JP2004056389A - Management system and e-mail processing method of image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it sufficient for an administrative side to send one electronic mail when the administrative side tries to send identical electronic mails to a plurality of image forming devices, respectively, in a network system having a plurality of the image forming devices. <P>SOLUTION: The network system comprises a plurality of the image forming devices A to C which receive electronic mails transmitted via a prescribed network 30; and a receiving side mail server 10 which is connected to each image forming device A to C, as well as to the network 30, and stores electronic mails sent to the image forming devices A to C via the network 30 while assigning a single identical mail account to each image forming device A to C. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a management system having a network and a plurality of image forming apparatuses connected to the network, and an electronic mail processing method applied to the management system.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus connected to a general-purpose network, scan-to-E which converts a read original into data and transmits it as an e-mail between the image forming apparatus and an external terminal such as an administrator. An e-mail technology (for example, JP-A-2001-177672), an error notification technology (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-17202) for grasping a defect or the like occurring in an image forming apparatus at a terminal for an administrator, and a state of the image forming apparatus. Internet notification such as a state notification technique for grasping with an administrator terminal (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-207304) and a remote management technique for remotely controlling an image forming apparatus from an administrator terminal (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-331267). Management techniques using e-mail have been used.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the management system as described above, conventionally, in order to reliably send an e-mail from an administrator to an image forming apparatus targeted for remote operation, and to ensure the security of the image forming apparatus itself, Generally, a mail server for receiving is installed on the side where the image forming apparatus is introduced, and a mail box for receiving is provided as a mail account for receiving for each image forming apparatus in the mail server.
[0004]
In many cases, the same command is sent to all the image forming apparatuses. In this case, the same command is sent to all the image forming apparatuses. The e-mails are sent one by one, so that the burden of creating and sending e-mails on the management side and the burden of communication traffic on the receiving side are large since many e-mails are received simultaneously.
[0005]
In view of the above, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and in a network system including a plurality of image forming apparatuses, when transmitting the same e-mail to the plurality of image forming apparatuses, the management side An object of the present invention is to provide an e-mail processing method that suffices to transmit one e-mail, and a management system for an image forming apparatus to which the method is applied.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problems, a management system for an image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a plurality of image forming apparatuses configured to receive an e-mail transmitted through a predetermined network;
Connected to the plurality of image forming apparatuses, connected to the network, stored e-mail transmitted from the network to the image forming apparatus, and assigned one e-mail account to the plurality of image forming apparatuses. With the receiving mail server,
Each of the image forming apparatuses includes:
Receiving means for receiving the e-mail stored in the receiving mail server and deleting the received e-mail,
Data processing means for reading the received e-mail, writing identification information for identifying the image forming apparatus in the e-mail, and sending the e-mail having the identification information to the reception-side mail server;
It is characterized by having.
[0007]
Also, the image forming apparatus management system according to the present invention includes an image forming apparatus configured to receive an e-mail transmitted through a predetermined network,
Connected to the plurality of image forming apparatuses, connected to the network, stored e-mail transmitted from the network to the image forming apparatus, and assigned one e-mail account to the plurality of image forming apparatuses. With the receiving mail server,
Each of the image forming apparatuses includes:
Receiving means for receiving an e-mail stored in the receiving mail server;
Reading the received e-mail, identification information for identifying the e-mail, and data processing means for extracting the text of the e-mail,
Storage means for storing information extracted by the data processing means;
It is characterized by having.
[0008]
A management system for an image forming apparatus according to the present invention is connected to at least one image forming apparatus, controls the image forming apparatus, and receives an e-mail transmitted through a predetermined network. An image forming apparatus;
Connected to the representative image forming apparatus, connected to the network, stored an e-mail transmitted from the network to the representative image forming apparatus, and received one e-mail account assigned to the representative image forming apparatus. Side mail server,
The representative image forming apparatus includes:
Receiving means for receiving an e-mail stored in the receiving mail server;
A data processing unit for reading the received e-mail and communicating the contents of the e-mail to each image forming apparatus by an electric unit other than the e-mail unit;
It is characterized by having.
