JPH11103367A - Image input device and terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image input device that receives an image for a terminal equipment with a simple operation even without the user visiting the terminal equipment and the image input device. SOLUTION: The image input device connecting to a network and used in common by pluralities of terminal equipments is provided with a scanner 4 reading an image on an original, an auxiliary storage device 10 that stores image information read by the scanner 4, and a storage section 8 that sets a user identification code to a file information storage section in a memory 6 in cross reference with the image information stored in the auxiliary storage device 10, and in the case that a storage state of the image information by the user identification code is inquired from the terminal equipment, a retrieval section 9 references the file information storage section to discriminate whether or not the image information is stored and informs the storage state of the image information to the terminal equipment via a LAN communication control section 11 when stored.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image input device connected to a LAN or the like and shared by a plurality of terminal devices or a digital copier equipped with the above image input device. The present invention relates to an image input device that does not require a user to switch between a terminal device and an image input device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the construction of a LAN incorporating a personal computer or the like in an office has been rapidly progressing. In such a situation, a digital copier equipped with a LAN interface has been used as a printer or an image input device shared by terminal devices such as the personal computer. For example,
When using a digital copying machine as an image input device for taking image information into a terminal device, first set a document on the digital copying machine, and then go to a remote location of the terminal device and set an image. An application program for taking in information is started to instruct reading of a document. Then go again to the place where the digital copier is installed,
Return the scanned document. When an image is captured from a digital copying machine or the like, as described above, the user must not only move back and forth between the terminal device and the digital copying machine, but also interfere with copying work in the digital copying machine during image capturing. There is also a problem that the original is being taken in while the image is being taken in without being noticed by others. For this reason, in the scanner printer server disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-271535, first, the terminal device side designates the scanner printer server as a transfer destination of the image information read from the terminal device itself, and in that state, When the user goes to the installation location of the scanner printer server, all operations from the document setting to the end of reading are performed by the scanner printer server, and the document is brought back. In addition,
In the image input / output device disclosed in JP-A-6-33094,
The image information input from the scanner is stored in an IC card, and the IC card is inserted into a terminal device to capture the image information.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the above-described conventional technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-271535, when a document is read by a scanner printer server, there is always a trouble that the transfer destination must be specified on the terminal device side, and the terminal device used There is also a problem that the scanner printer server must be determined and image input must be performed, and if the determined scanner printer server is not available, the user must wait until it becomes empty. Further, the prior art disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-33094 has a problem that an IC card is required. An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems of the related art, and to capture an image into a terminal device by a simple operation without a user going back and forth between a terminal device and an image input device. An object of the present invention is to provide an image input device that can be used and does not require an IC card or the like.

