JP6410154B2 - Image forming apparatus, image forming method, and image forming program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, and an image forming program.

  In an image forming apparatus, a technique for distributing output documents to a plurality of users has been proposed. Specifically, for example, Patent Document 1 proposes a technique for reducing the labor of carrying a printed material by allowing a print document to be output by an image forming apparatus installed near a meeting place. Patent Document 2 proposes a technique for distributing an output document safely and reliably by distributing print data to a printing apparatus corresponding to the location of each user participating in the event.

JP 2007-295245 A JP 2011-8407 A

  However, since an image forming apparatus is generally shared by a plurality of people, there may be a person who is far from the image forming apparatus among users of the image forming apparatus. In such a case, a large burden is placed on the user who is present at a position away from the image forming apparatus in receiving the output document.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object thereof is to provide a technique for improving the efficiency of conveying an output document.

  The present invention provides an image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus includes: a print job setting unit that can set a specific print job that is a print job that is set to request transportation within a preset time; and a plurality of images that can be used by the image forming apparatus The position information specifying unit for specifying the terminal position that is the terminal position and the output position that is the position of the image forming apparatus, the terminal position and the output position are used, and the output is performed in the set time zone. A transportation candidate extraction unit that extracts a user who is scheduled to move from a location set as the vicinity of the position to a terminal set as the vicinity of the terminal position where the specific print job is set; and On the other hand, a communication processing unit that performs communication for requesting transportation of a document output by the specific print job to a terminal position where the specific print job is set; Serial and an output management unit to execute the output to the image forming unit depending on the particular print job.

  The present invention provides an image forming method. The image forming method includes a print job setting step for setting a specific print job that is a print job that is set to request transportation within a preset time, and a plurality of terminals that can be used by the image forming apparatus. A position information specifying step for specifying a terminal position that is a position and an output position that is a position of the image forming apparatus, and the terminal position and the output position, and the output position is set in the set time zone. A transportation candidate extraction step for extracting a user who is scheduled to move from a location set as a neighborhood to a terminal set as a neighborhood of the terminal position where the specific print job is set, and for the extracted user A communication processing step of performing communication for requesting transportation of a document output by the specific print job to a terminal position where the specific print job is set; And an output control step of executing the output to the image forming unit in accordance with the particular print job.

  The present invention provides an image forming program for controlling an image forming apparatus. The image forming program includes a print job setting unit that can set a specific print job that is a print job that is set to request transportation within a preset time, and a plurality of terminals that can be used by the image forming apparatus A position information specifying unit that specifies a terminal position that is the position of the image forming apparatus and an output position that is the position of the image forming apparatus, and the terminal position and the output position. A transportation candidate extraction unit that extracts users scheduled to move from a location set as a neighborhood to a terminal set as a neighborhood of the terminal position where the specific print job is set, for the extracted user, A communication processing unit for performing communication to request transportation of a document output by the specific print job to a terminal position where the specific print job is set; and It said to function the image forming apparatus as the output management unit to execute the output to the image forming unit depending on the particular print job.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the technique which improves the conveyance efficiency of an output document can be provided.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an image forming system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an image forming apparatus 100a according to an embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the content of the conveyance efficiency improvement process of the output document by the image forming system 1 which concerns on one Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, modes for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “embodiments”) will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an image forming system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image forming system 1 is installed in an organization having offices on the 17th to 20th floors of a building.

  On the 20th floor, three personal computers (PCs) 200a1, 200a2 and 200a3 as terminals are provided, all of which are connected to the in-house network L. On the 19th floor, two personal computers (PC) 200b1 and 200b2, a server 300, and an image forming apparatus 100a are provided, all of which are connected to an in-house network L. On the 18th floor, three personal computers (PCs) 200c1, 200c2, 200c3 and an image forming apparatus 100b are provided, all of which are connected to the in-house network L. On the 17th floor, three personal computers (PCs) 200d1, 200d2, and 200d3 are provided, all of which are connected to the in-house network L.