[0009]
Further, the electronic mail processing method according to the present invention includes a plurality of image forming apparatuses configured to receive an electronic mail transmitted through a predetermined network;
Connected to the plurality of image forming apparatuses, connected to the network, stored e-mail transmitted from the network to the image forming apparatus, and assigned one e-mail account to the plurality of image forming apparatuses. An email processing method for receiving one email by a plurality of image forming apparatuses in a system including a receiving-side mail server,
One image forming apparatus receives the electronic mail stored in the received mail server, and a receiving step of deleting the received electronic mail,
A step of reading the received e-mail and writing identification information for identifying the image forming apparatus in the e-mail;
A returning step of returning the electronic mail in which the identification information is written to the receiving mail server;
It is characterized by having.
[0010]
Preferably, before the receiving step, there is provided an identification information determining step of determining whether identification information of the own device is written in a predetermined area of the electronic mail stored in the received mail server.
Further, the electronic mail processing method according to the present invention includes a plurality of image forming apparatuses configured to receive an electronic mail transmitted through a predetermined network;
Connected to the plurality of image forming apparatuses, connected to the network, stored e-mail transmitted from the network to the image forming apparatus, and assigned one e-mail account to the plurality of image forming apparatuses. An email processing method for receiving one email by a plurality of image forming apparatuses in a system including a receiving-side mail server,
Receiving the e-mail stored in the receiving mail server,
Reading the received e-mail, identification information for specifying the e-mail, and an extraction step of extracting the body of the e-mail,
A storage step of storing the extracted information in a predetermined storage means;
It is characterized by having.
[0011]
Preferably, after the extracting step and before the storing step, a storage determining step of determining whether the extracted predetermined information is already stored in the storing means is provided.
In addition, an electronic mail processing method according to the present invention is configured to connect to at least one image forming apparatus, control the image forming apparatus, and receive an electronic mail transmitted through a predetermined network. Equipment and
Connected to the representative image forming apparatus, connected to the network, stored an e-mail transmitted from the network to the representative image forming apparatus, and received one e-mail account assigned to the representative image forming apparatus. An email processing method for receiving one email by a plurality of image forming apparatuses in a system including
A receiving step in which the representative image forming apparatus receives an e-mail stored in the receiving mail server;
A communication step in which the representative image forming apparatus reads the received e-mail and communicates the contents of the e-mail to each image forming apparatus by electric means other than the e-mail means;
It is characterized by having.
[0012]
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Hereinafter, embodiments of an image forming apparatus management system and an electronic mail processing method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
One embodiment of the management system includes, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of image forming apparatuses A to C configured to receive an e-mail transmitted through a predetermined network 30, and the plurality of image forming apparatuses A To C, and also to the network 30 to store e-mails transmitted from the network 30 to the image forming apparatuses A to C, and to assign one e-mail account to a plurality of image forming apparatuses. And a receiving side mail server 10.
[0013]
Here, in one embodiment, each of the image forming apparatuses A to C functions as a receiving unit that receives an e-mail stored in the receiving mail server 10 and deletes the received e-mail. A transmission / reception unit 26 for reading the received e-mail, writing identification information for identifying the image forming apparatus in the e-mail, and sending the e-mail having the identification information to the reception-side mail server 10 And a CPU 22 functioning as processing means.
[0014]
Further, the CPU 22 functions as determining means for determining whether or not an e-mail is stored in the receiving mail server, and when determining that there is no e-mail in the receiving mail server, the receiving mail server It is preferable to function as a first determination unit for determining whether or not to access again.
1, a specific configuration is not shown for the image forming apparatuses B and C. However, the image forming apparatus B has the same configuration as the image forming apparatus A. In addition, the configuration of the network image forming apparatus, for example, an input unit 20 for operation input, a memory 24 for temporarily storing processing data, and an image for forming an image based on job data obtained by the CPU 22 A forming unit 28 includes an image output unit 29 for outputting an image based on output data for image formation.
[0015]
It is preferable that the job data include document data including image data indicating characters, drawings, and the like, and image forming control data for determining an image forming format based on the document data.
The receiving-side mail server 10 operates according to a receiving protocol such as POP (post office protocol) 3 for receiving an e-mail between the network 30 and the image forming apparatuses A to C, and transmits an e-mail sent from the network 30. Receive and store temporarily.
[0016]
The network 30 may be anything that enables information communication between a plurality of terminals, and examples thereof include a network such as the Internet, a public telephone line, a local area network (LAN), and a wide area network (WAN). .
