Device registration device and device registration program

Abstract

To provide a device registration device and a device registration program which facilitate an operation of registering a plurality of electronic devices in association with tenants managed by a tenant management system.SOLUTION: When an image processing apparatus uses a serial number to try connection to a tenant, a tenant management system permits the image processing apparatus to connect to the tenant if the serial number which the image processing apparatus uses to try connection to the tenant is registered in association with the tenant to which the image processing apparatus tries to connect. The device registration device acquires serial numbers from a plurality of image processing apparatuses located on a LAN where the device registration device is located (S126), and requests the tenant management system to register the acquired serial numbers in association with tenants (S136).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a device registration apparatus and a device registration program that register electronic devices in association with tenants managed by a tenant management system. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known an information processing system including an electronic device and a tenant management system that manages tenants to which the electronic devices are connected (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2021-125761 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in conventional information processing systems, when multiple electronic devices are registered in association with a tenant managed by a tenant management system, a problem arises in that an operator must perform the same number of operations as the number of electronic devices.

[0005] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT EMBODIMENTS In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a device registration apparatus and a device registration program that can facilitate the task of registering a plurality of electronic devices in association with a tenant managed by a tenant management system. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The device registration device of the present invention is a device registration device that requests a tenant management system to register a device ID as identification information of an electronic device in association with a tenant, wherein the electronic device attempts to connect to the tenant using the device ID of the electronic device itself, and when the electronic device attempts to connect to the tenant using the device ID, the tenant management system allows the electronic device to connect to the tenant when the device ID used in the electronic device's attempt to connect to the tenant is registered in association with the tenant to which the electronic device attempted to connect, and the device registration device acquires the device IDs from a plurality of the electronic devices located in a network in which the device registration device is located, and requests the tenant management system to register the acquired device IDs in association with the tenant.

[0007] With this configuration, the device registration device of the present invention acquires device IDs from multiple electronic devices located on the network in which the device registration device is located, and requests the tenant management system to register the acquired device IDs in association with a tenant, thereby eliminating the need for an operator to manually register the device IDs of multiple electronic devices in the tenant management system. As a result, the task of registering multiple electronic devices in association with a tenant managed by the tenant management system can be facilitated.

[0008] In the device registration device of the present invention, when the electronic device has registered a tenant ID as identification information of the tenant, the electronic device may use the device ID of the electronic device itself to attempt to connect to the tenant identified by the tenant ID registered in the electronic device itself, and when the device registration device requests the tenant management system to register the device ID in association with the tenant, the device registration device may request the electronic device identified by the device ID to register the tenant ID of the tenant.

[0009] With this configuration, when the device registration device of the present invention requests the tenant management system to register a device ID in association with a tenant, it requests the electronic device identified by the device ID to register the tenant's tenant ID, so there is no need for an operator to manually register the tenant ID of the tenant in each of multiple electronic devices, thereby simplifying the work.

[0010] The device registration apparatus of the present invention may, when requesting the electronic device to register the tenant ID, cause the electronic device to transition to a mode in which it attempts to connect to the tenant.

[0011] With this configuration, when the device registration device of the present invention requests an electronic device to register a tenant ID, it transitions the electronic device into a mode in which it attempts to connect to the tenant, eliminating the need for an operator to manually have the electronic device in which the tenant ID has been registered attempt to connect to the tenant, thereby making it easier to work.

[0012] In the device registration device of the present invention, the electronic device attempts to connect to the tenant using a specific application program using the device ID of the electronic device itself, and when the tenant management system registers the device ID used in the electronic device's attempt to connect to the tenant in association with a combination of the application program used in the electronic device's attempt to connect to the tenant and the tenant to which the electronic device attempted to connect, the device registration device may permit the electronic device to connect to the tenant, and request the tenant management system to register the device ID acquired from the electronic device in association with the combination of the application program and the tenant.

[0013] With this configuration, the device registration device of the present invention requests the tenant management system to register the device ID obtained from the electronic device in association with a combination of an application program and a tenant, so that even for the same electronic device, the tenant to which the connection is made can be changed for each application program.

[0014] In the device registration device of the present invention, when the electronic device has registered a combination of an app ID as identification information of the application program and the tenant ID, the electronic device may use the device ID of the electronic device itself to attempt to connect to the tenant identified by the tenant ID registered in the electronic device itself, using the application program identified by the app ID registered in the electronic device itself, and when the device registration device requests the tenant management system to register the device ID in correspondence with a combination of the application program and the tenant, the device registration device may request the electronic device identified by the device ID to register a combination of the app ID of the application program and the tenant.

[0015] With this configuration, when the device registration device of the present invention requests the tenant management system to register a device ID in association with a combination of an application program and a tenant, it requests the electronic device identified by the device ID to register the combination of the app ID of the application program and the tenant ID of the tenant, so there is no need for an operator to manually register the combination of the app ID of the application program and the tenant ID of the tenant in each of multiple electronic devices, thereby simplifying the work.

[0016] The device registration device of the present invention may display on a screen a target electronic device among the multiple electronic devices arranged on the network, the target electronic device being requested to register the device ID in correspondence with the tenant by the tenant, in a manner that allows the target electronic device to be specified.

[0017] With this configuration, the device registration device of the present invention displays on a screen, in a manner that allows a user to specify an electronic device among multiple electronic devices located on the network in which the device registration device is located, for which the user wishes to request the tenant management system to register a device ID in association with a tenant, thereby making it easy to specify the electronic device for which the user wishes to request the tenant management system to register a device ID in association with a tenant.

[0018] The device registration device of the present invention may obtain model names of the electronic devices from a plurality of the electronic devices arranged on the network, and display on the screen only those electronic devices whose obtained model names are specific model names so that they can be specified.

