Image forming device

Abstract

To provide an image forming device capable of printing an attachment to an e-mail sent using web mail.SOLUTION: An image forming device 1 creates a user box linked to web mail in a user box storage unit 161, and a communication unit 15 receives email addressed to the web mail held by a web mail server 911 of a cloud 91. A control unit 111 stores the received email in the user box linked to the web mail, and causes an image forming unit 14 to print an attachment of the email in response to an operational instruction from a user.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that prints files attached to emails. [Background technology]

[0002] There is known an image forming device that can receive e-mails and print files attached to the e-mails. Patent Document 1 describes a technology in which, when a user sends an e-mail including an attachment from an electronic terminal such as a computer, the e-mail is searched for by a driverless print server and a printer prints the attachment.

[0003] Patent document 2 describes a technology in which, when a user accesses an information server using a mobile terminal, the information server provides an email address assigned to a printer near the mobile terminal, and when the user sends an email including an attachment to that email address, the printer can print the attachment of the email.

[0004] Patent Document 3 describes an image forming device that prints an attachment to an email with print settings according to a combination of a keyword and a value written in the subject of the email. Patent Document 4 describes a print system that registers a combination of a user, a printer adapter, and a printer in advance, and prints an email if the email matches a registered combination. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Special Publication No. 2005-521166 [Patent Document 2] JP 2003-167694 A [Patent Document 3] US7283272B2 [Patent Document 4] Publication No. 2001-290620 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] In the case of the techniques described in Patent Documents 1 to 3, an individual email address is assigned to an image forming device such as a printer, and the image forming device must be equipped with a mailer used to send and receive emails from that email address. In the technique described in Patent Document 4, the printer only prints attachments sent to email addresses preregistered in the printer adapter.

[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of printing a file sent to a webmail address. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The image forming apparatus of the present invention comprises a user box storage unit that stores user boxes for storing document data, a user box information storage unit that stores information about the user boxes, a communication unit that connects to a network and performs data communication, an input accepting unit that accepts input from a user, an image forming unit that forms an image, and a control unit that controls operation control of the entire apparatus. When the input accepting unit accepts input of a webmail address, a URL indicating the webmail site, and authentication information required for logging in, the control unit stores the webmail address, the URL, and the authentication information in the user box information storage unit, linking them to the user box. The control unit accesses the URL stored in the user box information storage unit via the communication unit, and inputs the authentication information stored in association with the URL to the site indicated by the URL to log in to the webmail server and receive an email sent to the webmail address. The control unit stores at least an attachment of the received email in the user box linked to the webmail that is the destination of the email, and causes the image forming unit to print the attachment stored in the user box. Effect of the Invention

[0009] In this invention, by using webmail, an image forming device can receive e-mail with attachments without installing a mailer, and a user can send a document to be printed to an image forming device and easily print the document, even if the user does not have the image forming device's driver or application on a personal computer or electronic terminal and is not directly connected to the image forming device via a LAN or the like. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of the image forming apparatus. [Diagram 2] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of display content of a display unit. [Diagram 3]FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of display content of a display unit. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of display content of a display unit. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of display content of a display unit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the electrical configuration of an image forming apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0012] The image forming apparatus 1 may be, for example, a multifunction machine having multiple functions such as a copy function, a printer function, a scanner function, and a facsimile function, or may simply be a printer.

[0013] The image forming apparatus 1 is configured to include a control unit 11, an input receiving section 12, an image reading section 13, an image forming section 14, a communication section 15, and a storage section 16. The input receiving section 12 is equipped with hardware keys such as a decision key for confirming various operations and settings, and a start key, and a display section 121. The display section 121 displays an operation screen, messages, etc., and is configured integrally with a touch panel.

[0014] The image reading unit 13 includes a scanner and the like, and reads an image of a document to obtain the document image. The image forming unit 14 includes, for example, an electrophotographic image forming mechanism, and prints the document image read by the image reading unit 13 and the data stored in the storage unit 16 on paper. The communication unit 15 includes a communication module and the like, and transmits and receives various data to and from external devices via the network N.

[0015] The storage unit 16 is a large-capacity storage device formed of an SSD or HDD that stores image data, various programs, data tables, etc. The storage unit 16 includes a user box storage unit 161 and a user box information storage unit 162 in its storage area.

[0016] The user box storage unit 161 stores user boxes (folders), which are document boxes for storing document data. User boxes are linked to webmail registered by users. The user box information storage unit 162 stores webmail addresses linked to the user boxes stored in the user box storage unit 161, URLs for accessing the webmail sites, and authentication information required for logging in.

[0017] The control unit 11 is composed of a processor, a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), etc. The processor is a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), etc. The control unit 11 functions as a control unit 111 by the processor executing a control program stored in the ROM, etc. Note that each of the above-mentioned parts of the control unit 11 may be composed of a hardware circuit, regardless of the operation based on the control program.

