JP6938574B2 - Printing device and its control method, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, a control method thereof, and a program.

Conventionally, as a system for user authentication and charging when printing is performed, there is a system that issues a job ticket using a server device and charges the user described in the job ticket (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ..

In this case, it is necessary to request the server to issue a job ticket, permit the server to issue a job, and prepare a correspondence table between the user ID and the billing account for confirmation to the server.

In recent years, various printing methods such as local printing from smartphones and tablet terminals and cloud printing via a cloud server have been prepared, and the image forming device on the printing side is also compatible with these printing protocols. It is done.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-316458

As described above, a job ticket issuing server is required in a system for user authentication and billing when printing is performed.

In addition, in the mechanism that supports multiple printing protocols and charges when printing is performed by user authentication, images that cannot be authenticated or charged due to differences in the user information used in the printing protocol and the job ticket format. Present in the forming device.

If there is a print protocol that cannot be authenticated or charged to the user in this way, either prohibit the job execution request from the supported print protocol, or treat the authentication or user charge as an indefinite user. It corresponds.

An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus capable of flexibly responding to charges in various printing protocols, a control method thereof, and a program.

In order to achieve the above object, the printing device according to claim 1 is a printing device having an operation unit, which is a receiving means for receiving print data from an external device, one or more user information corresponding to a protocol, and printing. Control means for managing the billing information generated in response to the execution of the above, acquisition means for acquiring user information corresponding to the received print data from the received print data, and printing of the print data. When the acquired user information is the user information managed by the management means, the print control means prints the print data to be printed, and the print data is printed. The management means manages the acquired user information in association with the billing information generated in response to the execution of the printing, and the acquired user information is user information not managed by the management means. , the print control means, based on the user logged before Symbol printing apparatus to a print instruction received via the operation unit, the printing of the print data that resides accumulated in correspondence with the acquired user information The management means is characterized in that it executes and manages the login user information of the logged-in user and the billing information generated in response to the execution of the printing in association with each other.

According to the present invention, when a print job is requested to be executed according to the print protocol of the host device and it is determined that the job information for executing the print job is not chargeable job information, the print job is instructed to be executed. Since the user who can be charged is charged, it is possible to flexibly support the charging by various printing protocols.

It is a figure which shows the schematic structure of the image forming apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the software structure of the image forming apparatus 100 in FIG. FIG. 3A is a diagram showing a structure of job information, and FIG. 3B is a diagram showing a structure of a job ticket. FIG. 4A is a diagram showing a user information table, and FIG. 4B is a diagram showing a protocol information table. It is a figure which shows each screen displayed on a panel. It is a figure which shows each screen displayed on a panel. It is a figure which shows each screen displayed on a panel. It is a figure which shows the screen which inputs whether or not the update of the related user information is possible. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the job control processing executed by the CPU in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the job analysis processing of step S302 of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the print job control processing executed by the CPU in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the standby job selection control processing executed by the CPU in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the related user information update control processing of step S906 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the user information table in the modification. It is a figure which shows the information stored in the IC card in the modification. It is a figure which shows the screen about the update of the related user information. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the standby job selection control process (the 2) of step S906 of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the related user information update control process (the 2) of step S1114 of FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure of the related user information update control process (No. 3) in step S1114 of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the related user information addition determination processing executed by the CPU in FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 includes a control unit 120, a panel 110, a scanner 111, a printer 112, and an authentication device 113.

The control unit 120 controls the entire image forming apparatus 100. The panel 110 accepts a user's operation input and displays various information to the user. The scanner 111 optically reads the document and generates image data indicating the document.

The printer 112 prints the image indicated by the image data on a recording medium such as paper. The authentication device 113 is used for user authentication by communicating with an IC card or a mobile terminal having an NFC function by NFC (Near Field Communication).

Next, the configuration of the control unit 120 will be described. The control unit 120 includes a CPU 101, an HDD 102, a ROM 103, a RAM 104, an RTC 115, an external interface 109, a card interface 108, a printer interface 107, a scanner interface 106, and a panel interface, which are connected by a system bus 121.

The CPU 101 controls the entire image forming apparatus 100 by controlling the control unit 120. The HDD 102 stores various data such as various programs and image data. The ROM 103 stores various programs such as a boot program and various data such as setting values.

The RAM 104 is used as a work area of the CPU 101, and stores various programs and various data. The RTC 115 is used for providing a date and a current time, measuring a time, and the like.

The panel interface 105 is an interface between the panel 110 and the control unit 120. The scanner interface 106 is an interface between the scanner 111 and the control unit 120. The printer interface 107 is an interface between the printer 112 and the control unit 120. The card interface 108 is an interface between the authentication device 113 and the control unit 120.

The external interface 109 includes a LAN controller, a USB controller, a WiFi controller, and the like for connecting to an external device. The external interface 109 requests the image forming apparatus 100 to execute a print job from the higher-level device according to the printing protocol of the higher-level device.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a software configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 in FIG.

In FIG. 2, the software of the image forming apparatus 100 includes a network control unit 201, a USB control unit 202, a Wi-Fi control unit 203, a job control unit 204, a print job control unit 205, a non-print job control unit 206, and user information. It is composed of a billing control unit 207, an operation unit control unit 208, and a user information / login control unit 209. These software are executed by the CPU 101. Further, FIG. 2 also shows various information 210 stored in the HDD 102.