[0004]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image input apparatus which is connected to a network and is shared by a plurality of terminal apparatuses. Reading means; image storage means for storing image information read by the image reading means; identification code setting means for setting a user identification code in association with the image information stored in the image storage means; And a storage status notifying means for notifying the storage status of the image information when the image information is stored when the storage status of the image information of the user identification code is inquired. In the second aspect of the present invention, the storage status notifying means is configured to notify list information of stored image information belonging to the user identification information. In the third aspect of the present invention, when a reduced image transmission request specifying a user identification code and a resolution is received from the terminal device, one or a plurality of the reduced image information is stored together with the list of the stored image information. An image transmitting means for transmitting is provided. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, there is provided a group registration unit for pre-registering a plurality of group information obtained by grouping a plurality of user identification information as one group, Shared flag setting means for setting a shared flag indicating that group access is possible in association with the image information stored in the storage means, and when there is a storage status inquiry of the image information of the user identification code, or When there is a storage status inquiry specifying a group identification code, the shared flag is associated with a user identification code other than the user identification code in the group to which the user identification code registered in the group registration unit belongs. If there is image information for which a flag has been set by the setting means, the image information is stored in the stored image information. And configure the storage status notification unit to notify a.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, when the stored image information is transmitted to the terminal device, a used flag is added in association with the image information. Used flag setting means, used list transmitting means for transmitting a used list which is a list of image information for which the used flag is set by the used flag setting means in response to an inquiry from the terminal device, File deletion means for deleting a designated image file in response to a file deletion request from a terminal device based on the list. In the invention according to claim 6, in a terminal device that can share a plurality of image input devices connected to a network, a storage status inquiry with a user identification code is transmitted to the plurality of image input devices by a broadcast method. When one or more image input devices notify the storage status in response to the inquiry,
The image information notified from the image input device is obtained.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a broadcast inquiry with a user identification code is sent from a terminal device to a storage status of image information stored in an unspecified image input device in advance. And recognize it,
Image information can be taken into the terminal device. According to the second aspect of the present invention, in capturing the image information, only a part of the plurality of pieces of image information can be captured by referring to the list information. According to the third aspect of the invention, when a reduced image transmission request specifying a user identification code and a resolution is received from the terminal device, one or a plurality of the reduced image information is transmitted together with the list of the stored image information. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, image information shared by a group can be captured. According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, only the desired image information in the list can be deleted from the image storage means in the image input device by referring to the list of image information already taken into the terminal device. According to the invention of claim 6, the image storage status stored in the plurality of image input devices is known by one inquiry,
Image information can be taken from an image input device in which the image information is stored.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings for a digital copying machine having an image input device. FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram of a LAN system including a digital copying machine according to the present invention. As shown, the LAN system includes a plurality of digital copiers for implementing the present invention, a file server 31 storing various files, a plurality of workstations 32 as terminal devices, and a plurality of personal computers as terminal devices. It is composed of a computer (hereinafter abbreviated as a personal computer) 33, a facsimile server 34 connected to a public telephone network for facsimile transmission / reception with an external facsimile machine, and an optical filing device 35 for storing documents including image information. Have been. The digital copier 1, the file server 31, the facsimile server 34, and the optical filing device 35 are shared by terminal devices such as the workstation 32 and the personal computer 33. With such a system configuration, the digital copying machine 1 is shared by each terminal device as a printer or an image input device, and is used alone as a copying machine.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a digital copying machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1, a digital copying machine 1 of this embodiment includes a main control unit 2 for controlling and managing the entire apparatus, an operation unit including keys and a display unit 3, a scanner 4 for reading an image on a document. , A plotter that outputs characters and images on recording paper 5,
A memory 6, such as a RAM or a non-volatile memory,
A compression / decompression unit 7 for encoding image information to compress the data amount or decoding the encoded image information; an auxiliary storage device 10 such as a hard disk device for storing image information; A storage unit 8 for storing image information and the like, a search unit 9 for searching and reading information stored in the auxiliary storage device 10, and a LAN communication for controlling communication with the terminal devices 32 and 33 via the LAN. Control unit
11 and so on.

FIG. 3 shows an operation flow when an image is input according to the embodiment, FIG. 4 shows an operation flow when a command is received, FIG. 5 shows an operation flow when an image storage status inquiry is made, and FIG. 6 shows an operation when a list is transmitted. Shows the flow. The operation of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, a user (operator) sets a document on a digital copying machine (S1). Then, when the user instructs the user list display using the operation unit 3, the main control unit 2 recognizes this and displays a user name list (user list) on the display unit in the operation unit 3 (S2). The user name is registered in advance in a user table having a configuration as shown in FIG. 7 in association with the password, and is stored in the auxiliary storage device 10 or the like. As illustrated, a user identification code (hereinafter, referred to as a user ID) is also registered in the user table. However, only the user name is displayed in the user name list. That is, it is an identification code setting means for setting a user ID in association with the image information in which the user table is stored. The user selects his / her user name from the displayed user name list,
Further, a password is also input (S3). Then,
The main control unit 2 acquires the selected user name and password, and determines whether the password is correct with reference to the user table. If it is determined that the password is correct, a message is displayed, and the user is asked to specify whether or not the input image can be accessed within the group. If the password is incorrect, a message to that effect is displayed, and the process returns to step S2 or exits this operation flow.