The management-side mail server 40 transmits an e-mail from the management-side terminal 50 to the reception-side mail server 10 via the network 30 according to a transmission protocol such as SMTP (simple mail transfer protocol) related to transmission of the e-mail.
[0017]
Although not shown, the management-side terminal 50 has a configuration of an ordinary computer system, for example, an operation input unit for operation input, a memory for temporarily storing processing data, processed data and a processing status. And display control means for controlling the operation of these components.
Here, the operation of the management system as one embodiment of the data processing method will be described.
[0018]
As shown in FIG. 2, one image forming apparatus receives the electronic mail stored in the received mail server (step S40) and deletes the received electronic mail (step S50). Step S60 as a writing step of reading the received e-mail and writing identification information for specifying the image forming apparatus in the e-mail, and transmitting the e-mail in which the identification information is written to the receiving mail server. And step S70 as a return step of returning.
[0019]
Further, in this aspect, before the receiving step, in the identification information determining step of determining whether or not the identification information of the own device is written in a predetermined area of the electronic mail stored in the received mail server. It is preferable to provide a certain step S30.
In FIG. 2, in step S10, one image forming apparatus, for example, image forming apparatus A connects to and accesses the receiving mail server 10, and proceeds to step S20. At this time, the receiving mail server 10 may authenticate whether or not this access is based on an operation by a person having the access right, if necessary.
[0020]
In step S20, it is determined whether the e-mail has been taken into the receiving mail server 10. Specifically, the CPU 22 accesses the receiving mail server 10 via the transmitting / receiving unit 26, receives control information related to transmission / reception, for example, header information, and if some control information can be extracted, determines that “e-mail is present”. If it cannot be taken out, it is determined that there is no e-mail.
[0021]
If the result of this determination is YES, that is, if it is determined that there is an e-mail, the process proceeds to step S30. If the result of the determination is NO, that is, if there is no e-mail, the process proceeds to step S80.
In step S30, the CPU 22 determines whether or not there is an e-mail in which the identification information of the own device is not written in a predetermined area of the e-mail arriving at the receiving mail server 10 as described later. That is, it is determined whether an unread electronic mail other than the already read electronic mail has arrived.
[0022]
If the determination result is YES, that is, if it is determined that there is an e-mail in which the identification information of the own device is not written, the process proceeds to step S40. If the determination result is NO, that is, if it is determined that there is no e-mail in which the identification information of the own device is not written, the process proceeds to step S80.
In step S40, the image forming apparatus receives only the electronic mail in which the identification information of the image forming apparatus is not written from the transmitting / receiving unit 26, and proceeds to step S50 to delete the received electronic mail from the receiving mail server 10. Then, the process proceeds to step S60.
[0023]
In step S60, data relating to the text is read from the received e-mail, and the identification data, which is the identification information of the own device, is written in a predetermined area, for example, a header portion, to indicate that the e-mail has been received. Then, an e-mail for return is created, and the process proceeds to step S70.
Here, examples of the identification data include a serial number assigned to each image forming apparatus at the time of shipment, an IP (Internet protocol) address assigned when setting a network connection, and a nickname registered in advance. When a nickname is used as identification data, the nickname may be set in advance by inputting from the input unit 20 such as an operation panel, or may be registered through a predetermined website operated by the management terminal. Good.
[0024]
As for the writing of the identification data, as shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C, there is a method of writing the header data.
An electronic mail 310 that has just arrived at the receiving mail server 10 as shown in FIG. 3A has a header section 312 and a body section 314. The header section 312 is provided with a sender address display section 316 and a recipient address display section 318. In FIG. 3A, “abc@bb.dd” is written as the sender address, and “aaa@bb.co.jp” is written as the recipient address. The recipient addresses shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C are one e-mail address assigned to a plurality of image forming apparatuses. The body part 314 describes commands for controlling the operation of the image forming apparatus, commands to which the image forming apparatus is to be transmitted, and the like.
[0025]
Therefore, for example, after the image forming apparatus A reads the e-mail, the CPU 22 of the image forming apparatus A, as shown in FIG. 3B, displays the identification data display section indicating “CopierTag” in the header section 322. 329 is provided, a character "A" is written therein as identification data of the own device, and a return electronic mail 320 is created.