  Each of the eleven personal computers 200a1, 200a2, 200a3, 200b1, 200b2, 200c1, 200c2, 200c3, 200d1, 200d2, and 200d3 can use both the image forming apparatus 100a and the image forming apparatus 100b. A conference room M1 is arranged on the 19th floor. A conference room M2 is arranged on the 18th floor.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the image forming apparatus 100a according to the embodiment. The image forming apparatus 100 a includes a control unit 10, an image forming unit 20, an operation display unit 30, a storage unit 50, and a communication unit 60. The image forming unit 20 reads an image from a document to generate image data, and forms an image to be printed on a printing sheet based on the image data. The image forming unit 20 forms an image to be printed on the printing paper based on the print job transmitted from the external terminal. The operation display unit 30 receives a user operation input from a display (not shown) that functions as a touch panel, various buttons, and switches (not shown).

  The control unit 10 includes a position information specifying unit 11, a transport candidate extraction unit 12, a communication processing unit 13, and an output management unit 14. The functions of the position information specifying unit 11, the transport candidate extracting unit 12, the communication processing unit 13, and the output managing unit 14 will be described later. In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100b has the same configuration as the image forming apparatus 100a.

  The control unit 10 includes main storage means such as RAM and ROM, and control means such as MPU (Micro Processing Unit) and CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control unit 10 also has controller functions related to various I / O, USB (Universal Serial Bus), bus, and other hardware interfaces, and controls the entire image forming apparatus 1.

  The storage unit 50 is a storage device including a hard disk drive or a flash memory that is a non-temporary recording medium, and stores a control program and data for processing executed by the control unit 10.

The server 300 stores the following information for each user as user information.
(1) Name (2) Affiliation (3) Attendance position (4) Mail address server 300 further stores the following information as facility information.
(1) Installation positions of the image forming apparatuses 100a and 100b (2) Arrangement of the conference rooms M1 and M2 (also referred to as facility positions)
The server 300 further stores the following information as schedule information.
(1) Event location and date (2) Event participants

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the content of the output document transport efficiency improvement process by the image forming system 1 according to the embodiment. In this example, the user A outputs a document with the image forming apparatus 100b, and the user B carries the output document to the user A after the meeting in the conference room M2.

In step S10a, the user A sets a print job with the personal computer 200d1. It is assumed that the user A displays the print properties and sets the following as the print job setting contents. A print job for which a transport request is set is also called a specific print job. The control unit 10 functions as a print job setting unit, and accepts print job settings.
(1) Transportation request (2) Time setting (time zone from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm)
(3) Select image forming apparatus 100b (normally used printer (initial setting))

  In step S20a, the user A transmits a print job. In response to receiving the print job, the image forming apparatus 100b determines whether or not the content of the print job is a request for transportation to another person based on the setting content of the print job (that is, whether or not the print job is a specific print job). ).

  When the content of the print job is a request for transportation to another person, the image forming apparatus 100b inquires of the server 300 about the installation position of the image forming apparatus 100b and information on the in-house facility. The server 300 transmits the installation position of the image forming apparatus 100b and information related to the in-house facility to the image forming apparatus 100b.

  The position information specifying unit 11 specifies the conference room M2 as a facility in the vicinity of the image forming apparatus 100b based on the installation position of the image forming apparatus 100b and information related to the in-house facility. The position information specifying unit 11 is provided in the control unit 10 included in the image forming apparatus 100b (see FIG. 2). In this embodiment, a facility arranged on the same floor as the image forming apparatus 100b is set as a nearby facility.

  In step S10c, the transport candidate extraction unit 12 acquires a schedule. Specifically, the transport candidate extraction unit 12 requests the server 300 for a schedule related to the conference room M2 within the time setting (time zone from 10 am to 3 pm). The transport candidate extraction unit 12 is provided in the control unit 10 included in the image forming apparatus 100b (see FIG. 2). In the conference room M2, the server 300 transmits to the image forming apparatus 100b information indicating that the conference X (time: time zone from 1 pm to 2 pm) is held and information about the participants.

