JP2013191000A - Printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To act for a function for authenticating whether or not a printing system can be used to a user, and a function for recording a printing amount by the user who can use the printing system by other printer in a printing system including a printing device which does not have the functions.SOLUTION: An MFP cooperation part 12 of a printer 1 transmits user authentication information on a user 5 received from a PC3 to an MFP2. A user authentication processing part 20 of the MFP2 determines authentication OK by confirming that the user authentication information received by a printer cooperation part 23 matches to user authentication information of a user information and use amount database part 22, the printer cooperation part 23 of the MFP2 transmits the authentication OK to the printer 1. When a printing control part 11 of the printer 1 confirms the authentication OK of the user 5 from the MFP2, an image printing part 13 is made to execute printing, a printing amount of the user 5 is calculated, and the printing amount of the user 5 is transmitted to the MFP2 to be stored.

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system in which a printing apparatus and other printing apparatuses that can perform authentication of a user who can use the printing apparatus and record a printing amount for each user can communicate with each other via a network.

An image forming apparatus such as a printing apparatus (printer), a copier, a facsimile apparatus, or a multifunction peripheral (MFP) having a plurality of functions thereof is also connected to a network, and user authentication is performed as an information technology (IT) apparatus. It is already known to do.
However, for example, in a printing apparatus, when the printing apparatus itself performs user authentication of the user of the printing apparatus, it is necessary to mount a large-scale storage such as a hard disk or a large-capacity program. However, there was a problem that user authentication could not be performed.

  Therefore, conventionally, in an authentication server that communicates with a printing apparatus, the authentication server stores a service name of an application that can be used by the user. For a user who uses the printing apparatus, the service that can be executed by the printing apparatus is stored as described above. There is an authentication server (for example, refer to Patent Document 1) that sends a startup instruction for the application to the printing apparatus when the service name of the application that can be used by the user is.

However, in the case of the above-described printing system using the printing apparatus and the authentication server, there is a problem that it is impossible to store the print amount of the user who uses the printing apparatus and use it for billing management.
The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and includes a printing system that includes a printing apparatus that does not have a function of authenticating whether or not a user can use it and a function of recording a print amount by a user that can be used. It is an object of the present invention to enable these functions to be substituted by other printing apparatuses in the printing system.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an information processing apparatus, a first printing apparatus including a printing unit that performs printing in accordance with a print instruction from the information processing apparatus, and a user who can use the first printing apparatus. And a second printing device that acts as a proxy for recording the printing amount of a user who can use the first printing device, can be communicated with each other via a network,
The first printing apparatus includes a print instruction receiving unit that receives a print instruction and user authentication information from the information processing apparatus, a user authentication request received by the print instruction receiving unit, and a user authentication request based on the user authentication information. An authentication request result transmission / reception unit that transmits to the second printing device and receives a user authentication result from the second printing device, and a user authentication result received by the authentication request result transmission / reception unit indicates that the user based on the user authentication information In the case of an authentication result for authenticating that the user can use the first printing apparatus, the printing unit is caused to execute printing, the printing amount of the user in the executed printing is obtained, and the user based on the user authentication information is obtained. Is an authentication result that does not authenticate that the user can use the first printing apparatus, and print control that does not cause the printing unit to perform printing A stage and, the print quantity transmission means for transmitting the print amount of the user to which the print control means is determined to the second printing device,
The second printing apparatus includes storage means for storing user authentication information of a user who can use the first printing apparatus and a printing amount of the user, and user authentication information and user authentication from the first printing apparatus. An authentication request receiving means for receiving the request, and when the user authentication information and the user authentication request are received by the authentication request receiving means, if the user authentication information matches the user authentication information stored in the storage means, If the user authentication result authenticates that the user based on the user authentication information is a user who can use the first printing apparatus, and the user authentication result does not match, the user based on the user authentication information is a user who can use the first printing apparatus. The user authentication means for outputting the user authentication results that are not authenticated and the user authentication results output from the user authentication means. Authentication result transmitting means for transmitting to the first printing device, printing amount receiving means for receiving the printing amount from the first printing device, and storing the printing amount received by the printing amount receiving means in the storage means And a storage control means.