Further, after the electronic mail after the return is read by the image forming apparatus B, the image forming apparatus B returns to the identification data display section of the header section 332 as shown in FIG. A character "B" is written in 339 as identification data of the own device, and a return electronic mail 330 is created.
[0026]
In step S70, the return e-mail created in step S60 is returned to the receiving mail server 10, and the process returns to step S20.
In step S80, the image forming apparatus disconnects the connection with the receiving mail server 10, and the operation ends.
Further, in another embodiment of the management system, as shown in FIG. 1, each of the image forming apparatuses A to C transmits and receives the e-mail stored in the receiving mail server as a receiving unit. Unit 26, CPU 22 as data processing means for reading the received e-mail, and identifying information for identifying the e-mail, and the text of the e-mail, and extracted by the data processing means And a memory 24 as storage means for storing information.
[0027]
Further, the CPU 22 functions as determining means for determining whether or not an e-mail is stored in the receiving mail server, and when determining that there is no e-mail in the receiving mail server, the receiving mail server It is preferable to function as a first determination unit for determining whether or not to access again.
Here, the operation of the other management system as another embodiment of the data processing method will be described.
[0028]
As shown in FIG. 4, step S140 as a receiving step of receiving the electronic mail stored in the receiving mail server, and identification information for reading the received electronic mail and identifying the electronic mail, Step S150 as an extraction step of extracting the text of the e-mail, and step S170 as a storage step of storing the extracted information in a predetermined storage unit.
[0029]
Further, in this aspect, after the extraction step, but before the accumulation step, a storage determination step of determining whether or not the extracted predetermined information is already stored in the storage unit is performed. Preferably, step S160 is provided.
In FIG. 4, in step S110, one image forming apparatus, for example, image forming apparatus A connects to and accesses the receiving mail server 10, and proceeds to step S20. At this time, the receiving mail server 10 may authenticate whether or not this access is based on an operation by a person having the access right, if necessary.
[0030]
In step S120, it is determined whether the e-mail has been taken into the receiving mail server 10. Specifically, the CPU 22 accesses the receiving mail server 10 via the transmitting / receiving unit 26, receives control information related to transmission / reception, for example, header information, and if some control information can be extracted, determines that “e-mail is present”. If it cannot be taken out, it is determined that there is no e-mail.
[0031]
If the result of this determination is YES, that is, if it is determined that there is an e-mail, the process proceeds to step S140. If the determination result is NO, that is, if there is no e-mail, the process proceeds to step S180.
In step S140, the image forming apparatus receives the e-mail in the transmission / reception unit 26, and proceeds to step S150. In step S150, predetermined information, that is, information for identifying the e-mail, The information of the body part is extracted, and the process proceeds to step S160.
[0032]
In step S150, specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. The information described in the body part 520 is extracted as information for specifying the electronic mail, and the information described in the body part 520 is extracted as the information of the body part.
[0033]
Note that in FIG. 5, an electronic mail in which “abc@bb.dd” is displayed in the sender address display section 512 of the header section 510 and “aaa@bb.co.jp” is displayed in the receiver address display section 516. Represents the mail 500.
In step S160, it is determined whether or not the information extracted in step S150 has already been stored in a predetermined storage unit, that is, the memory 24. This determination can be made, for example, by comparing information for specifying the electronic mail.
[0034]
If the determination result is YES, that is, if it is determined that the information extracted in step S150 already exists in the memory, the process returns to step S120 without performing any operation. If the determination result is NO, that is, if it is determined that the information extracted in step S150 has not been stored in the memory yet, the process proceeds to step S170.
In step S170, the information extracted in step S150 is associated with each other and stored in the memory 24. When this operation is completed, the process returns to step S120.
[0035]
In step S180, the image forming apparatus disconnects the connection with the receiving mail server 10, and the operation ends.
As shown in FIG. 6, another embodiment of the management system connects to at least one image forming apparatus A to C, controls the image forming apparatus, and transmits an electronic image transmitted through a predetermined network 230. The representative image forming apparatus 100 configured to receive mail is connected to the representative image forming apparatus 100, and is also connected to the network 230, and transmits an e-mail transmitted from the network 230 to the representative image forming apparatus 100. And a receiving-side mail server 210 to which one e-mail account is assigned to the representative image forming apparatus 100.