The network control unit 201 controls the LAN controller of the external interface 109 and receives job information for executing a print job from a client PC or server connected to the network.

The USB control unit 202 controls the USB controller of the external interface 109 and receives job information from a client PC or server connected via USB.

The Wi-Fi control unit 203 controls the Wi-Fi controller of the external interface 109 and receives job information from a client PC, a server, or the like via a wireless network.

The network control unit 201, the USB control unit 202, and the Wi-Fi control unit 203 described above support various protocols such as HTTP, IPP, LRP, RAW, and WSD.

The job control unit 204 stores the job information received by the network control unit 201, the USB control unit 202, and the Wi-Fi control unit 203 via the network, USB, and Wi-Fi in the RAM 104.

Further, the job control unit 204 instructs the print job control unit 205 to print when the job information described later is the print job information for executing the print job and can be charged, and when the charge is not possible, the job control unit 204 instructs the print job control unit 205 to print. Job information is stored in the HDD 102.

Further, when the job information is not the print job information but the scan job information or the transmission job information, the job control unit 204 instructs the non-print job control unit 206 to execute the process.

The print job control unit 205 prints the print job data included in the print job information analyzed by the job control unit 204, and notifies the operation unit control unit 208 of the print control status of the printer 112 received from the printer interface 107.

Further, the print job control unit 205 notifies the user information / charge control unit 207 of the charge information for user charge.

The non-print job control unit 206 controls scan jobs, transmission jobs, and the like, which are non-print jobs.

The operation unit control unit 208 controls the panel 110. Specifically, the operation unit control unit 208 controls the panel interface 105 to display the print status, the standby job selection, the authentication display at the time of login, and various displays at the time of updating the related user information on the panel 110.

Further, the operation unit control unit 208 receives the input information input by the user from the panel 110, and transmits the received input information to the job control unit 204.

For example, the operation unit control unit 208 receives the print job information selection and print execution instructions stored in the HDD via the panel interface 105, and instructs the job control unit 204 to control the print job.

The user information / billing control unit 207 stores and reads the user information and billing management information shown in the various information 210, and receives, for example, an update instruction of the related user information described later, and is instructed as the related user information of the logged-in user. Update related user information.

Further, when the user information / billing control unit 207 receives the billing instruction, the user information / billing control unit 207 updates the instructed billing information. Further, the user information / billing control unit 207 makes a login determination from the user information of the user authentication / login control unit 209 and various information 210, and stores the login information indicating the determination result as the login user included in the various information 210. , The operation unit control unit 208, and the job control unit 204 are transmitted with the determination result.

The user authentication / login control unit 209 controls the card interface 108 and controls reading / writing information of the IC card that communicates with the IC card held over the authentication device 113.

Further, among various information, the related user information (IC card) is the related user information to be described later read from the IC card.

FIG. 3A is a diagram showing the configuration of job information 600, and FIG. 3B is a diagram showing the configuration of job ticket 700.

In FIG. 3A, the job information 600 is composed of a job ticket, reception information, protocol information, user ID, job data, link data, job execution availability information, and job status.

The job ticket is used for billing, and its configuration will be described with reference to FIG. 3 (B) below. The reception information consists of a reception number and a reception time. Of these, the reception number is a number from 1 to 9999 given when a job execution request is received, and is an incremented value in the order of reception. The reception time is the time when the job execution request is received, and is set by acquiring the date and time from RTC115.

The protocol information indicates the print protocol (hereinafter, simply referred to as “protocol”) and the job ticket type. Here, the protocol indicates a communication method or the like defined for each higher-level device that requests the image forming apparatus 100 to execute a print job. The host device transmits information for executing a print job according to this protocol to the image forming device 100.

The job data includes a file name, a job owner, print job data, and the like. The user ID is an identifier for uniquely identifying the user and is one of the accounts. As described above, the job information 600 includes the combination of the protocol information and the account.

The link data indicates a scan destination, a link destination of print data, and the like. The job execution availability information is composed of a print flag, a scan flag, and a charge flag. The print flag is "YES" if printing is feasible, and "NO" otherwise. The scan flag is "YES" if the scan is executable, and "NO" otherwise. The billing flag is "YES" if billing is feasible, and "NO" otherwise.

The job status indicates the status of the job indicated by the job information. Specifically, the wait is a state in which the job is waiting to be executed. Execution is the state in which the job is being executed. Suspension is a state in which job execution is suspended. Termination is the state in which job execution has been completed.

The above-mentioned reception information, protocol information, user ID, and job execution possibility information are set by the job control unit 204 in the job ticket analysis process, and the job status is set by the job control unit 204 or the print job control unit 205.

In FIG. 3B, the job ticket 700 is composed of a ticket name, link information, job attributes, user ID, ticket issuance date and time, and service type.

The ticket name indicates the name of the job ticket 700. The link information indicates authentication server information and the like. Job attributes indicate the printing method, setting values, and so on. The user ID is the same as in FIG. 3 (A).

The ticket issuance date and time indicates the date and time when the job ticket 700 was issued. The service type indicates the type of service provided by the job ticket 700, and is indicated by, for example, printing or scanning.

The job ticket 700 described above is an example of a job ticket, and some include a part of the information shown in FIG. 3 (B) and some include other information.