  When the printing system according to the present invention includes a printing apparatus that does not have a function of authenticating whether or not the user can use the printing system and a function of recording the printing amount of the user that can be used, these functions are included in the printing system. It can be substituted by other printing devices.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating main functional configurations of a printer 1 and an MFP 2 illustrated in FIG. 2. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a storage format of user authentication information, usage permission information, and print amount for each user stored in a user information / use amount database unit 22 of the MFP 2 illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows an example of the content of the use permission information for every user shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the content of the printing amount for every user shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing respective processes of the printer 1, MFP 2 and PC 3 when a user 5 who can use the printer 1 performs printing by the printer 1 in the printing system shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing respective processes of the printer 1, the MFP 2, and the PC 3 when the user 5 who can use the printer 1 in the printing system shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing respective processes of the printer 1, MFP 2, and PC 3 when a user 6 who cannot use the printer 1 tries to print using the printer 1 in the printing system shown in FIG. 1.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In the printing system of this embodiment, a printer 1, a multifunction peripheral (MFP) 2, and a personal computer (PC) 3 are communicably connected via a network 4.
In FIG. 2, one printer 1, MFP 2, and PC 3 are illustrated, but more other printers, MFPs, and PCs are connected to the network 4, and illustration thereof is omitted.

The printer 1 is a printing apparatus such as an ink jet printer or a laser printer, and corresponds to a first printing apparatus.
The MFP 2 is an image forming apparatus having a plurality of functions including a printer, a copier, a facsimile machine, and the like.
The MFP 2 executes printing, copying, facsimile communication, and communication using the Internet in response to a request from the PC 3, and authentication of a user (user, user) who can use the printer 1 and the printer 1 in this printing system. This corresponds to a second printing apparatus that plays the role of acting as a proxy for recording the printing amount of the user using the.

The PC 3 is an information processing apparatus used by the users 5 and 6, and the network 4 is a communication network such as a wired or wireless local area network (LAN), and enables the printer 1, the MFP 2, and the PC 3 to communicate with each other.
In this embodiment, a case where the user 5 is a user who can use the printer 1 and the user 6 is a user who cannot use the printer 1 will be described.
In this printing system, when the printer 1 receives a print instruction from the user 5 or 6 from the PC 3, the MFP 2 is requested to authenticate whether the user 5 or 6 is a user who can use the printer 1. Printing is executed in the case of the user 5 who is authenticated as a user who can use the printer 1, and the printing is stopped in the case of the user 6 who is not authenticated as a user who can use the printer 1.

Therefore, even if the printer 1 does not have a user authentication function, the use of the printer 1 can be restricted by allowing the MFP 2 having the user authentication function to perform user authentication for the users 5 and 6 of the printer 1. Can do.
Further, when printing is performed by the user 5, the printer 1 transmits the printing amount of the user 5 to the MFP 2, and the MFP 2 stores the printing amount for each user of the printer 1 in a manageable manner. Even if a function for accumulating and managing the printing amount for each user is not provided, the management of the printing amount for each user and the charge management corresponding to the printing amount can be realized.

Next, main functional configurations of the printer 1 and the MFP 2 of the printing system of this embodiment will be described.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing main functional configurations of the printer 1 and the MFP 2 shown in FIG.
The printer 1 is realized by a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and includes a print instruction receiving unit 10, a print control unit 11, an MFP cooperation unit 12, and an image printing unit 13. Note that illustration and description of other known parts such as an operation unit and a display unit are omitted.