[0036]
Here, the representative image forming apparatus 100 includes a transmission / reception unit 140 as a receiving unit that receives the electronic mail stored in the reception side mail server, and reads the received electronic mail. The image forming apparatus includes a CPU 120 as a data processing unit that communicates with an electric unit other than an electronic mail unit, and an external connection unit 170.
[0037]
Further, the CPU 120 functions as determining means for determining whether or not an e-mail is stored in the receiving mail server, and when determining that there is no e-mail in the receiving mail server 210, It preferably functions as a first determination unit that determines whether to access the mail server 210 again.
Further, the CPU 120 preferably functions as a second determining means for determining whether or not the re-access operation has been performed a predetermined number of times when the first determining means determines that the receiving mail server is to be accessed again. .
[0038]
In FIG. 6, the representative image forming apparatus 100 includes a CPU 120, the transmission / reception unit 140, the external connection unit 170, a configuration of the network image forming apparatus, for example, an input unit 110 for operation input, and temporarily stores processing data. A memory 130 for storing the image data in the printer, an image forming unit 150 for forming an image based on the job data obtained by the CPU 120, and an image output unit 160 for outputting an image based on the output data for forming the image. Things.
[0039]
Further, the external connection unit 170 has an interface function for connecting the image forming apparatuses A to C. Through the external connection unit 170, a command from the CPU 120 for controlling each image forming apparatus can be communicated to each image forming apparatus by an electric unit other than the electronic mail unit.
Although the specific configuration of the image forming apparatuses A to C functioning as child terminals when the representative image forming apparatus is set as the representative terminal is not shown, the configuration of the network image forming apparatus, for example, for operation input Input means, data processing means for performing predetermined data processing and generating job data for image formation in accordance with an input from the input means and a predetermined command from the representative image forming apparatus, and temporarily storing the processed data. Storage means for temporarily storing, image forming means for forming an image based on job data obtained by the data processing means, and image output means for outputting an image based on output data for image formation It is provided with.
[0040]
As described above, the job data may include document data including image data indicating characters, drawings, and the like, and image forming control data indicating an image forming format based on the document data. preferable.
The receiving-side mail server 210 operates according to a receiving protocol such as POP (post office protocol) 3 for receiving an e-mail between the network 230 and the representative image forming apparatus 100, and receives an e-mail sent from the network 230. And store it temporarily.
[0041]
The network 230 is not particularly limited as long as it enables information communication between a plurality of terminals, and examples thereof include a network such as the Internet, a public telephone line, a local area network (LAN), and a wide area network (WAN). .
Although not shown, the management side terminal 240 has a configuration of a normal computer system, for example, an operation input unit for operation input, a memory for temporarily storing processing data, processed data and processing status, and the like. And display control means for controlling the operation of these components.
[0042]
Here, an operation of the management system as an embodiment of the data processing method will be described.
As shown in FIG. 7, the representative image forming apparatus 100 receives the electronic mail stored in the receiving mail server 210 in step S240 as a receiving step, and the representative image forming apparatus 100 There is a step S250 as a communication step of reading the electronic mail and communicating the contents of the electronic mail to each of the image forming apparatuses A to C by an electric means other than the electronic mail means.
[0043]
7, in step S210, the representative image forming apparatus 100 connects to and accesses the receiving mail server 210, and proceeds to step S220. At this time, the receiving mail server 210 may authenticate whether or not the access is based on an operation by a person having the access right, if necessary.
In step S220, it is determined whether or not the e-mail has been taken into the receiving mail server 210. Specifically, the CPU 120 accesses the receiving mail server 210 via the transmitting / receiving unit 140, receives control information related to transmission / reception, for example, header information, and if some control information can be extracted, determines that “email is present”. If it cannot be taken out, it is determined that there is no e-mail.
[0044]
If the result of this determination is YES, that is, if it is determined that there is an e-mail, the process proceeds to step S240. If the determination result is NO, that is, if there is no e-mail, the process proceeds to step S280.
In step S240, representative image forming apparatus 100 receives the e-mail in transmitting / receiving section 140, and proceeds to step S250.
[0045]
In step S250, the processing of the e-mail received in step S240, that is, the body is read, a predetermined command is taken out, and the command other than the e-mail is sent to the designated image forming apparatus as a child terminal as necessary. The control signal is sent to the corresponding image forming apparatus via the external connection unit 170 as a control signal as electrical means, and the process returns to step S220.
