printer

Abstract

To provide a technique that is able to appropriately perform a printing process, in a security printing function for performing a printing job associated with a password and in a cumulative printing function for performing a print job associated with a user identification information.SOLUTION: An MFP 1 comprises: a security printing function that prints a print job 75 including a password 83; and a cumulative printing function that prints the print job 75 including a user name 85. In response to acceptance of setting for execution of the cumulative printing function (S77: YES), the MFP 1 stores (S87) the received print job 75 in a memory 15 without determining whether the password 83 has been set for the print job 75 or not. In addition, the CPU 12 prints the password 83 for the print job 75 stored in the memory 15, without accepting it via a touch panel 21.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] This specification The document relates to a printing device having a function of storing a print job in a memory and starting printing when a user inputs authentication information. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there are image forming devices in which a print executor logs in to the image forming device and then performs a print operation of a print job (for example, Patent Document 1, etc.). In Patent Document 1, the print executor inputs user identification information and authentication information using a login screen of the image forming device. The image forming device displays a list of documents associated with the logged-in user who has been successfully authenticated. The print executor selects document data that he or she wishes to print from the displayed document list and causes the image forming device to execute printing. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2007-320166 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] On the other hand, there is also a function that sets a password when sending a print job to a printing device, and executes printing by authenticating the password associated with the print job on the printing device. In either case, the received print job is temporarily stored in memory, and printing begins when the user inputs authentication information. However, in devices where the two functions coexist, no consideration has been given to which function should be prioritized.

[0005] This specificationThe present invention has been proposed in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a technology that can properly execute printing processes in a security printing function that executes a print job associated with a password and an accumulated printing function that executes a print job associated with user identification information. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] Disclosed hereinThe printing device includes a storage unit that stores print jobs, a communication unit, a display unit, an operation unit that accepts operations, a printing unit that prints images, and a control unit.a first display process for displaying a job list showing information about the print job stored in the storage unit on the display unit when it is determined by the determination process that the print job does not include a password; a first reception process for receiving the print job from the displayed job list by the operation unit, a second reception process for receiving a password via the operation unit; a password judgment process for determining whether a password associated with the print job selected in the first reception process and a password received in the second reception process match; and a second printing process for printing the print job selected in the first acceptance process by the printing unit in response to determining that the password matches the password of the print job selected in the first acceptance process. The control unit executes a third acceptance process for accepting a setting of whether or not to execute a function of the printing device including a stored printing function. The stored printing function includes a fourth acceptance process for accepting user identification information via the operation unit, and a third printing process for authenticating the user identification information accepted in the fourth acceptance process based on authentication data related to the authentication of the user identification information, and printing, in response to successful authentication, an image related to the print job associated with the user identification information that has been successfully authenticated, among the print jobs stored in the storage unit, by the printing unit. In response to accepting a setting to execute the stored printing function in the third acceptance process, the control unit stores the print job in the storage unit without executing the password judgment process, and executes the third printing process without accepting the password of the print job stored in the storage unit via the operation unit. Effect of the Invention

[0007] Disclosed herein According to the printing device, a printing device having a security printing function can be set to execute the accumulated printing function. Then, in response to receiving the setting to execute the accumulated printing function, the printing device does not execute processing in the security printing function. In other words, the security printing function is restricted. By restricting the security printing function in response to enabling the accumulated printing function, printing processing can be executed appropriately in a printing device having two functions. Note that "restricting the security printing function" here is a concept that includes not only a case where the security printing function is completely stopped and the security printing job is discarded, but also a case where at least a part of the security printing job is printed as an accumulated printing job.

[0008] In addition, the technology disclosed in this specification can be realized in various forms, not limited to a printing device, and can be realized in the form of a printing control method for controlling a printing device, a computer program for realizing the functions of the above device or the above method, a recording medium on which the computer program is recorded, etc. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 2 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the MFP of the first embodiment. FIG. [Diagram 2] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing data stored in an authentication DB. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the contents of a print job written in PJL. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing state transitions of a screen displayed on a touch panel of the MFP. [Diagram 5] 13 is a flowchart showing the contents of a main process. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart showing the contents of a function setting process. [Figure 7] 13 is a flowchart showing the contents of a printing / storage process. [Figure 8]13 is a flowchart showing the contents of a printing / storage process. [Figure 9] 13 is a flowchart showing the contents of a standby screen display process. [Figure 10] 13 is a flowchart showing the contents of a process after an icon is pressed. [Figure 11] 10 is a flowchart showing the contents of a function setting process according to the second embodiment. [Figure 12] 10 is a flowchart showing the contents of a printing / storage process according to a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] (First embodiment) below, Disclosed herein An MFP1 according to a first embodiment, which is an embodiment of a printing device, will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the MFP1.

[0011] (1. MFP Configuration) The MFP1 is a multifunction machine having a printing function, a copying function, a scanning function, and a fax function. As shown in Fig. 1, the MFP1 has a CPU 12, a RAM 13, a memory 15, a printing unit 16, an image reading unit 17, a fax communication unit 18, a user interface 20, and a network interface 24. The CPU 12 and the like are connected to each other via a bus 11. The MFP1 also has a power supply 25 that supplies power from a commercial power source. The power supply 25 has a power cord and a power supply circuit (bridge diode, smoothing circuit, etc.), generates DC power from the commercial power source, and supplies power to each unit of the MFP1 via a power line.

[0012] Memory 15( This specification The storage unit (an example of the storage unit) is, for example, a non-volatile memory such as NVRAM. Disclosed herein The storage unit is not limited to NVRAM, but may be a volatile RAM, a ROM, a HDD, an external storage device (such as a USB memory) connected to the MFP1, or a storage unit that combines these. Disclosed hereinThe storage unit may be a file server or the like connected via the network interface 24. The storage unit may also be a computer-readable storage medium. A computer-readable storage medium is a non-transitory medium. In addition to the above examples, non-transitory media also include recording media such as CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs. A non-transitory medium is also a tangible medium. On the other hand, an electrical signal carrying a program downloaded from a server on the Internet or the like is a computer-readable signal medium, which is a type of computer-readable medium, but is not included in non-transitory computer-readable storage media.

[0013] The memory 15 stores various programs such as a control program 71. The control program 71 is, for example, a program that comprehensively controls each part of the MFP 1. The CPU 12 executes the control program 71 and controls each part connected by the bus 11 while temporarily storing the executed processing result in the RAM 13. The control program 71 also includes an EWS (Embedded Web Server) program that functions as a Web server. The CPU 12 executes the EWS program to make the MFP 1 function as a Web server. An authentication DB (abbreviation of database) 73 is also built in the memory 15 of this embodiment. As described later, the authentication DB 73 is data that associates, for example, the user name of a login user who can log in to the MFP 1, the authority of each user, and the email address of each user (see FIG. 2). In the following description, the MFP 1 that executes the control program 71 and the like by the CPU 12 may be simply described as a device name. For example, the statement "MFP 1 accepts operational input to touch panel 21" may mean "MFP 1 executes control program 71 in CPU 12 to control touch panel 21, thereby accepting operational input to touch panel 21."

[0014] The printing unit 16 has a head 161 and an ink cartridge 162. The ink cartridge 162 contains ink. The head 161 ejects the ink supplied from the ink cartridge 162 onto a sheet (such as paper or an OHP). In this way, the printing unit 16 prints an image on the sheet by inkjet printing based on the control of the CPU 12. Disclosed herein The printing unit 16 is not limited to a configuration that performs printing using an inkjet method, and may be configured to perform printing using another method, for example, an electrophotographic method.

[0015] The image reading unit 17 includes an unillustrated document table and an image sensor such as a CIS (Contact Image Sensor) or a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device). The image reading unit 17 moves the CIS or the like relative to the document placed on the document table, reads the document, and generates image data. The FAX communication unit 18 transmits and receives FAX data to and from other facsimile devices via a telephone line.

