KR20060059398A - Image forming device and controlling method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

An image forming apparatus and a control method thereof are disclosed. The image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a recording medium storage medium, a replacement product management memory which is provided in the recording medium storage medium, and stores identification information of the recording medium storage medium, and is stored in the replacement product management memory, and which is to be printed from a host device. When a print job is requested for a document, processing is performed to transmit identification information to the theft confirmation providing server, and when the recording medium storage medium is stolen by the theft confirmation providing server based on the identification information, a theft notification message is transmitted. And a substitutes management program for processing the printing of the document to be printed. As a result, theft of the recording medium storage medium can be prevented.

Record storage media, identification information, substitute management memory

Description

Image forming device and controlling method

1 is a block diagram of a printer and a host device without a network function according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a printer and a host device having a network function as an embodiment different from FIG. 1;

3 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a theft confirmation providing server according to the present invention, and

4 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a network device according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

160: recording medium storage medium 165: replacement management memory

165-1: Replacement Management Program 250: Printer Driver

300: theft confirmation providing server

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus and a control method thereof provided with a substitute product management memory in a recording medium storage medium.

The image forming apparatus refers to an apparatus for printing an image corresponding to input original image data onto a recording medium such as printing paper. Examples of the image forming apparatus include a printer, a copier, a facsimile, and the like.

On the other hand, a toner as a recording agent and a toner cartridge as a recording medium storage medium are generally used in the image forming apparatus. Recently, however, when a recording medium storage medium is manufactured, a recording medium management memory for managing the recording material stored therein is provided at a predetermined position of the recording medium storage medium. The recording management data is stored in the recording management memory. As recording agent management data, data on the remaining amount of the recording agent is typically applied.

In general, when a recording medium storage failure occurs, the recording medium is detached from the image forming apparatus for the convenience of troubleshooting, or for the convenience of replacing the recording medium when the recording medium is exhausted. This is relatively free. However, there is a situation in which only the recording medium storage medium is detached and stolen from the image forming apparatus. In general, the price of the recording medium storage medium of the image forming apparatus is very expensive, so theft of the recording medium storage medium is expected to occur more frequently.

In addition, when the stolen recording medium is mounted on the image forming apparatus, it is difficult to determine whether the mounted recording medium is a stolen recording medium because of the mounting position of the recording medium. Therefore, there is a problem that it is not easy to arrest the suspect of the stolen recording medium storage medium.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, by comparing the identification information registered in the theft confirmation providing server and the identification information provided by the recording medium storage medium provided in the image forming apparatus by recording and The present invention provides an image forming apparatus and a control method thereof capable of preventing theft of a recording medium storage medium by determining whether the storage medium is stolen.

In addition, the technical problem to be achieved by the present invention, in order to solve the conventional problem, if it is determined that the stolen recording medium storage medium is stolen recording medium storage medium, the recording medium storage medium is mounted An image forming apparatus and a method of controlling the same may be easily detected by transmitting an IP address of an image forming apparatus or an IP address of a host apparatus connected to the image forming apparatus to a theft confirmation providing server. To provide.

In order to solve the above technical problem, an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is connected to a host apparatus and theft confirmation providing server, and prints the image using a recording agent stored in a recording medium storage medium. A recording medium storage medium, a substitute product management memory provided in the record medium storage medium and storing identification information of the record medium storage medium, and stored in the substitute product management memory, wherein When the print job is requested, the identification information is sent to the theft confirmation providing server, and the recording medium storage medium is determined to be stolen by the theft confirmation providing server based on the identification information. In case of transmission, it includes a substitute product management program for processing the print job of the document to be printed is not performed. The.

The replacement product management program may be configured to transmit the IP address of the image forming apparatus to the theft confirmation providing server when the theft notification message is received.

In order to solve the above technical problem, an image forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention is connected to a host device connected to the theft confirmation providing server and prints the image using a recording agent stored in a recording medium storage medium. An apparatus, comprising: a recording medium storage medium, a replacement product management memory provided in the recording medium storage medium, in which identification information of the recording medium storage medium is stored, and stored in the replacement product management memory, the image forming driver of the host apparatus; When a print job of a print target document is requested from the computer, the identification information is transmitted to the host device so that the identification information is transmitted to the theft confirmation providing server through the host device, and the theft is based on the identification information. It is determined by the confirmation providing server that the recording medium storage medium is stolen so that the host apparatus If we Theft notification message is sent, it includes the replacement management programs to ensure that the process of printing the print target document is performed.                     