[0046]
In step S280, the image forming apparatus disconnects the connection with the receiving mail server 210, and the operation ends.
Another preferred mode of operation of the management system will be described.
In FIG. 8, in step S310, the representative image forming apparatus 100 connects to and accesses the receiving-side mail server 210, and proceeds to step S320. At this time, the receiving mail server 210 may authenticate whether or not the access is based on an operation by a person having the access right, if necessary.
[0047]
In step S320, it is determined whether or not the electronic mail has been taken into the receiving mail server 210. Specifically, as described above, the CPU 120 accesses the receiving mail server 210 through the transmitting / receiving unit 140, receives control information related to transmission / reception, for example, header information, and if some control information can be extracted, the “email If there is no e-mail, it is determined that there is no e-mail.
[0048]
If the result of the determination is YES, that is, if it is determined that there is an e-mail, the process proceeds to step S340. If the determination result is NO, that is, it is determined that there is no e-mail, the process proceeds to step S380.
In step S340, the representative image forming apparatus 100 receives the e-mail in the transmission / reception unit 140, and proceeds to step S350, where predetermined information, that is, information for specifying the e-mail, The information of the body part of the mail is extracted, and the process proceeds to step S360.
[0049]
Note that, in step S350, specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, for example, the information described in the sender address display section 512 and the incoming date / time display section 516 included in the header section 510 of the e-mail 500 is deleted. The information described in the body part 520 is extracted as information for specifying the electronic mail, and the information described in the body part 520 is extracted as the information of the body part.
[0050]
In step S360, it is determined whether or not the information extracted in step S350 is already stored in a predetermined storage unit, that is, the memory 130. This determination can be made, for example, by comparing information for specifying the electronic mail.
If the determination result is YES, that is, if it is determined that the information extracted in step S350 already exists in the memory, the process returns to step S320 without performing any operation. If the determination result is NO, that is, if it is determined that the information extracted in step S350 is not yet stored in the memory, the process proceeds to step S370.
[0051]
In step S370, the text received in step S340 and the text obtained in step S350 are read, a predetermined command is extracted, and the command is transmitted to an image forming apparatus as a child terminal designated as necessary by e-mail. The control signal is sent to the corresponding image forming apparatus via the external connection unit 170 as a control signal as an electrical means other than the above, and the process returns to step S320.
[0052]
In step S380, the image forming apparatus disconnects from the receiving mail server 210, and the operation ends.
As described above, in any of the embodiments, when the image forming apparatus receives the electronic mail stored in the receiving mail server 10, the image forming apparatus specifies the identification data described in the electronic mail and the own apparatus. The e-mail can be deleted from the receiving mail server 10 by performing a predetermined process, determining that the e-mail is addressed to the own device, and performing a predetermined process. If they do not match, it can be determined that the electronic mail is addressed to a device other than the own device, and can be left in the receiving mail server 10 without processing. The remaining e-mail is subject to identification data collation and predetermined processing by another image forming apparatus.
[0053]
In addition, an electronic mail in which identification data is not described or an identification data registered in advance is described may be deleted.
In FIG. 2, the e-mail received in step S40 is deleted (step S50). However, the e-mail received for a predetermined time without being deleted is periodically collected by the server operator without being deleted. You can delete it.
[0054]
According to the above embodiment, when managing a plurality of image forming apparatuses connected to a network using e-mail, it is sufficient to transmit one e-mail when transmitting e-mail to the plurality of image forming apparatuses. Therefore, it is possible to save the trouble of creating an account for each image forming apparatus, and it is possible to effectively use the mail server resources.
[0055]
Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it is understood that configurations in which these embodiments are appropriately changed without departing from the object of the present invention also belong to the scope of the present invention.
[0056]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, in a network system having a plurality of image forming apparatuses, when transmitting the same e-mail to a plurality of image forming apparatuses, the management side only needs to transmit one e-mail. .