[0016] The user interface 20 has operation buttons such as a touch panel 21 and a numeric keypad 22. The touch panel 21 includes, for example, a liquid crystal panel, a light source such as an LED that emits light from the rear side of the liquid crystal panel, and a touch-sensitive film attached to the surface of the liquid crystal panel. The user interface 20 displays, for example, various setting screens and the operating status of the device on the touch panel 21 under the control of the CPU 12. The user interface 20 also transmits signals corresponding to operational inputs to the touch panel 21 and the numeric keypad 22 to the CPU 12.

[0017] The network interface 24 is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network) interface, and is connected to the router 29 via a LAN cable (not shown). For example, a plurality of PCs 41 and a mail server 43 are connected to the router 29 in this embodiment. A user operates the PC 41 to transmit a print job 75 from the PC 41 to the MFP 1. The MFP 1 executes a print process based on the print job 75 received from the PC 41. The MFP 1 also has a mail reception function that processes an email received from the mail server 43 as a print job 75 and executes printing of a file attached to the email. Note that a device that transmits the print job 75 to the MFP 1 is not limited to the PC 41 or the mail server 43, and may be, for example, a mobile terminal capable of wireless communication with the MFP 1. Also, a network that connects the MFP 1, the PC 41, and the mail server 43 is not limited to a wired LAN, and may be, for example, a wireless LAN or a WAN (including the Internet).

[0018] Next, the authentication DB 73 stored in the memory 15 will be described. 2 shows an example of data stored in the authentication DB 73. As shown in FIG. 2, for example, a user name 111, a PIN number 113, a print authority flag 114, a scan authority flag 115, a copy authority flag 116, and an email address 117 are associated with each other and registered as one record in the authentication DB 73. In the authentication DB 73 of this embodiment, five users, namely, a public user (PUBLIC), "inoue", "kato", "hayashi", and "minami", are registered as users. The user name 111 and the PIN number 113 are given to each user by, for example, a system administrator who manages the MFP 1. Each user performs a login operation of the MFP 1 using the user name 111 and the PIN number 113.

[0019] Furthermore, the print permission flag 114, scan permission flag 115, and copy permission flag 116 are flag values ​​that set whether to grant each user permission to execute the print function, scan function, and copy function of the MFP 1. For example, in the example shown in Fig. 2, a public user and a user name "inoue" have print permission and scan permission, but do not have copy permission.

[0020] In addition, in each record, an email address 117 is set in association with the user name 111, the PIN number 113, etc. The MFP 1 of this embodiment is capable of printing an attachment to an email received from the email server 43 as described above.

[0021] The system administrator adds or deletes users, changes the authority, registers the email address 117, and so on, as shown in FIG. 2, in the authentication DB 73. For example, the MFP 1 of this embodiment is capable of accepting settings for the authentication DB 73 through the EWS. For example, the system administrator operates a web browser on the PC 41 to access the EWS of the MFP 1. The MFP 1 executes settings for the authentication DB 73 based on information accepted on the web page of the EWS. Note that the method of editing the authentication DB 73 is not limited to the method using the web server described above. For example, the MFP 1 may edit the authentication DB 73 in response to an operation input to the touch panel 21. Also, the data items of the authentication DB 73 shown in FIG. 2 are merely examples, and the authentication DB 73 may have, for example, a flag value that grants authority to execute a FAX function, or a value that limits the number of prints for each user.

[0022] (2. Secure printing function and stored printing function) The MFP 1 of this embodiment has a security printing function and an accumulation printing function. In the following description, as shown in Fig. 1, a print job 75 for executing the security printing function is referred to as a security printing job 75A, and a print job 75 for executing the accumulation printing function is referred to as an accumulation printing job 75B.

[0023] When the accumulated print function receives print job 75 with user name 85 set from PC 41 or the like, it stores the received print job 75 in memory 15 of MFP 1 as accumulated print job 75B. When a user name and PIN number are input via touch panel 21 of MFP 1, they are collated with user name 111 and PIN number 113 (see FIG. 2) registered in authentication DB 73. If the collation results in a match with user name 111 and PIN number 113 registered in authentication DB 73, the user who performed the input operation logs in to MFP 1. When the user logs in to MFP 1, accumulated print job 75B associated with the logged-in user's user name 85 is retrieved from memory 15 and printing begins.

[0024] The accumulated print function is set by a system administrator operating a Web browser on the PC 41 and accessing the EWS of the MFP 1. When the accumulated print function is set to be executed, the MFP 1 executes each process for accumulated print, which will be described in this embodiment, for a print job 75 received from an external device such as the PC 41. When the accumulated print function is set not to be executed, the MFP 1 starts print processing without storing the print job 75 in the memory 15 when it receives the print job 75 from an external device such as the PC 41. In this case, not storing the print job in the memory 15 means that a trigger for starting printing is not provided separately, and does not include processing for temporarily storing the print job in the memory 15 for printing processing. In addition, the printer driver executed by the PC 41 sets the user account of the user for logging in to the PC 41 in the print job 75 and transmits it to the MFP 1. In addition, the same character string is used for the user account for logging in to the PC 41 and the user name 111 registered in the authentication DB 73.

[0025] The secure printing function is a function in which a print job 75 associated with a password is temporarily stored in memory 15 of MFP 1, and the user operates touch panel 21 of MFP 1 to input the password associated with print job 75, thereby executing printing of print job 75. When executing the secure printing function, PC 41 transmits to MFP 1 a security printing job 75A in which a job name 81 and a password 83 are set. Job name 81 is, for example, a name of print job 75 given by a printer driver executed by PC 41. Password 83 is, for example, information (such as numbers or letters) set by the user on a setting screen of the printer driver executed by PC 41 and associated with security printing job 75A.

[0026] The stored printing function and the secure printing function are common in that a print job 75 received from outside is stored in memory 15, and printing is started when the user inputs authentication information on the MFP 1. However, the authentication information to be input is a password 83 associated with the print job 75 in the secure printing function, whereas it is a PIN number 113 corresponding to a user name 111 registered in the authentication DB 73 in the stored printing function. Also, the print job 75 that starts printing is a print job 75 selected by the user in the security printing function, whereas it is all print jobs 75 to be printed in the stored printing function.

[0027] FIG. 3 shows a print job 75 described in PJL (Printer Job Language) as an example. Note that the contents of the data in FIG. 3 are only an example. As shown in FIG. 3, for example, the header of the print job 75 describes commands for setting variables (JOB_NAME, etc.) in the order of job name 81, user name 85, password 83, transmission time, and description language type. The MFP 1 changes the processing contents of the print job 75 based on the data set in the header of the received print job 75, for example. For example, when a valid value is set in the variable "JOB_PASSWORD" indicating the password 83, the MFP 1 determines that the password 83 is set in the received print job 75 and treats it as a job 75A for security printing. Also, for example, when a valid value is set in "PRINT_USER" indicating the user name 85, the MFP 1 determines that the user name 85 is set in the received print job 75. Note that for printer languages ​​other than PJL, the setting state of the user name 85, etc. can be detected by determining the contents defined in each language in the same manner.

[0028] FIG. 4 shows the state transition of the screen displayed on the touch panel 21 of the MFP1. S19 to S29 in FIG. 4 are processes related to the login operation of the MFP1. For example, after the MFP1 is powered on and executes the control program 71 to start the system, the MFP1 displays the standby screen 91 shown in the upper left of FIG. 4 on the touch panel 21 (see FIG. 1). The MFP1 displays function icons 93 for selecting a FAX function, copy function, scan function, etc. in the center of the standby screen 91. The MFP1 also displays a user display field 95 for displaying the currently selected user name in the upper left of the standby screen 91. When the power is turned on, since no one has logged in yet, the MFP1 displays in the user display field 95 on the standby screen 91 that a public user, which indicates a logout state, is selected. When the standby screen 91 is displayed, a function (such as a scan function) according to the authority granted to the public user (see FIG. 2) can be executed. The MFP1 also displays a date and time field 97 for displaying the current time and date in the lower right of the standby screen 91. Furthermore, the MFP 1 displays triangular icons 98 on both the left and right sides of the standby screen 91, which indicate that scrolling in the left and right directions is possible.

