JP6645055B2 - Image processing system, image forming apparatus, screen display method, and computer program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for authenticating a user in an image forming apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Image forming apparatuses in which functions such as copying, network printing, facsimile, scanning, and a file server are integrated have become widespread. Such an image forming apparatus is called a “multifunction machine” or “MFP (Multi Function Peripherals)”.

  The image forming apparatus may be shared by a plurality of users. Each user is given a user account in advance. Then, the user can use the image forming apparatus by logging in to the image forming apparatus with his / her user account.

  In addition, a technique for remotely accessing a terminal device such as a tablet computer, a smartphone, or a personal computer to the image forming apparatus and remotely operating the image forming apparatus using the terminal device has been widely used.

  Furthermore, social media has become widespread in recent years. In order to use social media, a user must log in to a social media web server or the like using his or her user account.

  Thus, in recent years, users have various user accounts. Therefore, a user account must be used for each object to be used, which is troublesome.

  The following techniques have been proposed in order to reduce the inconvenience. It stores a mapping table in which a user account on the cooperation source Web site and a user account on the cooperation destination Web site are associated with each other, acquires account information on the cooperation source Web site, and stores the acquired account information in the cooperation destination using the mapping table. The account information is converted into Web site account information, and the account information is returned to the user in order to access the cooperation destination Web site using the converted account information (Patent Document 1).

JP 2013-149238 A

  By the way, the user has to remember a user ID for identifying each user account.

  In order to reduce the trouble, it is conceivable to use information such as a user name in social media as a user ID of a user account in the image forming apparatus.

  However, social media is rarely used via the image forming apparatus. Also, the user may use a plurality of social media.

  Therefore, the user may forget what information is used as the user ID of the user account in the image forming apparatus.

  In view of such a problem, an object of the present invention is to present to a user more easily what information in social media is used as a user ID of a user account in an image forming apparatus than before. I do.

  An image processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an image forming apparatus that can access a storage unit that stores an identifier of each of a plurality of users; a terminal device for remotely operating the image forming apparatus; An image processing system comprising: an acquiring unit that acquires user information on a user of the terminal device in social media on the terminal device; and a user information transmitting unit that transmits the user information to the image forming device. Is provided in the image forming apparatus, a search unit for searching for the identifier including the user information transmitted from the terminal device, and the identifier searched by the search unit is input in advance. Or, in a state where an object for selecting the identifier is arranged and for authentication of a user of the terminal device, Image data generating means for generating image data for displaying a surface, image data transmitting means for transmitting the image data to the terminal device, provided in the terminal device, further from the image forming apparatus Display means for displaying the screen based on the transmitted image data is provided.

  An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, which can access a storage unit that stores an identifier of each of a plurality of users and is remotely operated by a terminal device. Receiving means for receiving user information relating to the user of the terminal device among a plurality of users; searching means for searching the identifier including the user information from the storage means; and the identifier searched by the searching means Generating image data for displaying a screen for authentication of a user of the terminal device in a state where is input in advance or an object for selecting the identifier is arranged. Means, and image data transmitting means for transmitting the image data to the terminal device.

  Preferably, the receiving unit obtains the user information in each of the plurality of social media, and the searching unit, when the plurality of user information is obtained by the receiving unit, for each of the plurality of user information , Search for the identifier.

  Alternatively, the image data generation unit transmits, as the image data, data for displaying a screen in which objects for selecting the plurality of identifiers searched by the search unit are arranged.

  Alternatively, the image data generating unit may include, as the image data, the social media related to the user information used as a key when the search unit searches among the plurality of identifiers searched by the search unit. Data for displaying a screen in which an identifier with the highest priority is input in advance is generated.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, what kind of information in social media is used as a user ID of a user account in an image forming apparatus can be more easily shown to a user than before.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an overall configuration of an image processing system. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a terminal device. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a functional configuration of each of an image forming apparatus and a terminal device. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of user account data. It is a figure showing the example of social media data. It is a figure showing an example of a home screen. It is a figure showing an example of a top screen. FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a flow of a user information acquisition process. It is a figure showing the example of the page for input. It is a figure showing an example of a page for permission. It is a figure showing the example of the screen for attestation. It is a figure showing the example of the screen for attestation. It is a figure showing the example of the screen for attestation. It is a figure showing the example of the screen for attestation. It is a figure showing an example of a prior order table. It is a figure showing an example of a performance table. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an overall processing flow in a terminal device. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a modification of the overall processing flow in the terminal device. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the overall processing flow in the image forming apparatus.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the overall configuration of the image processing system 100. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the terminal device 2.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image processing system 100 includes an image forming apparatus 1, a terminal device 2, a communication line 3, and the like.

  The image forming apparatus 1 and the terminal device 2 can communicate via the communication line 3. As the communication line 3, a so-called LAN (Local Area Network) line or the like is used. The communication line 3 includes a router, a hub, a twisted pair cable, a wireless base station, and the like.

  The router is connected to the Internet. Thereby, the image forming apparatus 1 and the terminal device 2 can communicate with the web server 4 on the Internet.

