JP6631491B2 - Image forming system, image forming apparatus, server, and information processing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming system, an image forming apparatus, a server, and an information processing method, and in particular, to an image forming system, an image forming apparatus, a server, and information processing used when a control program for an image forming apparatus is downloaded. About the method.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is an image forming apparatus such as a multifunctional peripheral (MFP) capable of printing a document or an image.

  Here, with reference to Patent Literature 1, a print system including an image forming apparatus that can be shared by a plurality of users and a host apparatus connected to the image forming apparatus via a network, wherein the host apparatus uses an OS (Operating System) Large-scale image forming apparatus provided with a printer driver that creates print data by controlling the image forming apparatus, and data transfer software for transferring print data to a target image forming apparatus via a network. A print system is described, which is automatically selected from a storage device, downloaded via a network, and introduced into a host device.

JP 2002-287923 A

  However, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 cannot download a control program such as a printer driver unless a large-capacity storage device is built in the image forming apparatus.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and has as its object to provide an image forming apparatus that solves the above-mentioned problems.

The image forming system of the present invention, an image forming apparatus, is used by the terminal, an image forming system including a server for downloading a control program for the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus, wherein A device information storage unit that stores model information and destination information of the image forming apparatus; a page including the model information and the destination information stored in the device information storage unit and an address of the server; A page creation unit for creating the control program as viewed as a download destination viewed from the server, wherein the server, when accessed from the terminal via the page, the model information and the destination An information obtaining unit that obtains information, an optimal model based on the model information obtained by the information obtaining unit, and the destination information. Select a control program, characterized in that it comprises a control program selecting section showing the download destination to the terminal of the optimum the control program.
The image forming system according to the present invention is characterized in that the control program selecting unit acquires position information of the image forming apparatus, and indicates to the terminal an optimal download destination of the control program corresponding to the position information. I do.
In the image forming system according to the present invention, the image forming apparatus further includes a user environment acquisition unit that further acquires user environment information including a language setting and an OS setting of the terminal, and the page creation unit includes the user environment acquisition unit. Adding the user environment information acquired by the unit to the page, the information acquisition unit, if there is access from the terminal via the page, also acquires the user environment information, the control program selection unit And selecting the optimum control program including the user environment information.
An image forming apparatus according to the present invention is used in a terminal, wherein a device information storage unit that stores model information and destination information of its own device, the model information and the destination information stored in the device information storage unit. A page creation unit that creates a page including a server address for downloading a control program for the own device as a download destination of the control program viewed from the terminal.
The server of the present invention is a server for downloading a control program for an image forming apparatus used in the terminal, and when the terminal accesses the terminal via a page created by the image forming apparatus. Model information of the image forming apparatus, an information acquisition unit that acquires destination information, the model information acquired by the information acquisition unit, and selects the optimal control program from the destination information, A control program selecting unit that indicates an optimal download destination of the control program to the terminal.
An information processing method according to the present invention is an information processing method executed by an image forming apparatus, wherein the image forming apparatus stores model information and destination information of its own apparatus, and stores the stored model information and destination information. A page including geographical information and an address of a server for downloading a control program for the own device used in the terminal is created as indicated as a download destination of the control program viewed from the terminal. And

  According to the present invention, when the terminal accesses the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus creates a page including the model information of the image forming apparatus, the destination information, and the address of the server of the download destination. When the server is accessed via the server, the server obtains the information and indicates the optimal download destination of the control program to the terminal, so that the storage capacity of the storage unit of the image forming apparatus is not large. An image forming system capable of downloading an optimal control program to a terminal can be provided.

1 is a system configuration diagram of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of a main server, a sub server, and a terminal illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information processing system illustrated in FIG. 1. 5 is a flowchart of a driver selection download process according to the embodiment of the present invention. 6 is an example of creating a page or the like in the driver selection download processing shown in FIG. 5.

<Embodiment>
[System Configuration of Image Forming System X]
First, a system configuration of the image forming system X will be described with reference to FIGS. According to FIG. 1, an image forming system X according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an image forming apparatus 1, a main server 2, and a plurality of sub servers 3. The terminal 4 is a terminal that uses the image forming apparatus 1 and can download a control program for the image forming apparatus 1. Each device is connected by a network 5.

  The image forming apparatus 1 is an information processing apparatus such as an MFP, a network scanner, a document scanner, a network FAX, and a printer. The image forming apparatus 1 has a web server function such as a WWW (World Wide Web) server, and can be accessed from a web browser or the like of the terminal 4. In addition, the image forming apparatus 1 uses a script language module such as a CGI (Common Gateway Interface), a servlet, a Java (registered trademark) script, and PHP executed by the web server function (hereinafter, simply referred to as “CGI etc.”). Accordingly, it is possible to dynamically create a page 300 (FIG. 4) such as a web page and display it on the web browser of the terminal 4.