On the other hand, the MFP 2 is also realized by a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and includes a user authentication processing unit 20, a usage amount control unit 21, a user information / usage amount database unit 22, a printer cooperation unit 23, a transmission / reception unit 24, an image. A forming unit 25 is provided. Note that illustration and description of other known parts such as an operation unit and a display unit are omitted.
When receiving a print instruction, user authentication information, and print information from the PC 3 via the network 4, the print instruction receiving unit 10 of the printer 1 transmits the print instruction, user authentication information, and print information to the print control unit 11.

The user authentication information includes user IDs and passwords of users 5 and 6.
For the user 5 who can use the printer 1, the user ID and password are stored in the user information / usage amount database unit 22 in advance and distributed to the user 5.
On the other hand, for the user 6 who cannot use the printer 1, the user ID and password are not stored in the user information / usage amount database unit 22.

The print information includes print data and print condition data. That is, the print instruction receiving unit 10 functions as a print instruction receiving unit.
When the print control unit 11 receives the print instruction, the user authentication information of the user 5 and the print information from the print instruction reception unit 10, the print control unit 11 extracts the user authentication information and sends the user authentication request to the MFP cooperation unit 12 together with the user 5 authentication request. 5 user authentication information is transmitted.

  In addition, when the print control unit 11 receives the user authentication result of the users 5 and 6 from the MFP cooperation unit 12, in the case of the user 5, authentication OK indicating an authentication result for authenticating that the user can use the printer 1 is OK. Therefore, the print information is transmitted to the image printing unit 13 to execute printing, and the print amount (for example, the number of print pages or the number of prints) of the user 5 in the executed print is obtained, and the obtained print amount Is associated with the user identification information of the user 5 and output to the MFP cooperation unit 12.

In addition, the print control unit 11 is the authentication NG indicating that the user authentication result received from the MFP cooperation unit 12 is not authenticated as a user who can use the printer 1 in the case of the user 6. Control to prevent printing.
Furthermore, the print control unit 11 prints an image when the user authentication result of the user 5 received from the MFP 2 includes restriction information indicating whether the printer 1 can be used for each print function that can be executed. Control for causing the unit 13 to execute only the printing function indicating that the restriction information is available is also performed. That is, the print control unit 11 functions as a print control unit.

When the MFP cooperation unit 12 receives the user authentication information together with the user authentication requests of the users 5 and 6 from the print control unit 11, the MFP cooperation unit 12 sends the received user authentication information and user authentication request of the users 5 and 6 via the network 4. Send to MFP 2.
When the MFP cooperation unit 12 receives the user authentication result of the users 5 and 6 from the MFP 2 via the network 4, the MFP cooperation unit 12 transmits the user authentication result of the users 5 and 6 to the print control unit 11.
Further, when the MFP cooperation unit 12 receives the user identification information of the user 5 and the print amount (the print amount of the user 5 obtained by the print control unit 11) from the print control unit 11, the MFP cooperation unit 12 uses the MFP 2 via the network 4. User identification information and printing amount are transmitted as a volume report.

Further, when the print amount of the user 5 cannot be transmitted to the MFP 2, the MFP cooperation unit 12 stores the print amount of the user 5 and retransmits it to the MFP 2.
For example, when the user identification information and the print amount cannot be transmitted to the MFP 2 due to the disconnection of the network 4, or when there is no response to the print amount received from the MFP 2, the user identification information and the print amount of the user 5 are illustrated. A process of saving in the omitted memory and retransmitting to the MFP 2 is also performed.

If the usage information cannot be transmitted when the communication is interrupted, the retransmission may be performed after a predetermined time has elapsed, or may be performed after confirming the recovery from the communication disconnection. Good. Since the known process may be used for the communication disconnection recovery confirmation process, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.
Further, in the case of printing by the user 6, the MFP cooperation unit 12 also transmits a print disable notification to the PC 3 based on an instruction from the print control unit 11.
That is, the MFP cooperation unit 12 functions as an authentication request result transmission / reception unit, a print amount transmission unit, and a retransmission unit.