[0029] 4, when the user touches the user display field 95 displaying the public users, the MFP 1 displays a user selection window 109 on the touch panel 21. In the user selection window 109, user names 111 registered in the authentication DB 73 are displayed.

[0030] After displaying the user names 111 registered in the authentication DB 73 in the user selection window 109, when the user touches any of the user names 111 in the user selection window 109, for example, the user name 111 of "inoue" (S21), the MFP 1 displays a PIN number input window 121 for inputting the PIN number 113. The MFP 1 displays a numeric keypad 123 for inputting the PIN number 113 and a PIN number input field 124 in the PIN number input window 121. When the PIN number 113 is input in the PIN number input field 124 using the numeric keypad 123, the MFP 1 determines whether the input PIN number 113 matches the PIN number 113 associated with the user name 111 selected in the user selection window 109 (in this case, "1111" of "inoue" in FIG. 2) (S23). If the PIN numbers 113 match, the MFP 1 permits login. As will be described in more detail later, if stored print jobs 75B associated with the logged-in user are stored in memory 15 and the logged-in user has been granted printing authority, MFP1 prints all of the stored stored print jobs 75B (S23).

[0031] The MFP1 displays the second standby screen 91B after login. The MFP1 displays the name of the logged-in user (for example, "inoue") in a user display field 95 on the second standby screen 91B. In this state, the logged-in user can execute only functions permitted in the authentication DB 73. Therefore, the MFP1 restricts the execution authority of each user by restricting the functions after login based on the authority set in the authentication DB 73. For example, even if a user without copy authority touches the copy function icon 93, the function is not executed. Note that the MFP1 does not have to display the function icon 93 of a function for which the logged-in user does not have authority, i.e., cannot execute, on the second standby screen 91B.

[0032] When the user display field 95 is touched while the second standby screen 91B is displayed (S25), the MFP 1 displays a logout window 126. The MFP 1 displays a selection key 125 in the logout window 126 for selecting whether or not to execute logout. When the selection key 125 for "YES" instructing the execution of logout is touched (S27), the MFP 1 displays the standby screen 91 on the touch panel 21. This completes the logout. Furthermore, if a certain period of time has elapsed while the second standby screen 91B is displayed, the MFP 1 returns the display on the touch panel 21 to the standby screen 91 from the second standby screen 91B (S29). This certain period of time is, for example, 30 seconds to 1 minute.

[0033] (3. Operation of MFP1) Next, the operation of the MFP1 of this embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 5 to 10. Fig. 5 shows the flow of main processing for processing print job 75. For example, when the power is turned on, the MFP1 executes control program 71 on CPU 12 to start up the system, and then executes the main processing shown in Fig. 5. Note that sequence diagrams and flowcharts in this specification basically show processing by CPU 12 in accordance with instructions written in a program (such as control program 71). That is, processing such as "determination," "reception," "acquisition," "acceptance," "determination," "control," and "setting" in the following description represent processing by CPU 12. Processing by CPU 12 also includes hardware control.

[0034] (3-1. Function setting process) First, the function setting process of the MFP1 will be described with reference to FIG. 6. In the MFP1 of this embodiment, for example, the initial values ​​are set to ON to execute the security print function and OFF to not execute the storage print function. Then, for example, when the CPU 12 executes the control program 71 after startup, it starts up a management WEB server (EWS). For system management, the system administrator logs into the EWS of the MFP1 from the PC 41 and changes various settings of the MFP1. For example, the system administrator can select each item displayed on the WEB page of the EWS and click the confirm button to perform ON / OFF setting of the security print function, ON / OFF setting of the storage print function, registration of the above-mentioned authentication DB 73, etc. Note that the MFP1 may be configured to perform ON / OFF setting of the security print function, ON / OFF setting of the storage print function, etc. in response to an operation input of the touch panel 21 or the numeric keypad 22 (see FIG. 1).

[0035] Then, when the CPU 12 starts the function setting process shown in Fig. 6, it determines whether or not a change in the settings has been received from the EWS (S51). For example, when the EWS receives an instruction to change the function settings, it notifies the program that executes the function setting process of the change. When the CPU 12 does not receive an instruction to change the function settings from the EWS in S51, that is, when there is no change in the function settings (S51: NO), it ends the function setting process shown in Fig. 6.

[0036] On the other hand, when the CPU 12 is notified of the change in the function setting from the EWS in S51, that is, when the function setting has been changed (S51: YES), the CPU 12 saves the acquired change in the function setting in the memory 15 (S53) and executes S55. As a result, the MFP 1 reflects the change received from the EWS and retains the setting even at the next startup. In S55, the CPU 12 judges whether the accumulated print function is set to ON. When the CPU 12 judges that the accumulated print function is set to OFF (S55: NO), the CPU 12 ends the function setting process shown in FIG. 6. When the CPU 12 judges that the accumulated print function is set to ON (S55: YES), the CPU 12 executes S56. As described above, the accumulated print function is set to OFF as an initial value in the MFP 1 of this embodiment. Therefore, the CPU 12 does not execute the process after S56 until the accumulated print function is set to ON by the system administrator or the like. The MFP 1 may be configured so that the accumulated print function is set to ON as an initial value.

[0037] In S56, the CPU 12 determines whether the security printing function is set ON. If the CPU 12 determines that the security printing function is set OFF (S56: NO), it executes S58. If the CPU 12 determines that the security printing function is set ON (S56: YES), it stores a setting value indicating that the security printing function is set OFF in the memory 15 (S57). This causes the MFP 1 to keep the security printing function set OFF the next time it is started up. Therefore, the CPU 12 of this embodiment automatically sets the security printing function to OFF in response to the storage printing function being set ON. After executing S57, the CPU 12 executes S58.

[0038] Next, in the processing from S58 onwards, the CPU 12 judges the print job 75 stored in the memory 15. Here, after starting up the system, the CPU 12 stores in the memory 15 the print job 75 received from the PC 41 or the like. For example, in S91 in Fig. 8 described later, the CPU 12 stores in the memory 15 the print job 75 set with the password 83 received when the security printing function is set to ON as a security printing job 75A. Therefore, in S58 in Fig. 6, when the accumulated printing function is set to ON (S55: YES), the CPU 12 judges the print job 75 (such as the security printing job 75A) stored in the memory 15 and detects the print job 75 that can be processed as accumulated printing.

[0039] In S58, the CPU 12 judges whether or not there is a security printing job 75A among the print jobs 75 stored in the memory 15. For example, the CPU 12 judges that the print job 75 having a valid value set in the variable "JOB_PASSWORD" indicating the password 83 among the print jobs 75 stored in the memory 15 is the security printing job 75A (S58: YES). Alternatively, the CPU 12 may provide a dedicated area for storing the security printing job 75A in the storage area of ​​the memory 15, and judge the print job 75 stored in that area as the security printing job 75A (S58: YES). When the CPU 12 judges that there is no security printing job 75A among the print jobs 75 stored in the memory 15 (S58: NO), it ends the function setting process shown in FIG. 6.

[0040] Furthermore, if there is a security printing job 75A among the print jobs 75 stored in the memory 15 (S58: YES), the CPU 12 determines whether or not a user name 85 is set for the security printing job 75A (S59). If the CPU 12 determines that a user name 85 is not set for the security printing job 75A (S59: NO), it deletes the security printing job 75A from the memory 15 (S67).

