. For example, the operation display unit 305 is a liquid crystal display (LCD) equipped with a touch panel function, an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display, or the like. A communication I / F 306 is an interface for communicating with each external device. The short-range communication I / F 307 is an interface for performing short-range wireless communication with an information device such as the authentication device 40 using NFC or the like.

  The hardware configuration of the image processing device 60 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the image processing apparatus 60 as an MFP. As shown in FIG. 19, an image processing apparatus 60 as an MFP has a configuration in which a controller 610 and an engine unit (Engine) 660 are connected by a PCI (Peripheral Component Interface) bus. A controller 610 is a controller that controls the entire MFP and controls drawing, communication, and input from an operation unit (not shown). The engine unit 660 is a printer engine or the like that can be connected to the PCI bus, and is, for example, a monochrome plotter, a 1-drum color plotter, a 4-drum color plotter, a scanner, or a fax unit. The engine unit 660 includes an image processing part such as error extension and gamma conversion in addition to a so-called engine part such as a plotter.

  The controller 610 includes a CPU 611, a north bridge (NB) 613, a system memory (MEM-P) 612, a south bridge (SB) 614, a local memory (MEM-C) 617, and an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). 616 and a hard disk drive (HDD) 618, and the north bridge 613 and the ASIC 616 are connected by an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) bus 615. The MEM-P 612 further includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 612a and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 612b.

  The CPU 611 controls the entire MFP, and has a chip set including a north bridge 613, a MEM-P 612, and a south bridge 614, and is connected to other devices via the chip set.

  The north bridge 613 is a bridge for connecting the CPU 611 to the MEM-P 612, the south bridge 614, and the AGP bus 615, and includes a memory controller that controls reading and writing to the MEM-P 612, a PCI master, and an AGP target.

  The MEM-P 612 is a system memory used as a memory for storing programs and data, a memory for developing programs and data, a drawing memory for printers, and the like, and includes a ROM 612a and a RAM 612b. The ROM 612a is a read-only memory used as a memory for storing programs and data, and the RAM 612b is a writable and readable memory used as a program and data development memory, a printer drawing memory, and the like.

  The south bridge 614 is a bridge for connecting the north bridge 613 to a PCI device and peripheral devices. The south bridge 614 is connected to the north bridge 613 via a PCI bus, and a network interface (I / F) unit and the like are also connected to the PCI bus.

  The ASIC 616 is an integrated circuit (IC) for image processing having hardware elements for image processing, and has a role of a bridge for connecting the AGP bus 615, the PCI bus, the HDD 618, and the MEM-C 617, respectively. The ASIC 616 includes a PCI target and an AGP master, an arbiter (ARB) that forms the core of the ASIC 616, a memory controller that controls the MEM-C 617, and a plurality of DMACs (Direct Memory) that rotate image data using hardware logic. An FCU (Facsimile Control Unit) 630, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) 640, and an IEEE 1394 (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 1394) interface 650 are connected between the access controller) and the engine unit 660 via a PCI bus. . The operation display unit 620 is directly connected to the ASIC 616.

  A MEM-C 617 is a local memory used as a copy image buffer and a code buffer, and an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 618 is a storage for storing image data, programs, font data, and forms. It is.

  The AGP bus 615 is a bus interface for a graphics accelerator card that has been proposed to speed up graphic processing. The AGP bus 615 is used to increase the speed of the graphics accelerator card by directly accessing the MEM-P 612 with high throughput.

(3) Program The authority delegation program executed on the portable terminal 30 is, as one form, a file in an installable format or an executable format, a CD-ROM, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R, a DVD. (Digital Versatile Disk) provided by being recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. Further, the authority delegation program executed by the portable terminal 30 may be stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and provided by being downloaded via the network. Further, the authority delegation program executed on the mobile terminal 30 may be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet. Further, the authority delegation program executed on the mobile terminal 30 may be provided by being incorporated in advance in a ROM or the like.

  The authority delegation program executed by the portable terminal 30 has a module configuration including the above-described units (search unit 34, generation unit 35, communication unit 31), and a CPU (processor) is a storage medium as actual hardware. By reading out and executing the authority delegation program from the above, the above-described units are loaded on the main storage device, and the search unit 34, the generation unit 35, and the communication unit 31 are generated on the main storage device.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Authority delegation system 10 Client apparatus 20 Authentication server 30 Portable terminal 31 Communication part 32 Operation display part 33 Print job information acquisition part 34 Search part 35 Generation part 40 Authentication device 50 Print server 51 Communication part 52 Print job information acquisition part 53 Print job Information storage unit 54 Authority delegation processing unit 55 Authority delegation storage unit 56 Print job management processing unit 60 Image processing device 61 Communication unit 62 Operation display unit 63 Search unit 64 Print job information acquisition unit 65 Image processing unit

Japanese Patent No. 4420467

Claims (10)