The main server 2 and the sub server 3 are device drivers for the image forming apparatus 1, various utilities, color correction data, template data, and the like (hereinafter simply referred to as “drivers”) used by the terminal 4. It is a server for downloading a certain control program. The main server 2 and the sub server 3 are configured by a general-purpose machine, a PC (Personal Computer) server, a NAS (Network Attached Storage), and the like.
Here, the main server 2 is a “Global Download Site” that is the first site accessed to download the driver 310 via the page 300 of the image forming apparatus 1 at the terminal 4. I will provide a.
In addition, the secondary server 3 provides the terminal 4 with a site that is indicated as a download destination and accessed by the redirect or the like from the main server 2. Further, the secondary servers 3 may be separately arranged according to classification such as country, region, and line capacity.
In the example of FIG. 1, an example is shown in which secondary servers 3 of “Japan”, “USA”, and “Germany” are selected from the main server 2, redirected, and the like, and shown as download destinations.
Note that, in the present embodiment, the control program also includes data used when executing the program.

  The terminal 4 is a terminal such as a PC, a mobile phone, a smartphone, and a PDA (Personal Data Assistant). The terminal 4 runs various general-purpose OSs (Operating Systems). The terminal 4 can install a driver 310 (FIG. 4) for the image forming apparatus 1. As a result, it is possible to use the functions of the image forming apparatus 1 such as printing, scanning, facsimile transmission / reception, and network facsimile from the OS and various application software (Application, hereinafter, simply referred to as “app”). .

  In the present embodiment, the network 5 is a LAN (Local Area Network) such as an intranet (Intranet), or a WAN (Wide Area Network) such as the Internet (registered trademark) or a mobile phone network. When the network 5 is a WAN, the network 5 may be connectable to another server on a so-called “cloud” via a router, a gateway, or the like. Further, the network 5 may constitute a VPN (Virtual Private Network).

  2, the image forming apparatus 1 includes an image processing unit 11, a document reading unit 12, a document feeding unit 13, a paper feeding unit 14, a network transmitting / receiving unit 15, an operation panel unit 16, an image forming unit 17 (image forming unit 17). Forming means), a facsimile transmission / reception unit 18, a storage unit 19a, and the like. Each unit is connected to the control unit 10a, and its operation is controlled by the control unit 10a.

The control unit 10a includes a general purpose processor (GPP), a central processing unit (CPU), a micro processing unit (MPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a graphics processing unit (GPU), an application specific processor (ASIC), Information processing means such as a special purpose processor.
The control unit 10a reads out the control program stored in the storage unit 19a, develops the control program, and executes the readout control program, whereby the control unit 10a can operate as each unit of a function block described later.
In addition, the control unit 10a controls the entire apparatus according to predetermined instruction information input from the terminal 4 or the operation panel unit 16.

The image processing unit 11 is a control operation unit such as a DSP or a GPU. The image processing unit 11 performs predetermined image processing on image data. The image processing unit 11 performs various image processing such as enlargement / reduction, density adjustment, gradation adjustment, and image improvement.
The image processing unit 11 can also store the image read by the document reading unit 12 as print data in the storage unit 19a. At this time, the image processing unit 11 may convert the print data into file units in a format such as PDF or TIFF.

The document reading unit 12 is a unit that reads (scans) a set document. The document reading unit 12 is provided above the main body of the image forming apparatus 1.
The document reading unit 12 includes, for example, a scanner, a platen glass, and a document reading slit. When reading a document placed on the platen glass, the document reading unit 12 moves the scanner to a position facing the platen glass. Then, the document reading section 12 reads the document placed on the platen glass while scanning the document to obtain image data. The document reading unit 12 outputs the acquired image data to the control unit 10a.

  When reading the original fed from the original feeding unit 13, the original reading unit 12 moves the scanner to a position facing the original reading slit. Then, the document reading unit 12 reads the document via the document reading slit in synchronization with the document feeding operation by the document feeding unit 13 and acquires image data. The document reading unit 12 outputs the acquired image data to the control unit 10a.

The document feeding unit 13 is a unit that conveys a document read by the document reading unit 12. The document feeding unit 13 is provided above the document reading unit 12.
The document feeding section 13 includes a document placing section and a document transport mechanism. The document feeding section 13 sequentially feeds out the documents placed on the document placing section one by one by a document transport mechanism and feeds the documents to the document reading section 12.

  The paper feed unit 14 is a unit that feeds out recording paper one by one toward the image forming unit 17. The paper feed unit 14 is provided in the main body.