[0018] The control unit 111 is responsible for overall operational control of the image forming apparatus 1. Furthermore, when the input receiving unit 12 receives an instruction to create a user box, a webmail address, a URL indicating the webmail site, and authentication information required for logging in, the control unit 111 creates a user box linked to that webmail in the user box storage unit 161, and stores the webmail address, the URL indicating the webmail site, and the authentication information required for logging in in the user box information storage unit 162. The control unit 111 also has a browser function that functions as a browser.

[0019] Next, the registration of a user box will be described. Fig. 2 is an example of a user box registration screen displayed by the display unit 121. When this registration screen is displayed, based on the user's operation of the input reception unit 12, the input reception unit 12 receives input such as a webmail address, a webmail site URL, authentication information (password, etc.) required for logging in to the webmail, and a selection of a user box to be linked (or an instruction to create a new user box).

[0020] Webmail is a system for sending and receiving email via a web browser, such as third-party email delivery systems such as Gmail (registered trademark), Yahoo (registered trademark), and Outlook (registered trademark). To send and receive email via webmail, image forming apparatus 1 uses an application that allows site access, such as a browser, rather than a mailer. Image forming apparatus 1 receives email without using a mailer.

[0021] The registration screen shown in FIG. 2 prompts the user to select Gmail (registered trademark), Yahoo (registered trademark), Outlook (registered trademark), etc. as the URL of the webmail site. Control unit 111 prestores the URL of each of the Gmail (registered trademark), Yahoo (registered trademark), and Outlook (registered trademark) sites, and in accordance with the type of webmail selected by the user by operating input receiving unit 12, control unit 111 displays and guides the user to the URL of that webmail site on the registration screen. In other words, here, control unit 111 stores each webmail and the URL of each webmail site. Note that the user may also directly input the URL of the webmail site.

[0022] When the user presses the registration button 51 after the input acceptance unit 12 accepts the input of the webmail address, the webmail site URL, the authentication information required to log in to the webmail, and the selection of the user box to be linked (or an instruction to create a new user box), the input acceptance unit 12 accepts an instruction to register the webmail information via the touch panel of the input acceptance unit 12. In accordance with this registration instruction, the control unit 111 either specifies a user box to be linked with the input webmail, or creates a user box linked with the input webmail in the user box storage unit 161. Furthermore, the control unit 111 stores in the user box information storage unit 162 information to specify the user box, such as the webmail address, the webmail site URL, the authentication information required to log in, and the area address of the linked user box, in the user box information storage unit 162.

[0023] When a user box linked to a webmail is created in the user box storage unit 161, the control unit 111 periodically (for example, every minute) accesses the webmail site linked to the user box to check whether the email has been received.

[0024] The flow of receiving email in webmail will be explained using Figure 1. (1) A user sends an email with an attachment to the address of a specific webmail A from an electronic device such as a personal computer, tablet device, or smartphone. This email is sent to a webmail server 911 corresponding to the specific webmail A in a cloud 91 via a network N such as the Internet.

[0025] Next, (2) control unit 111 of image forming apparatus 1 uses its browser function to access the URL of the webmail site stored in user box information storage unit 162 via communication unit 15, and logs in to the webmail via the browser using authentication information required for logging in. Here, if there is unread email in webmail server 911, (3) the email is received from webmail server 911 via communication unit 15.

[0026] Here, the control unit 111 may receive only emails with attachments from among the unread emails on the webmail server 911 via the communication unit 15. This makes it possible to reduce the memory capacity of the user box storage unit 161. Alternatively, the control unit 111 may selectively receive either all emails from the webmail server 911 or only emails with attachments, according to settings based on instructions from the user input to the input reception unit 12.

[0027] When the control unit 111 receives an e-mail via the communication unit 15 (4), the control unit 111 stores the e-mail in a user box linked to the webmail that is the sender of the received e-mail. Note that the control unit 111 may store only the attachment of the received e-mail in the user box linked to the webmail.

[0028] Furthermore, the control unit 111 may store in the user box only emails with attachments among the emails received from the webmail server 911. Alternatively, the control unit 111 may selectively store in the user box both the body of the email received from the webmail server 911 and its attachments, or store only the attachments, in the user box, according to settings based on instructions from the user input to the input receiving unit 12.

[0029] Next, a flow of printing an attachment of an e-mail stored in a user box will be described. Fig. 3 is an example of a display screen of a list of user boxes stored in user box storage unit 161. As shown in Fig. 3, control unit 111 causes display unit 121 to display a list of user boxes stored in user box storage unit 161. Fig. 3 shows an example in which user A owns multiple user boxes, and each user box is linked to a different webmail. At this time, if there is unread e-mail in the user box, control unit 111 preferably displays whether there is unread e-mail and the number of unread e-mails.