  The image forming apparatus 1 is an apparatus that integrates functions such as copying, network printing, facsimile, and scanning. Generally, it may be called a “multifunction device” or “MFP (Multi Function Peripherals)”.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 10a, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 10b, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 10c, an auxiliary storage device 10d, a touch panel display 10e, and an operation key panel 10f. , NIC (Network Interface Card) 10g, modem 10h, scan unit 10i, print unit 10j, short-range wireless communication device 10k, and the like.

  The touch panel display 10e displays a screen showing a message to the user, a screen for the user to input a command or information, a screen showing the result of processing executed by the CPU 10a, and the like. The touch panel display 10e sends a signal indicating the touched position to the CPU 10a.

  The operation key panel 10f is a so-called hardware keyboard, and includes ten keys, a start key, a stop key, a function key, and the like.

  The NIC 10g communicates with the terminal device 2, the web server 4, and the like by a protocol such as TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol).

  The modem 10h exchanges image data with a facsimile terminal using a protocol such as G3.

  The short-range wireless communication device 10k communicates with the terminal device 2 and the like based on a short-range wireless communication standard such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) or IrDA (Infrared Data Association).

  The scanning unit 10i reads an image written on a sheet set on the platen glass and generates image data.

  The print unit 10j prints the image read by the scan unit 10i. Further, a network print is performed. That is, an image is printed on a sheet based on data received by the NIC 10g from the terminal device 2 or the like. In addition, an image is printed on paper based on data received by the modem 10h from the fax terminal.

  The ROM 10c or the auxiliary storage device 10d stores a program for realizing the above-described functions such as copying and network printing. Further, a remote access server program 1P for allowing the terminal device 2 to remotely access the image forming apparatus 1 is stored (installed).

  These programs are loaded into the RAM 10b as needed, and executed by the CPU 10a. A hard disk or a solid state drive (SSD) is used as the auxiliary storage device 10d.

  The terminal device 2 is a client for using the above-described functions of the image forming apparatus 1. For example, the image forming apparatus 1 causes the image forming apparatus 1 to execute a job for printing a document stored in the terminal device 2 itself (network print job) and a job for sending a fax to another device (fax transmission job).

  Further, the terminal device 2 is used as a user interface of the image forming apparatus 1 instead of the touch panel display 10e. That is, it is used as a remote panel.

  As the terminal device 2, a tablet computer, a smartphone, a personal computer, or the like is used. Hereinafter, a case where a tablet computer is used as the terminal device 2 will be described as an example.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal device 2 includes a CPU 20a, a RAM 20b, a ROM 20c, a flash memory 20d, a touch panel display 20e, an operation button group 20f, a digital camera 20g, a wireless LAN communication device 20h, a short-range wireless communication device 20i, and the like. Be composed.

  The touch panel display 20e displays a screen showing a message to the user, a screen for the user to input a command or information, a screen showing the result of the processing executed by the CPU 20a, and the like. Further, while the terminal device 2 is remotely accessing the image forming apparatus 1, a screen to be displayed on the touch panel display 10e of the image forming apparatus 1 is displayed.

  Further, the touch panel display 20e sends a signal indicating the touched position to the CPU 20a.

  The operation button group 20f includes a button for returning to the home screen, a button for adjusting the volume, a button for switching on / off the power, and the like. The digital camera 20g captures an image.

  The wireless LAN communication device 20h communicates with the image forming device 1 and the web server 4 by a protocol such as TCP / IP via a wireless base station forming the communication line 3.

  The short-range wireless communication device 20i performs short-range wireless communication based on the same standard as the short-range wireless communication device 10k of the image forming apparatus 1.

  In the ROM 20c or the flash memory 20d, various application programs such as a web browser and word processing software are stored in addition to a driver for using the above-described functions of the image forming apparatus 1. Furthermore, one or more applications 2P1 for receiving social media services are stored (installed). In addition, a remote access client program 2P2 is stored as a program for remotely accessing the image forming apparatus 1.

  These programs are loaded into the RAM 20b as needed, and executed by the CPU 20a.

  Examples of social media include an SNS (Social Networking Service), an electronic bulletin board, and a social bookmark. In the present embodiment, a web server 4 is provided for each social media. The web server 4 provides a social media service.

  In addition, each social media corresponds to OAuth. Examples of social media corresponding to OAuth include Facebook of Facebook, Google+ of Google, Twitter of Twitter, and LINE of LINE.

  According to the remote access server program 1P and the remote access client program 2P2, a user can log in to the image forming apparatus 1 using a user name on social media. Hereinafter, this mechanism will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of each of the image forming apparatus 1 and the terminal device 2. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the user account data 51. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the social media data 52. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the home screen 60. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the top screen 61. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the flow of the user information acquisition process. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the input page 62. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the permission page 63. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of the authentication screen 64.

  According to the remote access server program 1P, the account storage unit 101, the remote access control unit 102, the user account search unit 103, the authentication screen generation unit 104, the authentication screen transmission unit 105, the operation determination unit 106, and the user authentication unit illustrated in FIG. Functions such as 107 are realized in the image forming apparatus 1.