[0041] Here, it is difficult to associate the security printing job 75A for which the user name 85 is not set with a user, and it is difficult to make it the target of accumulated printing associated with the logged-in user. Therefore, when the accumulated printing function is set to ON, there is a risk that the security printing job 75A for which the user name 85 is not set and which is not the target of accumulated printing will remain saved in the memory 15. Also, as described above, the CPU 12 of this embodiment sets the security printing function to OFF in accordance with the ON setting of the accumulated printing function. Therefore, even if the password 83 is set for the print job 75, the print job 75 for which the user name 85 is not set will remain saved in the memory 15 until the security printing function is set to ON again. Therefore, the CPU 12 of this embodiment deletes the security printing job 75A for which the user name 85 is not set from the memory 15, thereby releasing the storage area of ​​the memory 15 (S67).

[0042] The CPU 12 may confirm with the user whether it is OK to delete the security printing job 75A from the memory 15. For example, the CPU 12 may notify the system administrator's PC 41 of information about the security printing job 75A that it has determined to be deleted. Then, the CPU 12 may be configured to execute S67 when it receives a notification from the system administrator approving permission for deletion.

[0043] After executing S67, the CPU 12 executes the process from S58 again. In this case, the CPU 12 determines whether or not there is another security printing job 75A in the memory 15, and if there is (S58: YES), executes the process from S59 onwards for that security printing job 75A.

[0044] Furthermore, when the CPU 12 determines in S59 that the user name 85 is set in the security printing job 75A (S59: YES), it determines whether or not the set user name 85 is registered in the authentication DB 73 (S61). In the authentication DB 73 of this embodiment, four user names 111, such as "inoue" and the like, are registered, excluding "PUBLIC", as shown in FIG. 2. Therefore, the CPU 12 accesses the authentication DB 73 in S61, and if the user name 85 set in the print job 75 corresponds to any one of the four user names 111, it determines that the user name 85 is the user name 111 registered in the authentication DB 73 (S61: YES). When the CPU 12 determines that the user name 85 of the security printing job 75A is not registered in the authentication DB 73 (S61: NO), it erases the security printing job 75A from the memory 15 (S67) and executes the process from S58 again. This frees up storage space in memory 15 by deleting security printing jobs 75A of unregistered users that are not subject to storage printing, as well as security printing jobs 75A for which no user name 85 is set (S59: NO).

[0045] Furthermore, when the CPU 12 determines that the user name 85 of the security printing job 75A is registered in the authentication DB 73 (S61: YES), it determines whether the user is authorized to print (S63). As shown in FIG. 2, in the authentication DB 73 of this embodiment, the users with the user names 111 "inoue" and "hayashi" are authorized to print (see the print authority flag 114). Therefore, when the user name 85 set in the security printing job 75A is "inoue" or "hayashi", the CPU 12 determines that the user has the authorization to print (S63: YES) and executes S65. Furthermore, when the CPU 12 determines that the user of the security printing job 75A does not have the authorization to print (S63: NO), it erases the security printing job 75A from the memory 15 and releases the storage area of ​​the memory 15 (S67).

[0046] In S65, the CPU 12 stores the password-protected print job 75 that meets the conditions in S58 to S63 in the memory 15 as a job for stored printing 75B. As described above, the print job 75 that meets this condition is the job for security printing 75A in which the user name 85 of the registered user who has printing authority is set (S58: YES, S59: YES, S61: YES, S63: YES). Therefore, when the stored printing function is set to ON, the CPU 12 in this embodiment stores the job for security printing 75A in which the user name 85 of the registered user who has printing authority is set, among the print jobs 75 stored in the memory 15 at that time, as a job for stored printing 75B. After executing S65, the CPU 12 executes the process from S58 again.

[0047] The CPU 12 may erase all print jobs 75 stored in the memory 15 when the security print function is automatically set to OFF in response to the storage print function being set to ON (S57). In this case, the CPU 12 may not execute the processes of S58 to S67, for example, and erase all print jobs 75 from the memory 15 after executing S57. The CPU 12 may also erase all print jobs 75 stored in the memory 15 when the security print function is intentionally set to OFF by a user operation, for example.

[0048] In addition, the CPU 12 may automatically set the security print function to ON when the user sets the accumulated print function to OFF again after the accumulated print function is set to ON. For example, when the CPU 12 receives a notification from the EWS to set the accumulated print function to OFF, the CPU 12 may set the accumulated print function to OFF and automatically set the security print function to ON. In this case, the CPU 12 may, for example, store in the memory 15 the print job 75 for which the password 83 is set among the print jobs 75 for which the user name 85 is set and which are stored in the memory 15 as the security print job 75A, as in the function setting process shown in FIG. In addition, the CPU 12 may, for example, erase the print job 75 for which the password 83 is not set among the print jobs 75 for which the user name 85 is set and which are stored in the memory 15, or may continue to store the print job 75 in the memory 15. In addition, all the print jobs 75 stored in the memory 15 may be printed regardless of whether the password 83 is set or not.

[0049] Furthermore, the method of storing the print job 75 that meets the conditions in S65 as the accumulated printing job 75B is not particularly limited. For example, the CPU 12 may store the security printing job 75A in a different storage area from the storage area of ​​the memory 15 in which the accumulated printing job 75B is stored. In this case, the CPU 12 executes the processes of S58 to S67 for the print job 75 stored in the storage area that stores the security printing job 75A. Then, in S65, the CPU 12 stores the print job 75 that meets the conditions in the storage area for the accumulated printing job 75B. As a result, the print job 75 that has been moved to another storage location is processed as the accumulated printing job 75B.

[0050] (3-2. Main processing) The main process of FIG. 5 will be described. The CPU 12 executes the process of FIG. 5 when the power is turned on. The CPU 12 executes the function setting process of S30 (FIG. 6) and then executes S31. In S31, the CPU 12 checks whether the print job 75 has been received. As will be described later, the CPU 12 executes S41 and the like and then executes S31 again. Therefore, after starting the system, the CPU 12 periodically checks whether the print job 75 has been received. The CPU 12 judges whether the print job 75 has been received based on the result of the check in S31 (S33). If the CPU 12 judges that the print job 75 has been received (S33: YES), it executes the print / storage process of S35. On the other hand, if the CPU 12 judges that the print job 75 has not been received (S33: NO), it executes S37. For example, if the CPU 12 receives multiple print jobs 75, it executes the processes from S31 onwards for the multiple print jobs 75 in the order in which they were received.

[0051] In S37, the CPU 12 judges whether a user has logged in. The CPU 12 judges that a user has logged in when the processes of S19 to S23 in FIG. 4 have been performed. In S37 and after, the CPU 12 executes the processes related to the stored printing from S19 in FIG. 4 described above. If the CPU 12 judges that a user has logged in (S37: YES), it judges whether there is a stored printing job 75B associated with the logged-in user among the stored printing jobs 75B stored in the memory 15 (S39). If the CPU 12 judges that there is a stored printing job 75B of the logged-in user (S39: YES), the printing unit 16 prints the stored printing job 75B (S41). In this case, unlike the secure printing, the password 83 is not requested when printing is executed as in S17 in FIG. 4. Furthermore, in the print process of S41, the CPU 12 prints the accumulated printing job 75B associated with the logged-in user among the print jobs 75 saved as accumulated printing jobs 75B in S65 of FIG. 6 described above. This allows the print jobs 75 of registered users who have print authority to be printed among the print jobs 75 saved in the memory 15 when the accumulated printing function is set to ON. Furthermore, printing of the accumulated printing job 75B starts automatically without requiring the user to select a job or enter a password. This eliminates the need for complicated operations by the user.

[0052] After executing S41, CPU 12 executes the process from S30 again. If the user is not logged in in S37 (S37: NO), or if there is no stored print job 75B associated with the logged-in user in S39 (S39: NO), CPU 12 executes the process from S30. Then, after executing the function setting process in S30, CPU 12 checks the reception of a new print job 75 in S31 and executes the process from S33 onwards. Note that if the stored print function is set to OFF, CPU 12 does not need to execute the processes from S37 to S41 described above, that is, the process of printing the logged-in user's stored print job 75B in response to the login operation.