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a management system for an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of an electronic mail processing method according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an electronic mail exchanged in the embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing another embodiment of the electronic mail processing method according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating information received in the other embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the management system of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing another embodiment of the electronic mail processing method according to the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing still another embodiment of the electronic mail processing method according to the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
AC image forming apparatus
10 Receiving mail server
20 Input section
22 CPU
24 memory
26 Transceiver
28 Image forming unit
29 Image output unit
30 Network
40 Mail server for management
50 Management terminal
100 Representative image forming apparatus
110 Input unit
120 CPU
130 memory
140 transceiver
150 Image forming unit
160 Image output unit
170 External connection
210 Network
230 Network
240 management terminal

Claims (8)

A plurality of image forming apparatuses configured to receive an e-mail transmitted through a predetermined network;
Connected to the plurality of image forming apparatuses, connected to the network, stored e-mail transmitted from the network to the image forming apparatus, and assigned one e-mail account to the plurality of image forming apparatuses. With the receiving mail server,
Each of the image forming apparatuses includes:
Receiving means for receiving the e-mail stored in the receiving mail server and deleting the received e-mail,
Data processing means for reading the received e-mail, writing identification information for identifying the image forming apparatus in the e-mail, and sending the e-mail having the identification information to the reception side mail server. A management system for an image forming apparatus. An image forming apparatus configured to receive an e-mail transmitted through a predetermined network;
Connected to the plurality of image forming apparatuses, connected to the network, stored e-mail transmitted from the network to the image forming apparatus, and assigned one e-mail account to the plurality of image forming apparatuses. With the receiving mail server,
Each of the image forming apparatuses includes:
Receiving means for receiving an e-mail stored in the receiving mail server;
Reading the received e-mail, identification information for identifying the e-mail, and data processing means for extracting the text of the e-mail,
And a storage unit for storing the information extracted by the data processing unit. A representative image forming apparatus configured to connect to at least one image forming apparatus, control the image forming apparatus, and receive an e-mail transmitted through a predetermined network;
Connected to the representative image forming apparatus, connected to the network, stored an e-mail transmitted from the network to the representative image forming apparatus, and received one e-mail account assigned to the representative image forming apparatus. Side mail server,
The representative image forming apparatus includes:
Receiving means for receiving an e-mail stored in the receiving mail server;
A management system for an image forming apparatus, comprising: a data processing unit that reads the received e-mail and communicates the contents of the e-mail to each image forming apparatus by electrical means other than the e-mail means. A plurality of image forming apparatuses configured to receive an e-mail transmitted through a predetermined network;
Connected to the plurality of image forming apparatuses, connected to the network, stored e-mail transmitted from the network to the image forming apparatus, and assigned one e-mail account to the plurality of image forming apparatuses. An email processing method for receiving one email by a plurality of image forming apparatuses in a system including a receiving-side mail server,
One image forming apparatus receives the electronic mail stored in the received mail server, and a receiving step of deleting the received electronic mail,
A step of reading the received e-mail and writing identification information for identifying the image forming apparatus in the e-mail;
Sending back the electronic mail in which the identification information is written to the receiving mail server. Before the receiving step, there is provided an identification information determining step of determining whether identification information of the own device is written in a predetermined area of the electronic mail stored in the received mail server. Item 6. The electronic mail processing method according to Item 4. A plurality of image forming apparatuses configured to receive an e-mail transmitted through a predetermined network;
Connected to the plurality of image forming apparatuses, connected to the network, stored e-mail transmitted from the network to the image forming apparatus, and assigned one e-mail account to the plurality of image forming apparatuses. An email processing method for receiving one email by a plurality of image forming apparatuses in a system including a receiving-side mail server,
Receiving the e-mail stored in the receiving mail server,
Reading the received e-mail, identification information for specifying the e-mail, and an extraction step of extracting the body of the e-mail,
Storing the extracted information in a predetermined storage means. After the extracting step, before the storing step, there is provided a storing determining step of determining whether the extracted predetermined information is already stored in the storing means. 7. The method for processing e-mail according to item 6. A representative image forming apparatus configured to connect to at least one image forming apparatus, control the image forming apparatus, and receive an e-mail transmitted through a predetermined network;
Connected to the representative image forming apparatus, connected to the network, stored an e-mail transmitted from the network to the representative image forming apparatus, and received one e-mail account assigned to the representative image forming apparatus. An email processing method for receiving one email by a plurality of image forming apparatuses in a system including
A receiving step in which the representative image forming apparatus receives an e-mail stored in the receiving mail server;
A communication step in which the representative image forming apparatus reads the received e-mail and communicates the contents of the e-mail to each image forming apparatus by electric means other than the e-mail means. Processing method.

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