The network transmitting / receiving unit 15 is a network connecting unit including a LAN board for connecting to the network 5, a wireless transceiver, and the like.
The network transmission / reception unit 15 transmits / receives data on a data communication line, and transmits / receives a voice signal on a voice telephone line.

The operation panel unit 16 includes an input unit such as a button and a touch panel, and a display unit such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and an organic EL display. Further, the operation panel section 16 is provided on the front side of the image forming apparatus 1.
The buttons of the input unit of the operation panel unit 16 are ten keys, a button for starting, canceling, switching operation modes, and giving instructions relating to job execution. The operation mode may include a type of mode such as copying, facsimile transmission, scanner, and network scanner. The job may be of a type such as printing, transmitting, saving, and recording the selected document. The input unit of the operation panel unit 16 acquires instructions of various jobs of the image forming apparatus 1 by a user. In addition, it is also possible to input and change information of each user according to the user's instruction acquired from the operation panel unit 16.

The image forming unit 17 is a unit that forms an image on recording paper from data stored in the storage unit 19a and read by the document reading unit 12 or obtained from the external terminal 4 in accordance with a user's output instruction. .
The image forming unit 17 includes a photosensitive drum, an exposing unit, a developing unit, a transfer unit, a fixing unit, and the like. The image forming unit 17 records a toner image on the recording paper P by executing an image forming process including charging, exposure, development, transfer, and fixing.

  The facsimile transmission / reception unit 18 is means for transmitting / receiving facsimile. The facsimile transmission / reception unit 18 can receive facsimile data from another facsimile device (not shown) via a voice line or the like, store it as image data in the storage unit 19a, and cause the image forming unit 17 to form an image. Further, the facsimile transmission / reception unit 18 converts the document read by the document reading unit 12 or the network facsimile data transmitted from the external terminal 4 into image data, and facsimile-transmits it to another facsimile device via a voice line or the like. It is possible.

The storage unit 19a is storage means using a non-temporary recording medium. The storage unit 19a may include a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), an embedded multimedia card (eMMC), a solid state drive (SSD), a hard disk drive (HDD), and the like.
Further, a control program for controlling the operation of the image forming apparatus 1 is stored in the storage unit 19a. This control program includes programs and data such as an OS and various applications. The control program also includes a web server, middleware, CGI, and the like that run on the OS. The control program stored in the storage unit 19a is read, and the control program is developed and executed, whereby the control program is operated as each unit of a functional block described later.
In addition, the storage unit 19a may also store user account settings. Further, the storage unit 19a may include an area of a storage folder (document box) for each user.
Note that the storage unit 19a does not need to store the driver 310 or the like which is a control program for the terminal 4, so that a large storage capacity is not required. Further, the storage unit 19a may not include the eMMC, the SSD, or the HDD.

In the image forming apparatus 1, the control unit 10a and the image processing unit 11 may be integrally formed like a CPU with a built-in GPU or a chip-on-module package.
Further, the control unit 10a and the image processing unit 11 may include a RAM, a ROM, a flash memory, or the like.

  Next, according to FIG. 3, the main server 2, the sub server 3, and the terminal 4 include control units 10b, 10c, and 10d, and storage units 19b, 10c, and 10d, respectively. In addition, a network transmission / reception unit 15 is provided.

The control units 10b, 10c, and 10d are information processing means such as a GPP, a CPU, an MPU, a DSP, a GPU, and an ASIC.
The control units 10b, 10c, and 10d read out the control programs stored in the storage units 19b, 19c, and 19d, and develop and execute the control programs to operate as respective units of a function block described later. .

  The network transmitting / receiving unit 15 is a network connecting unit including a LAN board for connecting to the network 5, a wireless transceiver, and the like.

The storage units 19b, 19c, and 19d are storage units using non-temporary recording media. The storage units 19b, 19c, and 19d may include a RAM or the like as a main storage unit. Further, the storage units 19b, 19c, and 19d may include a ROM, an eMMC, an SSD, an HDD, and the like as auxiliary storage units.
Further, the storage units 19b, 19c, and 19d may include an area of a document box (storage folder, shared folder) for each user.
Further, the storage units 19b, 19c, and 19d may include external storage media such as various flash memories and optical recording media.

Note that the control units 10b, 10c, and 10d may include a RAM, a ROM, a flash memory, or the like.
The terminal 4 includes an input unit and a display unit. The input unit is a touch panel, a switch (button), or the like for acquiring various instructions from the user. The display unit is a flat display panel such as an LCD, an organic EL display, a field emission display (FED), a fluorescent display tube, a projector, an LED for status display, and the like. The display unit can display various operation screens related to the GUI.