[0053] (3-3. Printing / Storage Processing) Next, the contents of the print / storage process in S35 in Fig. 5 will be described with reference to Figs. 7 and 8. In the following description, the description of the same contents as those of the function setting process described above will be omitted as appropriate. When the print / storage process is executed, a newly received print job 75 is present in S33 in Fig. 5 (S33: YES). The CPU 12 executes the processes from S71 onward with this newly received print job 75 as the print job 75 to be processed. First, in S71, the CPU 12 determines whether the print job 75 to be processed is e-mail data. The determination of whether the print job 75 is e-mail data can be made based on the data format of the print job 75 to be processed, for example.

[0054] When the CPU 12 determines that the print job 75 to be processed is email data (S71: YES), the password ( This specification The password is a password 83 required for executing secure printing. The CPU 12 associates the print data of the email (such as an attached file) with the issued password 83, and stores the associated data as a secure printing job 75A in the memory 15 (S75). The CPU 12 This specification The CPU 12 stores the secure print job 75A (an example of mail information relating to the mail) in a storage area of ​​the memory 15 for storing the secure print job 75A (S75). After executing S75, the CPU 12 ends the print / storage process shown in FIGS.

[0055] Furthermore, if the CPU 12 determines in S71 that the print job 75 to be processed is not email data, i.e., is a normal print job 75 written in PJL or the like (S71: NO), it determines whether or not the accumulated print function is set to ON (S77). If the CPU 12 determines that the accumulated print function is set to ON (S77: YES), it determines whether or not a user name 85 is set to the print job 75 to be processed (S79). If the CPU 12 determines that a user name 85 is set to the print job 75 to be processed (S79: YES), it executes S81.

[0056] Furthermore, when the CPU 12 determines that the user name 85 is not set in the print job 75 to be processed (S79: NO), it discards the print job 75 to be processed without saving it in the memory 15 (S83). Therefore, when the accumulation print function is set to ON, if a print job 75 to which the user name 85 is not set is received, the print job 75 is discarded. This makes it possible to prevent the storage area of ​​the memory 15 from being overloaded. For example, when the accumulation print function is set to ON and the security print function is set to OFF on the MFP 1 side, if a security print job 75A that does not have the user name 85 is received from the PC 41, the CPU 12 can erase the received security print job 75A without saving it in the memory 15. As a result, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a situation in which the security print job 75A is not printed and is accumulated in the memory 15 while the security print function is set to OFF. After executing S83, the CPU 12 ends the print / storage process.

[0057] In addition, in S81, the CPU 12 determines whether or not the user name 85 set in the print job 75 to be processed is registered in the authentication DB 73. If the CPU 12 determines that the user name 85 is not registered in the authentication DB 73 (S81: NO), the CPU 12 executes S83. As a result, by discarding the print job 75 of an unregistered user, it is possible to improve security while reserving storage space in the memory 15.

[0058] Furthermore, if the CPU 12 determines in S81 that the user name 85 is registered in the authentication DB 73 (S81: YES), it determines whether the user with the user name 85 has been granted printing authority (S85). If the CPU 12 determines that the user has not been granted printing authority (S85: NO), it executes S83. This makes it possible to improve security while reserving storage space in the memory 15 by discarding the print job 75 of a registered user who does not have printing authority.

[0059] Furthermore, when the CPU 12 determines in S85 that the user has been granted the printing authority (S85: YES), it executes S87. In S87, the CPU 12 stores the print job 75 to be processed in a storage area of ​​the memory 15 for storing the accumulated print job 75B. The print job 75 stored in the memory 15 in S87 is printed as the accumulated print job 75B in S41 of FIG. 5. After executing S87, the CPU 12 ends the print / storage process. Between S77 and S87, the CPU 12 of this embodiment does not determine whether or not the password 83 is set for the print job 75. Therefore, when the accumulated print function is set ON, even if the password 83 is set for the received print job 75, the CPU 12 stores the print job 75B as the accumulated print job 75B if the conditions of S77 to S87 are met.

[0060] Furthermore, in S77 described above, if the CPU 12 determines that the accumulated print function is set to OFF (S77: NO), it determines whether or not a password 83 is set for the print job 75 to be processed (S89 in FIG. 8). As shown in FIG. 8, if the CPU 12 determines that a password 83 is set for the print job 75 (S89: YES), it executes S91, and if it determines that a password 83 is not set (S89: NO), it executes S93.

[0061] In addition, in S91, the CPU 12 stores the print job 75 to be processed in the memory 15 as a security print job 75A, and ends the print / storage process. In S93, the CPU 12 checks whether 1) the user name 85 is not set in the print job 75 to be processed, and 2) the user with the user name 85 set in the print job 75 to be processed has printing authority. be If at least one of the above conditions is satisfied (S93: YES), the CPU 12 executes S95. If neither of the above two conditions is satisfied (S93: NO), the CPU 12 executes S97.

[0062] In S95, the CPU 12 executes printing of the print job 75 to be processed. As a result, the CPU 12 prints the print job 75 for which the password 83 and the user name 85 are not set (S89: NO, S93: YES), that is, the print job 75 that does not correspond to the security print job 75A and the storage print job 75B. In addition, in S95, the CPU 12 prints the print job 75 for which the password 83 is not set but the user name 85 of a registered user who has print authority is set (S89: NO, S93: YES). In addition, in S97, the CPU 12 discards the print job 75 to be processed without saving it in the memory 15. As a result, the print job 75 for which the unregistered user name 85 is set and the print job 75 for which the user name 85 of a registered user who does not have print authority is set are discarded, and the storage area of ​​the memory 15 is secured. After executing S95 or S97, the CPU 12 ends the print / storage process.

[0063] (3-4. Processing after pressing the icon) Next, the processing of the CPU 12 in security printing will be described with reference to Fig. 4 and Fig. 10. Fig. 10 shows the contents of the icon pressing process after pressing the function icon 93A of the security printing function shown on the first standby screen 91A in Fig. 4. For example, in S11 of Fig. 4, when the user performs an operation to scroll the standby screen 91 displayed on the touch panel 21 to the left, the CPU 12 displays the first standby screen 91A on the touch panel 21. The CPU 12 displays the function icon 93A for security printing on the first standby screen 91A. When the function icon 93A on the first standby screen 91A is touched, the CPU 12 displays the job selection window 101 (S13 of Fig. 4) and starts the processing shown in Fig. 10.

[0064] First, in S101 of Fig. 10, the CPU 12 displays a list of job names 81 of security printing jobs 75A stored in S91 of Fig. 8 in a job selection window 101 of the touch panel 21 (see Fig. 4). In this embodiment, in S75 of Fig. 7, the CPU 12 saves the attachment file of the email for which the password 83 has been issued as the security printing job 75A. Therefore, for example, the attachment file name of the email for which the password 83 has been issued is also displayed in the job selection window 101 as the security printing job 75A.

[0065] Next, in S103, the CPU 12 determines whether or not any of the job names 81 displayed in the job selection window 101 has been touched. The CPU 12 repeatedly executes the process of S103 until a job name 81 is touched (S103: NO). If a job name 81 is not selected after a certain period of time (e.g., 30 seconds) has elapsed, the CPU 12 may erase the job selection window 101 and return the display on the touch panel 21 to the first standby screen 91A or the standby screen 91.

[0066] When any job name 81 in the job selection window 101 is touched (S103: YES, S15 in FIG. 4), the CPU 12 displays the password input window 103 in FIG. 4 on the touch panel 21 (S105). After displaying the password input window 103, the CPU 12 judges whether the input of the password 83 in the password input window 103 has been confirmed (S107). For example, when the confirmation key of the numeric keypad 22 (see FIG. 1) is pressed while the password input window 103 in FIG. 4 is displayed, the CPU 12 judges that the input of the password 83 has been confirmed (S107: YES). The CPU 12 repeatedly executes the process of S107 until the input of the password 83 is confirmed (S107: NO). Note that, when the input of the password 83 is not confirmed even after a certain time (e.g., 30 seconds) has elapsed, the CPU 12 may erase the password input window 103 and display the job selection window 101.