When access within the group is instructed (Yes in S4), the storage unit 8 sets the shared flag in the file management table as shown in FIG. (Indicating that sharing is possible)
5) Go to step S6. If the instruction to disable access within the group is issued (No in S4), the process proceeds to step S6 without doing anything. In step S6, a storage location of the image information, for example, a folder to be stored is manually designated or
The operation unit 3 allows the user to select whether to automatically decide. Then, when manual designation is instructed (Yes in S7), the storage unit 8 displays a directory list as shown in FIG. 9 and allows the user to designate a storage location. And
The specified contents are acquired and stored in the file information storage unit in the memory 6 (S8). When the automatic determination is instructed (No in S7), the storage location is automatically allocated (S9). In the above automatic assignment, for example, assignment is made to a folder provided for each user name (user ID). Subsequently, when the user presses the start button in the operation section 3, the main control section 2 recognizes the start button and issues a command to the scanner 4 to cause the scanner 4 to read the image on the set document (S10). Then, the main control unit 2 passes the image information passed from the scanner 4 to the compression / decompression unit 7, and encodes and compresses the image information (S11). The storage unit 8 stores the compressed image information in the designated storage location. (S12). If the original is a plurality of pages (Yes in S13), repeat from step S10,
When the reading of the originals set in the scanner 4 is completed (NO in S13), the storage unit 8 writes file information such as the storage date and the number of pages in the file management table (S14). The file management table (FIG. 8) may be created for each folder (for example, for each user ID).

Next, the digital copying machine 1 of this embodiment
In the idle state, as shown in step S21 of FIG. 4, the apparatus is in a state of waiting for a command from the terminal device to be received as a packet via the LAN (S21).
When the packet is received, the LAN communication control unit 11 analyzes whether the packet is a packet of the format according to the present invention (S22). Start In this way, the process in the main control unit 2 that has acquired the information in the packet checks the service number and function number that constitute the information (S2
3). Further, user-related information including an authentication check such as a password check and a user ID check are checked (S24). If each check result is OK (Yes in S25), the process proceeds to a process corresponding to the service number (S25). S26). On the other hand, if any check result is not OK (No in S25), the received packet is ignored, and the process returns to step S21.

Each terminal device transmits a packet to a plurality of image input devices simultaneously by a broadcast method as shown in FIG. When each digital copying machine 1 receives the storage status inquiry command, it executes the operation flow shown in FIG. 4 and then proceeds to the operation flow shown in FIG. Referring to the management table, it is checked whether data (image information) of the user specified by the command is stored (S31). If the image information is stored (Yes in S32), the communication permission ID is given to the other party, and the address of the other party is stored in the file information storage unit (S33). Further, the LAN communication control unit 11 creates a response packet in which the communication permission ID is written (S34), and transmits the packet to the partner terminal device (S36). If the image information is not stored (No in S32), an error response packet is created (S35), and the packet is transmitted to the partner terminal device (S36). Thus, the terminal device transmits the user data list request command with the communication permission ID to the digital copying machine 1 that has transmitted the communication permission ID. Thus, the search unit 9 of the digital copying machine 1 creates a user data storage list with reference to the file management table in the file information storage unit as shown in the operation flow of FIG. 6 (S41). Then, the LAN communication control unit 11
Packetizes the created list (S42) and transmits the packet to the terminal device (S43). When receiving the list request instruction, the search unit 9 checks the address of the terminal device and the communication permission ID that have been received together with the stored contents, and does not transmit the list if they do not match. That is, the search unit 9 functions as a storage status notifying unit that notifies the terminal device of the storage status of the image information.

[0012] Here, when each terminal device inquires about the storage status specifying the group identification code, the terminal device is associated with a user identification code other than the user identification code in the group to which the user identification code belongs, and If there is image information for which the common flag is set, this image information is also notified as stored image information.
Upon receiving the user data storage list, the terminal device stores the list information in association with the address of the digital copying machine 1 and the communication permission ID that sent the user data storage list, displays the list on a display device, and uses the list. Wait for instructions from the person (see Figure 10b). The user looks at the displayed list and retrieves some desired image information or all the listed image information from the digital copier stored using the communication permission ID (see FIG. 10C).