[Control Configuration of Image Forming Apparatus 1]
Here, an overall control configuration including the image forming apparatus 1, the main server 2, a plurality of sub servers 3, and the terminal 4 of the image forming apparatus system X according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. I do.
The control unit 10a of the image forming apparatus 1 includes a page creation unit 100 and a user environment acquisition unit 110.
The storage unit 19a stores the device information 200, the page 300, and the user environment information 400. That is, the storage unit 19a functions as a device information storage unit.
The control unit 10b of the main server 2 includes an information acquisition unit 120 and a control program selection unit 130.
The storage unit 19b stores the device information 200 and the user environment information 400.
The sub server 3 stores the driver 310 in the storage unit 19c (FIG. 3), an external storage medium, or the like.
The control unit 10d of the terminal 4 includes a browser execution unit 140 and a driver execution unit 150.
The storage unit 19d stores the driver 310 and the user environment information 400.

The page creation unit 100 creates a page 300 including the model information 210 and the destination information 220 included in the device information 200 stored in the storage unit 19a, and an address of the main server 2 such as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator). . The page creation unit 100 may be implemented as a CGI or the like executed on a web server. The page 300 dynamically created by the page creation unit 100 is viewed from the terminal 4 as an indication of the download destination of the driver 310.
The page creation unit 100 may add the user environment information 400 acquired by the user environment acquisition unit 110 to the page 300.
The “address” used in the present embodiment may be a URI (Uniform Resource Identifier), an account name, a MAC address, or the IP address itself, in addition to the URL.

  The user environment acquisition unit 110 acquires the user environment information 400. The user environment acquisition unit 110 may acquire the user environment information 400 when there is an access from the terminal 4 via the driver execution unit 150. This access may be an access from the terminal 4 via the page 300. Also, the user environment acquisition unit 110 may be implemented as a CGI or the like executed on the web server.

The information acquisition unit 120 acquires model information 210 and destination information 220 when there is access from the terminal 4 via the page 300.
In addition, when there is an access from the terminal 4 via the page 300, the information acquisition unit 120 may also acquire the user environment information 400.

The control program selection unit 130 selects an optimal driver 310 from the model information 210 acquired by the information acquisition unit 120 and the destination information 220. Further, the control program selection unit 130 indicates to the terminal 4 the optimal download destination of the driver 310 stored in any one of the secondary servers 3.
The control program selection unit 130 can also acquire the position information 230 of the image forming apparatus 1 and indicate to the terminal 4 the optimal download destination of the driver 310 corresponding to the position information 230.
The control program selection unit 130 may select an optimal driver 310 including the user environment information 400.

  The browser execution unit 140 executes a WWW web browser executed on the terminal 4 or the like. The browser execution unit 140 can be started by specifying an address from the driver execution unit 150. Further, the browser execution unit 140 can also display a page 300 created by the image forming apparatus 1, a redirect page 300 of the main server 2, a download page 301 of the sub server 3, and the like.

  The driver execution unit 150 executes a driver 310 that is a control program of the image forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. Further, when an instruction from the user or a new driver 310 is detected, the driver execution unit 150 activates the browser execution unit 140 to display the page 300 of the image forming apparatus 1. At this time, the driver execution unit 150 may include the user environment information 400 in the address where the browser execution unit 140 calls the page 300 of the image forming apparatus 1.

The device information 200 is various information related to the selection of the driver 310 of the image forming apparatus 1 in the terminal 4.
The device information 200 includes model information 210, destination information 220, and position information 230.

  The model information 210 is information for identifying the image forming apparatus 1 such as a model (model) name, a model number, and a serial number of the image forming apparatus 1.

  The destination information 220 is information indicating a region of the sales destination of the image forming apparatus 1, for example, Asia, North America, South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, or a specific country such as Japan, the United States, or Germany.

The position information 230 is information indicating the position of the image forming apparatus 1. The position information 230 may be, for example, a global IP address of the image forming apparatus 1. This global IP address can be obtained by the image forming apparatus 1 accessing the main server 2 and returned from the main server 2. In addition to the global IP address, the location information 230 may be a domain name such as a Dynamic Domain Name Service (DDNS) to which an IP address can be dynamically assigned, a subdomain name, or the like.
Further, the position information 230 may be information on a country or a region where the image forming apparatus 1 is actually installed. Further, as the position information 230, information such as coordinates of the installation location of the image forming apparatus 1 such as latitude and longitude, floors of a building, and rooms may be used. Further, the position information 230 may be information indicating a position in the network 5. Further, as the position information 230, information on a position determined by the type of a user or a group of the image forming apparatus 1 may be used.

  The page 300 is a web page such as HTML created by the page creation unit 100 of the image forming apparatus and showing a link to a download destination of the driver 310 to the user. In the present embodiment, the page 300 includes a link including the various information described above and the address of the global download site of the main server 2.