[0067] When the CPU 12 determines that the input of the password 83 has been confirmed (S107: YES), it determines whether the password 83 entered in the password input window 103 matches the password 83 of the selected security print job 75A (S109, S17 in FIG. 4). If the passwords 83 match (S109: YES), the CPU 12 executes printing of the security print job 75A (S111, S107 in FIG. 4). The CPU 12 ends the process in FIG. 10 and, for example, displays the print execution screen 107 in FIG. 4 on the touch panel 21 during printing, and displays the standby screen 91 on the touch panel 21 when printing is completed.

[0068] On the other hand, if the passwords 83 do not match, the CPU 12 displays an error message on the touch panel 21 (S113). After displaying the error message for a certain period of time, the CPU 12 ends the process of FIG. 10 and displays the password input window 103 again. The CPU 12 executes the process from S105 again, for example. In this manner, the CPU 12 of this embodiment executes the secure printing function.

[0069] (3-5. Standby screen display process) Next, a standby screen display process for controlling display / non-display of the function icon 93A for security printing on the standby screen 91, first standby screen 91A, and second standby screen 91B shown in Fig. 4 will be described with reference to Fig. 9. For example, the CPU 12 executes the process shown in Fig. 9 when starting to display the standby screen 91 or when switching the display of the standby screen 91. More specifically, the CPU 12 executes the process shown in Fig. 9 when the standby screen 91 is displayed for the first time after the power of the MFP 1 is turned on, when the standby screen 91 is displayed after printing is completed, when the second standby screen 91B is displayed after login, etc.

[0070] 9, when the CPU 12 starts the standby screen display process, it determines whether the accumulation print function is set to ON (S121). If the accumulation print function is set to ON (S121: YES), the CPU 12 executes S123, and if the accumulation print function is set to OFF (S121: NO), the CPU 12 executes S125.

[0071] In S125, the CPU 12 executes a process of displaying the function icon 93A on the standby screen 91 etc. shown in Fig. 4. As a result, when the accumulation printing function is set to OFF, the function icon 93A is displayed on the first standby screen 91A in response to the scroll operation on the standby screen 91. The user can operate the function icon 93A to execute the secure printing.

[0072] Further, in S123, the CPU 12 determines whether or not the user is logged in. If the CPU 12 determines that the user is not logged in (S123: NO), the CPU 12 executes S125. Therefore, when the storage print function is set to ON, the CPU 12 displays the function icon 93A on the first standby screen 91A obtained by scrolling the standby screen 91 in the logged-out state.

[0073] Furthermore, when the CPU 12 determines in S123 that the user is currently logged in (S123: YES), the CPU 12 displays the second standby screen 91B not including the function icon 93A (S127). As a result, when the accumulated print function is set to ON, the function icon 93A for security printing is not displayed on the second standby screen 91B after login. When the accumulated print function is set to ON as described above, the security print job 75A is not stored except for email. Therefore, by hiding the function icon 93A on the second standby screen 91B, the occurrence of an erroneous operation can be suppressed. In addition, the CPU 12 may print the print job 75 related to the login user, more specifically, the print job 75 of the email from the sending address registered in the authentication DB 73 as the email address of the login user, in accordance with the login operation. In this manner, the CPU 12 executes the display process of the standby screen 91 and the like.

[0074] Incidentally, the MFP 1 is an example of a printing device. The CPU 12 is an example of a control unit. The memory 15 is an example of a storage unit. The touch panel 21 is an example of a display unit and an operation unit. The network interface 24 is an example of a communication unit. The authentication DB 73 is an example of authentication data. The user names 85 and 111 are examples of user identification information.

[0075] (4. Effects) As described above, according to the first embodiment, the following effects are achieved. (1) In the security printing function, the CPU 12 of this embodiment performs a reception process (S31) for receiving a print job 75 via the network interface 24, a judgment process (S89) for judging whether or not the print job 75 received by the reception process includes a password 83, a storage process (S91) for storing the print job 75 in the memory 15 if it is judged by the judgment process that the print job 75 includes the password 83 (S89: YES), a first printing process (S95) for printing an image related to the print job 75 by the printing unit 16 if it is judged by the judgment process that the print job 75 does not include the password 83 (S89: NO), and a second printing process (S96) for tapping a job list showing information about the print job 75 stored in the memory 15. The MFP 12 executes a first display process (S13) for displaying the job list on the touch panel 21, a first acceptance process (S15) for accepting a selection of a print job 75 from the displayed job list via the touch panel 21, a second acceptance process (S17) for accepting a password 83 via the touch panel 21, a password judgment process (S17) for determining whether or not the password 83 associated with the print job 75 selected in the first acceptance process matches the password 83 accepted in the second acceptance process, and a second print process (S17) for printing the print job 75 selected in the first acceptance process by the printing unit 16 in response to the determination that the password 83 associated with the print job 75 matches the password 83 accepted in the second acceptance process as a result of the password judgment process. The CPU 12 also executes a third acceptance process (S77) for accepting a setting of whether or not to execute a function provided in the MFP 1 including a storage print function. The accumulated printing function includes a fourth reception process (S21) for receiving a user name 85 via the touch panel 21, and a third printing process (S23) for authenticating the user name 85 received in the fourth reception process based on an authentication DB 73 related to authentication of the user name 85, and, depending on success of the authentication, printing by the printing unit 16 an image related to the print job 75 associated with the successfully authenticated user name 85 from among the print jobs 75 stored in the memory 15.In response to receiving a setting to execute the accumulated printing function in the third reception process (S77: YES), the CPU 12 stores the print job 75 in the memory 15 (S87) without executing the password judgment process (S89), and executes the third printing process (S23) without receiving the password 83 for the print job 75 stored in the memory 15 via the touch panel 21.

[0076] According to this, it is possible to set an accumulated printing function to print print job 75 selected from a job list in response to a match between password 83 associated with print job 75 and password 83 accepted via touch panel 21, and to print print job 75 associated with successfully authenticated user name 85 in MFP 1 having a security printing function. Then, in response to accepting a setting to execute the accumulated printing function, MFP 1 restricts the security printing function. By restricting the security printing function in response to enabling the accumulated printing function, printing processing can be appropriately executed in MFP 1 having two functions.

[0077] Also, for example, the login user ID of PC 41 may be automatically associated with print job 75 as user name 85 by a printer driver or the like. Meanwhile, password 83 in the secure print function must be set by the user when issuing a print instruction with the printer driver. By adding the stored print function to MFP 1, it is possible to obtain the same effect as the secure print function without setting password 83 for each print job 75. And by restricting one of the two functions that provide the same effect, it is possible to improve operability for the user.

[0078] (2) In addition, in response to receiving a setting to execute the accumulated printing function in the third reception process (S55) (S55: YES), the CPU 12 sets the security printing function not to be executed (S57) even if a setting to not execute the security printing function is not received in the third reception process.

[0079] According to this, when the storage print function is set to ON, the security print function is automatically set to OFF. This allows the storage print function and the security print function to be executed exclusively, so that printing processes for the two functions can be executed appropriately.

[0080] (3) The CPU 12 also executes a second determination process (S81) for determining whether or not the user name 85 associated with the print job 75 received by the reception process is registered in the authentication DB 73. When the CPU 12 determines that the setting for executing the accumulated print function is made and that the user name 85 associated with the print job 75 is registered in the authentication DB 73 (S81: YES), the CPU 12 stores the print job 75 in the memory 15 as an accumulated print job 75B, which is a print job 75 to be printed by the third print process of the accumulated print function (S87). When the CPU 12 determines that the setting for executing the accumulated print function is made and that the user name 85 associated with the print job 75 is not registered in the authentication DB 73 (S81: NO), the CPU 12 does not store the print job 75 in the memory 15 (S83).