FIG. 4A is a diagram showing a user information table 800, and FIG. 4B is a diagram showing a protocol information table 801. The user information table 800 and the protocol information table 801 are stored in the HDD 102 which is a storage unit.

In FIG. 4A, the user information table 800 is composed of login user information, protocol information ID, related user information, and billing information.

The login user information is information for identifying the user, and is also stored in the IC card that communicates with the authentication device 113. Then, when the login user information stored in the IC card and the login user information shown in the user information table 800 match, the user can log in to the image forming apparatus 100.

The protocol information ID is an identifier uniquely defined for each of the various protocols. Related user information is a collection of user accounts. Generally, since the user holds an account for each protocol, it is stored in combination with the protocol information ID.

The billing information is composed of a first billing information and a second billing information. The first billing information shows the billing for each related user information, and the second billing information shows the total.

In FIG. 4B, the protocol information table 801 is composed of a protocol information ID and protocol information.

The protocol information ID is an identifier for uniquely identifying various protocol information. The protocol information indicates the protocol and the format of the job ticket.

In the case of FIG. 4B, as an example, when the protocol information ID is 1, LPR-job ticket type A is shown, when the protocol information ID is 2, WSD-job ticket type B is shown, and the protocol information ID is 3. In the case of, HTTP-job ticket type A is indicated.

In addition, there are multiple job ticket formats such as XML data format (XPS) and binary data format (PDF), and it is necessary to apply different analysis methods depending on the format. Therefore, the protocol information includes the protocol and the job ticket. No.

The contents shown in the user information table 800 and the protocol information table 801 described above can be set by the administrator from the panel 110, or may be set using information acquired from another device. ..

The user information table 800 and the protocol information table 801 described above are used when determining whether or not the job information 600 is chargeable job information.

Specifically, the combination of the protocol information included in the job information 600 and the account (user ID) is a combination that matches the combination of the protocol information shown in the user information table 800 and the account in the user-related information. If it does not exist, it is determined that the job information 600 is not chargeable job information.

On the other hand, when there is a matching combination of the protocol information included in the job information 600 and the account (user ID) among the combinations of the protocol information shown in the user information table 800 and the account in the user-related information. In addition, it is determined that the job information 600 is chargeable job information.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing each screen displayed on the panel 110.

FIG. 5A is a diagram showing a login screen 1001 when an IC card is used.

The login screen 1001 shows an operation method for the user to hold the IC card over the authentication device 113, and when the authentication device 113 reads the IC card information, it is shown that a completion sound indicating the completion of the reading is sounded.

FIG. 5B is a diagram showing a general login screen 1002 for inputting a user name and a password.

When the user presses the "user name" button 1007 on the login screen 1002, the screen switches to a keyboard screen (not shown), and the user name can be input from this keyboard screen.

Further, when the user presses the "password" button 1004 on the login screen 1002, the screen is switched to the above keyboard screen, and the password can be input from this keyboard screen.

After the user inputs the user name and password, the authentication process is performed by pressing the "login" button 1005. In the example of FIG. 5B, the "login" button 1005 is grayed out because the user name and password are not entered, but when the user name and password are entered, "login" is performed. Button 1005 is normally displayed without being grayed out.

FIG. 5C is a diagram showing a standby job list button display screen 1003.

As will be described later, the standby job list, which is a list of job information stored in the HDD 102 as a standby job, can be displayed, and the "standby job list" button 1006 for displaying this standby job list is displayed. It is a screen.

The standby job list button display screen 1003 is displayed when the logged-in user performs a predetermined operation on the login screens 1001 and 1002.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing each screen displayed on the panel 110.

FIG. 6A is a diagram showing a standby job list screen 1100 displaying all standby jobs.

As described above, the standby job list screen 1100 is displayed when the "standby job list" button 1006 is pressed.

On this screen, all the standby jobs to be displayed by operating the pull-down menu 1101 or the standby jobs of specific protocol information can be displayed. In the case of FIG. 6A, a list of all waiting jobs is shown.

Further, the three screens of FIG. 6 are standby job list screens 1100, and as shown in these, the reception time, the file name, the user ID, and the protocol information included in the job information 600 are displayed.

FIG. 6B is a diagram showing a standby job list screen 1100 displaying a standby job of specific protocol information.

In the standby job list screen 1100 of FIG. 6B, a list of standby jobs of protocol information 5 is shown as shown in the pull-down menu 1102.

FIG. 6C is a diagram showing a standby job list screen 1100 in which a standby job is selected.

On the standby job list screen 1100 of FIG. 6C, a job whose file name is job_A is selected, and a check indicating that is displayed.

When one or more jobs are selected in this way, the "detailed information" button 1105, the "print" button 1104, and the "stop" button 1103 are ready to be pressed.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing each screen displayed on the panel 110.

FIG. 7A is a diagram showing a chargeability input screen 1200 for the logged-in user.

The chargeability input screen 1200 is displayed when the user presses the "print" button 1104 on the standby job list screen 1100 of FIG. 6C.

FIG. 7A shows that user D is charged as an example, and when "Yes" is selected, the job is executed, and when "No" is selected, the job is interrupted.

7 (B) and 7 (C) are views showing the detailed information display screen 1300.

This detailed information display screen 1300 is displayed when the user presses the "detailed information" button 1105 on the standby job list screen 1100 of FIG. 6C.