The image printing unit 13 prints an image on a recording medium (for example, paper) based on the print information received from the print control unit 11 under the control of the print control unit 11.
In other words, the image printing unit 13 functions as a printing unit that prints according to a printing instruction from the PC 3.

  On the other hand, the user authentication processing unit 20 of the MFP 2 executes user authentication processing when receiving user authentication information and a user authentication request from the printer cooperation unit 23, and stores the user authentication information in the user information / usage amount database unit 22. If the user authentication information matches the authentication result indicating that the user 5 based on the user authentication information authenticates that the user 1 can use the printer 1, the authentication result indicating that the user authentication information indicates that the user 5 can use the printer 1. Authentication NG indicating an authentication result that is not authenticated as a user who can use 1 is output to the printer cooperation unit 23.

Further, the user authentication processing unit 20 is a user who can use the printer 1 stored in the user information / usage amount database unit 22 as a user authentication result for authenticating that the user 5 is a user who can use the printer 1. For 5, a process of including restriction information indicating whether or not each printing function that can be executed by the printer 1 can be used is also performed.
That is, the user authentication processing unit 20 functions as a user authentication unit.
The usage amount control unit 21 controls the user information / usage amount database unit 22 to store the printing amount for each user and for each printing condition based on the printing amount of the user 5 received from the printer cooperation unit 23. When finished, a storage end notification is transmitted to the printer cooperation unit 23. That is, the usage amount control unit 21 functions as a storage control unit.

The user information / usage amount database unit 22 stores in advance user authentication information (including user authentication information of the user 5) of a user who can use the printer 1, and further prints a user who can use the printer 1 (user 5). (Including the amount of printing). In addition, the user information / usage amount database unit 22 is use permission that is restriction information indicating whether or not each user can use the printer 1 (including the user 5) for each print function that the printer 1 can execute. It also stores information.
That is, the user information / usage amount database unit 22 functions as a storage unit.

The printer cooperation unit 23 receives the user authentication information of the users 5 and 6 and the user authentication request from the printer 1 via the network 4 and the user authentication result output from the user authentication processing unit 20 via the network 4. The process of transmitting to the printer 1 and the process of receiving the print amount of the user 5 from the printer 1 are performed.
In addition, when the printer cooperation unit 23 receives a storage end notification from the usage amount control unit 21, the printer cooperation unit 23 also performs processing for transmitting the storage end notification to the printer 1 via the network 4.
That is, the printer cooperation unit 23 functions as an authentication request receiving unit, an authentication result transmitting unit, and a print amount receiving unit.

The transmission / reception unit 24 receives various requests including printing, copying, and facsimile transmission from the PC 3 via the network 4 and transmits responses to those requests.
The image forming unit 25 is configured to form an image for printing, copying, and facsimile transmission / reception, not shown, and performs image forming processing for printing, copying, and facsimile transmission based on a request from the PC 3. Since the image forming unit 25 is a known technique, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In this printing system, when user authentication information of the user 5 who can use the printer 1 is registered in the MFP 2 in advance, when the user 5 causes the printer 1 to print via the PC 3, the user authentication information is stored in the PC 3 along with its own user authentication information. When a print instruction is input, the user authentication information is sent via the printer 1 to the MFP 2 acting as a user authentication process.
The MFP 2 executes user authentication processing for the user 5 based on the user authentication request from the printer 1, and returns a user authentication result of authentication OK to the printer 1 for use of the printer 1 by the user 5.

When the printer 1 confirms the user authentication result of the authentication of the user 5 from the MFP 2, the printer 1 executes a print instruction from the PC 3, and after the execution of printing, the print amount (for example, the number of printed pages) of the user 5 is sent to the MFP 2. The print amount of the user 5 is stored in the MFP 2.
On the other hand, when the user authentication result received from the MFP 2 is authentication NG (in the case of a print request by the user 6), the printer 1 does not execute the print instruction requested from the PC 3.