[0081] According to this, even when a print job 75 associated with a password 83 is received, the accumulated print function can be executed according to the user name 85 associated with the print job 75. Furthermore, when a print job 75 with a user name 85 that is not registered in the authentication DB 73 is received, the print job 75 is not stored in the memory 15 but is discarded. This makes it possible to prevent a print job 75 associated with a user name 85 that is not registered in the authentication DB 73 from continuing to be stored in the memory 15 without being printed, which would otherwise cause a load on the storage area of ​​the memory 15.

[0082] (4) Furthermore, CPU 12 causes touch panel 21 to display function icon 93A for performing an operation to execute a print process using the secure print function (see first standby screen 91A in FIG. 4). If the execution of the accumulated print function is set and authentication of user name 85 accepted by the fourth reception process has been successful, CPU 12 does not display function icon 93A in a selectable state on touch panel 21 (S127), and if the execution of the accumulated print function is set and authentication of user name 85 accepted by the fourth reception process has not been successful, CPU 12 displays function icon 93A in an operable state on touch panel 21 (S125).

[0083] According to this, when the stored print function or the like is being executed by the login operation, the occurrence of erroneous operations can be suppressed by not displaying the function icon 93A for executing the secure print function in a selectable state. Also, by displaying the function icon 93A in the logout state, it becomes possible to execute secure printing by selecting the print job 75. This allows the two functions to be executed appropriately in coexistence.

[0084] (5) When the CPU 12 receives a setting to execute the accumulated printing function, if there is already a print job 75 stored in the memory 15 as a security printing job 75A using the security printing function, the CPU 12 saves the print job 75 stored in the memory 15 for which a user name 85 is set as an accumulated printing job 75B using the accumulated printing function (S65).

[0085] According to this, when the accumulated printing function is set to be executed, the print job 75 already acquired and for which the user name 85 is set can be processed as the accumulated printing job 75B. As a result, even if the security printing function is restricted in response to the setting to execute the accumulated printing function, the print job 75 already saved in the memory 15 can be printed by the accumulated printing function.

[0086] (6) In addition, the MFP 1 has an email reception function that receives and prints emails. In response to receiving an email, the CPU 12 executes a password sending process (S73) for sending an email password to the email address of the sender of the email, an email information saving process (S75) for saving email information related to the received email in memory 15 in association with the email password to be sent, a second display process for displaying the email information on the touch panel 21 (job selection window 101 in FIG. 4), a fifth reception process (S15) for accepting a selection of the displayed email information via the touch panel 21, a sixth reception process (S17) for accepting the email password via the touch panel 21, an email password judgment process (S17) for determining whether the email password associated with the email information selected in the fifth reception process matches the email password accepted in the sixth reception process, and a fourth print process (S17) for performing printing related to the email information by the printing unit 16 in response to determining, as a result of the email password judgment process, that the email password associated with the mail information selected in the fifth reception process matches the email password accepted in the sixth reception process. The CPU 12 maintains the print function for emails even after accepting the setting to execute the store print function in the third acceptance process.

[0087] According to this, even if the security printing function is restricted according to the setting for executing the stored printing function, the email printing function is maintained. The user who requests printing by email may be different from the user who sends the print job 75 from the printer driver, etc. Therefore, by maintaining the email printing function even if the security printing function is restricted, it is possible to prevent a decrease in user convenience.

[0088] Second embodiment next, Disclosed hereinThe second embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 11 and 12. In the following description, the same contents as those in the first embodiment described above are given the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted as appropriate. Fig. 11 shows the contents of the function setting process of the second embodiment. In the first embodiment described above, the CPU 12 automatically sets the security print function to OFF in response to the accumulation print function being set to ON. In contrast, the CPU 12 in the second embodiment does not automatically set the security print function to OFF. As shown in Fig. 11, the CPU 12 executes S55 and then executes S58.

[0089] In the first embodiment described above, when the storage printing function is set to ON, the print job 75 that cannot be saved as the storage printing job 75B among the security printing jobs 75A already saved in the memory 15 is discarded (S67 in FIG. 6). In contrast, the print job 75 that cannot be saved as the storage printing job 75B may be continued to be saved as the security printing job 75A. As shown in FIG. 11, for example, when the CPU 12 determines in S59 that the user name 85 is not set in the security printing job 75A (S59: NO), the CPU 12 does not delete the print job 75 and executes the process from S58 again. In S58 again, the CPU 12 determines whether or not there is another security printing job 75A among the print jobs 75 saved in the memory 15. In addition, the CPU 12 also executes the process from S58 again in the case of an unregistered user (S61: NO) and a user without print authority (S63: NO). As a result, even after the accumulated print function is turned on, the security print job 75A for which the password 83 is set can be left in the memory 15 and printed by security printing.

[0090] Fig. 12 shows the contents of the print / storage process of the second embodiment, which is another example of the process of Fig. 7 in the first embodiment. The print / storage process shown in Fig. 8 is similar to that in the second embodiment, and will be described using Fig. 8. After the storage print function is set to ON (S77: YES), the CPU 12 in the first embodiment discards (S83 in Fig. 7) print jobs 75 for which no user name 85 is set (S79: NO) and print jobs 75 of unregistered users (S81: NO).

[0091] In contrast, the CPU 12 of the second embodiment judges whether or not a password 83 is set for a print job 75 for which a user name 85 is not set (S79: NO) or a print job 75 for an unregistered user (S81: NO) (S89 in FIG. 8). As a result, the CPU 12 can save a print job 75 for which a password 83 is set (S89: YES in FIG. 8) received after the accumulated print function is set to ON as a security print job 75A (S91). Even if a password 83 is not set for the print job 75 (S89: NO), the CPU 12 prints a print job 75 for which a user name 85 is not set (S93: YES, S79: NO in FIG. 12) without saving it in the memory 15 (S95 in FIG. 8). As a result, even if the accumulated print function is set to ON, a print job 75 received from a printer driver or the like for which a user name 85 is not set can be printed.

[0092] Furthermore, if the user name 85 of an unregistered user is set in the print job 75 (81: NO in FIG. 12) and the password 83 is not set in the print job 75 (S89: NO), the CPU 12 discards the print job 75 (S97). This makes it possible to improve security by not executing the print job 75 of the unregistered user, and also to secure storage space in the memory 15. In this way, the CPU 12 of the second embodiment can execute printing of the security print job 75A without automatically turning off the security print function.

[0093] (5. Effects) As described above, according to the second embodiment, the following effects are achieved. (1) The CPU 12 executes a second judgment process (S81) for judging whether or not the user name 85 associated with the print job 75 received by the reception process is registered in the authentication DB 73. When the CPU 12 judges that the user name 85 associated with the print job 75 is registered in the authentication DB 73 in a state where the setting for executing the accumulated print function is performed (S81: YES), the CPU 12 stores the print job 75 in the memory 15 as a job 75B for accumulated print, which is a print job 75 to be printed in a third print process of the accumulated print function (S87). When the CPU 12 judges that the user name 85 associated with the print job 75 is not registered in the authentication DB 73 in a state where the setting for executing the accumulated print function is performed (S81: NO), the CPU 12 stores the print job 75 in the memory 15 as a job 75A for security print, which is a print job 75 to be printed in a second print process of the security print function (S91 in FIG. 8).

[0094] According to this, even if a print job 75 associated with a password 83 is received, the accumulated print function can be executed according to the user name 85 associated with the print job 75. Furthermore, when a print job 75 with a user name 85 not registered in the authentication DB 73 is received, the print job 75 is stored in the memory 15 as a job for security printing 75A. That is, the print job 75 with a user name 85 not registered in the authentication DB 73 is exceptionally executed as a security print function. As a result, even if a print job 75 with an unregistered user name 85 is set, if it is a print job 75 with a password, it can be printed by the security print function. For example, even if the security print function is restricted on the MFP1 side, unless the transmission side of the print job 75 is notified, there is a risk that the transmission side cannot recognize that the function has been restricted. As a result, there is a risk that the transmission side will transmit a print job 75 with a password. Even in this case, the print job 75 with the password 83 and the user name 85 set can be stored as a job for security printing 75A or a job for accumulated printing 75B, so that printing can be performed while maintaining security.