  In step S20c, the transport candidate extraction unit 12 extracts transport requester candidates. This extraction is performed by estimating the participant's flow line on the assumption that the participant returns to his / her seat after the dissolution of the meeting at 2 pm. In this example, the transport candidate extraction unit 12 detects the presence of a user B who is present on the same floor as the user A among the participants. This is because a flow line from the conference room M2 to the floor where the user A is present is predicted as the flow line of the user B at 2 pm. In this embodiment, the user of the terminal arrange | positioned on the same floor is set as a nearby user.

  In addition, when a plurality of transport requester candidates are extracted, a user who is estimated to have the fastest transport time may be selected, or a plurality of transport requester candidates may be extracted. .

  In step S30c, the communication processing unit 13 executes an e-mail transmission process. The communication processing unit 13 is provided in the control unit 10 included in the image forming apparatus 100b. The e-mail transmission process is a process of automatically generating an e-mail for a transportation request by the communication processing unit 13 and automatically transmitting it to a candidate for a transportation requester (user B in this example).

  In the body of the e-mail, a reply link destination indicating whether the output document can be transported, a reply deadline, a scheduled output time (described later), the floor of the transport destination, and the name of the print performer are described. The e-mail is automatically transmitted using the e-mail address acquired from the server 300. In this example, the communication processing unit 13 transmits an e-mail (this e-mail is also referred to as a transport request notification) to the user B via the communication unit 60.

  Note that if the transport requester candidate is not extracted, the communication processing unit 13 automatically generates an e-mail as a transport request notification to the user A who is the print executor, and transmits this e-mail.

  In step S10b, the user B receives an electronic mail (transport request notification) from the image forming apparatus 100b. As described above, the e-mail includes a reply link destination indicating whether the output document can be transported.

  In step S20b, the user B can click the answer link destination of whether the output document can be transported and accept the transport. The output management unit 14 sets the scheduled output time slightly before 2:00 pm, which is the end time of the meeting X (for example, it can be set in advance as 5 minutes before, before the start of movement for transportation). The output management unit 14 is provided in the control unit 10 included in the image forming apparatus 100b.

  In step S40c, the communication processing unit 13 transmits an e-mail to the user A. The content of the e-mail includes the scheduled output time and the transport requester (user B), and is automatically generated by the communication processing unit 13. When a plurality of transport requester candidates are extracted, the communication processing unit 13 transmits an e-mail having the same content to other transport requester candidates. On the other hand, when the reply link destination is not clicked by the reply deadline, the communication processing unit 13 transmits an e-mail as a transport request notification to the user A who is the print executor.

  In step S30a, user A receives an e-mail. The content of the e-mail is either the content that informs the scheduled output time and the transport requester (user B), or the content that is requested to be transported by the user A who is the print executor.

  In step S50c, the output management unit 14 outputs the printed matter at the scheduled output time. In step S30b, the user B receives the printed matter after the conference X held in the conference room M2 near the image forming apparatus 100b and transports it to the user A's seat. In step S <b> 40 a, the user A can receive from the user B the printed material conveyed according to the contents of the e-mail (the scheduled output time and the requester for conveyance (user B)).

  As described above, according to the image forming apparatus 100b according to the embodiment, a user who has a long distance to the image forming apparatus 100b is directed to a user who moves from the vicinity of the image forming apparatus 100b to the vicinity of the user for other purposes. Since transportation of printed matter can be requested, transportation of printed matter can be made efficient.

  The present invention can be implemented not only in the above embodiment but also in the following modifications.

  Modification 1: In the above embodiment, the login function of the image forming apparatus is not used, but the login function may be used. If the login function of the image forming apparatus is used, the present invention can be applied as follows. Specifically, according to the present image forming apparatus, for example, in the above example, if the user B clicks an answer link destination of whether or not the output document can be transported and accepts the transport, the user B logs in with the user name and password. Thus, the printed matter of user A can be output.

  Modified example 2: In the above embodiment, the transport candidate extraction unit extracts the transport candidates based on the schedule information stored in the server 300, but the present invention is not limited to such a method. Specifically, for example, after user A transmits a specific print job with a time setting (time zone from 10 am to 3 pm), user B sets time (from 10 am to 11 am in the same image forming apparatus). It is assumed that a specific print job in the time zone) or a print job that is not set to request transportation (also called a self-conveyed print job) is transmitted.