The replacement product management program preferably processes the IP address of the host apparatus to be transmitted to the theft confirmation providing server by the image forming driver when the theft notification message is received.

In order to solve the above technical problem, the control method of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, in the control method of the image forming apparatus connected to the theft confirmation providing server, when the print job of the print target document is requested, the image Transmitting the identification information stored in the substitute management memory of the recording medium storage medium provided in the forming apparatus to the theft confirmation providing server, and the recording medium storage medium is stolen by the theft confirmation providing server based on the identification information. If it is determined that theft notification message is transmitted, the step of stopping the print job of the document to be printed.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, in describing the present invention, when it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the following description, for the convenience of description, the description will be made by applying a printer as an image forming apparatus, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto.

1 is a block diagram of a printer and a host device without a network function according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the printer 100 may include a first input unit 110, a first display unit 120, a first volatile memory 130, a first nonvolatile memory 140, a print engine unit 150, and a recording unit. The first storage medium 160, the first interface unit 170, and the first controller 180 are included.

The first input unit 110 includes at least one operation button for inputting various user commands. The signal according to the user command input through the first input unit 110 is provided to the first controller 180, and the first controller 180 controls the printer 100 in response to the signal according to the input user command. .

The first display unit 120 displays various user notification messages in response to a user command or under the control of the first controller 180.

The first volatile memory 130 temporarily stores data generated during various operations of the printer 100.

The first nonvolatile memory 140 stores a first control program for overall control of the printer 100.

The print engine 150 performs a print job on a document to be printed under the control of the first controller 180. That is, the print engine 150 performs a print job using the recording agent stored in the recording medium storage medium 160 under the control of the first control unit 180.

The recording medium storage medium 160 stores a recording medium for expressing the document to be printed on the printing paper. It is preferable that toner is applied as the recording agent. In addition, a toner cartridge is preferably applied to the recording medium storage medium 160.

In the case of a monochrome printer, one recording medium is used, so one recording medium storage medium is used.

If there is only one recording medium storage medium in the color printer, the recording medium for each color may be stored in the space defined in the recording medium storage medium. On the other hand, when there are a plurality of recording medium storage media in a color printer, different color recording media may be stored for each recording medium storage medium.

According to the present invention, a customer replacement unit memory (CRUM) is provided at a predetermined position of the recording medium storage medium 160.

Replacement product management memory 165 according to the present invention is a type developed from the conventional recording management memory, as well as information on the remaining amount of recording agent as well as the number of printed pages count, model name, various alternatives employed in the printer Information, and various alternatives management control program is stored.

In addition, the identification information is stored in the replacement product management memory 165 according to the present invention. Here, the identification information is information allocated to each recording medium storage medium, and means information for distinguishing the recording medium storage medium from other recording medium storage media. Preferably, the product serial number assigned to the recording medium storage medium is used as the identification information.

In addition, the replacement product management memory 165 according to the present invention stores the replacement product management program 165-1. Here, the substitute product management program refers to a program for managing various substitute products employed in the printer 100, and is driven by the control of the first controller 180. In addition, the substitute product management program 165-1 according to the present invention reads identification information of the recording medium storage medium 160 stored in the substitute product management memory 165, and transmits the theft confirmation request signal including the same to the host device 200. .

Meanwhile, the substitute product management program 165-1 according to the present invention receives the result of analyzing the theft through the host device 200 (hereinafter referred to as 'theft analysis result'), and receives the received theft analysis result If it is determined that the verification target recording medium storage medium 160 is stolen as a stolen notification message, the first control unit 180 requests the first control unit 180 to stop the printing operation of the document to be printed, and generates an IP address transmission request signal. The first controller 180 is requested to be transmitted to the device 200.

The first interface unit 170 is provided as an interface for connecting the host device 200 by wire or wirelessly. The first interface unit 170 according to the present invention is connected to the second-first interface unit 260 of the host device 200 and serves as a passage when exchanging information between the printer 100 and the host device 200.

According to the present invention, a print job request signal is transmitted from the host apparatus 200 through the first interface unit 170. In addition, the theft confirmation request signal is transmitted to the host device 200 through the first interface unit 170. In addition, the result of the analysis of the theft of the recording medium storage medium 160 in the theft confirmation providing server 300 is received from the host device 200 through the first interface unit 170. In addition, the IP address transmission request signal is transmitted to the host device 200 through the first interface unit 170.