  In this way, even if the printer 1 does not have a user authentication function and a function for accumulating and managing the print amount for each user, the printer 1 has a function for accumulating and managing the user authentication function and the print amount for each user. By allowing the MFP 2 to perform user authentication for the user of the printer 1 and storing the print amount, the usage restriction of the printer 1 and the charge management according to the print amount can be easily realized.

In addition, the authentication result transmitted from the MFP 2 to the printer 1 includes use permission information that is restriction information indicating whether or not a user who can use the printer 1 can use each print function that can be executed by the printer 1. The printer 1 can provide only a print function that can be used for the user, and can easily realize the use restriction for each print function of the printer 1 for the user.
Further, since the printer 1 has a function of resending the print amount of the user when it cannot be transmitted to the MFP 2, the print amount for each user when the print is performed by the user is surely stored in the MFP 2. And the reliability of print amount management for each user can be improved.

Next, a storage format of user authentication information, usage permission information, and printing amount for each user stored in the user information / usage amount database unit 22 of the MFP 2 shown in FIG. 1 will be described.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a storage format of user authentication information, usage permission information, and printing amount for each user stored in the user information / usage amount database unit 22 of the MFP 2 shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the usage permission information for each user shown in FIG.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the print amount for each user shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, the user information / use amount database unit 22 stores user authentication information, use permission information, and a print amount in association with each other for each user identification information of the user.
The user identification information is an ID assigned to each user of the PC 3 on the network 4 and each PC not shown. For example, the user identification information of the user 5 is “U001”.
The user authentication information includes a user ID and a password given to a user who can use the printer 1.

  The user authentication processing unit 20 in FIG. 3 refers to this data when there is a user authentication request from the printer 1, and is stored in the user ID / password received from the printer 1 and the user information / usage amount database unit 22. If the user ID and password match, the authentication OK for authenticating the user who can use the printer 1 is determined, and if the user ID does not match, the authentication NG for not authenticating the user who can use the printer 1 is determined. be able to.

  The usage permission information is restriction information that indicates whether or not each printer 1 can execute the printing function. As shown in FIG. 4, for example, “monochrome printing” “monochrome printing” “2” of the printer 1 is used. Information indicating whether the user can print or not is stored as the restriction content for each printing function of “color color printing” and “full color printing”. As the single color of the single color printing, it is preferable to designate one predetermined color (for example, magenta). Further, it is preferable to designate two predetermined colors as the color of the two-color printing (for example, magenta and cyan). These designations may be changed arbitrarily by the administrator of the network 4.

The print amount is a print amount printed by the user 1 who can use the printer 1 with the printer 1, and the content is updated each time printing is performed.
For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the number of printed pages is sequentially stored for each type of printing function and printed paper type. The paper type is A3, A4, double letter (DLT), or the like. Based on the print amount accumulated in this way, the user 5 can be charged for printing.

In addition, the storage format of each data shown in FIGS. 3-5 is an example, and you may make it memorize | store in another format.
FIG. 4 shows an example of the print function for the print color as the print function of the usage permission information. However, various other types such as print paper size, double-sided print, collective print, and paper feed tray selection are shown. As for the print function, it can be set to be available or unavailable for each user in the same manner as described above.
Further, FIG. 5 shows a case where the number of pages is stored as the printing function used and the printing amount for each paper type for each user. For example, the number of pages may be stored for each used paper type. It is also possible to store the number of printed sheets.

Next, with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 6, each process of the PC 3, the printer 1, and the MFP 2 when the user 5 who can use the printer 1 in this printing system performs printing with the printer 1 will be described.
FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing respective processes of the printer 1, MFP 2, and PC 3 when the user 5 who can use the printer 1 performs printing by the printer 1 in the printing system shown in FIG. 1.