  According to the remote access client program 2P2, the social media storage unit 201, the top screen display processing unit 202, the remote access control unit 203, the application presence / absence determination unit 204, the user information acquisition unit 205, the user information notification unit 206, the screen display control unit 207 And functions such as the operation content notification unit 208 are realized in the image forming apparatus 1.

  The account storage unit 101 of the image forming apparatus 1 stores user account data 51 for each user as shown in FIG. The user account data 51 stores a user ID (identification) and a password in advance. The user account data 51 is used for user authentication when a user logs in to the image forming apparatus 1. The user can use a code determined by the administrator of the image forming apparatus 1 as his or her user ID, or can use a user name that he or she uses on social media.

  As shown in FIG. 6, social media data 52 for each social media is stored in the social media storage unit 201 of the terminal device 2 in advance. The social media data 52 indicates the name of the social media (social media name), a custom URL (Uniform Resource Locator), and an authentication URL.

  The custom URL is a URL for activating the social media application 2P1. Sometimes referred to as a “URL scheme” or “custom URL scheme”.

  The authentication URL is a URL of a web page for performing user authentication on the social media.

  As the social media storage unit 201, a library of a list of applications provided by the operating system of the terminal device 2 may be used.

  When the user remotely controls the image forming apparatus 1 using the terminal device 2 as a remote panel, the user touches the icon 60a of the remote access client program 2P2 from the home screen 60 in FIG. Activate 2P2.

  Then, the top screen display processing unit 202 or the operation content notification unit 208 performs the following processing.

  The top screen display processing unit 202 displays the top screen 61 as shown in FIG. 8 on the touch panel display 20e.

  The user presses the connection button 61 a from the top screen 61 in order to allow the terminal device 2 to remotely access the image forming apparatus 1.

  Then, the remote access control unit 203 connects to the image forming apparatus 1 and, together with the remote access control unit 102 of the image forming apparatus 1, establishes a connection between the image forming apparatus 1 and the terminal device 2 for remote access. To establish. The connection may be established via short-range wireless communication or via the communication line 3.

  Further, when the user wants to log in to the image forming apparatus 1 using the user name of the social media, but forgets the user name, the user presses the cooperation button 61b.

  Then, the following processing is performed by the application presence / absence determination unit 204 or the operation content notification unit 208.

  The application presence / absence determination unit 204 checks whether or not the application 2P1 of each social media is installed in the terminal device 2. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the application 2P1 of the social media name of each social media data 52 described in the social media storage unit 201 is installed in the ROM 20c or the flash memory 20d.

  The user information acquisition unit 205 acquires information such as a user name of a user from the web server 4 of each social media. Hereinafter, a case where the user name of the user Y is obtained from the web server 4 of a certain social media X will be described as an example.

  When the application presence / absence determining unit 204 determines that the application 2P1 of the social media X is not installed, the user information obtaining unit 205 obtains the user name of the user of the terminal device 2 according to the procedure illustrated in FIG. At this time, OAuth is used as a protocol. The web server 4 is on the server provider side, and the terminal device 2 is on the consumer side.

  In FIG. 9, the user information acquisition unit 205 attempts to access an authentication web page in the web server 4 of social media X based on the authentication URL indicated in the social media data 52 of social media X (# 701). ). That is, a web page for authentication is requested.

  Upon receiving the request (# 721), the web server 4 redirects a web page (hereinafter, referred to as “input page 62”) as shown in FIG. 10 for inputting a user ID and the like, An instruction is given to the terminal device 2 (# 722).

  Upon receiving the instruction (# 703), the user information acquisition unit 205 performs a redirect according to the instruction (# 704). That is, the input page 62 is requested.

  Upon receiving the request (# 723), the web server 4 transmits a file for displaying the input page 62 to the terminal device 2 (# 724). This file is described in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) or JavaScript (registered trademark). If the authentication URL directly indicates the input page 62, the web server 4 may transmit the file of the input page 62 to the terminal device 2 without requesting a redirect.

  Upon receiving the file (# 704), the user information acquisition unit 205 displays the input page 62 on the touch panel display 20e based on the received file (# 705). The input page 62 may be displayed in the form of a dialog.

  Here, the user Y inputs his / her user ID and password used in the social media X into the text box 62a and the text box 62b, respectively. Then, the user presses the login button 62c.

  Then, the user information acquisition unit 205 accepts the input user ID and password (# 706), and transmits them to the image forming apparatus 1 (# 707).

  Upon receiving the user ID and the password (# 725), the web server 4 performs a process of authenticating the user Y (# 726).

  Then, as a result of this processing, when it is confirmed that the user Y is a legitimate user, the web server 4 provides the information of the user Y included in the social media X to the remote access client program 2P2. A request is made to the terminal device 2 to permit (# 727). At this time, a file for displaying a web page as shown in FIG. 11 (hereinafter, referred to as “permission page 63”) is transmitted to the terminal device 2.