The first controller 180 controls and manages the printer 100 according to the first control program stored in the first nonvolatile memory 140. When the print job request signal is received, the first controller 180 drives the substitute product management program 165-1 stored in the substitute product management memory 165.

The host device 200 according to the present invention includes a second input unit 210, a second display unit 220, a second volatile memory 230, a second nonvolatile memory 240, a printer driver 250, and a second device. The first interface unit 260, the second-second interface unit 270, and the second control unit 280 are included.

Various user commands are input to the second input unit 210. As the second input unit 210, a keyboard, a mouse, or the like may be applied. A signal corresponding to a user command input through the second input unit 210 is provided to the second control unit 280, and the second control unit 280 controls the host device 200 in response to the signal according to the input user command. do.

The print command of the document to be printed is input through the second input unit 210 according to the present invention. In this case, a print job request signal is transmitted to the printer 100 through the printer driver 250.

In order to register the recording medium storage medium 160, the user opens the web browser through the second input unit 210 according to the present invention and inputs the IP address of the theft confirmation providing website provided by the theft confirmation providing server 300. As a result, the host apparatus 200 accesses the theft confirmation providing website through the second-2 interface unit 270. When the identification information of the recording medium storage medium 160 is input from the theft confirmation providing website through the second input unit 210, the identification information is registered and stored in the theft confirmation providing server 300.

In order to register the theft occurrence of the stolen recording medium storage medium 160, a user opens a web browser through the second input unit 210 according to the present invention and provides theft confirmation provided by the theft confirmation providing server 300 By inputting the IP address of the website, the host device 200 connects to the theft confirmation providing website through the second-2 interface unit 270. When the theft occurrence fact of the recording medium storage medium 160 is input from the theft confirmation providing website through the second input unit 210, the theft occurrence providing case of the recording medium storage medium 160 is entered into the theft confirmation providing server 300. Is registered and stored.

The second display unit 220 displays various user notification messages in response to a user command or under the control of the second controller 280.

The second volatile memory 230 temporarily stores data generated during various work processes of the host device 200.

The second nonvolatile memory 240 stores a second control program that can control the host device 200 as a whole.

The printer driver 250 converts a print target document created by an application program of the host apparatus 200 into print data recognizable by the printer 100.

When the theft confirmation request signal is transmitted from the printer 100, the printer driver 250 according to the present invention generates a theft determination request signal under the control of the second control unit 280 and transmits it to the theft confirmation providing server 300. . The anti-theft determination request signal includes identification information of the recording target storage medium 160 included in the theft confirmation request signal.

In addition, when theft analysis result is transmitted from the theft confirmation providing server 300, the printer driver 250 according to the present invention transmits the theft analysis result to the printer 100 under the control of the second control unit 280. .

In addition, when the IP address transmission request signal is transmitted from the printer 100, the printer driver 250 according to the present invention may check the IP address of the host device 200 under the control of the second controller 280. 300).                     

The second-first interface unit 260 is connected to the first interface unit 170 of the printer 100 to serve as a passage when exchanging information between the printer 100 and the host device 200.

According to the present invention, a print job request signal is transmitted to the printer 100 through the 2-1 interface unit 260. In addition, the theft confirmation request signal is transmitted from the printer 100 through the 2-1 interface unit 260. In addition, the result of theft analysis is transmitted to the printer 100 through the 2-1 interface unit 260. In addition, an IP address transmission request signal is transmitted from the printer 100 through the 2-1 interface unit 260.

The second-2 interface unit 270 is connected to the theft confirmation providing server 300 and plays a role of a passage when exchanging information between the theft confirmation providing server 300 and the host device 200.

Theft determination request signal is transmitted from the host device 200 to the theft confirmation providing server 300 through the second-2 interface unit 270 according to the present invention. When theft confirmation request signal is received from the theft confirmation providing server 300, the identification information of the recording target storage medium 160 included in the theft decision request signal and the identification information previously registered in the theft confirmation providing server 300. Theft of the recording medium storage medium 160 is analyzed on the basis of the occurrence of theft and theft. In addition, the result of theft analysis is transmitted from the theft confirmation providing server 300 to the host device 200 through the 2-2 interface unit 270 according to the present invention.

The second controller 280 generally controls and manages the host device 200 according to the second control program stored in the second nonvolatile memory 240.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a printer and a host device having a network function as an embodiment different from FIG. 1.                     