[0019] With this configuration, the device registration device of the present invention acquires model names of electronic devices from multiple electronic devices located on the network in which the device registration device is located, and displays on the screen only electronic devices whose acquired model names are specific model names so that they can be specified, thereby preventing electronic devices that are not suitable for being registered in association with a tenant from being registered in association with a tenant.

[0020] The device registration device of the present invention may not require the specification on the screen of more electronic devices than the number of licenses indicating the number of electronic devices that can be associated with the tenant and registered in the tenant management system minus the number of electronic devices that have already been associated with the tenant and registered in the tenant management system.

[0021] With this configuration, the device registration device of the present invention does not allow the specification on the screen of more electronic devices than the number of licenses indicating the number of electronic devices that can be associated with a tenant and registered in the tenant management system minus the number of electronic devices that have already been associated with the tenant and registered in the tenant management system, thereby preventing an attempt to associate and register an electronic device that cannot be associated with a tenant and registered in the tenant management system from the standpoint of the number of licenses.

[0022] The device registration device of the present invention may be capable of receiving an instruction to increase the number of licenses.

[0023] With this configuration, the device registration device of the present invention can receive an instruction to increase the number of licenses, thereby improving convenience.

[0024] The device registration program of the present invention is a device registration program for requesting a tenant management system to register a device ID as identification information of an electronic device in association with a tenant, wherein the electronic device attempts to connect to the tenant using the device ID of the electronic device itself, and when the electronic device attempts to connect to the tenant using the device ID, the tenant management system allows the electronic device to connect to the tenant when the device ID used in the electronic device's attempt to connect to the tenant has been registered in association with the tenant to which the electronic device attempted to connect, and the device registration program causes the computer to acquire the device IDs from a plurality of the electronic devices located on a network in which a computer executing the device registration program is located, and causes the tenant management system to request the computer to register the device ID acquired by the computer in association with the tenant.

[0025] With this configuration, a computer executing the device registration program of the present invention acquires device IDs from multiple electronic devices located on the network on which the computer executing the device registration program is located, and requests the tenant management system to register the acquired device IDs in association with a tenant. This eliminates the need for an operator to manually register the device IDs of multiple electronic devices in the tenant management system, thereby facilitating the task of registering multiple electronic devices in association with a tenant managed by the tenant management system. Effect of the Invention

[0026] The device registration apparatus and the device registration program of the present invention can facilitate the task of registering a plurality of electronic devices in association with a tenant managed by a tenant management system. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0027] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram of an image processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 2 is a block diagram of an example of the tenant management system shown in FIG. 1 when configured by one computer. [Diagram 3] 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of tenant management information illustrated in FIG. 2. [Figure 4] 2 is a block diagram of an example of the image processing device shown in FIG. 1 when configured as an MFP. [Diagram 5] 5 is a diagram showing an example of connection information shown in FIG. 4. [Figure 6] 2 is a block diagram of an example of the device registration apparatus shown in FIG. 1 when configured by one computer. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of registration candidate information shown in FIG. 6. [Figure 8] 7 is a flowchart of a part of the operation of the device registration apparatus shown in FIG. 6 when an image processing apparatus is registered in association with a tenant managed by the tenant management system. [Figure 9] 9 is a continuation of the flowchart shown in FIG. 8. [Figure 10] 7 is a diagram showing an example of a login screen displayed on a display unit shown in FIG. 6. FIG. [Figure 11] 7 is a diagram showing an example of a device designation screen displayed on the display unit shown in FIG. 6. [Figure 12] 10 is a flowchart of a device designation screen display process shown in FIG. 9; [Figure 13] 5 is a flowchart of an operation of the image processing device shown in FIG. 4 when an application name, a tenant name, a connection mode transition command, and a restart command are received from the device registration device. [Figure 14] 5 is a flowchart of an operation at the time of starting up the image processing device shown in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0028] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0029] First, a configuration of an image processing system as an information processing system according to the present embodiment will be described.

[0030] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image processing system 10 according to the present embodiment.

[0031] As shown in Fig. 1, the image processing system 10 includes a tenant management system 20 that manages tenants to which image processing devices are logged in. The tenant management system 20 can cooperate with image processing devices to realize, for example, cloud printing, which is a function of downloading a print job stored on a cloud to the image processing device and causing the image processing device to execute the downloaded print job, and cloud scanning, which is a function of uploading scan data read from a document by the image processing device to the cloud. The tenant management system 20 may be configured by, for example, one computer such as a PC (Personal Computer), or may be configured by multiple computers. The tenant management system 20 may be realized on a cloud.

[0032] The image processing system 10 includes an image processing device 30 as an electronic device in a LAN (Local Area Network) 11. The image processing system 10 may include at least one other image processing device as an electronic device in the LAN 11 in addition to the image processing device 30. The image processing system 10 may include at least one image processing device as an electronic device in each of at least one LAN different from the LAN 11. The image processing device may be configured, for example, by an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral), a dedicated printer, a dedicated scanner, or the like.

[0033] The image processing system 10 includes a device registration device 40 in the LAN 11, which registers an image processing device in the tenant management system 20. The image processing system 10 may include a device registration device in at least one LAN different from the LAN 11, which registers an image processing device in the tenant management system 20. The device registration device may be configured by a computer such as a PC, a smartphone, or a tablet terminal.

[0034] The tenant management system 20 and the image processing device can communicate with each other via a network 12 such as the Internet. The tenant management system 20 and the device registration device can communicate with each other via the network 12.

[0035] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example of the tenant management system 20 when configured by one computer.

[0036] As shown in FIG. 2, the tenant management system 20 includes an operation unit 21 which is an operation device such as a keyboard or mouse through which various operations are input, a display unit 22 which is a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) that displays various information, a communication unit 23 which is a communication device that communicates with external devices via a network such as a LAN or the Internet, or directly via a wired or wireless connection without going through a network, a memory unit 24 which is a non-volatile memory device such as a semiconductor memory or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) that stores various information, and a control unit 25 which controls the entire tenant management system 20.