The detailed information display screen 1300 of FIGS. 7B and 7C is a screen for displaying more detailed information than the information displayed on the standby job list screen 1100. Specifically, the reception number, the status indicating the status, the reception time, the job type indicating the service content, the document name indicating the file name, the related user information, the protocol information ID, the number of outputs, the job ticket type, the user information, etc. Is displayed.

Further, the user can scroll the screen with the arrow buttons 1301 and 1302, and when the arrow button 1301 is pressed on the detailed information display screen 1300 of FIG. 7B, the detailed information display screen 1300 of FIG. 7C is displayed. ..

On the other hand, when the user presses the arrow button 1302 on the detailed information display screen 1300 of FIG. 7C, the detailed information display screen 1300 of FIG. 7B is displayed.

In the detailed information display screen 1300 of FIG. 7C, the user information is hyphenated, which indicates that the user to be charged is undecided. If the user to be charged is confirmed, the user information is displayed in this column.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a screen on which whether or not the related user information can be updated is input.

FIG. 8A is a diagram showing an overwrite enable / disable input screen 2001.

The overwrite enable / disable input screen 2001 is a screen displayed when the related user information is overwritten with other related user information. In the case of FIG. 8A, it is a screen for inputting whether or not userD@yyy.com may be overwritten in the related user information userX@yyy.com of user D.

FIG. 8B is a diagram showing an addition availability input screen 2002.

The addition possibility input screen 2002 is a screen displayed when further related user information is added to the related user information. In the case of FIG. 8B, the screen is for inputting whether or not userD@yyy.com may be added to the related user information of the logged-in user D.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the job control process executed by the CPU 101 in FIG.

In FIG. 9, the job reception process is first performed (step S301). In this job reception process, the job information 600 described with reference to FIG. 3 is created from the job data including the job ticket received by the external interface 109 and stored in the RAM 104.

Next, a job analysis process for setting the print flag and the billing flag of the job information 600 is performed (step S302).

From the analysis result, it is determined whether or not the print flag is YES (step S303). If the print flag is not YES as a result of the determination in step S303 (NO in step S303), the job is controlled as a non-print job that is not a print job (step S304), and the process returns to step S301.

For example, when the job data is a scan job, control is performed to send the image data read from the scanner 111 to the scan destination to the destination of the job data.

On the other hand, if the print flag is YES as a result of the determination in step S303 (YES in step S303), it is determined whether or not the billing flag is YES (step S305).

If the charging flag is YES as a result of the determination in step S305 (YES in step S305), a print instruction is transmitted to the print job control unit 205 to execute the print job (step S306), and this process is completed. do.

On the other hand, if the charge flag is not YES as a result of the determination in step S305 (NO in step S305), the job information is stored in the HDD 102 as the job information of the standby job (step S307), and this process is terminated.

In the case of setting not to charge, it is always determined as YES in step S305.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the job analysis process in step S302 of FIG.

In FIG. 10, first, the reception information of the job information 600 is set (step S500), the protocol information of the job information 600 is set (step S509), and the user ID of the job information 600 is set (step S501). In step S501, the user ID is acquired from the job ticket or job data of the job information 600, but if the user ID cannot be acquired, NULL indicating indefiniteness is set in the user ID.

Next, it is determined whether or not there is related user information that matches the user ID among the related user information in the user information table 800 (step S502). This step S502 corresponds to a determination means for determining whether or not the job information 600 is chargeable job information.

As a result of the determination in step S502, if there is related user information that matches the user ID (YES in step S502), YES is set in the billing flag of the job information 600 (step S503).

Next, by analyzing the job ticket or the job data (step S505), it is determined whether or not the job data is the job data for executing the print job (step S506).

As a result of the determination in step S506, in the case of job data for executing the print job (YES in step S506), YES is set in the print flag of the job information 600 (step S507), and this process ends.

On the other hand, if the result of the determination in step S506 is that the job data is not for executing the print job (NO in step S506), NO is set in the print flag of the job information 600 (step S508), and this process is performed. finish.

Returning to the process of step S502, if there is no related user information matching the user ID as a result of the determination in step S502 (NO in step S502), whether or not it is set to be stored in the image forming apparatus 100. Determine (step S510).

As a result of the determination in step S510, if it is set to be stored (YES in step S510), NO is set in the charge flag of the job information 600 (step S504), and the process proceeds to step S505.

On the other hand, as a result of the determination in step S510, if the storage is not set (NO in step S510), it is determined whether or not printing on the image forming apparatus 100 is set (step S512).

If printing is set as a result of the determination in step S512 (YES in step S512), YES is set in the charge flag of the job information 600 while the user ID remains undefined (step S511). The process proceeds to step S505.

On the other hand, as a result of the determination in step S512, if printing is not set (NO in step S512), the print flag, scan flag, and billing flag of the job information 600 are all set to NO in order to make the job cancel. (Step S513), and the process proceeds to step S505.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the print job control process executed by the CPU 101 in FIG.

In FIG. 11, a print instruction or a control command is received (step S401). The control commands in the present embodiment include job cancellation for canceling a print job, page cancellation for canceling page printing, printing interruption for interrupting a print job, and printing resumption for resuming a print job.