In the description of the drawings, portions that overlap with FIG. 1 will be omitted for simplicity.

In the printer 400 of FIG. 2, a description of the first input unit 410, the first display unit 420, the first volatile memory 430, the first nonvolatile memory 440, and the print engine unit 450 is illustrated in FIG. 1. In the printer 100 of FIG. 1, the input unit 110, the first display unit 120, the first volatile memory 130, the first nonvolatile memory 140, and the print engine unit 150 are the same as the descriptions thereof.

The recording medium storage medium 460 according to the present embodiment is provided with a substitute product management memory 465, and the substitute product management memory 465 stores a substitute product management program 465-1.

The substitute product management program 465-1 according to the present embodiment is driven by the first controller 490. In addition, the substitute product management program 465-1 according to the present exemplary embodiment reads identification information of the recording medium storage medium 460 stored in the substitute product management memory 465, and generates an anti-theft request signal including the same. The replacement product management program 465-1 processes to be directly transmitted to the theft confirmation providing server 600 through the 1-2 interface 480 under the control of the first controller 490. When the substitute product management program 465-1 according to the present embodiment receives the result of theft analysis, and the received theft confirmation analysis result is a theft notification message, it is determined that the recording target storage medium 460 is stolen, The first controller 490 is requested to stop the printing operation of the document to be printed, and the first controller 490 is processed so that the IP address of the printer 400 is transmitted to the theft confirmation providing server 600.

The first-first interface unit 470 according to the present embodiment is a component corresponding to the first interface unit 170 of FIG. 1. The print job request signal is transmitted from the host apparatus 500 through the first-first interface unit 470.

The 1-2 interface unit 480 according to the present embodiment is connected to the theft confirmation providing server 600 and plays a role of a passage when exchanging information between the theft confirmation providing server 600 and the printer 400. According to the present exemplary embodiment, the anti-theft determination request signal is transmitted to the theft confirmation providing server 600 through the 1-2 interface unit 480. In addition, the theft analysis result is transmitted from the theft confirmation providing server 600 through the 1-2 interface unit 480. In addition, the IP address of the printer 400 is transmitted to the theft confirmation providing server 600 through the 1-2 interface unit 480.

In the host device 200 of FIG. 2, the description of the second input unit 210, the second display unit 220, the second volatile memory 230, and the second nonvolatile memory 240 is described with reference to the host device 200 of FIG. 1. The second input unit 210, the second display unit 220, the second volatile memory 230, the second nonvolatile memory 240, the printer driver 250, and the second control unit 280 are the same as the descriptions below. Omit.

The second interface unit 560 according to the present embodiment is a component corresponding to the 2-1 interface unit 260 of FIG. 1. The print job request signal is transmitted to the printer 100 through the second interface unit 560.

According to the embodiment of FIG. 1 and the embodiment of FIG. 2 as described above, the device connected to the theft confirmation providing server 300 may be a printer 100 and a host device 200. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, a device connected to the theft confirmation providing server 300 by wire or wirelessly is referred to as a network device.

3 is a flow chart illustrating a control method of the theft confirmation providing server according to the present invention.

1 to 3, when a genuine user first purchases a recording medium storage medium 160 and 460 (S710), and registers identification information provided to the recording medium storage medium 160 and 460 in the theft confirmation providing server 300 and 600. (S720), the identification information is stored in the theft confirmation providing server (300,600) (S730). The identification information is allocated to each of the recording medium storage media 160 and 460, from which the recording medium storage media 160 and 460 are identified. As the identification information, the product serial numbers of the recording medium storage media 160 and 460 are preferably applied.

On the other hand, when a genuine user is stolen while installing and using the recording medium storage media 160 and 460 in the printer 100 and 400 (S740), the theft occurrence of the recording medium storage media 160 and 460 is registered in the theft confirmation providing server 300 or 600. (S750), theft occurrence facts of the recording medium storage medium (160,460) is stored in the theft confirmation providing server (300,600) (S750).

In addition, when theft confirmation request signal is received from the printer 100 or 400 or the host device 200 or 500 (S760), the theft confirmation providing server 300 or 600 of the recording target storage medium 160 or 460 included in the theft determination request signal is received. On the basis of the identification information and the occurrence of theft, the identification information and the stolen confirmation providing server (300,600) is analyzed whether the theft of the recording medium storage medium (160,460) (S770).