  In this case, the user A's request for transporting the printed matter may be automatically transmitted to the user B by electronic mail. In this way, the transport candidate extraction unit extracts a user who is scheduled to move from a place (for example, a facility or an image forming apparatus) that is widely set as the vicinity of the output position to a terminal that is set as a vicinity. That's fine.

  Modified example 3: In the above embodiment, the communication for transportation request, the consent for transportation and the notification of transportation is performed by e-mail. However, for example, it may be performed by push communication using a pop-up window. Good.

  Modification 4: In the above embodiment, the users of the terminals arranged on the same floor are set as nearby users, and the area is set for each floor (floor). For example, in the same wide floor A plurality of areas may be set. Specifically, for example, an area for each department in the same floor may be set as a nearby user (terminal position is near).

  Modification 5: In the above embodiment, the server 300 performs schedule management, but the server 300 is not necessarily required. In the image forming apparatus, schedule management may be executed.

100a, 100b Image forming apparatus 10 Control unit 11 Position information specifying unit 12 Transport candidate extraction unit 13 Communication processing unit 14 Output management unit 20 Image forming unit 30 Operation display unit 50 Storage unit 60 Communication unit 200 Personal computer 300 Server

Claims (7)

An image forming apparatus,
A print job setting unit capable of setting a specific print job that is a print job set to request transportation within a preset time;
A position information specifying unit that specifies terminal positions that are positions of a plurality of terminals that can be used by the image forming apparatus, and output positions that are positions of the image forming apparatus;
Using the terminal position and the output position, from the place set as the vicinity of the output position in the set time zone to the terminal set as the vicinity of the terminal position where the specific print job is set A transportation candidate extraction unit that extracts users scheduled to move;
A communication processing unit that communicates to the extracted user to request transportation of a document output by the specific print job to a terminal position where the specific print job is set;
An output management unit that causes the image forming unit to execute output in response to the specific print job;
An image forming apparatus comprising: The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
The position information specifying unit further specifies a facility position that is a position of a facility set as the vicinity of the output position,
The transportation candidate extraction unit is set as the vicinity of the terminal position where the specific print job is set using the participants of the meeting held at the facility position and information indicating the date and time of the meeting. An image forming apparatus that extracts users scheduled to move to a terminal. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The transport candidate extraction unit extracts, as the transport candidate, a user who has transmitted the self-portable print job when a self-portable print job that is a print job that is not set to request the transport is received. Image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The output management unit causes the image forming unit to execute output by the specific print job at a preset time before the extracted user starts the movement. The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The image forming apparatus has a login function, and the output management unit enables output by the specific print job in response to the extracted login by the user. An image forming method comprising:
A print job setting step for setting a specific print job that is a print job that is set to request transportation within a preset time;
A position information specifying step for specifying a terminal position that is a position of a plurality of terminals that can be used by the image forming apparatus and an output position that is a position of the image forming apparatus;
Using the terminal position and the output position, from the place set as the vicinity of the output position in the set time zone to the terminal set as the vicinity of the terminal position where the specific print job is set A transportation candidate extraction process for extracting users scheduled to move;
A communication processing step of communicating to the extracted user to request transportation of a document output by the specific print job to a terminal position where the specific print job is set;
An output management step for causing the image forming unit to execute output in accordance with the specific print job;
An image forming method comprising: An image forming program for controlling an image forming apparatus,
The image forming program includes:
A print job setting section capable of setting a specific print job that is a print job set to request transportation within a preset time;
A position information specifying unit that specifies terminal positions that are positions of a plurality of terminals that can be used by the image forming apparatus and output positions that are positions of the image forming apparatus;
Using the terminal position and the output position, from the place set as the vicinity of the output position in the set time zone to the terminal set as the vicinity of the terminal position where the specific print job is set A transportation candidate extraction unit that extracts users scheduled to move,
A communication processing unit for performing communication to request the extracted user to transport a document output by the specific print job to a terminal position where the specific print job is set; and An image forming program that causes the image forming apparatus to function as an output management unit that causes the image forming unit to execute output in response.