An authority delegation system having a terminal device and an information processing device,
The terminal device
A search unit for searching for an authentication device owned by another user different from the user who owns the terminal device;
An acquisition unit for acquiring a device identifier for identifying the authentication device from the authentication device detected by the search;
A generating unit for generating delegation information representing delegating the output authority of the user to the other user;
A transmission unit that transmits the acquired device identifier, a job identifier for identifying a print job for which the user has an output right, and the generated delegation information to the information processing apparatus; And
The information processing apparatus includes:
An authority delegation storage unit for storing a job identifier for identifying a print job and the device identifier of the authentication device owned by the user to whom the output authority has been delegated;
A receiving unit that receives the device identifier, the job identifier, and the delegation information transmitted by the terminal device;
An authority delegation system comprising: an authority delegation processing unit that stores the received job identifier and device identifier in the authority delegation storage unit when the delegation information is received. The terminal device
A display unit for displaying print job information that can be output by the user;
A reception unit that receives a selection from the displayed print job information and a request to transfer the output authority of the user;
The search unit searches for the authentication device owned by the other user when the delegation request is accepted,
The authority delegation system according to claim 1, wherein the transmission unit transmits the job identifier for identifying the selected print job information to the information processing apparatus. The information processing apparatus includes:
A print job storage unit that stores print job information including a job identifier for identifying a print job;
The job identifier corresponding to the device identifier of the authentication device owned by the other user is searched using the print job storage unit and the authority transfer storage unit, and the job identifier corresponding to the searched job identifier An acquisition unit for acquiring the print job information from the print job storage unit;
The authority delegation system according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit that displays the acquired print job information. In the terminal device,
The accepting unit accepts a display setting for setting whether to display on the display unit as the print job information that can be output by the user after the output authority is delegated,
The transmission unit transmits the received display setting to the information processing apparatus,
In the information processing apparatus,
The receiving unit receives the display setting transmitted by the terminal device;
The information processing apparatus includes:
A print job storage unit that stores print job information including a job identifier for identifying a print job;
A job management processing unit that stores the received display setting in the print job storage unit based on the received job identifier;
The job management processing unit stores the print job information in the print job storage when the other user to whom the output authority has been delegated outputs the print job corresponding to the display setting that is set not to be displayed. The authority delegation system according to claim 2, wherein the authority delegation system is deleted. In the terminal device,
The accepting unit accepts the number of times setting representing the number of times that the other delegated users can output after the delegation of the output authority,
The transmission unit transmits the accepted number of times setting to the information processing apparatus,
In the information processing apparatus,
The receiving unit receives the number-of-times setting transmitted by the terminal device;
The authority delegation processing unit stores the received number-of-times setting in the authority delegation storage unit, and the other user who has been delegated to the output authority outputs the print job in which the number-of-times setting is 1 or more. In this case, the authority delegation system according to claim 2, wherein the number setting is decremented according to the number of outputs. In the terminal device,
The reception unit receives the number of times setting representing the number of times that can be output to each of the other users,
In the information processing apparatus,
The authority delegation processing unit stores the number-of-times setting corresponding to each of the other users in the authority delegation storage unit, and the print job in which the number-of-times setting is 1 or more is transferred to the other user whose output authority has been delegated 6. The authority delegation system according to claim 5, wherein, when each of the users outputs, the number of times setting corresponding to each of the other users is decremented according to the number of times of output. In the terminal device,
The reception unit receives the number-of-times setting that represents the number of times that all the other users can be output together,
In the information processing apparatus,
The authority delegation processing unit stores the number-of-times setting corresponding to all the other users in the authority delegation storage unit, and the print job having the number-of-times setting of 1 or more is transferred to the other of the output authority delegated The authority delegation system according to claim 5 or 6, wherein when any one of the users outputs, the number setting corresponding to all the other users is decremented according to the number of outputs. The information processing apparatus includes:
The image processing unit according to claim 1, further comprising an image processing unit that takes over at least one of a print setting and a print status included in the print job information of the print job to which the output authority has been delegated. The authority delegation system described in 1. An authority delegation method in an authority delegation system having a terminal device and an information processing apparatus,
The terminal device is
Searching for an authentication device owned by another user different from the user who owns the terminal device;
Obtaining a device identifier for identifying the authentication device from the authentication device detected by searching;
Generating delegation information representing delegating the output authority of the user to the other user;
Transmitting the acquired device identifier, a job identifier for identifying a print job for which the user has an output authority, and the generated delegation information to the information processing apparatus,
The information processing apparatus is
Receiving the device identifier, the job identifier, and the delegation information transmitted by the terminal device;
When the delegation information is received, storing the received job identifier and the device identifier in an authority delegation storage unit that stores the job identifier and the device identifier of the authentication device in association with each other. An authority delegation method characterized by including. On the terminal device,
Searching for an authentication device owned by another user different from the user who owns the terminal device;
Obtaining a device identifier for identifying the authentication device from the authentication device detected by searching;
Generating delegation information representing delegating the output authority of the user to the other user;
An authority delegation program for executing the acquired device identifier, a job identifier for identifying a print job for which the user has an output authority, and the generated delegation information.

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