When the stolen determination request signal is transmitted from the printer (100,400), the result of theft analysis is transmitted to the printer (100,400). When the stolen determination request signal is transmitted from the host device (200,500), the host device transmits the result of theft analysis. It transmits to (200,500) (S780).                     

4 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a network device according to the present invention.

1 to 4, first, a user mounts the verification target recording medium storage media 160 and 460 in the printer 100 and 300, and prints through the second input units 210 and 510 to perform printing of the document to be printed. If a command is input (S810), the stolen determination request signal is transmitted to the theft confirmation providing server (300, 600) (S820). That is, when the printer 100 does not have a network function as shown in FIG. 1, the host device 200 is applied as a network device so that the stolen determination request signal is transmitted through the 2-2 interface unit 270. Is transmitted (S820). In addition, when the printer 400 has a network function as shown in FIG. 2, the printer 400 is applied as a network device, and theft determination request signal is transmitted to the theft confirmation providing server 600 through the 1-2 interface unit 480. It is transmitted (S820).

On the other hand, theft confirmation providing server (300,600) is analyzed whether the theft of the verification target recording medium storage medium (160,460) through the first registered identification information, the subsequent occurrence of theft and the identification information included in the stolen determination request signal When the theft analysis result based on this is received by the network device (S830), the network device performs another operation according to the theft analysis result.

First, if it is determined that theft analysis result is not stolen, the printing operation of the document to be printed is performed to generate a print result (S870).

On the other hand, if the result of the analysis of theft is determined that the recording medium storage medium (160,460) is stolen as theft notification message, the IP address of the network device (200,400) from the network device (200,400) is theft confirmation providing server (300,600) It is transmitted to (S850). Also, in the printers 100 and 400, the printing operation of the document to be printed is stopped (S860).

As described above, according to the image forming apparatus and the control method thereof according to the present invention, the identification information registered in the theft confirmation providing server and the identification information provided by the recording medium storage medium included in the image forming apparatus are compared and analyzed. By determining whether the recording medium is stolen, it provides an advantage of preventing theft of the recording medium.

In addition, if it is determined that the recording medium storage is stolen and determined as the stolen recording medium, the IP address of the image forming apparatus equipped with the recording medium storage or the host device connected to the image forming apparatus is stolen. By transmitting to the providing server, the suspect of the stolen record storage medium can be easily arrested.

Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to exemplary embodiments above, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains can make various modifications to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. I will understand. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined by the claims below and equivalents thereof.

Claims (5)

An image forming apparatus connected to a host apparatus and a theft confirmation providing server to perform print processing using a recording agent stored in a recording medium storage medium. A replacement product management memory provided in the recording medium storage medium and storing identification information of the recording medium storage medium; And When the print job of the print target document is requested from the host device, the host device is stored in the substitute product management memory, and transmits the identification information to the theft confirmation providing server, and transmits the identification information to the theft confirmation providing server based on the identification information. And a substitute product management program for processing a print job of the print target document not to be performed when the recording medium storage medium is determined to be stolen and a theft notification message is transmitted. The method of claim 1, And the substitute product management program is configured to transmit the IP address of the image forming apparatus to the theft confirmation providing server when the theft notification message is received. An image forming apparatus connected to a host apparatus connected to a theft confirmation providing server to perform print processing using a recording agent stored in a recording medium storage medium. A replacement product management memory provided in the recording medium storage medium and storing identification information of the recording medium storage medium; And The identification information is stored in the substitute management memory, and when the print job of the print target document is requested from the image forming driver of the host device, the identification information is transmitted to the host device so that the identification information is transmitted to the theft confirmation providing server through the host device. And processing the information to be transmitted, and when the stolen notification message is transmitted through the host device because the recording medium storage medium is stolen by the theft confirmation providing server on the basis of the identification information, printing of the document to be printed. And a substitute product management program for processing a job not to be performed. The method of claim 3, And the substitute product management program is configured to process the IP address of the host apparatus to be transmitted to the theft confirmation providing server by the image forming driver when the theft notification message is received. In the control method of the image forming apparatus connected to the theft confirmation providing server, Transmitting the identification information stored in the substitute product management memory of the recording medium storage medium provided in the image forming apparatus to the theft confirmation providing server when a print job of the document to be printed is requested; And Stopping the printing of the document to be printed when the burglar notification message is transmitted based on the identification information by the theft confirmation providing server as determined that the recording medium storage medium has been stolen. Control method.

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