[0037] The storage unit 24 can store a tenant management program 24a for managing tenants. The tenant management program 24a may be installed in the tenant management system 20 during the manufacturing stage of the tenant management system 20, or may be additionally installed in the tenant management system 20 from an external storage medium such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) memory, or may be additionally installed in the tenant management system 20 from a network.

[0038] The storage unit 24 stores tenant management information 24b for managing tenants.

[0039] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the tenant management information 24b.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 3, tenant management information 24b indicates a combination of identification information of the image processing device's linked app (described later), i.e., the app name as an app ID, identification information of the tenant, i.e., the tenant name as the tenant ID, an ID as identification information of the tenant administrator, a password of the tenant administrator, identification information of the image processing device, i.e., the serial number as a device ID, and a number of licenses indicating the number of image processing devices that can be registered to the tenant.

[0041] A plurality of tenant names can be set for each application name.

[0042] Multiple ID and password combinations can be registered for each tenant name.

[0043] A plurality of serial numbers can be registered for each tenant name.

[0044] Only one license can be registered for each tenant name.

[0045] 2 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores programs and various data, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) that serves as a memory used as a working area for the CPU of the control unit 25. The CPU of the control unit 25 executes programs stored in the storage unit 24 or the ROM of the control unit 25.

[0046] The control unit 25 executes the tenant management program 24a to realize a tenant management unit 25a that manages tenants.

[0047] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example of the image processing device 30 when configured as an MFP.

[0048] As shown in FIG. 4, the image processing device 30 includes an operation unit 31 which is an operating device such as a button through which various operations are input, a display unit 32 which is a display device such as an LCD that displays various information, a printer 33 which is a printing device that prints images on a recording medium such as paper, a scanner 34 which is a reading device that reads images from a document, a communication unit 35 which is a communication device that communicates with an external device via a network such as a LAN or the Internet, or directly by wire or wirelessly without using a network, a fax communication unit 36 ​​which is a fax device that communicates with an external facsimile device (not shown) via a communication line such as a public telephone line, a memory unit 37 which is a non-volatile memory device such as a semiconductor memory or HDD that stores various information, and a control unit 38 which controls the entire image processing device 30.

[0049] The storage unit 37 can store an interworking application 37a as an application program for interworking with a tenant managed by the tenant management system 20. The storage unit 37 can store at least one interworking application as an application program for interworking with a tenant managed by the tenant management system 20 other than the interworking application 37a. As the interworking application, various types of application programs are conceivable. For example, as the interworking application, an application program for executing printing based on image data stored in a tenant managed by the tenant management system 20 by the printer 33, or for storing image data generated based on an image read from a document by the scanner 34 in a tenant managed by the tenant management system 20 is conceivable. The interworking application may be installed in the image processing device 30 during the manufacturing stage of the image processing device 30, or may be additionally installed in the image processing device 30 from an external storage medium such as a USB memory, or may be additionally installed in the image processing device 30 from a network.

[0050] The storage unit 37 can store an associated application startup program 37b as a program for starting an associated application. The associated application startup program 37b may be installed in the image processing device 30 during the manufacturing stage of the image processing device 30, or may be additionally installed in the image processing device 30 from an external storage medium such as a USB memory, or may be additionally installed in the image processing device 30 from a network.

[0051] The storage unit 37 is capable of storing connection information 37c as information for connecting to the tenant management system 20.

[0052] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the connection information 37c.

[0053] As shown in FIG. 5, the connection information 37c indicates, for each linked app, a combination of the app name of an linked app for linking with a tenant managed by the tenant management system 20 and the tenant name of the tenant managed by the tenant management system 20.

[0054] As shown in FIG. 4, the memory unit 37 is capable of storing connection mode information 37d indicating whether the operating mode of the image processing device 30 is a mode for connecting to the tenant management system 20 using connection information 37c (hereinafter referred to as the “connection mode”).

[0055] The control unit 38 includes, for example, a CPU, a ROM that stores programs and various data, and a RAM as a memory used as a working area for the CPU of the control unit 38. The CPU of the control unit 38 executes the programs stored in the storage unit 37 or the ROM of the control unit 38.

[0056] The control unit 38 executes the linking application to realize a tenant linking unit that links with tenants managed by the tenant management system 20. For example, the control unit 38 executes the linking application 37a to realize a tenant linking unit 38a that links with tenants managed by the tenant management system 20. The tenant linking unit holds a uniform resource locator (URL) for connecting to the tenant management system 20 in advance.

[0057] The control unit 38 executes the link application startup program 37b to implement a link application startup unit 38b that starts the link application.

[0058] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example of the device registration apparatus 40 when configured by one computer.

[0059] As shown in FIG. 6, device registration device 40 includes an operation unit 41 which is an operation device such as a keyboard or mouse through which various operations are input, a display unit 42 which is a display device such as an LCD that displays various information, a communication unit 43 which is a communication device that communicates with external devices via a network such as a LAN or the Internet, or directly by wired or wireless means without going through a network, a memory unit 44 which is a non-volatile memory device such as a semiconductor memory or HDD that stores various information, and a control unit 45 which controls the entire device registration device 40.

[0060] The storage unit 44 can store a device registration program 44a for registering an image processing device in the tenant management system 20. The device registration program 44a may be installed in the device registration device 40 during the manufacturing stage of the device registration device 40, or may be additionally installed in the device registration device 40 from an external storage medium such as a USB memory, or may be additionally installed in the device registration device 40 from a network.

[0061] The storage unit 44 is capable of storing registration candidate information 44b that indicates the model names of image processing devices that are candidates for registration in the tenant management system 20.

[0062] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the registration candidate information 44b.