In this processing, user authentication information of the user 5 is stored in the MFP 2 in advance, and processing when the user 5 is authenticated as a user who can use the printer 1 will be described.
The user 5 creates print information (print data and print condition data) using the PC 3.
In step (indicated by “S” in the figure) 1 in FIG. 6, the user 5 inputs user authentication information and a print instruction to the PC 3. The user authentication information and the print instruction are input from an operation unit (not shown) of the PC 3.
In step 2, the PC 3 transmits user authentication information, a print instruction, and print information to the printer 1.
This transmission process is performed via the network 4 by a communication control unit (not shown) of the PC 3.

The user authentication information, the print instruction, and the print information transmitted from the PC 3 are received via the network 4 by the print instruction receiving unit 10 of the printer 1.
In step 3, the printer 1 stores the user authentication information and print information received from the PC 3 in a memory (not shown) of the printer 1.
When the print instruction receiving unit 10 of the printer 1 receives the user authentication information, the print instruction, and the print information, they are transmitted to the print control unit 11, and the print control unit 11 omits the user authentication information and the print information from the printer 1. The user authentication information and the user authentication request are transmitted to the MFP cooperation unit 12.

In step 4, the printer 1 transmits user authentication information and a user authentication request to the MFP 2. This transmission processing is performed by the MFP cooperation unit 12 of the printer 1.
On the other hand, when the printer cooperation unit 23 receives user authentication information and a user authentication request from the printer 1 via the network 4, the MFP 2 transmits them to the user authentication processing unit 20.
In step 5, the MFP 2 performs user authentication.
The user authentication processing is performed by the user authentication processing unit 20 of the MFP 2 with reference to the user information / usage amount database unit 22.

When the user authentication processing unit 20 matches the user authentication information stored in the user information / usage amount database unit 22, the user authentication result is determined to be authentication OK for authenticating that the user 5 can use the printer 1. If they do not match, an authentication NG that does not authenticate that the user 5 is a user who can use the printer 1 is determined as a user authentication result.
In this user authentication process, since the user ID and password of the user 5 are stored in the user information / usage amount database unit 22, authentication OK is determined as the user authentication result of the user 5.

When the user authentication processing unit 20 determines authentication OK, the user authentication processing unit 20 reads out user identification information and usage permission information (corresponding to the restriction information of the user 5) corresponding to the user authentication information from the user information / usage amount database unit 22, and the user An authentication result including identification information, use permission information, and authentication OK is output to the printer cooperation unit 23.
In step 6, the MFP 2 transmits a user authentication result including authentication OK, user identification information, and use permission information to the printer 1. This transmission process is performed by the printer cooperation unit 23 of the MFP 2.

On the other hand, when the MFP cooperation unit 12 receives the user authentication result from the MFP 2 via the network 4, the printer 1 transmits it to the print control unit 11.
In step 7, the printer 1 executes printing.
In this printing process, when the print control unit 11 of the printer 1 confirms that the user authentication result received from the MFP cooperation unit 12 includes the authentication OK and the usage permission information, the image printing unit 13 receives it from the PC 3. The print information is sent, and only the print functions permitted by the use permission information are printed. Further, the printing amount is obtained after printing. For the print amount, the number of pages for each printed color type and each paper type is obtained. The user identification information is made to correspond to the determined printing amount and transmitted to the MFP cooperation unit 12.

In step 8, the printer 1 transmits user identification information and a printing amount to the MFP 2. This transmission processing is performed by the MFP cooperation unit 12 of the printer 1.
On the other hand, when the printer cooperation unit 23 receives the user identification information and the print amount from the printer 1 via the network 4, the MFP 2 transmits it to the usage amount control unit 21.
In step 9, the MFP 2 stores the print amount of the user 5. This storage processing is performed by the usage amount control unit 21 for the user information / usage amount database unit 22.