  Upon receiving the file (# 708), the user information acquisition unit 205 displays the permission page 63 on the touch panel display 20e based on the received file (# 709). The permission page 63 may be displayed in the form of a dialog.

  The user Y presses the permission button 63a to permit providing his / her information to the remote access client program 2P2.

  When detecting that the permission button 63a has been pressed (# 710), the user information acquisition unit 205 transmits a response to the effect that the permission is given to the web server 4 (# 711).

  When the web server 4 receives the response to the effect (# 728), it issues the access token 53 of the user Y in the social media X (# 729) and transmits it to the terminal device 2 (# 730).

  Then, the user information acquisition unit 205 receives the access token 53 (# 712). Thereby, the remote access client program 2P2 can acquire the information of the user Y from the social media X.

  The user information acquisition unit 205 queries the web server 4 for the user name of the user Y using the access token 53 (# 713).

  Upon receiving the inquiry (# 731), the web server 4 searches for the user name of the user Y (# 732), and transmits the user data 54 indicating the user name of the user Y to the terminal device 2 (# 733).

  Then, the user information acquisition unit 205 receives the user data 54 (# 714). Thus, the user information acquisition unit 205 acquires the user name of the user Y.

On the other hand, when the application presence / absence determination unit 204 determines that the application 2P1 of the social media X is installed, the user information acquisition unit 205 performs the following processing.
The application presence / absence determining unit 204 activates the application 2P1 based on the custom URL indicated in the social media data 52 of the social media X (see FIG. 6). Thus, the application 2P1 of the social media X is activated.

  Then, by using this application 2P1, a part or all of the processing shown in FIG. 9 is executed.

  In some cases, the application 2P1 has already acquired and held the access token 53 from the social media X web server 4. In this case, the processes in steps # 701 to # 712 may be skipped, and the processes in and after step # 713 may be executed using the access token 53. Alternatively, if the user data 54 has already been acquired and held, the processing after step # 713 is also omitted, and the user information notification unit 206 may execute the processing described below using the user data 54. Good.

  Returning to FIG. 4, user information notifying section 206 transmits user data 54 to image forming apparatus 1. Thereby, the user name of the user of the terminal device 2 is notified to the image forming apparatus 1.

  In the image forming apparatus 1, the user account search unit 103 receives the user data 54, and from the account storage unit 101 (see FIG. 5), the user account data 51 indicating the user name indicated in the user data 54 as the user ID Search for.

  The authentication screen generation unit 104 generates image data 55 for displaying an authentication screen 64 as shown in FIG. The authentication screen 64 is a screen for the user of the terminal device 2 to be authenticated and log in to the image forming apparatus 1. If the user account data 51 is found by the user account search unit 103, the image data 55 of the authentication screen 64 in a state where the user ID indicated in the user account data 51 has been input in the text box 64a in advance is generated.

  The authentication screen transmission unit 105 transmits the image data 55 generated by the authentication screen generation unit 104 to the terminal device 2.

  In the terminal device 2, when receiving the image data 55, the screen display control unit 207 causes the touch panel display 20e to display the authentication screen 64 based on the image data 55.

  Here, the user performs the following operation on the touch panel display 20e. A user ID for logging in to the image forming apparatus 1 is entered in the text box 64a. Further, the user inputs the password in the text box 64b. However, if the user ID has already been entered in the text box 64a, only the password needs to be entered. The user ID and the password may be input using the software keyboard 64d. Then, when the input is completed, the user presses the login button 64c.

  The operation content notifying unit 208 notifies the image forming apparatus 1 of the content of the operation performed on the touch panel display 20e. For example, the coordinates of the touched position on the touch panel display 20e and the touched time are notified. Alternatively, the type and parameter of the gesture may be determined and notified.

  In the image forming apparatus 1, the operation determining unit 106 determines which object (the text box 64 a, the text box 64 b, the login button 64 c, or the software) in the authentication screen 64 based on the content of the operation notified from the terminal device 2. It is determined what kind of operation has been performed on the keyboard 64d).

  In this manner, the content of the operation performed on each object on the authentication screen 64 by the user is received by the image forming apparatus 1. In particular, the user ID entered in text box 64a and the password entered in text box 64b are accepted. Then, the press of the login button 64c is accepted.

  In accordance with the result of the discrimination by the operation discriminator 106, the authentication screen generator 104 appropriately adds or deletes characters from the text boxes 64a and 64b, or hides or reappears the software keyboard 64d to perform the authentication. The application screen 64 is updated, and the image data 55 is generated again and transmitted to the terminal device 2. In the terminal device 2, the screen display control unit 207 updates the authentication screen 64 every time the image data 55 is received. As described above, the authentication screen 64 is appropriately updated on the touch panel display 20e according to the operation by the user.

  When the operation determining unit 106 determines that the login button 64c has been pressed, the user authentication unit 107 determines the user ID input to the text box 64a, the password input to the text box 64b, and the user account data 51 (FIG. 5), the authentication process of the user of the terminal device 2 is executed. If the user is confirmed to be a valid user, the user is logged in to the image forming apparatus 1.