  The driver 310 is an example of a control program downloaded from the secondary server 3 or the like to control the image forming apparatus 1 on the OS of the terminal 4. The driver 310 may have a newer version or the like than that of the driver executed by the driver execution unit 150.

  The user environment information 400 is information on the user environment including the language setting of the terminal 4 and the OS setting. The language setting of the terminal 4 may include, for example, information on an installed additional language, a language setting of the image forming apparatus 1, a font setting, and the like, in addition to the OS language setting. Further, the user environment information 400 may include regional information on a country or region where the terminal 4 is mainly used. The OS settings may include, for example, the version of the OS itself, editions such as the Pro version, the home version, and the enterprise version, the 32-bit version or the 64-bit version, web browser settings, and user account settings. Good.

Here, the control unit 10a of the image forming apparatus 1 is caused to function as the user environment acquisition unit 110 and the page creation unit 100 by executing the control program stored in the storage unit 19a.
The control unit 10b of the main server 2 executes the control program stored in the storage unit 19b, so that the control unit 10b functions as the information acquisition unit 120 and the control program selection unit 130.
Further, the control unit 10c of the secondary server 3 is caused to function as a download execution unit by executing the control program stored in the storage unit 19c. The storage unit 19c is caused to function as a control program storage unit that stores the driver 310.
Further, the control unit 10d of the terminal 4 executes the control program stored in the storage unit 19d, and thereby functions as the browser execution unit 140 and the driver execution unit 150.
Further, each unit of the image forming apparatus 1 described above becomes a hardware resource for executing the image forming method of the present invention.

[Driver selection download processing by image forming apparatus 1]
Next, a driver selection download process by the image forming apparatus 1 of the image forming system X according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the driver selection download process of this embodiment, when the image forming apparatus 1 is accessed from the terminal 4 via the page 300, the model information 210 and the destination information 220 are acquired, and the acquired model information 210 is acquired. Then, the optimum driver 310 is selected from the destination information 220 and the download destination of the optimum driver 310 is indicated to the terminal 4. At this time, the user environment information 400 may be received from the terminal 4 and added to the download destination address.
The driver selection download process according to the present embodiment is mainly performed by the control units 10a, 10b, 10c, and 10d of the image forming apparatus 1, the main server 2, the sub server 3, and the terminal 4 by the storage units 19a, 19b, and 19c, respectively. , 19d in cooperation with the respective units and executed using hardware resources.
Hereinafter, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5, the details of the driver selection download processing will be described for each step.

(Step S101)
First, the driver execution unit 150 and the browser execution unit 140 of the terminal 4 perform a driver acquisition start process.
Here, the driver execution unit 150 detects that the driver 310 of the new version of the image forming apparatus 1 has been released. In addition, the driver execution unit 150 detects that the user has instructed to download a new driver 310 from an input unit of the terminal 4 from a setting screen of the driver 310 or the like.
In these cases, the driver execution unit 150 activates the web browser by the browser execution unit 140 and accesses the web server of the image forming apparatus 1. At this time, the image forming apparatus 1 passes an address, such as the IP address, of the image forming apparatus 1 that has been acquired in advance to the browser execution unit 140 for access.
The IP address and the like of the image forming apparatus 1 may be acquired when the driver 310 currently being executed by the driver execution unit 150 is installed or when the user sets.

Further, when passing the address to the browser execution unit 140, the driver execution unit 150 may acquire the user environment information 400 from the storage unit 19d, and encode and add the user environment information 400. For example, the driver execution unit 150

http: // (IP address of image forming apparatus 1) / driver / lang = "JP" + OS = "win10pro_64bit"

The directory indicating the download of the driver 310 may be indicated after the IP address of the image forming apparatus 1, and the user environment information 400 may be encoded thereafter. In this example, the language setting of the terminal 4 is "language (lang) = Japanese (" JP ")", and the OS setting is "OS = Windows (registered trademark) 10 pro 64-bit version (" Win10pro_64bit ")". User environment information 400 is encoded.

Note that the user may directly start the web browser instead of starting up the web browser in response to the instruction from the driver executing unit 150 as described above. Then, the user may directly input the IP address of the image forming apparatus 1. In this case, the user environment information 400 may not be encoded and added, and conversely, may be added by the user. Further, the driver execution unit 150 may perform URL encoding, shorten characters, or encrypt with a hash function instead of encoding with simple characters as in the above-described example.
Further, when the image forming apparatus 1 is accessed by a web browser, user authentication or the like may be performed.

(Step S102)
Next, the browser execution unit 140 of the terminal 4 performs a user environment information transmission process.
The browser execution unit 140 accesses the image forming apparatus 1 from a web browser using a WWW protocol or the like. At this time, when the user environment information 400 is encoded by the driver execution unit 150, the browser execution unit 140 accesses using the address including the encoded user environment information 400.