When the use amount control unit 21 of the MFP 2 completes the storage, it notifies the printer cooperation unit 23 that the storage of the print amount has been completed.
In step 10, the MFP 2 transmits a print amount storage completion notification to the printer 1. This transmission process is performed by the printer cooperation unit 23 of the MFP 2.
In this way, the printer 1 can have the MFP 2 store the user authentication and the print amount printed by the user who has been authenticated by the MFP 2, so that the user authentication function and the print amount for each user are stored. Even if the functions are not provided, these functions can be easily introduced.

Next, a process in which the printer 1 resends the print amount in the above-described process of the printing system will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 7.
FIG. 7 shows respective processes of the printer 1, MFP 2 and PC 3 when the user 5 who can use the printer 1 in the printing system shown in FIG. It is a sequence diagram.
In FIG. 7, the same step numbers are assigned to the processes in steps 1 to 7 that are the same as those in FIG. 6, and descriptions thereof are omitted.

In the process in which the printer 1 in step 11 in FIG. 7 transmits the user identification information and the print amount to the MFP 2, if the user identification information and the print amount cannot be transmitted, in step 12, the printer 1 identifies the user identification information. And the printing amount are stored.
For example, when the MFP cooperation unit 12 of the printer 1 cannot transmit the user identification information and the print amount to the MFP 2 due to the disconnection of the network 4, the user identification information and the print amount are stored in the memory of the printer 1 (not shown). And save.
Then, after a predetermined time has elapsed, the MFP cooperation unit 12 retransmits the user identification information and the print amount to the MFP 2 in step 13. This retransmission processing is performed by the MFP cooperation unit 12 of the printer 1.

When this re-transmission process is successful, when the printer cooperation unit 23 receives the user identification information and the print amount from the printer 1 via the network 4, the MFP 2 transmits them to the usage amount control unit 21.
In step 14, the MFP 2 stores the print amount of the user 5. This storage processing is performed by the usage amount control unit 21 for the user information / usage amount database unit 22.
When the use amount control unit 21 of the MFP 2 completes the storage, it notifies the printer cooperation unit 23 that the storage of the print amount has been completed.

In step 15, the MFP 2 transmits a print amount storage completion notification to the printer 1. This transmission process is performed by the printer cooperation unit 23 of the MFP 2.
Further, after transmitting the user identification information and the print amount, the printer 1 performs the above-described steps 12 and 13 even when the print amount storage completion notification is not received from the MFP 2 even after a predetermined time has elapsed. To.
In this way, the printer 1 can reliably transmit and store the printing amount for each user in the MFP 2, and can improve the reliability of management of the printing amount for each user.

Next, with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 8, each process of the printer 1, MFP 2, and PC 3 when a user who cannot use the printer 1 tries to print using the printer 1 in this printing system will be described.
FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing respective processes of the printer 1, the MFP 2, and the PC 3 when the user 6 who cannot use the printer 1 in the printing system shown in FIG.
In FIG. 8, the user 6 is a user who cannot use the printer 1, and the user ID and password of the user 6 are not stored as user authentication information in the MFP 2.

In FIG. 8, the same step numbers are assigned to the processes in steps 1 to 5 that are the same as those in FIG. 6, and descriptions thereof are omitted.
The user authentication result of step 5 in FIG. 8 is authentication NG because the user ID and password of the user 6 are not stored in the user information / usage amount database unit 22, and in step 16, the MFP 2 authenticates the printer 1 with NG. The user authentication result including it is transmitted. This transmission process is performed by the printer cooperation unit 23 of the MFP 2.
On the other hand, when the MFP cooperation unit 12 receives the user authentication result from the MFP 2 via the network 4, the printer 1 transmits it to the print control unit 11.

In steps 17 to 19, the printer 1 stops printing, records the printing stop, and transmits a print impossible notification to the PC 3.
For these processes, when the print control unit 11 of the printer 1 confirms that the authentication result NG is included in the user authentication result received from the MFP cooperation unit 12, the image printing unit 13 performs printing without executing printing. Cancel. The print control unit 11 further records the print cancellation in a memory (not shown) of the printer 1, and the MFP cooperation unit 12 transmits a print disable notification to the PC 3 based on an instruction from the print control unit 11.