[When multiple user IDs are presented as candidates]
FIGS. 13, 14, and 15 are diagrams illustrating examples of the authentication screen 65. FIG.

  By the way, a user name used in social media is a name, a last name, a first name, a nickname, or the like, as long as the user can be recognized by another user. Therefore, it is not always unique. However, in the image forming apparatus 1, the user ID of the user account must be unique.

  Therefore, a user may use a user name used in social media with a character string added to the image forming apparatus 1 as a user ID.

  In order to deal with such a case, each unit of the image forming apparatus 1 and the terminal device 2 shown in FIG. 4 may perform the following processing.

  In the image forming apparatus 1, when receiving the user data 54 from the terminal device 2, the user account search unit 103 stores the user account data 51 indicating the user ID including the user name indicated in the user data 54 from the account storage unit 101. Search for.

  As a result, for example, when the user name “Sato” is indicated in the user data 54 and the user account data 51 as shown in FIG. 5 is stored in the account storage unit 101, the user account data 51b, 51e , And 51f are found.

  The authentication screen generation unit 104 generates image data 55 for displaying an authentication screen 65 as shown in FIG. 13 instead of the image data 55 of the authentication screen 64 shown in FIG. The authentication screen transmitting unit 105 transmits the image data 55 to the terminal device 2.

  In the authentication screen 65, a pull-down menu 65a is arranged instead of the text box 64a in the authentication screen 64.

  In the terminal device 2, when receiving the image data 55, the screen display control unit 207 causes the authentication screen 65 to be displayed on the touch panel display 20e. Here, the user presses the pull-down menu 65a.

  Then, the operation content notifying unit 208 notifies the image forming apparatus 1 of this operation. The authentication screen generation unit 104 of the image forming apparatus 1 regenerates the image data 55 of the authentication screen 65 so that the list 65e is arranged as shown in FIG. The authentication screen transmitting unit 105 transmits the image data 55 to the terminal device 2. Then, the screen display control unit 207 of the terminal device 2 redisplays the authentication screen 65 based on the image data 55. Here, the user touches and selects his / her user ID from the list 65e.

  Then, the operation content notifying unit 208 notifies the image forming apparatus 1 of this operation. The authentication screen generation unit 104 of the image forming apparatus 1 regenerates the image data 55 of the authentication screen 65 in a state where the selected user ID has been input to the pull-down menu 65a as shown in FIG. The authentication screen transmitting unit 105 transmits the image data 55 to the terminal device 2. Then, the screen display control unit 207 of the terminal device 2 redisplays the authentication screen 65 based on the image data 55.

  Hereinafter, the user may perform the same operation as the operation on the authentication screen 64 on the text box 65b, the login button 65c, and the software keyboard 65d. Then, each unit of the image forming apparatus 1 and the terminal device 2 performs the above-described processing according to the operation by the user.

[When the user has multiple accounts]
By the way, a user may have a user account for each of a plurality of social media. The user of these user accounts may forget which user account user name is used as the user ID of the user account of the image forming apparatus 1 in some cases.

  In order to deal with such a case, each unit of the image forming apparatus 1 and the terminal device 2 shown in FIG. 4 may perform the following processing.

[First method]
In the terminal device 2, the application presence / absence determination unit 204 determines whether or not the application 2P1 of each social media is installed in the terminal device 2 based on the social media data 52 (see FIG. 6) of each social media.

  The user information acquisition unit 205 acquires user information (for example, a user name) from the web server 4 of each social media. The method of acquisition is as described above with reference to FIG. Thereby, a user name is acquired from the social media web server 4 in which a user among these social media has a user account.

  The user information notifying unit 206 notifies the image forming apparatus 1 of the user name acquired by the user information acquiring unit 205 by transmitting the user data 54 to the image forming apparatus 1. The user data 54 may be transmitted to each of the acquired user names, or data collectively indicating all the acquired user names may be transmitted as the user data 54.

  In the image forming apparatus 1, for each user name notified from the terminal device 2, the user account search unit 103 searches the account storage unit 101 (see FIG. 5) for user account data 51 indicating the user name as a user ID.

  As a result, only one user account data 51 may be found, or a plurality of user account data 51 may be found.

  When only one user account data 51 is found, the authentication screen generation unit 104 generates the image data 55 of the authentication screen 64 as shown in FIG. At this time, the authentication screen 64 is set in a state where the user ID indicated in the user account data 51 is input in the text box 64a in advance. The following processing is as described above.

  On the other hand, when a plurality of user account data 51 are found, the authentication screen generation unit 104 generates the image data 55 of the authentication screen 65 as shown in FIG. The following processing is as described above. Therefore, when the pull-down menu 65a is pressed, a list 65e in which the user IDs shown in each of the plurality of found user account data 51 are arranged is displayed below the pull-down menu 65a (see FIG. 14).

  Note that the user information acquisition unit 205 displays a list of the social media for which the application 2P1 is not installed on the terminal device 2 on the touch panel display 20e, and displays only the user name in the social media selected by the user from the list. May be obtained.