(Step S103)
Next, the user environment acquisition unit 110 of the image forming apparatus 1 performs a user environment information acquisition process.
The user environment acquisition unit 110 of the image forming apparatus 1 interprets the address by the web server when the web browser of the terminal 4 accesses the web environment by the WWW protocol. At this time, when detecting that the user environment information 400 has been encoded, the user environment acquisition unit 110 decodes the user environment information 400.
In the above example, when the web server detects access to the “/ driver /” directory of the image forming apparatus 1, the execution of the user environment acquisition unit 110 and the page creation unit 100 is started as CGI. Then, the user environment acquisition unit 110 determines that the language setting is “language = Japanese” and the OS setting is “OS = Windows (registered trademark) 10” from the address characters “lang = JP” + OS = win10pro_64bit ”. It decodes that it is a “pro 64-bit version” and stores it as user environment information 400 in the storage unit 19a.

(Step S104)
Next, the page creation unit 100 of the image forming apparatus 1 performs a page creation process.
The page creation unit 100 creates a page 300 including the model information 210 and the destination information 220 included in the device information 200 stored in the storage unit 19a, and the address of the main server 2. The page creation unit 100 creates this page 300 as a web page indicating the download destination of the driver 310 browsed from the terminal 4. At this time, the page creating unit 100 may include the position information 230 of the image forming apparatus and the user environment information 400 in the page 300.

According to the example of FIG. 6A, in the present embodiment, the page creation unit 100 encodes and includes model information 210, destination information 220, position information 230, and user environment information 400 in an address. L is created in the page 300.
The address in the HTML <A> tag of the link L is, for example,

http: // (domain name of global download site) / support / driver / model = "TASKalfa 5551ci" + region = "Japan" + ip = "(global IP address of image forming apparatus 1)" + lang = " JP "+ OS =" win10pro_64bit "

"Model name = (model name of image forming apparatus 1, TASKalfa 555 lci)" as model information 210, "region = Japan" as destination information 220, and "IP address = (image forming apparatus 1 Global IP address). " The link L also includes the same user environment information 400 as in the above example.

(Step S105)
Next, the browser execution unit 140 of the terminal 4 performs a driver acquisition access process.
The browser execution unit 140 acquires the page 300 created by the page creation unit 100 from the image forming apparatus 1, displays the page 300 on the display unit using a web browser, and allows the user to browse. When the browser execution unit 140 detects that the user has clicked the above-mentioned link in the input unit, the browser execution unit 140 accesses the address in the link. In the above example, the link L is clicked to access the global download site of the main server 2 using the WWW protocol.

(Step S106)
Next, the information acquisition unit 120 of the main server 2 performs an information acquisition process.
The information acquisition unit 120 acquires model information 210 and destination information 220 when there is access from the terminal 4 via the page 300. The information acquisition unit 120 may also acquire the position information 230 and the user environment information 400.
In the above example, when the main server 2 of the global download site is accessed via the link L of the page 300, the information acquisition unit 120 converts the model name into the model information 210, The local information is acquired as the destination information 220 and the global IP address is acquired as the position information 230, and is stored as the device information 200 in the storage unit 19b. The location information 230 may be stored by determining the country or region from the global IP address.
The information acquiring unit 120 also acquires the language setting and the OS setting of the terminal 4 from the character of the address of the link L as the user environment information 400 and stores the acquired information in the storage unit 19b.

(Step S107)
Next, the control program selection unit 130 of the main server 2 performs a control program selection process.
The control program selection unit 130 selects the optimal driver 310 of the image forming apparatus 1 for the terminal 4 from the device information 200 acquired by the information acquisition unit 120, and indicates the download destination of the optimal driver 310 to the terminal 4. .
Specifically, the control program selection unit 130 selects the driver 310 corresponding to the image forming apparatus 1 from the model information 210 of the apparatus information 200 and the destination information 220. At this time, the control program selection unit 130 may select a more optimal driver 310 from the language setting and the OS setting of the user environment information 400. Further, the control program selection unit 130 may determine the country or region where the image forming apparatus 1 is installed from the position information 230 included in the apparatus information 200, and select a more optimal driver 310. More specifically, the control program selection unit 130 optimizes the latest driver 310 corresponding to the language setting of the terminal 4 and the OS, which is set for each country or region where the image forming apparatus 1 is installed. Choose as a good driver. The optimal driver may be the latest version of the driver 310 installed in the terminal 4.
In addition, the control program selection unit 130 stores the optimal driver 310 and provides guidance to the secondary server 3 that can be downloaded most suitably from the terminal 4 by redirection or the like. Thereby, the control program selection unit 130 can make the browser execution unit 140 of the terminal 4 access the download page of the selected secondary server 3. That is, the control program selection unit 130 can indicate the optimal storage location of the driver 310.
The control program selection unit 130 may select the secondary server 3 to be redirected from, instead of the position information 230 of the device information 200, from the global IP address when the terminal 4 accesses the main server 2.