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a main part of a digital copying machine showing a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown,
The digital copying machine of this embodiment includes a resolution conversion unit 12 in addition to the configuration of the first embodiment, and can transmit a reduced (low resolution) image attached to a user data storage list. Hereinafter, the operation of this embodiment will be described according to the operation flow shown in FIG. First, the digital copying machine receives a user data storage list command with a reduced image from the terminal device. Then, the main controller 2 acquires the resolution of the reduced image set in the received command and stores it in a predetermined area in the memory 6 (S51). Then, it is determined whether or not the requested resolution is appropriate (S52). For example, the maximum data amount (data amount at compression) per A4 size of the stored image is stored for each folder (or for each user ID), and this is used for determination of resolution. Note that this determination method utilizes the fact that, when encoding (compression) is performed by the MH method or the like, the smaller the image, the larger the data amount. If it is determined that the resolution is appropriate (Yes in S52), a user data storage list corresponding to the user ID set in the received command is created with reference to the file management table in the file information storage unit (S52). S53). If a folder is specified in the above command, a storage list corresponding to the specified folder is created. However, if a file management table for each user ID has already been created, it is not necessary to create a new user data storage list, and by setting a folder number in each table in this table, A user data storage list can also be easily created.

Subsequently, the retrieval unit 9 reads the corresponding image information from the auxiliary storage device 10 based on the file number in the order described in the storage list (S54), and expands (decodes) the image information in the compression / expansion unit 7. Then, the resolution conversion unit 12 performs resolution conversion (linear density conversion) (S5).
Five). For example, when the resolution is reduced to one half, data is discarded every other dot in both the X direction (horizontal direction) and the Y direction (vertical direction), and the size of the image is reduced to one fourth. Thereafter, the LAN communication control unit 11 packetizes the resolution-converted image information following the storage list to create a response packet (S56), and transmits the packet to the partner terminal device (S57). If the next image information is described in the storage list (Yes in S58), the process is repeated from step S54, and if the reduced images of all the image information described in the storage list have been sent (No in S58), End the flow. If it is determined in step S52 that the resolution is not appropriate, the LAN communication control unit 11 creates an error response packet (S59) and transmits the packet to the partner terminal device (S60).

As described above, according to this embodiment, not only the storage list but also the reduced image is attached, so that the image to be taken out can be easily recognized. In the third embodiment of the present invention, when image information is taken out from a digital copying machine, a used flag is set in association with the image information. Less than,
The operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the operation flow shown in FIG. First, when a data request (image retrieval request) command is received from the terminal device and the communication permission ID set in the command is correct, the search unit 9 refers to the file management table in the file information storage unit, and sets the command. It is determined whether the image information specified by the specified file number or the like is stored (S61). And
If it is stored (Yes in S62), the image information is read from the auxiliary storage device 10 (S63), a data packet is created (S64), and the packet is transmitted to the partner terminal device (S65). The operations of steps S63 to S65 are repeated until the reading and transmission of one image information is completed.
Upon completion (Yes in S66), a used flag is set in the file management table as shown in FIG. 14 (S6).
7). That is, in this embodiment, the search unit 9 serves as a used list setting unit, a used list sending unit described later, and a file deleting unit described later.

If it is determined in step S62 that the image information is not stored (No in S62), an error response packet is created (S68), and the packet is transmitted to the partner terminal device (S69). ). In addition,
It is also possible to request transmission of all the image information stored in the specified folder without inquiring the storage status in advance. In this case, in step S66, it is determined whether or not all the image information has been transmitted.
In, the used flag is set in all the transmitted image information. Further, in this embodiment, a used list inquiry request can be made in an operation flow as shown in FIG. That is, when the user wants the used list, the terminal device transmits a used list request command to the digital copying machine. Thus, the search unit 9 refers to the file management table as shown in FIG. 14 in the file information storage unit 8 and creates a used storage list by seeing the used flag of the user ID (S71). Then, the LAN communication control unit 11 packetizes the created list (S7).
2), and transmits the packet to the terminal device (S7).
3).

When the user refers to the list and designates a file number or the like to send a data deletion request to the digital copying machine, as shown in FIG. It is checked whether or not the specified file of the specified user exists (S81). And
If there is a specified file (Yes in S82), the file (image information) is deleted (S83), a response packet indicating the deletion is created (S84), and the packet is transmitted to the partner terminal device (S86). ). On the other hand, if the specified file does not exist (No in S82), an error response packet is created (S85), and the packet is transmitted to the partner terminal device (S86). Thus, according to this embodiment, instead of being automatically deleted because it has been used,
It is possible to select and delete only part of the image information.