[0063] As shown in FIG. 7, the registration candidate information 44b is information indicating a list of model names of image processing devices that are candidates for registration in the tenant management system 20.

[0064] 6 includes, for example, a CPU, a ROM that stores programs and various data, and a RAM as a memory used as a working area for the CPU of the control unit 45. The CPU of the control unit 45 executes a program stored in the storage unit 44 or the ROM of the control unit 45.

[0065] The control unit 45 executes the device registration program 44a to realize a device registration unit 45a that registers the image processing device in the tenant management system 20. The device registration unit 45a holds a URL for connecting to the tenant management system 20 in advance.

[0066] Next, the operation of the image processing system 10 will be described.

[0067] First, the operation of the device registration apparatus 40 when registering an image processing apparatus in association with a tenant managed by the tenant management system 20 will be described.

[0068] Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing part of the operation of the device registration apparatus 40 when registering an image processing apparatus in association with a tenant managed by the tenant management system 20. Fig. 9 is a flowchart continuing from the flowchart shown in Fig. 8.

[0069] A user of the device registration device 40 can instruct the device registration device 40 to start the device registration program 44a via the operation unit 41 of the device registration device 40. When the control unit 45 of the device registration device 40 is instructed to start the device registration program 44a, the control unit 45 starts the device registration program 44a. When the device registration program 44a is started, the device registration unit 45a of the device registration device 40 executes the operations shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

[0070] As shown in Figures 8 and 9, the device registration unit 45a displays a screen (hereinafter referred to as a "login screen") 50 (see Figure 10) for logging in to a tenant managed by the tenant management system 20 on the display unit 42 (S101).

[0071] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the login screen 50. As shown in FIG.

[0072] As shown in FIG. 10 , the login screen 50 includes a text box 51 as a widget into which the app name of an linked app used to link with a tenant managed by the tenant management system 20 is input, a text box 52 as a widget into which the tenant name of the tenant to be linked by the linked app identified by the app name input in the text box 51 is input, a text box 53 as a widget into which an ID for logging in to the tenant identified by the tenant name input in the text box 52 is input, a text box 54 as a widget into which a password for logging in to the tenant identified by the tenant name input in the text box 52 is input, a text box 55 as a widget into which the number of licenses to be added for the tenant identified by the tenant name input in the text box 52 is input, a cancel button 56 as a widget for canceling the registration of the image processing device in association with the tenant managed by the tenant management system 20, and a next button 57 as a widget for logging in to the tenant identified by the tenant name input in the text box 52.

[0073] The next button 57 is in a default state of being inoperable, for example, being grayed out.

[0074] As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, when the process of S101 ends, the device registration unit 45a determines whether or not the cancel button 56 has been pressed (S102).

[0075] When the device registration unit 45a determines in S102 that the cancel button 56 has been pressed, it terminates the display of the login screen 50 on the display unit 42 (S103).

[0076] When the process of S103 ends, the device registration unit 45a starts the process of ending the device registration program 44a (S104), and ends the operations shown in FIGS.

[0077] If the device registration unit 45a determines in S102 that the cancel button 56 has not been pressed, it determines whether or not the application name, tenant name, ID, and password have all been entered on the login screen 50 (S105).

[0078] If the device registration unit 45a determines in S105 that at least one of the application name, tenant name, ID, and password has not been entered in the login screen 50, it makes the Next button 57 inoperable, for example by graying it out (S106), and executes the processing of S102.

[0079] When the device registration unit 45a determines in S105 that the application name, the tenant name, the ID, and the password have all been entered in the login screen 50, the device registration unit 45a makes the next button 57 operable (S107).

[0080] When the process of S107 ends, the device registration unit 45a determines whether or not the next button 57 has been pressed (S108).

[0081] If the device registration unit 45a determines in S108 that the next button 57 has not been pressed, it executes the process of S102.

[0082] When the device registration unit 45a determines in S108 that the next button 57 has been pressed, it terminates the display of the login screen 50 on the display unit 42 (S109).

[0083] When the process of S109 ends, the device registration unit 45a transmits a request for logging in to a tenant managed by the tenant management system 20 (hereinafter referred to as a "login request") to the tenant management system 20 (S110). Note that the device registration unit 45a includes in the login request in S110 the application name input in the text box 51 at the time the next button 57 is pressed, the tenant name input in the text box 52 at the time the next button 57 is pressed, the ID input in the text box 53 at the time the next button 57 is pressed, and the password input in the text box 54 at the time the next button 57 is pressed.

[0084] When the tenant management unit 25a of the tenant management system 20 receives a login request transmitted by the device registration device 40, and if the combination of ID and password included in the login request corresponds to the combination of the application name and tenant name included in the login request in the tenant management information 24b, the tenant management unit 25a permits login to the tenant identified by the combination of the application name and tenant name included in the login request and notifies the device registration device 40 of success of login to the tenant. On the other hand, when the tenant management unit 25a receives a login request transmitted by the device registration device 40, and if the combination of the application name and tenant name included in the login request is not included in the tenant management information 24b, the tenant management unit 25a notifies the device registration device 40 of failure of login to the tenant. Furthermore, when the tenant management unit 25a receives a login request transmitted by the device registration device 40, if the combination of ID and password included in the login request is not associated in the tenant management information 24b with the combination of the application name and tenant name included in the login request, the tenant management unit 25a does not permit login to the tenant identified by the combination of the application name and tenant name included in the login request, and notifies the device registration device 40 of the failure of login to this tenant.

[0085] When the process of S110 ends, the device registration unit 45a determines whether or not a failure in logging in to the tenant has been notified by the tenant management system 20 (S111).

[0086] When the device registration unit 45a determines in S111 that the tenant management system 20 has notified the device registration unit 45a of the failure of the login to the tenant, the device registration unit 45a displays the failure of the login to the tenant on the display unit 42 (S112), and executes the process of S101.