According to the example of FIG. 6B, although the language setting of the user terminal 4 is Japanese, but the global IP address of the location information 230 of the image forming apparatus 1 is German, the German secondary server 3 An example in which the download page 301 is displayed after being redirected is shown.
If there is no Japanese download page on the secondary server 3, a German download page 301 may be displayed as in this example. In such a case, the web page may be displayed after being translated into the language setting using a translation service (not shown) or the like.
Alternatively, the download page 301 may be created on the main server 2 and only the link destination may be set in the driver 310 of the sub server 3.

(Step S108)
Next, the browser execution unit 140 of the terminal 4 performs a download instruction process.
When the web browser of the terminal 4 detects that the user has clicked the link destination of the driver 310 on the download page of the secondary server 3, the browser execution unit 140 transmits the fact to the secondary server 3. Thus, the download of the driver 310 from the secondary server 3 to the terminal 4 is started.

(Step S109)
Next, the control unit 10c of the secondary server 3 performs a driver transmission process.
The control unit 10c of the secondary server 3 acquires the driver 310 corresponding to the link address of the download page from the storage unit 19c, and transmits the driver 310 to the terminal 4 using the HTTP protocol, the FTP protocol, or the like. In the example of FIG. 6B, a dialog box 302 indicating that downloading is being performed is displayed at this time.
The terminal 4 that has downloaded the driver 310 stores it in the storage unit 19d. The control unit 10d of the terminal 4 may automatically start the installer and update the downloaded driver 310.
Thus, the driver selection download processing according to the embodiment of the present invention ends.

With the above configuration, the following effects can be obtained.
Conventionally, with a typical technique described in Patent Document 1, it is impossible to download the driver 310 unless the image forming apparatus has a large-capacity storage device.
On the other hand, the image forming system X according to the embodiment of the present invention has a main function for downloading the control program such as the image forming apparatus 1 and the driver 310 for the image forming apparatus 1 used by the terminal 4. A server 2 and a secondary server 3 are included. The image forming apparatus 1 includes a storage unit 19a which is a device information storage unit that stores model information 210 and destination information 220 of the image forming apparatus 1, and model information 210 and destination information 220 stored in the storage unit 19a. And a page creating unit 100 that creates a page 300 including the address of the main server 2 as a download destination of the control program viewed from the terminal 4. When there is an access from the terminal 4 via the page 300, the main server 2 obtains the model information 210 and the destination information 220, the information obtaining unit 120, and the model information 210 obtained by the information obtaining unit 120. And a control program selection unit 130 that selects an optimal control program from the destination information 220 and indicates the download destination of the optimal control program to the terminal 4.
With this configuration, even if the image forming apparatus does not have a large-capacity storage device, it is possible to cause the terminal 4 to download the optimum driver 310.

Further, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, only the download of the driver 310 from one server is considered. For this reason, access is concentrated on this one server, or the driver 310 is downloaded from a server that is far from the actual installation position of the image forming apparatus on a network path or a server that has a small communication line capacity and is slow. Thus, there is a possibility that problems such as network congestion and a decrease in download speed may occur.
On the other hand, the image forming system X according to the embodiment of the present invention provides the global download site of the main server 2 with the model information 210, the destination information 220, the language setting, and the OS of the image forming apparatus 1. And the like. Then, at the global download site of the main server 2, based on the information and the global IP address, the user is redirected to the download site of the secondary server 3 in each country. Accordingly, it is possible to reliably lead the user to the most appropriate download site and to cause the terminal 4 to download the driver 310.

Further, in the main server 2 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the control program selection unit 130 acquires the position information 230 of the image forming apparatus 1 and determines the optimal download destination of the control program corresponding to the position information 230. The terminal 4 is shown.
With such a configuration, the terminal 4 accesses the image forming apparatus 1 from outside the LAN or the like, or accesses via a VPN or the like, that is, the terminal 4 accesses the image forming apparatus 1. Even if the region or the country is different, it is possible to guide the user to an optimal download site based on the position information 230 of the image forming apparatus 1.
In addition, it is possible to download the optimal driver 310 at the position where the image forming apparatus 1 is actually installed.

Further, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention further includes a user environment acquisition unit 110 that acquires user environment information 400 including a language setting and an OS setting of the terminal 4, and the page creation unit 100 The user environment information 400 acquired by the environment acquisition unit 110 is added to the page 300, and the information acquisition unit 120 of the main server 2 also acquires the user environment information 400 when there is access from the terminal 4 via the page 300. The control program selection unit 130 is characterized in that the control program selection unit 130 selects an optimal control program including the user environment information 400.
With this configuration, it is possible to download the optimal driver 310 corresponding to the user's language setting and OS setting regardless of the setting of the image forming apparatus 1.