[Second method]
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of the priority table 56.

  Alternatively, the user ID may be presented to the user according to a priority determined in advance for each social media. Hereinafter, processing in this case will be described.

  In the terminal device 2, the user information acquisition unit 205 has a priority order table 56 shown in FIG.

  The priority table 56 shows the priority for each social media. The highest priority is set for social media that requires the use of a real name as a user name. In the following, social media having a higher degree of recommendation to use a real name are set in order of higher priority.

  Until one piece of user data 54 can be obtained, the user information obtaining unit 205 tries to obtain the user data 54 in the social media in the order of the higher priority social media. The acquisition procedure is as described above with reference to FIG.

  When the user data 54 can be acquired, the user information notification unit 206 transmits the user data 54 to the image forming apparatus 1.

  In the image forming apparatus 1, when receiving the user data 54, the user account search unit 103 searches the user account data 51 indicating the user name indicated in the user data 54 as the user ID.

  When the user account data 51 is found, the image data 55 is generated by the authentication screen generation unit 104 and the authentication screen transmission unit 105 and transmitted to the terminal device 2 in the same manner as described above.

  On the other hand, when the user account data 51 is not found, the user account search unit 103 notifies the terminal device 2 to that effect.

  In the terminal device 2, when receiving the notification that the user account data 51 was not found, the user information acquisition unit 205 attempts to acquire the user data 54 in the social media having the next highest priority. Attempt to get lower priority until you can get it.

  Then, when the user data 54 can be obtained, the user information notifying unit 206 transmits the user data 54 to the image forming apparatus 1. Hereinafter, the above-described processing is executed in the image forming apparatus 1.

  In other words, the image forming apparatus 1 preferentially checks whether the user name in the social media having the highest priority is used as the user ID of the user account in the image forming apparatus 1. Then, when the user name thus used is found, the terminal device 2 displays the authentication screen 64 in a state where the user name has been input in the text box 64a in advance.

[Third method]
FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of the performance table 57.

  Instead of fixing the priority for each social media, the priority may be changed as follows according to the ratio of the user name used as the user ID of the user account in the image forming apparatus 1.

  When transmitting the user data 54, the user information notification unit 206 of the terminal device 2 notifies the image forming apparatus 1 of the social media corresponding to the user data 54.

  The user account search unit 103 of the image forming apparatus 1 has a result table 57 shown in FIG. The record 57a stores a record 57a for each social media in advance. Although the social media name is indicated in the record 57a in advance, the values of the number of hits, the number of searches, the hit rate, and the priority are all initially “0”.

  Each time the user account search unit 103 performs a search, the record 57a is updated as follows according to the search result.

  When the user account data 51 indicating the user name indicated in the user data 54 of a certain social media as the user ID can be found from the account storage unit 101, the user account search unit 103 searches for the hit of the social media record 57a. “1” is added to each of the number of times and the number of times of search. On the other hand, if it cannot be found, “1” is added only to the number of searches.

  Further, the user account search unit 103 updates the record 57a so that the ratio of the number of hits to the number of searches is indicated as a hit ratio. Then, the record 57a of each social media is updated so that the priority is indicated in descending order of the hit rate.

  The authentication screen generation unit 104 generates the image data 55 of the authentication screen 65 in the same manner as in the first method described above, and the authentication screen transmission unit 105 transmits this to the terminal device 2. However, in the list 65e, the user IDs of the social media with the highest priority are arranged with higher priority. When there are a plurality of user IDs in the same social media, these user IDs may be arranged in any order. The same applies when there are a plurality of user IDs having the same priority.

  Alternatively, the first method or the second method described above may be used until a predetermined period has elapsed since the start of using the remote access server program 1P and the remote access client program 2P2 or until the total number of searches reaches the predetermined number. Execute This is to obtain the hit ratio of each social media.

  After that, the second method is executed using the performance table 57 instead of the priority order table 56. The result table 57 is provided from the image forming apparatus 1 to the terminal device 2 each time it is updated. As described above, the hit rate and the like for each social media are recorded in the performance table 57.

  FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the overall processing flow in the terminal device 2. FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a modification of the overall processing flow in the terminal device 2. FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the overall processing flow in image forming apparatus 1.

  Next, the overall processing flow of each of the image forming apparatus 1 and the terminal device 2 will be described with reference to flowcharts.

  The terminal device 2 executes processing according to the procedure shown in FIG. 18 based on the remote access client program 2P2.

  The terminal device 2 remotely accesses the image forming apparatus 1 (# 821). The social media data 52 (see FIG. 6) is read (# 822). A list showing the social media in which the application 2P1 is not installed among the social media shown in the social media data 52 is displayed, and the selection of the social media is accepted (# 823, # 824).

  The terminal device 2 acquires the user name of the user on the social media on which the application 2P1 is installed and the user name of the user on the social media selected by the user from the list, and temporarily stores them (# 825). # 827). The procedure for acquiring the user name is as described above with reference to FIG.

  The terminal device 2 transmits data indicating the acquired user name (user data 54) to the image forming apparatus 1 (# 828).