[0087] If the device registration unit 45a determines in S111 that the tenant management system 20 has not notified the user of a failed login to the tenant, the device registration unit 45a determines whether the user has been notified of a successful login to the tenant by the tenant management system 20 (S113).

[0088] If the device registration unit 45a determines in S113 that the tenant management system 20 has not notified the device 45a of successful login to the tenant, the device registration unit 45a executes the process of S111.

[0089] When the device registration unit 45a determines in S113 that the tenant management system 20 has notified the user that login to the tenant has been successful, the device registration unit 45a determines whether the number of licenses was entered in the text box 55 at the time the Next button 57 was pressed (S121).

[0090] If the device registration unit 45a determines in S121 that the number of licenses had been entered in the text box 55 at the time the Next button 57 was pressed, it sends a request to add the number of licenses that was entered in the text box 55 at the time the Next button 57 was pressed (hereinafter referred to as a "license addition request") to the tenant management system 20 (S122).

[0091] When the tenant management unit 25a of the tenant management system 20 receives a license addition request sent by the device registration device 40, it increases the number of licenses associated with the tenant to which the device registration device 40 is currently logged in in the tenant management information 24b by the number of licenses specified in the license addition request, and notifies the device registration device 40 of the success of the license addition.

[0092] When the processing of S122 is completed, the device registration unit 45a determines whether or not the tenant management system 20 has notified the user of the successful increase in the number of licenses until it determines that the tenant management system 20 has notified the user of the successful increase in the number of licenses (S123).

[0093] If the device registration unit 45a determines in S121 that the number of licenses had not been entered in the text box 55 at the time the Next button 57 was pressed, or determines in S123 that the tenant management system 20 has notified it that the number of licenses had been successfully added, the device registration device 40 sends an inquiry about the number of remaining licenses for the currently logged-in tenant (hereinafter referred to as the "remaining license number inquiry") to the tenant management system 20 (S124).

[0094] When the tenant management unit 25a of the tenant management system 20 receives the remaining license number inquiry transmitted by the device registration device 40, it notifies the device registration device 40 of the remaining license number, which is the number obtained by subtracting the number of image processing devices associated with the tenant to which the device registration device 40 is currently logged in in the tenant management information 24b from the number of licenses associated with the tenant to which the device registration device 40 is currently logged in in the tenant management information 24b. Here, the tenant management unit 25a regards the number of serial numbers of image processing devices associated with the tenant name of the tenant to which the device registration device 40 is currently logged in in the tenant management information 24b as the number of image processing devices associated with the tenant to which the device registration device 40 is currently logged in in the tenant management information 24b.

[0095] When the process of S124 ends, the device registration unit 45a determines whether the number of remaining licenses has been notified from the tenant management system 20 until it determines that the number of remaining licenses has been notified from the tenant management system 20 (S125).

[0096] When the device registration unit 45a determines in S125 that the number of remaining licenses has been notified by the tenant management system 20, it acquires, for example by broadcasting, the computer name, IP (Internet Protocol) address, serial number and model name from the image processing device located on the same LAN as the device registration device 40, i.e., the LAN 11 on which the device registration device 40 is located (S126).

[0097] For example, when the control unit 38 of the image processing device 30 receives a request for the computer name, IP address, serial number, and model name from the device registration device 40, the control unit 38 notifies the device registration device 40 of the computer name, IP address, serial number, and model name of the image processing device 30. Among the image processing devices arranged on the LAN 11 on which the device registration device 40 is arranged, image processing devices other than the image processing device 30 also operate in the same manner as the image processing device 30.

[0098] When the processing of S126 is completed, the device registration unit 45a executes a device designation screen display process to display a screen (hereinafter referred to as the "device designation screen") 60 (see Figure 11) for designating the image processing device to be registered in the tenant management system 20 on the display unit 42 (S127).

[0099] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the device designation screen 60. As shown in FIG.

[0100] As shown in FIG. 11, the device designation screen 60 includes a device list display section 61 that displays a list of image processing devices located on the LAN 11 on which the device registration device 40 is located, a cancel button 62 as a widget for canceling the registration of the image processing device to the tenant management system 20, and an OK button 63 as a widget for executing the registration of the image processing device to the tenant management system 20.

[0101] The computer name and IP address of a different image processing device are displayed on each line in the device list display section 61. A check box 61a is provided on the left side of the computer name and IP address of a specific image processing device among the image processing devices displayed in the device list display section 61, as a widget for designating the image processing device as a target image processing device to be registered in the tenant management system 20.

[0102] The OK button 63 is in a default state in which it is inoperable, for example, by being grayed out.

[0103] FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the device designation screen display process shown in FIG.

[0104] As shown in FIG. 12, the device registration unit 45a of the device registration device 40 identifies the image processing device whose computer name, IP address, serial number and model name were acquired in S126 as the image processing device whose computer name and IP address are displayed on the device list display unit 61 (S141).

[0105] When the processing of S141 is completed, the device registration unit 45a identifies, from among the image processing devices identified in S141, the image processing devices whose model names obtained from the image processing devices in S126 are included in the registration candidate information 44b as image processing devices in which a check box 61a will be placed in the device list display section 61 (S142).

[0106] When the processing of S142 is completed, the device registration unit 45a displays the device designation screen 60 on the display unit 42 (S143) based on the image processing device identified in S141 that shows the computer name and IP address in the device list display unit 61 and the image processing device identified in S142 that has a check box 61a placed in the device list display unit 61, and terminates the device designation screen display processing shown in Figure 12.

[0107] As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, when the process of S127 ends, the device registration unit 45a determines whether or not the cancel button 62 has been pressed (S128).