[0030] When the user operates the input receiving unit 12 to input an instruction to select the user box of "aaa@gmail.xxx" and presses the OK button 52, the control unit 111 receives an instruction to switch the display screen via the touch panel, and in accordance with this instruction, causes the display unit 121 to display an input screen for authentication information required for logging in to the webmail linked to the selected user box. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the input screen for authentication information.

[0031] When the authentication information input screen is displayed, if the user operates the input reception unit 12 to input the authentication information required to log in to "aaa@gmail.xxx", the control unit 111 judges whether the authentication information received by the input reception unit 12 matches the authentication information required to log in to "aaa@gmail.xxx" stored in the user box information storage unit 162. In addition, in Fig. 3, the webmail linked to the user box is represented by the email address owned by the user for that webmail.

[0032] When the control unit 111 determines that the authentication information accepted by the input accepting unit 12 matches the authentication information required to log in to "aaa@gmail.xxx" stored in the user box information storage unit 162, it causes the display unit 121 to display a list of e-mails stored in the user box linked to "aaa@gmail.xxx." Fig. 5 is an example of a display screen showing a list of e-mails stored in the user boxes.

[0033] In addition, when the control unit 111 receives the display screen switching instruction, it may be configured to display a list of e-mails stored in the linked user box on the display unit 121 without displaying an authentication information input screen and without requesting input of authentication information required for logging in.

[0034] 5 is displayed, when the user operates input receiving unit 12 to input an instruction to select an e-mail having an attachment that the user wishes to print and presses OK button 54, control unit 111 receives a print instruction via the touch panel. In accordance with the print instruction, control unit 111 causes image forming unit 14 to print the attachment of the selected e-mail. Existing technology is used to print the attachment of the e-mail.

[0035] After the attachment is printed, it is preferable for the control unit 111 to delete the email from the user box. This prevents read emails from accumulating in the user box, and reduces the memory usage of the user box. Note that whether or not to delete the email with the attached file printed from the user box can be set according to an instruction input by the user through the operation of the input receiving unit 12, and the control unit 111 may delete the email with the attached file printed from the user box according to the contents of the setting.

[0036] As described above, the image forming device 1 stores a user box linked to a webmail in the user box memory unit 161, the communication unit 15 receives email addressed to the webmail held by the webmail server 911 of the cloud 91, and the control unit 111 stores the received email in the user box linked to the webmail.

[0037] Furthermore, in response to an operation from the user, the control unit 111 causes the image forming unit 14 to print the file attached to the e-mail. This allows the image forming device 1 to receive print data by e-mail without installing a mailer and without performing the complicated settings required for sending and receiving e-mails using a mailer. Furthermore, the user can send a document to be printed to the image forming device 1 even if the user does not have the driver or application for the image forming device 1 on a personal computer or electronic terminal.

[0038] The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible. In addition, in the above embodiment, the configuration and processing shown in the above embodiment using Figures 1 to 5 are merely one embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the configuration and processing. [Explanation of symbols]

[0039] 1. Image forming device 11 Control unit 111 Control section 12 Input reception section 121 Display section 13 Image reading unit 14 Image forming section 15 Communications Department 16 Memory section 161 User box storage section 162 User box information storage unit 91 Cloud 911 Webmail Server

Claims

1. a user box storage unit that stores a user box for storing document data; a user box information storage unit that stores information about the user box; a communication unit that connects to a network and performs data communication; an input receiving unit that receives input from a user; an image forming unit that forms an image; A control unit that controls the operation of the entire device, When the input receiving unit receives input of a webmail address, a URL indicating the webmail site, and authentication information required for logging in, the control unit stores the webmail address, the URL, and the authentication information in the user box information storage unit in association with the user box; The control unit is accessing the URL stored in the user box information storage unit via the communication unit, and inputting the authentication information stored in association with the URL to a site indicated by the URL, thereby logging in to the webmail server and receiving an e-mail sent to the webmail address; An image forming device that stores at least an attachment of the received email in a user box linked to a webmail to which the email is to be sent, and causes the image forming unit to print the attachment stored in the user box.

2. Further comprising a display unit, When the input receiving unit receives an instruction to display a list of files stored in the user box, including the attachment file, the control unit causes the display unit to display a list of the files stored in the user box, 2 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein when the input receiving unit receives an input of a selection instruction to select one of the files shown in the list, the control unit causes the image forming unit to print the file indicated by the selection instruction.

3. When the input receiving unit receives an instruction to display a list of files including the attachment stored in the user box, the control unit causes the display unit to display an input screen for the authentication information required to log in to the webmail linked to the user box, When the input reception unit receives the input of the authentication information, the control unit determines whether or not the authentication information received by the input reception unit matches the authentication information required for logging in to the webmail stored in the user box information storage unit; The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein when the control unit determines that the files match, the control unit causes the display unit to display a list of the files stored in the user box.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit receives, via the communication unit, only emails having attachments among emails sent to the webmail address.

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit deletes the attached file that the image forming unit has printed from the user box.

Images