[Other embodiments]
In the embodiment of the present invention, an example has been described in which the driver 310 is downloaded using the main server 2 and the sub server 3. However, the configuration may be such that the download is made to a single server without using the main server 2 and the sub server 3. For example, a configuration in which the image forming apparatus 1 directly indicates a download destination in a region unit may be used.
With this configuration, the optimal driver 310 can be downloaded without preparing a global download site.

Also, in the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which an HTML web page is created as the page 300 and a download destination is designated using a web browser.
However, the page 300 may be a file or the like described in a page language such as PDF instead of a web page.
With this configuration, the driver 310 can be downloaded in a format that is easy for the user to use in accordance with the system configuration.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the device information 200 and the user environment information 400 are encoded and included in the address of a link on the page 300 or the like.
However, the device information 200 and the user environment information 400 are not necessarily included in the address itself, and the information may be included in a format such as form metadata. Further, the driver executing unit 150 may acquire data corresponding to the page 300 from the image forming apparatus 1 and send commands of various protocols directly to a download site to transfer and download the driver 310.
With this configuration, it is possible to download the optimal driver 310 even in various configurations that are different from the normal settings.

Further, the present invention can be applied to information processing apparatuses other than the image forming apparatus 1 and the terminal 4. Further, the configuration may be such that the image forming apparatus 1 and the terminal 4 are directly connected without using the network 5. That is, a configuration using a network scanner, a server to which the scanner is separately connected by USB, or the like may be used.
With this configuration, it is possible to download the optimal driver 310 even in an information processing apparatus other than the image forming apparatus.

  Further, the configuration and operation of the above-described embodiment are examples, and it is needless to say that the configuration and operation can be appropriately modified and executed without departing from the gist of the present invention.

Reference Signs List 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Main server 3 Secondary server 4 Terminal 5 Network 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d Control unit 11 Image processing unit 12 Document reading unit 13 Document feeding unit 14 Feeding unit 15 Network transmitting / receiving unit 16 Operation panel unit 17 Image Forming unit 18 FAX transmitting / receiving units 19a, 19b, 19c, 19d Storage unit 100 Page creating unit 110 User environment acquiring unit 120 Information acquiring unit 130 Control program selecting unit 140 Browser executing unit 150 Driver executing unit 200 Device information 210 Model information 220 Destination Information 230 position information 300 page 301 download page 302 dialog box 310 driver 400 user environment information L link X image forming system

Claims (6)

And an image forming apparatus, an image forming system including a server for use, to download a control program for the image forming apparatus in the terminal,
The image forming apparatus includes:
An apparatus information storage unit that stores model information and destination information of the image forming apparatus;
A page creation unit that creates a page including the model information and the destination information stored in the device information storage unit and an address of the server, as a download destination of the control program viewed from the terminal. With
The server is
If there is access from the terminal via the page, the model information, information acquisition unit to acquire the destination information,
A control program selecting unit that selects the optimal control program from the model information acquired by the information acquiring unit and the destination information, and indicates an optimal download destination of the control program to the terminal. Characteristic image forming system. The control program selection unit,
The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein position information of the image forming apparatus is acquired, and an optimum download destination of the control program corresponding to the position information is indicated to the terminal. The image forming apparatus includes:
A user environment acquisition unit that further acquires user environment information including a language setting and an OS setting of the terminal,
The page creation unit adds the user environment information acquired by the user environment acquisition unit to the page,
The information acquisition unit, when there is access from the terminal via the page, also acquires the user environment information,
The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the control program selection unit selects the optimal control program including the user environment information. A device information storage unit for storing model information and destination information of the own device,
A page including the model information and the destination information stored in the device information storage unit and a server address for downloading a control program for the own device used in the terminal is viewed from the terminal. An image forming apparatus, comprising: a page creation unit that creates the control program as a download destination. A server for downloading a control program for the image forming apparatus used in the terminal,
When there is an access from the terminal through a page created by the image forming apparatus, model information of the image forming apparatus, an information acquisition unit that acquires destination information,
A control program selecting unit that selects the optimal control program from the model information acquired by the information acquiring unit and the destination information, and indicates an optimal download destination of the control program to the terminal. Features server. An information processing method executed by an image forming apparatus, wherein the image forming apparatus includes:
Store model information and destination information of own device,
A page containing the stored model information and the destination information and a server address for downloading a control program for the own device used in the terminal is downloaded from the terminal to the download destination of the control program. An information processing method characterized by being created as shown below.

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