[0108] If the device registration unit 45a determines in S128 that the cancel button 62 has been pressed, it terminates the display of the device designation screen 60 on the display unit 42 (S129) and executes the process of S104.

[0109] If the device registration unit 45a determines in S128 that the cancel button 62 has not been pressed, it determines whether the number of image processing devices checked in the check boxes 61a in the device list display unit 61 is less than or equal to the number of remaining licenses notified by the tenant management system 20 (S130).

[0110] If the device registration unit 45a determines in S130 that the number of image processing devices with the check boxes 61a checked in the device list display unit 61 is not less than the number of remaining licenses notified by the tenant management system 20, it makes the OK button 63 inoperable, for example by graying it out (S131).

[0111] When the processing of S131 is completed, the device registration unit 45a displays an error on the display unit 42 indicating that the number of image processing devices to be registered in the tenant management system 20 is greater than the number of remaining licenses (S132), and then executes the processing of S128.

[0112] When the device registration unit 45a determines in S130 that the number of image processing devices with the check boxes 61a checked in the device list display unit 61 is less than or equal to the number of remaining licenses notified by the tenant management system 20, it makes the OK button 63 operable (S133).

[0113] When the process of S133 ends, the device registration unit 45a determines whether or not the OK button 63 has been pressed (S134).

[0114] If the device registration unit 45a determines in S134 that the OK button 63 has not been pressed, it executes the process of S128.

[0115] When the device registration unit 45a determines in S134 that the OK button 63 has been pressed, it terminates the display of the device designation screen 60 on the display unit 42 (S135).

[0116] When the processing of S135 is completed, the device registration unit 45a requests the tenant management system 20 to register the serial numbers of the image processing devices that were checked in the check boxes 61a in the device list display unit 61 at the time the OK button 63 was pressed, among the serial numbers obtained from the image processing devices in S126 (S136).

[0117] When the tenant management unit 25a of the tenant management system 20 receives the request in S136, it registers the serial number specified in the request in S136 in the tenant management information 24b as a serial number associated with the tenant to which the device registration device 40 is currently logged in. When the tenant management unit 25a registers the serial number in the tenant management information 24b, it notifies the device registration device 40 of the success of the registration of the serial number. The tenant management unit 25a includes, among the serial numbers specified in the request in S136, the serial number newly registered in the tenant management information 24b in the notification of the success of the registration of the serial number.

[0118] When the processing of S136 is completed, the device registration unit 45a determines whether or not a notification of successful registration of the serial number has been received from the device registration device 40 until it determines that a notification of successful registration of the serial number has been received from the device registration device 40 (S137).

[0119] When the device registration unit 45a determines in S137 that it has received a notification of successful registration of the serial number from the device registration device 40, it transmits to the image processing device whose serial number has been newly registered in the tenant management information 24b (S138), the app name that was entered in the text box 51 at the time the Next button 57 was pressed, the tenant name that was entered in the text box 52 at the time the Next button 57 was pressed, a connection mode transition command as an instruction to transition the image processing device to a connection mode, and a restart command as an instruction to restart the image processing device, and executes the processing of S104.

[0120] The following describes the operation of the image processing device 30 when the image processing device 30 receives the application name, the tenant name, the connection mode transition command, and the restart command transmitted in S138 from the device registration device 40. Image processing devices other than the image processing device 30 also operate in the same manner as the image processing device 30.

[0121] FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of the image processing device 30 when an application name, a tenant name, a connection mode transition command, and a restart command are received from the device registration device 40. In FIG.

[0122] When the tenant cooperation unit 38a of the image processing device 30 receives the application name, the tenant name, the connection mode transition command, and the restart command from the device registration device 40, the tenant cooperation unit 38a executes the operation shown in FIG.

[0123] As shown in FIG. 13, the tenant association unit 38a writes the combination of the application name and the tenant name received from the device registration device 40 into the connection information 37c (S161).

[0124] When the process of S161 ends, the tenant cooperation unit 38a writes in the connection mode information 37d that the connection mode is being set in accordance with the connection mode transition command received from the device registration device 40 (S162).

[0125] When the process of S162 ends, the tenant cooperation unit 38a starts the restart process of the image processing device 30 in accordance with the restart command received from the device registration device 40 (S162), and ends the operation shown in FIG.

[0126] Next, a description will be given of the start-up operation of the image processing device 30. Image processing devices other than the image processing device 30 also operate in the same manner as the image processing device 30.

[0127] FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the operation of the image processing device 30 at the time of startup.

[0128] When the image processing device 30 is started, the cooperative application starting unit 38b of the image processing device 30 executes the operation shown in FIG.

[0129] As shown in FIG. 14, the link application launch unit 38b determines whether the connection mode information 37d indicates that the mode is the connection mode (S181).

[0130] If the cooperative application launch unit 38b determines in S181 that the connection mode information 37d does not indicate that the mode is the connection mode, the cooperative application launch unit 38b ends the operation shown in FIG.

[0131] When the cooperative application launch unit 38b determines in S181 that the connection mode information 37d indicates that the mode is the connection mode, the cooperative application launch unit 38b determines whether or not the connection information 37c indicates an application name (S182).

[0132] If the cooperative application launch unit 38b determines in S182 that the application name is not indicated in the connection information 37c, the operation shown in FIG. 14 ends.

[0133] When the linked application launch unit 38b determines in S182 that an application name is indicated in the connection information 37c, it targets one application name that has not yet been targeted in the current operation shown in FIG. 14 among the application names indicated in the connection information 37c (S183).

[0134] When the process of S183 ends, the linked application launch unit 38b launches the linked application specified by the current target application name (S184).