Note that if the user using the PC 3 does not input a user ID or password, the MFP 2 cannot perform user authentication, and the authentication NG is notified to the printer 1 for such a user. Do not print in the same way as
In this way, only the user who can use the printer 1 in advance can be used.
Although the description of the embodiment has been completed above, in the present invention, the specific configuration of each unit, the content of processing, the data format, and the like are not limited to those described in the embodiment.
Further, it goes without saying that the configurations of the embodiments described above can be implemented in any combination as long as they do not contradict each other.

1: Printer 2: MFP (MFP) 3: PC 4: Network 5, 6: User 10: Print instruction receiving unit 11: Print control unit 12: MFP cooperation unit 13: Image printing unit 20: User authentication processing unit 21: Usage amount control unit 22: User information / usage amount database unit 23: Printer cooperation unit 24: Transmission / reception unit 25: Image forming unit

JP 2008-140181 A

Claims (3)

An information processing apparatus, a first printing apparatus including a printing unit that prints according to a printing instruction from the information processing apparatus, authentication of a user who can use the first printing apparatus, and use of the first printing apparatus A printing system capable of communicating with each other via a network with a second printing apparatus acting on behalf of recording of a possible print amount of a user;
The first printing apparatus includes:
Print instruction receiving means for receiving a print instruction and user authentication information from the information processing apparatus;
Authentication request result transmission / reception means for transmitting user authentication information received by the print instruction receiving means and a user authentication request based on the user authentication information to the second printing apparatus and receiving a user authentication result from the second printing apparatus; ,
If the user authentication result received by the authentication request result transmitting / receiving means is an authentication result for authenticating that the user based on the user authentication information is a user who can use the first printing apparatus, printing is performed on the printing means. In the case of an authentication result that does not authenticate that the user according to the user authentication information is a user who can use the first printing apparatus, print on the printing unit. Print control means not to execute
Printing amount transmission means for transmitting the printing amount obtained by the printing control means to the second printing apparatus;
The second printing apparatus includes:
Storage means for storing user authentication information of a user who can use the first printing apparatus and the printing amount of the user;
Authentication request receiving means for receiving user authentication information and a user authentication request from the first printing apparatus;
When the user authentication information and the user authentication request are received by the authentication request receiving means, and the user authentication information matches the user authentication information stored in the storage means, the user based on the user authentication information is If the user authentication result for authenticating that the user can use the printing apparatus does not match, the user authentication result for not authenticating that the user based on the user authentication information is a user who can use the first printing apparatus is output. User authentication means;
Authentication result transmission means for transmitting the user authentication result output from the user authentication means to the first printing apparatus;
Print amount receiving means for receiving the print amount from the first printing device;
And a storage control unit for storing the print amount received by the print amount receiving unit in the storage unit. The printing system according to claim 1,
In the case where the first printing apparatus includes restriction information indicating whether the printing control unit can use each printing function that can be executed by the first printing apparatus in the user authentication result. , Means for causing the printing means to execute only a printing function indicating that the restriction information is available,
The second printing apparatus stores, in the storage unit, restriction information indicating whether a user who can use the first printing apparatus can use each printing function that can be executed by the first printing apparatus. The user authentication unit authenticates that the user can use the first printing apparatus, and the user authentication result is stored in the storage unit for the user who can use the first printing apparatus. A printing system comprising means for including restriction information indicating whether or not each printing function executable by the first printing apparatus can be used. The printing system according to claim 1 or 2,
The first printing apparatus stores the printing quantity and re-sends it to the second printing apparatus when the printing quantity obtained by the printing control unit cannot be transmitted to the second printing apparatus. A printing system comprising re-transmission means.

Images