Next, it is determined whether or not the job cancellation has been received (step S402). If the job cancellation is received as a result of the determination in step S402 (YES in step S402), the job cancellation process is performed (step S403), and this process is terminated.

On the other hand, as a result of the determination in step S402, if the job cancellation has not been received (NO in step S402), it is determined whether or not the page cancellation has been received (step S404).

If a page cancellation is received as a result of the determination in step S404 (YES in step S404), printing for one page is skipped (step S405), and the process proceeds to step S412.

On the other hand, if the page cancellation is not received as a result of the determination in step S404 (NO in step S404), it is determined whether the print interruption is received or the print job is interrupted (step S406). Whether or not the print job is suspended can be determined from the job status of the job information 600.

As a result of the determination in step S406, if the print interruption is not received and the print job is not interrupted (NO in step S406), one page is printed by controlling the printer 112 via the printer interface 107 (NO). Step S410).

Next, the first billing information in the user information table corresponding to the user instructed to execute the print job is billed for one page (step S411), whereby the billing content is also reflected in the second billing information. This step S411 corresponds to a charging means for charging a chargeable user who has logged in to the image forming apparatus 100 and instructed to execute a print job.

Next, it is determined whether or not the last page of the page to be printed has been printed (step S412). As a result of the determination in step S412, if the final page has not been printed (NO in step S412), the process returns to step S401.

On the other hand, if the final page is printed as a result of the determination in step S412 (YES in step S412), this process ends.

Returning to the process of step S406, as a result of the determination in step S406, if the print interruption is received or the print job is interrupted (YES in step S406), it is determined whether or not the print restart is received (step S407). ).

If the print restart is received as a result of the determination in step S407 (YES in step S407), execution is set in the job status of the job information 600, the print job is restarted (step S408), and the process proceeds to step S410. ..

On the other hand, as a result of the determination in step S407, if the print restart is not received (NO in step S407), the job status of the job information 600 is set to suspend, and the print job is interrupted (step S409). The process proceeds to step S401.

According to FIGS. 9 to 11 described above, the print job of the job information in which the print flag is YES and the charge flag is YES is executed as usual, but the job information in which the print flag is YES and the charge flag is NO is stored in the HDD 102. This makes it a standby job.

In this case, in the present embodiment, the print job can be executed by the user logging in to the image forming apparatus 100 and permitting the user to be charged. This process will be described below.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a procedure of the standby job selection control process executed by the CPU 101 in FIG.

In FIG. 12, the login process is first performed (step S900). Specifically, the login image / BR> c1001 shown in FIG. 5A is displayed, and the user holds the IC card over the authentication device 113 to read the login user information included in the IC card.

Then, the login user information in the user information table 800 is searched, and the login user information that matches the user information of the IC card is determined. The confirmed login user information is stored as the login user information logged in to the RAM 104, and becomes the login user of the billing destination at each process.

Next, by displaying the standby job list screen 1100 shown in FIG. 6A or FIG. 6B which displays the standby job of the specific protocol information, the standby job whose billing flag is NO is displayed. Will be done.

When the user selects a standby job, a check is displayed on the selected standby job as shown in FIG. 6 (C), and the user presses the "print" button 1104 (step S901), in FIG. 7 (A). The indicated billing availability input screen 1200 is displayed (step S902).

On the chargeability input screen 1200, it is determined whether or not "Yes" is selected by the user (step S903).

If "Yes" is not selected by the user as a result of the determination in step S903 (NO in step S903), a screen (not shown) indicating that printing cannot be performed without charge is displayed on the panel 110 (step S909). , End this process.

On the other hand, if "Yes" is selected by the user as a result of the determination in step S903 (YES in step S903), the related user information required to execute the standby job in which the billing flag is NO is updated. Performs the related user information update process (step S906).

Then, the billing destination is set to the login user (step S907), the job control unit 204 is instructed to execute the standby job selected by the login user (step S908), and this process is terminated. After that, the print job control process of FIG. 11 executes the print job and charges the print job.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the related user information update control process in step S906 of FIG.

In FIG. 13, first, the user ID 704 is acquired from the job ticket (step S1001). If the job ticket does not have the user ID 704, the owner information of the job data and the like are acquired as the user ID.

Next, the protocol information of the selected standby job is acquired (step S1002). Then, it is determined whether or not the acquired protocol information is in the protocol information table 801 (step S1003).

As a result of the determination in step S1003, if the protocol information is not in the protocol information table 801 (NO in step S1003), the acquired protocol information is added to the protocol information table 801 (step S1004), and the process proceeds to step S1010. In step S1004, the protocol information ID of the added protocol information is added to each of the login user information in the user information table 800.

On the other hand, if the protocol information is in the protocol information table 801 as a result of the determination in step S1003 (YES in step S1003), the user information table 800 is searched using the protocol information ID of the acquired protocol information. Then, it is determined whether or not there is related user information corresponding to the acquired protocol information (step S1005).

As a result of the determination in step S1005, if there is no related user information corresponding to the protocol information (NO in step S1005), the addition availability input screen 2002 shown in FIG. 8B is displayed (step S1010).

Next, it is determined whether or not "Yes" is selected on the addition availability input screen 2002 (step S1011). If “Yes” is not selected as a result of the determination in step S1011 (NO in step S1011), this process ends.