[0135] When the process of S184 ends, the tenant association unit realized by the interworking app launched in the immediately preceding S184 transmits a login request to the tenant management system 20 (S185). Note that the tenant association unit includes in the login request of S185 the application name of the interworking app that realizes the tenant association unit itself, the tenant name shown in the connection information 37c in association with the application name of the interworking app that realizes the tenant association unit itself, and the serial number of the image processing device 30. That is, when a combination of the application name of the interworking app and the tenant name is registered in the connection information 37c, the image processing device 30 attempts to connect to the tenant identified by the tenant name by the interworking app using the serial number of the image processing device 30 itself.

[0136] When the tenant management unit 25a of the tenant management system 20 receives a login request transmitted by the image processing device 30, if the serial number included in the login request is associated with the combination of the application name and tenant name included in the login request in the tenant management information 24b, the tenant management unit 25a permits login to the tenant specified by the combination of the application name and tenant name included in the login request and notifies the image processing device 30 of the success of login to the tenant. That is, when the image processing device attempts to connect to the tenant using an associated application by using the serial number, the tenant management system 20 permits the image processing device to connect to the tenant when the serial number used in the image processing device's attempt to connect to the tenant is registered in association with the combination of the associated application used in the image processing device's attempt to connect to the tenant and the tenant to which the image processing device attempted to connect. On the other hand, when the tenant management unit 25a receives a login request transmitted by the image processing device 30, if the combination of the application name and tenant name included in the login request is not included in the tenant management information 24b, the tenant management unit 25a notifies the image processing device 30 of the failure of login to the tenant. In addition, when the tenant management unit 25a receives a login request transmitted by the image processing device 30, if the serial number included in the login request is not associated in the tenant management information 24b with the combination of the application name and tenant name included in the login request, the tenant management unit 25a does not allow login to the tenant identified by the combination of the application name and tenant name included in the login request, and notifies the image processing device 30 of the failure of login to this tenant.

[0137] When the process of S185 ends, the tenant association unit determines whether or not a failure in logging in to the tenant has been notified from the tenant management system 20 (S186).

[0138] If the tenant association unit determines in S186 that the tenant management system 20 has not notified the tenant that the login to the tenant has failed, the tenant association unit determines whether the tenant management system 20 has notified the tenant that the login to the tenant has succeeded (S187).

[0139] If the tenant association unit determines in S187 that the tenant management system 20 has not notified the tenant of successful login, the tenant association unit executes the process of S186.

[0140] When the tenant association unit determines in S187 that the tenant management system 20 has notified the tenant that the login to the tenant has been successful, the tenant association unit starts association with the tenant that has successfully logged in (S188).

[0141] When it is determined in S186 that the tenant management system 20 has notified the linked application launch unit 38b that the login to the tenant has failed, or when the processing of S188 is completed, the linked application launch unit 38b determines whether or not there is an application name among the application names indicated in the connection information 37c that has not yet been targeted in the current operation shown in FIG. 14 (S189).

[0142] If the linked application launch unit 38b determines in S189 that there is an application name that has not yet been targeted in the current operation shown in FIG. 14 among the application names indicated in the connection information 37c, the linked application launch unit 38b executes the process of S183.

[0143] If the linked application launch unit 38b determines in S189 that there is no application name that has not yet been targeted in the current operation shown in FIG. 14 among the application names indicated in the connection information 37c, the linked application launch unit 38b ends the operation shown in FIG. 14.

[0144] The tenant management unit 25a of the tenant management system 20 provides a web page for editing the tenant management information 24b. Therefore, by logging in to the web page provided by the tenant management unit 25a using a web browser, the administrator of the tenant management system 20 can edit the tenant management information 24b by, for example, adding a new application name to the tenant management information 24b, adding a new tenant name to the tenant management information 24b as a tenant name associated with a specific application name, adding a new combination to the tenant management information 24b as a combination of an ID and a password associated with a specific tenant name associated with a specific application name, adding a new serial number to the tenant management information 24b as a serial number associated with a specific tenant name associated with a specific application name, changing the number of licenses associated with a specific tenant name associated with a specific application name in the tenant management information 24b, etc. In addition, an administrator of a specific tenant can edit the tenant management information 24b by logging in to a web page provided by the tenant management unit 25a using a web browser, for example, to add a new serial number to the tenant management information 24b as a serial number associated with the tenant name of a specific tenant, or to change the number of licenses associated with the tenant name of a specific tenant in the tenant management information 24b.

[0145] As described above, the device registration device 40 acquires serial numbers from multiple image processing devices located on the LAN 11 on which the device registration device 40 is located (S126), and requests the tenant management system 20 to register the acquired serial numbers in association with a combination of an linked application and a tenant (S136). This eliminates the need for an operator to manually register the serial numbers of multiple image processing devices in the tenant management system 20, thereby facilitating the task of registering multiple image processing devices in association with tenants managed by the tenant management system 20.

[0146] The device registration device 40 acquires serial numbers from multiple image processing devices located on the LAN 11 on which the device registration device 40 is located (S126), and requests the tenant management system 20 to register the acquired serial numbers in correspondence with combinations of linked applications and tenants (S136). Therefore, even for the same image processing device, it is possible to change the tenant to which the device is connected for each linked application.

[0147] When the device registration device 40 requests the tenant management system 20 to register the serial number of the image processing device in association with the combination of the linked app and the tenant in S136, the device registration device 40 requests the image processing device identified by the serial number to register the combination of the app name of the linked app and the tenant name of the tenant (S138). Therefore, there is no need for an operator to manually register the combination of the app name of the linked app and the tenant name of the tenant in each of multiple image processing devices, and as a result, the work can be simplified.

[0148] When the device registration device 40 requests the image processing device to register a tenant name, it transitions the image processing device into a mode in which it attempts to connect to the tenant (S138). This eliminates the need for an operator to manually have the image processing device, in which the tenant name has been registered, attempt to connect to the tenant, thereby making the work easier.