FIG. 17 to FIG. 19 are operation flow charts showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, according to FIGS. 17 to 19 and the like,
The operation of this embodiment will be described. First, a group data inquiry command is received from the terminal device. Then,
The search unit 9 uses the group ID set in this command.
, The group information in the file information storage unit registered in advance as shown in FIG.
Acquire the user ID belonging to D. Then, for each of the acquired user IDs, it is checked whether or not data (image information) with the sharing flag set to 1 is stored by referring to the file management table in the file information storage unit (S91 in FIG. 17). ). If the image information is stored (Yes in S92), the communication permission ID is given to the other party, and the address of the other party is stored in the file information storage unit (S93). Further, the LAN communication control unit 11 creates a response packet in which the communication permission ID is written (S94), and transmits the packet to the partner terminal device (S96). If the image information is not stored (No in S92), an error response packet is created (S95), and the packet is transmitted to the partner terminal device (S96). Thus, the terminal device transmits a group data list request command with the communication permission ID to the digital copying machine that has transmitted the communication permission ID. Thus, the search unit 9 refers to the file management table in the file information storage unit and creates a group data storage list (S101 in FIG. 18). And a LAN communication control unit
11 packetizes the created list (S102),
The packet is transmitted to the terminal device (S103). When receiving the list request instruction, the search unit 9 checks the received address of the terminal device and the communication permission ID with the stored contents, and does not transmit the list if they do not match.

Further, when receiving the group data storage list command with reduced image from the terminal device, as shown in FIG. 19, the main control unit 2 acquires the resolution of the reduced image set in the received command, and It is stored in a predetermined area in the memory 6 (S111). Then, it is determined whether or not the requested resolution is an appropriate resolution (S112). For example,
The maximum data amount (compressed data amount) per A4 size of the stored image is stored for each folder (or for each user ID), and this is used for determination of resolution. Note that this determination method utilizes the fact that, when encoding (compression) is performed by the MH method or the like, the smaller the image, the larger the data amount. If it is determined that the resolution is appropriate (S11
(2), a group data storage list corresponding to the group ID set in the received command is created with reference to the file management table in the file information storage unit (S113). Then, the search unit 9 reads the corresponding image information from the auxiliary storage device 10 based on the file number in the order described in the storage list (S114), and decompresses (decodes) the image information in the compression / decompression unit 7; The resolution conversion (line density conversion) is performed in the resolution conversion unit 12 (S
115). For example, when the resolution is reduced to one half, data is discarded every other dot in both the X direction (horizontal direction) and the Y direction (vertical direction), and the size of the image is reduced to one fourth.