On the other hand, if "Yes" is selected as a result of the determination in step S1011 (YES in step S1011), the related user is added by adding the user ID to the related user information corresponding to the protocol information ID in the user information table 800. The information is updated (step S1008), and this process ends.

Returning to step S1005, if there is related user information corresponding to the protocol information as a result of the determination in step S1005 (YES in step S1005), the overwrite enable / disable input screen 2001 shown in FIG. 8A is displayed (step). S1006).

Next, it is determined whether or not "Yes" is selected on the overwrite enable / disable input screen 2001 (step S1007). If "Yes" is not selected as a result of the determination in step S1007 (NO in step S1007), a screen (not shown) indicating that overwriting has not been performed is displayed on the panel 110 (step S1009), and this process is performed. To finish.

On the other hand, if "Yes" is selected as a result of the determination in step S1007 (YES in step S1007), the related user is overwritten with the related user information corresponding to the protocol information ID in the user information table 800. The information is updated (step S1008), and this process ends.

According to the processes of FIGS. 12 and 13 described above, when the user of the billing destination is unknown, the print job is stored as a standby job, and the logged-in user who is instructed to print after logging in is charged, so that the user of the billing destination can charge. It is possible to charge for unknown print jobs.

Furthermore, by updating the related user information of the user who performed the unknown standby job by the billing destination user, the updated related user information can be used from the next time, so printing and billing are possible without the user logging in. Become.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the combination of the protocol information included in the job information and the account is added to the user information table 800 corresponding to the chargeable user who has instructed to execute the print job which is not the chargeable job information. The user information table 800 is updated by adding or overwriting.

Next, a modified example in which the user information table is a user information table different from the user information table 800 will be described.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a user information table 1400 in a modified example.

The user information table 1400 shown in FIG. 14 is obtained by removing related user information from the user information table 800. This is because the related user information is stored in the IC card in this modification. The login user information and billing information in FIG. 14 are the same as those in the user information table 800.

In this modification as well, the protocol information table 801 is shown in FIG. 4B, but since the information of the same IC card is processed by a plurality of image forming devices, the protocol information table 801 is used as a server. It may be managed collectively with.

By collectively managing user information, related user information, and protocol information on the server in this way, it is possible to manage users and charges for a plurality of image forming devices with the same IC card.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing information stored in the IC card in the modified example.

In FIG. 15, two IC cards 1500 and 1501 are shown. The user ID and related user information are stored in each of the IC cards 1500 and 1501.

When the user holds the IC card 1500 over the authentication device 113, the CPU 101 reads the user ID of the IC card 1500 and related user information via the card interface 108.

Then, the user indicated by the login user information matching the read user ID is charged for the job executed after login. Further, the CPU 101 stores the user ID and the related user information in the RAM 104, and updates the billing information from the billing information for each protocol information ID shown in FIG.

The IC card 1501 does not show the related user information corresponding to some protocol information IDs, but this shows an example in the case where the related user information corresponding to the protocol information ID does not exist.

As described above, in the modified example, instead of the user information table 800, the combination of the protocol information and the account indicating the user who has the IC card is stored in the IC card required when the user logs in to the image forming apparatus 100. Has been done.

Further, this IC card can be used not only in the case of the user information table 1400 but also in the case of the user information table 800. In this case, the related user information of the IC card is synchronized with the related user information of the user information table 800.

By controlling the synchronization, even if the other image forming apparatus has not been used by the user, the user holds the IC card over the synchronization to perform the synchronization, and as a result, printing and billing become possible.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the combination of the protocol information and the account indicating the user who possesses the IC card is stored in the IC card in addition to the user information table 800, the user information table 800 is used. The combination of the protocol information and the account stored in the IC card is synchronized with the combination of the included protocol information and the account.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a screen relating to updating related user information.

FIG. 16A is a diagram showing the overwrite enable / disable screen 2101.

The overwrite enable / disable screen 2101 is a screen displayed when the related user information is overwritten with other related user information. In the case of FIG. 16A, it is a screen for inputting whether or not userD@yyy.com may be overwritten in the related user information userX@yyy.com of user D.

Unlike the screen of FIG. 8A, when the user holds the IC card over, he / she selects “Yes”, and when he / she selects “Close”, he / she selects “No”.

FIG. 16B is a diagram showing the addition availability screen 2102.

The addition availability screen 2102 is a screen displayed when further related user information is added to the related user information. In the case of FIG. 16B, the screen is for inputting whether or not userD@yyy.com may be added to the related user information of the logged-in user D.

This is also different from the screen of FIG. 8B, and when the user holds the IC card over, it means that he / she selects “Yes”, and when he / she selects “Close”, he / she selects “No”.

FIG. 16C is a diagram showing an update failure screen 2103 displayed when the related user information to be added or overwritten is an invalid related user information and the update fails.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the standby job selection control process (No. 2) in step S906 of FIG.

In FIG. 17, the login process is first performed (step S1101). Specifically, the login screen 1001 shown in FIG. 5A is displayed, and the user holds the IC card over the authentication device 113 to read out the login user information included in the IC card and the user-related information.

Next, the waiting job of the logged-in user is searched using the user-related information (step S1103), and it is determined whether or not there is a waiting job of the logged-in user (step S1105). Here, by using the combination of the protocol information and the account included in the job information and the combination of the protocol information and the account stored in the IC card, it is determined whether or not the job information is chargeable job information. You can search for waiting jobs.