[0095] (2) Furthermore, when the CPU 12 receives a setting to execute the accumulated printing function, if there is already a print job 75 stored in the memory 15, the CPU 12 processes the print job 75 stored in the memory 15 for which a password 83 is set (security printing job 75A) as the security printing job 75A, which is the print job 75 to be printed in the first printing process of the security printing function (S59: NO, S61: NO, S63: NO in FIG. 11).

[0096] According to this, when the accumulated printing function is set to be executed, the print job 75 that has already been acquired and for which the password 83 is set can be exceptionally processed as the security printing job 75A. As a result, even if the security printing function is restricted in accordance with the setting to execute the accumulated printing function, the print job 75 already saved in the memory 15 can be printed by the security printing function.

[0097] (6. Modifications) still, What is disclosed herein is not limited to the above embodiments, This specification Needless to say, various improvements and modifications are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. for example, Disclosed herein The authentication information is not limited to numbers such as a PIN number, but may be characters or the like. Disclosed herein The authentication based on the authentication information may be authentication using information on an authentication card or biometric authentication such as a fingerprint. Also, the CPU 12 may not execute the standby screen display process shown in Fig. 9. In this case, the CPU 12 may display the function icon 93A on the second standby screen 91B after login, regardless of whether the storage print function is ON or OFF. Furthermore, the MFP 1 does not necessarily have to have the function of receiving e-mails or the function of printing e-mail information. In the above embodiment, the MFP 1 started printing the accumulated printing job 75B after the user logged in, but the MFP 1 may also execute printing of the accumulated accumulated printing job 75B in response to a predetermined operation on the touch panel 21 after the user logs in. Also, if the determination in S79 in the second embodiment is NO, or if the determination in S81 is NO, the received print job 75 may be discarded. Furthermore, the MFP1 is provided with a touch panel 21 as an operation unit that accepts a login operation, but the login operation may be performed by other methods. For example, the MFP1 may determine whether to permit login based on data received from a mobile terminal. The user may enter a user name 85 or a PIN number 113 on the mobile terminal and transmit it to the MFP1 to perform a login operation. In this case, the communication unit that communicates with the mobile terminal may be Disclosed herein This is an example of an operation unit.

[0098] In the above embodiment, Disclosed herein Although the CPU 12 that executes a predetermined program is employed as the control unit, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the control unit may be configured with dedicated hardware such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Also, the control unit may be configured to operate using a combination of software processing and hardware processing. In the above embodiment, Disclosed herein Although the MFP1, which is a multifunction peripheral, is used as the printing device, the present invention is not limited to this. Disclosed herein The printing device may be a printer device having only a printing function. [Explanation of symbols]

[0099] 1 MFP (printing device), 12 CPU (control unit), 15 memory (storage unit), 21 touch panel (display unit, operation unit), 16 printing unit, 24 network interface (communication unit), 73 authentication DB (authentication data), 75 print job, 75A security printing job, 75B stored printing job, 83 password, 85,111 user name (user identification information), 93A function icon.

Claims

1. A storage unit for storing print jobs; The Communications Department and A display unit; An operation unit that accepts operations; A printing unit that prints an image; A control unit; Equipped with a first display process for displaying a job list showing information about the print job stored in the storage unit on the display unit; a first acceptance process for accepting, by the operation unit, a selection of the print job from the displayed job list; a second acceptance process for accepting, by the operation unit, a password; a password judgment process for determining whether a password associated with the print job selected in the first acceptance process and a password accepted in the second acceptance process match; and a second print process for printing the print job selected in the first acceptance process by the printing unit in response to a determination, as a result of the password judgment process, that the password associated with the print job and the password accepted in the second acceptance process match; The control unit is execute a third reception process for receiving a setting as to whether or not to execute a function provided in the printing device, including a storage printing function; the storage printing function includes a fourth reception process for receiving user identification information via the operation unit, and a third print process for executing authentication of the user identification information received in the fourth reception process based on authentication data related to authentication of the user identification information, and printing, in response to success of the authentication, an image related to the print job associated with the successfully authenticated user identification information among the print jobs stored in the storage unit, by the print unit; The control unit is In response to receiving a setting to execute the stored print function in the third reception process, the print job is stored in the storage unit without executing the password determination process, and a third print process is performed without receiving a password for the print job stored in the storage unit via the operation unit. A printing device that performs the

2. The control unit is A printing device as described in claim 1, wherein in response to accepting a setting to execute the accumulated printing function in the third reception process, a setting to not execute the security printing function is made even if a setting to not execute the security printing function is not accepted in the third reception process.

3. The receiving process receives the print job associated with the password and the user identification information via the communication unit; The control unit is execute a second determination process to determine whether the user identification information associated with the print job received by the receiving process is registered in the authentication data; A printing device as described in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein when a setting has been made to execute the accumulated printing function and it is determined that the user identification information associated with the print job is registered in the authentication data, the print job is saved in the memory unit as a job for accumulated printing, which is the print job to be printed in the third printing process of the accumulated printing function, and when a setting has been made to execute the accumulated printing function and it is determined that the user identification information associated with the print job is not registered in the authentication data, the print job is not stored in the memory unit.

4. The receiving process receives the print job associated with the password and the user identification information via the communication unit; The control unit is execute a second determination process to determine whether the user identification information associated with the print job received by the receiving process is registered in the authentication data; A printing device as described in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein when a setting has been made to execute the accumulated printing function and it is determined that the user identification information associated with the print job is registered in the authentication data, the print job is stored in the memory unit as a job for accumulated printing, which is the print job to be printed by the third printing process of the accumulated printing function, and when a setting has been made to execute the accumulated printing function and it is determined that the user identification information associated with the print job is not registered in the authentication data, the print job is stored in the memory unit as a job for security printing, which is the print job to be printed by the second printing process of the security printing function.

5. The control unit is displaying a function icon for performing an operation for executing a printing process using the security printing function on the display unit; 5. A printing device according to claim 1, wherein when the accumulated printing function is set to be executed and the authentication of the user identification information accepted by the fourth reception process is successful, the function icon is not displayed on the display unit in a selectable state, and when the accumulated printing function is set to be executed and the authentication of the user identification information accepted by the fourth reception process is not successful, the function icon is displayed on the display unit in an operable state.

6. The control unit is A printing device as described in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein when a setting to execute the accumulated printing function is accepted, if there is already a print job stored in the memory unit as a job for security printing using the security printing function, the print job among the print jobs stored in the memory unit in which the user identification information is set is stored as a job for accumulated printing using the accumulated printing function.

7. The control unit is A printing device as described in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein when a setting to execute the accumulated printing function is accepted and there is already a print job stored in the memory unit, the print job stored in the memory unit and for which a password is set is processed as a security printing job, which is the print job to be printed by the first printing process of the security printing function.

8. Equipped with an email reception function that receives and prints emails, The control unit is a password transmission process for transmitting an email password to an email address of a sender of the email in response to receiving the email; an email information storage process for storing email information relating to the received email in the storage unit in association with the email password to be sent; a second display process for displaying the mail information on the display unit; a fifth reception process of receiving a selection of the displayed mail information by the operation unit; a sixth reception process of receiving an email password via the operation unit; an email password determination process for determining whether or not the email password associated with the email information selected in the fifth reception process matches the email password received in the sixth reception process; a fourth printing process for executing printing related to the mail information by the printing unit in response to a determination made as a result of the mail password determination process that the mail password associated with the mail information selected in the fifth reception process matches the mail password received in the sixth reception process; Run 8. The printing device according to claim 1, further comprising: a print function for the email being maintained even after a setting for executing the stored print function is accepted in the third acceptance process.

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