Thereafter, the LAN communication control unit 11 creates a response packet by packetizing the resolution-converted image information following the storage list (S116), and transmits the packet to the partner terminal device (S117). . If the next image is described in the storage list (Yes in S118)
The process is repeated from step S114, and when the reduced images of all the image information described in the storage list have been sent (S118,
No) End this flow. Step S11
If it is determined in step 2 that the resolution is not appropriate,
The AN communication control unit 11 creates an error response packet (S119), and transmits the packet to the partner terminal device (S120). In this manner, according to this embodiment, not only the individual image storage list but also the group image storage list can be acquired, so that it is possible to take in a large amount of image information into the terminal device while reducing the trouble of inputting images. it can.
Further, since a reduced image can be attached to the image storage list, an image to be extracted can be easily recognized. It is also possible to acquire both the personal image storage list and the group image storage list at once by sending only one command. As described above, the case of the digital copying machine equipped with the image input device has been described. It can be implemented in the device.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention,
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the storage status of image information stored in advance in an unspecified image input device (digital copying machine) is recognized by issuing a broadcast inquiry with a user identification code from the terminal device, Since the image information can be taken into the terminal device, a simple operation can be performed without being aware of a specific terminal device in an arbitrary image input device, and the terminal device does not move back and forth between the terminal device and the image input device. The image can be captured by the terminal device. Also, an IC card or the like is not required. According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the image information is captured,
By referring to the list information, only a part of the plurality of pieces of image information can be taken in, so that the image information can be input collectively, so that the frequency of going to the installation location of the image input device is reduced. be able to. Claim 3
According to the described invention, when a reduced image transmission request specifying a user identification code and a resolution is received from a terminal device, one or a plurality of the reduced image information is transmitted, so that what kind of image information is easily confirmed be able to. Further, according to the invention described in claim 4, in the invention described in claim 1,
Since image information shared by the group can also be captured, a large number of image information can be captured with a small number of image input operations. According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, only the desired image information in the list can be deleted from the image storage means in the image input device by referring to the list of image information already taken in the terminal device. Some of the image information can be stored for a long time in the image input device according to. Further, according to the invention of claim 6, it is possible to know the storage status of the images stored in the plurality of image input devices by one inquiry, and to fetch the image information from the image input device in which the image information is stored.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital copying machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram including a digital copying machine according to each embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart of the digital copying machine showing the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is another operation flowchart of the digital copying machine showing the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is another operation flowchart of the digital copying machine showing the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is another operation flow chart of the digital copying machine showing the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a data configuration diagram of a user table of the digital copying machine according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is another data configuration diagram of the file management table of the digital copying machine showing the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is another data configuration diagram of the directory list of the digital copying machine showing the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 10A, 10B, and 10C are explanatory diagrams of the operation of the digital copying machine according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a main part of a digital copying machine showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an operation flowchart of a digital copying machine showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an operation flowchart of a digital copying machine showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a data configuration diagram of a file management table of the digital copying machine according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is another operation flowchart of the digital copying machine showing the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is another operation flowchart of the digital copying machine showing the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is an operation flowchart of a digital copying machine showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is another operation flowchart of the digital copying machine showing the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is another operation flowchart of the digital copying machine showing the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a data configuration diagram of group information of a digital copying machine according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 digital copier, 2 main control section, 4 scanner, 6
Memory, 9 search unit, 10 auxiliary storage device, 11 LAN
Communication controller, 12 resolution converter

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI H04N 1/393 H04N 1/393

Claims (6)

[Claims] An image input device connected to a network and shared by a plurality of terminal devices, an image reading means for reading an image on a document, and an image storage means for storing image information read by the image reading means. Identification code setting means for setting a user identification code in association with the image information stored in the image storage means, and when the terminal device inquires the storage status of the image information of the user identification code, the image information is An image input device comprising: a storage status notifying unit that notifies a storage status of the image information if stored. 2. The image input apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said storage status notifying means is configured to notify list information of stored image information belonging to said user identification information. 3. The image input device according to claim 2, wherein when receiving a reduced image transmission request specifying a user identification code and a resolution from a terminal device, one or a plurality of the reduced image information together with the list of the stored image information. An image input device comprising an image transmitting means for transmitting the image. 4. The image input device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of group information obtained by grouping a plurality of pieces of user identification information as one group are registered in advance, and stored in the image storage means. Shared flag setting means for setting a shared flag indicating that group access is possible in association with the set image information, and when a storage status inquiry of the image information of the user identification code is made, or when the group identification code is When the designated storage status inquiry is made, a flag is associated with a user identification code other than the user identification code in the group to which the user identification code registered in the group registration unit belongs, and the shared flag setting unit sets a flag. If there is image information for which is set, the above image information is notified as stored image information. An image input apparatus characterized in that storage status notifying means is configured as described above. 5. The used flag setting means according to claim 1, wherein when stored image information is transmitted to a terminal device, a used flag is added in association with said image information. And a used list transmitting unit that transmits a used list that is a list of image information for which the used flag has been set by the used flag setting unit in response to an inquiry from the terminal device, based on the used list. An image input device comprising: a file deletion unit that deletes a designated image file in response to a file deletion request from a terminal device. 6. A terminal device which can share a plurality of image input devices connected to a network, transmits a storage status inquiry with a user identification code to the plurality of image input devices by a broadcast method, and responds to the inquiry by one of the plurality of image input devices. A terminal device configured to acquire image information notified from one or more image input devices when the storage status is notified by one or more image input devices.