As a result of the determination in step S1105, if there is no waiting job for the logged-in user (NO in step S1105), the process proceeds to step S1106.

On the other hand, if there is a waiting job for the logged-in user as a result of the determination in step S1105 (YES in step S1105), the billing destination is set to the logged-in user and the job control unit 204 is instructed to execute the searched waiting job. (Step S1106).

Next, it is determined whether or not there is another standby job (step S1107). As a result of the determination in step S1107, if there is no other waiting job (NO in step S1107), this process ends.

On the other hand, if there is another waiting job as a result of the determination in step S1107 (YES in step S1107), the user selects a waiting job from the waiting job list screen 1100 shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B. When a check is displayed on the waiting job selected as shown in FIG. 6 (C) and the user presses the "print" button 1104 (step S1108), the chargeability input screen 1200 shown in FIG. 7 (A) is displayed. Display (step S1110).

On the chargeability input screen 1200, it is determined whether or not "Yes" is selected by the user (step S1111).

If "Yes" is not selected by the user as a result of the determination in step S1111 (NO in step S1111), a screen (not shown) indicating that printing cannot be performed without charge is displayed on the panel 110 (step S1117). , End this process.

On the other hand, if "Yes" is selected by the user as a result of the determination in step S1111 (YES in step S1111), the related user information update process (No. 2) is performed (step S1114).

Then, the billing destination is set to the login user (step S1115), the job control unit 204 is instructed to execute the standby job selected by the login user (step S1116), and this process is terminated.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the related user information update control process (No. 2) in step S1114 of FIG.

In FIG. 18, first, the user ID 704 is acquired from the job ticket (step S1401), and the protocol information of the selected standby job is acquired (step S1402). Then, it is determined whether or not the acquired protocol information is in the protocol information table 801 (step S1403).

As a result of the determination in step S1403, if the protocol information is not in the protocol information table 801 (NO in step S1403), the acquired protocol information is added to the protocol information table 801 (step S1404), and the process proceeds to step S1406.

On the other hand, if the protocol information is in the protocol information table 801 as a result of the determination in step S1403 (YES in step S1403), the related user information of the IC card is searched using the protocol information ID of the acquired protocol information. Then, it is determined whether or not the related user information corresponding to the acquired protocol information is set in the IC card (step S1405).

As a result of the determination in step S1405, if the related user information corresponding to the protocol information is not set (NO in step S1405), the addition availability screen 2102 shown in FIG. 16B is displayed (step S1412).

Next, it is determined whether or not "Yes" is selected by the user holding the IC card on the addition availability screen 2102 (step S1407). If "Yes" is not selected as a result of the determination in step S1407 (NO in step S1407), this process ends.

On the other hand, if "Yes" is selected as a result of the determination in step S1407 (YES in step S1407), the related user information is added by adding the user ID to the related user information corresponding to the protocol information ID of the IC card. Update (step S1411), and this process ends.

Returning to step S1405, if there is related user information corresponding to the protocol information as a result of the determination in step S1405 (YES in step S1405), the overwrite enable / disable screen 2101 shown in FIG. 16 (A) is displayed (step S1412). ).

Next, it is determined whether or not "Yes" is selected by the user holding the IC card on the overwrite enable / disable screen 2101 (step S1413). If “Yes” is not selected as a result of the determination in step S1413 (NO in step S1413), this process ends.

On the other hand, when "Yes" is selected as a result of the determination in step S1413 (YES in step S1413), the user ID is updated by overwriting the related user information corresponding to the protocol information ID of the IC card (YES in step S1413). Step S1411), this process is terminated. As described above, in the modified example, the combination of the protocol information and the account included in the job information is added or overwritten to the IC card possessed by the chargeable user who has instructed to execute the print job that is not the chargeable job information. This updates the contents stored in the IC card.

According to the processes of FIGS. 17 and 18, since the related user information is stored in the IC card, it is possible to print and charge the standby job based on the information of the IC card.

Further, when the IC card is held over the authentication device 113 to log in, it is possible to automatically print and charge based on the information of the IC card, so that the user does not have to select the user's standby job. ..

Further, by updating the related user information of the IC card of the user who has performed the unknown standby job by the billing destination user, the updated related user information can be used from the next time, so that the IC card is held over the authentication device 113. After logging in, you can print and charge.

In the related user information update control process (No. 2) of FIG. 18 described above, when the user selects “Yes” on the overwrite enable / disable screen 2101 or the addability screen 2102, the related user information is immediately updated in step S1411. The related user information may be updated only when the authentication server is authenticated.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the related user information update control process (No. 3) in step S1114 of FIG.

This related user information update control process (No. 3) includes a process of authenticating with an authentication server between step S1407 or step S1413 and step S1411 in the related user information update control process (No. 2). Is.

Therefore, when the affirmative determination is made in step S1407 or step S1413, the related user information additional determination process for communicating with the authentication server or the like is performed (step S1408).

Then, it is determined whether or not the determination result of the related user information addition determination process is YES (step S1408).

If the determination result in step S1408 is not YES (NO in step S1408), this process ends.

On the other hand, if the determination result in step S1408 is YES (YES in step S1408), the related user information of the IC card is updated (step S1411), and this process is terminated.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a procedure of the related user information addition determination process executed by the CPU 101 in FIG.