  Then, when receiving the image data 55 (# 829), the terminal device 2 displays the authentication screen 64 (see FIG. 12) or the authentication screen 65 (see FIG. 13) (# 830). Here, the user uses the user ID entered in the text box 64a by default, or uses the user ID selected from the list 65e displayed by touching the pull-down menu 65a, and You can try to log in. Subsequent processing is the same as that of the conventional remote control.

  Alternatively, the terminal device 2 executes the processing according to the procedure shown in FIG. Steps # 841 to # 844 are the same processing as steps # 821 to # 824 in FIG.

  The terminal device 2 attempts to acquire the user name of the social media with the highest priority in the priority table 56 or the result table 57 among the social media in which the application 2P1 is installed and the social media selected by the user (# 845). ).

  When the terminal device 2 has been able to acquire the data (Yes in # 846), the terminal device 2 transmits data indicating the acquired user name (user data 54) to the image forming apparatus 1 (# 847). Then, when receiving the image data 55 (# 829), the terminal device 2 displays the authentication screen 64 or the authentication screen 65 (# 830). Hereinafter, it is the same as the case of FIG.

  On the other hand, if the user name could not be obtained in step # 845 (No in # 846) and if a notification that the user account data 51 was not found was received from the image forming apparatus 1 (No in # 848) If the social media with the next highest priority still remains (Yes in # 849), an attempt is made to acquire a user name in this social media (# 845). The following processing is as described above.

  The image forming apparatus 1 executes processing according to the procedure shown in FIG. 20 based on the remote access server program 1P.

  The image forming apparatus 1 makes the terminal apparatus 2 remotely access the image forming apparatus 1 in response to a request from the terminal apparatus 2 (# 801).

  Upon receiving the user data 54 from the terminal device 2 (# 802), the image forming apparatus 1 searches for the user account data 51 (see FIG. 5) indicating the user name indicated in the user data 54 as the user ID (# 803). . When a plurality of user data 54 are received, a search is performed for each. Then, the search result is written into the result table 57 (see FIG. 17) (# 804).

  If no user account data 51 is found (No in # 805), the image forming apparatus 1 notifies the terminal device 2 of the fact (# 806).

  When the user account data 51 is found (Yes in # 805), if the number is plural (Yes in # 807), the image data 55 of the authentication screen (authentication screen 65) of the pull-down menu type is generated. Then, the data is transmitted to the terminal device 2 (# 808). On the other hand, if there is one (No in # 807), the image data 55 of the authentication screen (authentication screen 64) in a state where the user ID indicated in the user account data 51 has been input in advance is generated, and the terminal device 2 (# 809). Subsequent processing is the same as that of the conventional remote control.

  According to the present embodiment, what information in social media is used as the user ID of the user account in the image forming apparatus 1 can be presented to the user more easily than before.

  In the present embodiment, the account storage unit 101 is provided in the image forming apparatus 1, but may be provided in an external device. For example, it may be provided in a server provided in the image processing system 100.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the authentication of the user is performed at the time of login has been described as an example. The present invention can also be applied to the case described above.

  In the present embodiment, the user account search unit 103 of the image forming apparatus 1 searches the user account data 51 using the user name indicated in the user data 54 as a key. However, other keys may be used. For example, it may be an e-mail address. In this case, the user information acquisition unit 205 of the terminal device 2 inquires of the social media web server 4 for an email address instead of the user name, and transmits data indicating the email address to the image forming apparatus 1 as the user data 54. do it.

  In the present embodiment, a case where only one image forming apparatus 1 is provided in the image processing system 100 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is also suitably used when a plurality of image forming apparatuses 1 are provided. In particular, in the case where information such as a user name of a different social media is used as the user ID for each image forming apparatus 1, even if the user forgets the user ID, the user can know it more easily than before. Can be.

  In the present embodiment, when there are a plurality of user ID candidates, a screen (authentication screen 65) having a pull-down menu 65a is displayed as shown in FIG. 13, and if the pull-down menu 65a is selected, the screen shown in FIG. As described above, the candidate list 65e is displayed. However, other objects may be used. For example, instead of the pull-down menu 65a, the character string and the radio button may be arranged for each user ID on the authentication screen 65.

  In addition, the configuration of the whole or each part of the image processing system 100, the image forming apparatus 1, and the terminal device 2, the processing content, the processing order, the screen configuration, the data configuration, and the like can be appropriately changed according to the gist of the present invention. it can.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 image processing system 1 image forming apparatus 101 account storage unit (storage means)
103 User account search unit (receiving means, search means)
104 Authentication screen generation unit (image data generation means)
105 Authentication screen transmission unit (image data transmission means)
2 Terminal device 205 User information acquisition unit 206 User information notification unit 207 Screen display control unit (display unit)
20e Touch panel display (display means)
51 User account data 54 User data (user information)
55 image data 57 result table (recording means)
64 Authentication screen 65 Authentication screen

Claims (14)

An image processing system comprising: an image forming apparatus that can access a storage unit that stores an identifier of each of a plurality of users; and a terminal device for remotely operating the image forming apparatus.
In the terminal device,
Acquisition means for acquiring user information on a user of the terminal device in social media,
User information transmitting means for transmitting the user information to the image forming apparatus;
Is provided,
In the image forming apparatus,
Search means for searching for the identifier including the user information transmitted from the terminal device,
The identifier searched by the search means is in a state of being input in advance, or an object for selecting the identifier is arranged, and a screen for displaying a screen for authentication of a user of the terminal device is displayed. Image data generating means for generating image data;
Image data transmitting means for transmitting the image data to the terminal device,
Is provided,
In the terminal device,
Display means for displaying the screen based on the image data transmitted from the image forming apparatus,
Is provided,
An image processing system, characterized in that: An image forming apparatus that can access a storage unit that stores an identifier of each of a plurality of users and is remotely operated by a terminal device,
From the terminal device, receiving means for receiving user information regarding the user of the terminal device of the plurality of users in social media,
Search means for searching for the identifier including the user information from the storage means,
The identifier searched by the search means is in a state of being input in advance, or an object for selecting the identifier is arranged, and a screen for displaying a screen for authentication of a user of the terminal device is displayed. Image data generating means for generating image data;
Image data transmitting means for transmitting the image data to the terminal device,
An image forming apparatus comprising: The receiving means acquires the user information in each of the plurality of social media,
The search means, when the plurality of user information is obtained by the receiving means, for each of the plurality of user information, search for the identifier,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 2. The image data generation unit transmits, as the image data, data for displaying a screen in which objects for selecting the plurality of identifiers searched by the search unit are arranged.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 3. The image data generating unit, as the image data, a priority order of the social media relating to the user information used as a key when the search unit searches for the identifier among the plurality of identifiers searched by the search unit. Generate data for displaying a screen in which the highest identifier is pre-input,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 3. The user information is a nickname for having another user recognize the user of the terminal device in the social media,
The priority is set in advance to be higher as the degree of recommending the use of a real name as the call name among the plurality of social media is higher,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 5. Recording means for recording a hit rate when the search means searches the identifier for each of the plurality of social media,
The priority is set higher as the hit rate is higher among the plurality of social media,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 5. A terminal device for remotely operating an image forming apparatus capable of accessing storage means for storing identifiers of a plurality of users,
Acquisition means for acquiring user information on a user of the terminal device in social media,
User information transmitting means for transmitting the user information to the image forming apparatus;
Based on the image data transmitted from the image forming apparatus in response to the user information, the identifier including the user information searched in the image forming apparatus is in a state in which the identifier is input in advance or the identifier is Display means for displaying a screen for authentication of a user of the terminal device in a state where an object for selection is arranged,
A terminal device comprising: The obtaining unit obtains an access token from the social media web server using OAuth as a protocol, and obtains the user information using the access token.
The terminal device according to claim 8. The obtaining means obtains the user information in each of the plurality of social media,
The user information transmitting means transmits the plurality of pieces of obtained user information,
The terminal device according to claim 8. The obtaining means obtains the user information in each of the plurality of social media,
The user information transmitting means, preferentially transmits the user information in a higher priority among the plurality of social media,
The terminal device according to claim 8. A screen display method for displaying, on a terminal device for remotely operating an image forming apparatus capable of accessing storage means for storing identifiers of a plurality of users, a screen for authenticating a user of the terminal device, And
It said terminal device,
In social media, it acquires user information about a user of the terminal device,
Transmitting the user information to the image forming apparatus,
The image forming apparatus,
Search for the identifier including the user information transmitted from the terminal device,
As the image data for displaying the screen, it generates data retrieved the identifier is state where an object is placed for selecting and or the identifier in the state previously entered screen,
Transmitting the image data to the terminal device,
It said terminal device,
That displays the screen based on the image data transmitted from the image forming apparatus,
A screen display method characterized in that: A computer program used in an image forming apparatus capable of accessing storage means for storing identifiers of a plurality of users and remotely operated by a terminal device,
In the image forming apparatus,
From the terminal device, a process of receiving user information about the user of the terminal device of the plurality of users in social media,
Causing the storage unit to execute a process of searching for the identifier including the user information,
Generates image data for displaying a screen for user authentication of the terminal device in a state where the retrieved identifier is input in advance or an object for selecting the identifier is arranged. To perform the process
Causing the image data to be transmitted to the terminal device,
A computer program characterized by the above-mentioned. A computer program used for a terminal device that remotely operates an image forming apparatus that can access a storage unit that stores an identifier of each of a plurality of users,
In the terminal device,
In social media, a process of acquiring user information about the user of the terminal device is executed,
Executing a process of transmitting the user information to the image forming apparatus;
Based on the image data transmitted from the image forming apparatus in response to the user information, the identifier including the user information searched in the image forming apparatus is in a state in which the identifier is input in advance or the identifier is Performing a process of displaying a screen for authentication of a user of the terminal device in a state where an object for selection is arranged,
A computer program characterized by the above-mentioned.

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