In FIG. 20, first, it is determined whether or not the job ticket includes the authentication server information indicating the authentication server (step S1501).

If the authentication server information is included as a result of the determination in step S1501 (YES in step S1501), the login screen 1002 shown in FIG. 5 (B) is displayed (step S1503), and the user name and the user name are displayed by the user. The password is entered.

Next, the user ID and password, which are the entered user names, are transmitted to the authentication server (step S1505), and a response is received from the authentication server (step S1506).

Then, it is determined whether or not the response from the authentication server is authentication OK (step S1507). If the result of the determination in step S1507 is that the response is authentication OK (YES in step S1507), the determination result is YES (step S1515), and this process ends.

On the other hand, if the result of the determination in step S1507 is that the response is not authentication OK (NO in step S1507), the determination result is set to NO (step S1514), and this process ends.

Returning to step S1501, as a result of the determination in step S1501, if the authentication server information is not included (NO in step S1501), it is determined whether or not the job ticket contains the password (step S1509).

If the password is included as a result of the determination in step S1509 (YES in step S1509), the login screen 1002 shown in FIG. 5B is displayed (step S1503), and the password is input by the user. .. The input of the user name on the login screen 1002 here is invalidated by, for example, masking the user name field.

Next, it is determined whether or not the entered password and the password included in the job ticket match (step S1512).

If the passwords match as a result of the determination in step S1512 (YES in step S1512), the process proceeds to step S1515.

On the other hand, if the passwords do not match as a result of the determination in step S1512 (YES in step S1512), the process proceeds to step S1514.

Returning to step S1509, if the password is not included as a result of the determination in step S1509 (NO in step S1509), the addition availability screen 2102 shown in FIG. 16B is displayed (step S1513). Then, the user holds the IC card over to determine whether or not "Yes" is selected (step S1513).

If “Yes” is selected as a result of the determination in step S1513 (YES in step S11513), the process proceeds to step S1515.

On the other hand, if "Yes" is not selected as a result of the determination in step S1513 (NO in step S1515), the process proceeds to step S1514.

As described above, in the processes of FIGS. 19 and 20, the user is authenticated by the authentication server that authenticates whether or not the user is a legitimate user before updating the contents stored in the IC card, and the user is authenticated. If so, the contents stored in the IC card are updated.

According to the processes of FIGS. 19 and 20, it is possible to verify whether or not the related user information of the logged-in user is chargeable information by communicating with the authentication server regarding the update of the related user information.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the print job is requested to be executed according to the print protocol of the host device and it is determined that the job information for executing the print job is not the chargeable job information. (NO in step S502, YES in step S510), the chargeable user who instructed to execute the print job is charged (step S907, step S411), so that it is possible to flexibly support the charge in various printing protocols. ..

(Other embodiments)
The present invention is also realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment is supplied to the system or device via a network or various storage media, and the computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or device reads the program code. This is the process to be executed. In this case, the program and the storage medium that stores the program constitute the present invention.

100 Image forming apparatus 101 CPU
102 HDD
103 ROM
104 RAM
112 Printer 113 Authentication device

Claims (6)

A printing device that has an operation unit
A receiving means for receiving print data from an external device,
A management means for associating and managing one or more user information corresponding to a protocol and billing information generated in response to printing execution.
An acquisition means for acquiring user information corresponding to the received print data from the received print data, and
A print control means that controls the printing of print data,
Have,
When the acquired user information is the user information managed by the management means, the print control means prints the print data to be printed, and the management means is the same as the acquired user information. , The billing information generated in response to the execution of the printing is managed in association with each other.
If the acquired user information is the user information that is not managed by the management means, said print control means, based on the user logged before Symbol printing apparatus to a print instruction received via the operation unit, Printing of the print data stored corresponding to the acquired user information is executed, and the management means is the login user information of the logged-in user and the billing information generated in response to the execution of the printing. A printing device characterized in that and is managed in association with each other. The printing device according to claim 1, further comprising a storage means for storing the received print data in a predetermined storage area based on the storage setting in the printing device. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a display control means for displaying the received print data and a list of user information corresponding to the received print data on the display unit of the printing apparatus. The management means receives the print instruction for the print data selected via the list displayed on the display unit, and then logs in to the printing device and gives the print instruction, and the login user information of the user and the selection. The printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the user information included in the printed data is linked and managed. It is a control method of a printing device having an operation unit.
The receiving process of receiving print data from an external device,
A management process that manages one or more user information corresponding to a protocol in association with billing information generated in response to printing execution.
An acquisition process for acquiring user information corresponding to the received print data from the received print data, and
A print control process that controls the printing of print data,
Have,
When the acquired user information is the user information managed in the management process, the print control process executes printing of the print data to be printed, and in the management process, the acquired user information is combined with the acquired user information. , The billing information generated in response to the execution of the printing is managed in association with each other.
If the acquired user information is the user information that is not managed by the management step, in the print control step, based on the user logged before Symbol printing apparatus to a print instruction received via the operation unit, Printing of the print data stored corresponding to the acquired user information is executed, and in the management process, the login user information of the logged-in user and the billing information generated in response to the execution of the printing are executed. A control method characterized in that and is managed in association with each other. A program for operating a computer as each means of the printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

Images