[0149] The device registration device 40 displays on a device specification screen 60 (see FIG. 11) (S127) the image processing device for which the tenant management system 20 is requested to register the serial number in association with the tenant, out of the multiple image processing devices located on the LAN 11 on which the device registration device 40 is located, so that the image processing device can be specified using a check box 61a (see FIG. 11). This makes it easy to specify the image processing device for which the tenant management system 20 is requested to register the serial number in association with the tenant.

[0150] The device registration device 40 acquires model names of image processing devices from a plurality of image processing devices arranged on the LAN 11 on which the device registration device 40 is arranged (S126), and displays only image processing devices whose acquired model names are specific model names on the device designation screen 60 so that they can be specified using a check box 61a (S142-S143), thereby making it possible to prevent image processing devices that are not suitable for being registered in association with a tenant from being registered in association with the tenant.

[0151] The device registration device 40 does not allow the designation on the device designation screen 60 of more image processing devices than the number obtained by subtracting the number of image processing devices already registered in the tenant management system 20 in association with the tenant from the number of licenses, which indicates the number of image processing devices that can be registered in the tenant management system 20 in association with the tenant (S130 to S133), so it is possible to prevent an attempt to register in association with the tenant an image processing device that cannot be registered in association with the tenant management system 20 in association with the tenant from the standpoint of the number of licenses.

[0152] The device registration apparatus 40 can receive an instruction to increase the number of licenses from the user through the text box 55 (see FIG. 10), thereby improving convenience.

[0153] In the present embodiment, the image processing system 10 has a different tenant for each linked app. However, the image processing system 10 may use a common tenant for a plurality of types of linked apps. The image processing system 10 may also be compatible with only one type of linked app. When the image processing system 10 uses a common tenant for all types of linked apps or when the image processing system 10 is compatible with only one type of linked app, the "app name" item is not required in the tenant management information 24b (see FIG. 3) and the connection information 37c (see FIG. 5), and the text box 51 is not required in the login screen 50 (see FIG. 10).

[0154] In this embodiment, the tenant management system 20 is implemented in the cloud. However, the tenant management system 20 may be implemented on-premise.

[0155] In this embodiment, the electronic device of the present invention is an image processing device, but the electronic device of the present invention may be an electronic device other than an image processing device. [Explanation of symbols]

[0156] 11 LAN (Network) 20 Tenant Management System 30 Image processing device 37a Collaborative App (Application Program) 40 Device registration device (computer) 44a Device Registration Program 60 Device specification screen (screen)

Claims

1. A device registration device that requests a tenant management system to register a device ID as identification information of an electronic device in association with a tenant, The electronic device attempts to connect to the tenant using the device ID of the electronic device; when the electronic device attempts to connect to the tenant using the device ID, and the tenant management system has registered the device ID used in the attempt by the electronic device to connect to the tenant in association with the tenant to which the electronic device attempted to connect, permitting the electronic device to connect to the tenant; The device registration device includes: acquiring the device IDs from a plurality of the electronic devices located in the network in which the device registration device is located; The device registration apparatus requests the tenant management system to register the acquired device ID in association with the tenant.

2. When the electronic device has registered a tenant ID as identification information of the tenant, the electronic device attempts to connect to the tenant identified by the tenant ID registered in the electronic device itself, using the device ID of the electronic device itself; The device registration device according to claim 1, characterized in that when requesting the tenant management system to register the device ID in association with the tenant, the device registration device requests the electronic device identified by the device ID to register the tenant ID of the tenant.

3. 3 . The device registration apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein, when a request is made to the electronic device to register the tenant ID, the electronic device is shifted to a mode in which a connection to the tenant is attempted.

4. The electronic device attempts to connect to the tenant through a specific application program using the device ID of the electronic device itself; when the tenant management system, when the electronic device attempts to connect to the tenant by the application program using the device ID, registers the device ID used in the attempt by the electronic device to connect to the tenant in association with a combination of the application program used in the attempt by the electronic device to connect to the tenant and the tenant to which the electronic device attempted to connect, permits the electronic device to connect to the tenant; The device registration apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the device registration apparatus requests the tenant management system to register the device ID acquired from the electronic device in association with a combination of the application program and the tenant.

5. when the electronic device has registered a combination of an app ID as identification information of the application program and the tenant ID, the electronic device attempts to connect to the tenant identified by the tenant ID registered in the electronic device itself, by the application program identified by the app ID registered in the electronic device itself, using the device ID of the electronic device itself; The device registration device according to claim 4, characterized in that when requesting the tenant management system to register the device ID in association with a combination of the application program and the tenant, the device registration device requests the electronic device identified by the device ID to register a combination of the app ID of the application program and the tenant ID of the tenant.

6. The device registration device according to claim 1, characterized in that, among the plurality of electronic devices arranged on the network, an electronic device for which a request is made to the tenant management system to register the device ID in association with the tenant is displayed on a screen in a manner that allows the electronic device to be specified.

7. The device registration device according to claim 6, characterized in that the model names of the electronic devices are obtained from a plurality of the electronic devices arranged on the network, and only those electronic devices whose obtained model names are specific model names are displayed on the screen so that they can be specified.

8. The device registration device according to claim 6, characterized in that the device registration device does not allow the specification on the screen of more electronic devices than the number of licenses indicating the number of electronic devices that can be registered in the tenant management system in association with the tenant minus the number of electronic devices that have already been registered in the tenant management system in association with the tenant.

9. 9. The device registration apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising an instruction to increase the number of licenses.

10. A device registration program for requesting a tenant management system to register a device ID as identification information of an electronic device in association with a tenant, the device registration program comprising: The electronic device attempts to connect to the tenant using the device ID of the electronic device; when the electronic device attempts to connect to the tenant using the device ID, and the tenant management system has registered the device ID used in the attempt by the electronic device to connect to the tenant in association with the tenant to which the electronic device attempted to connect, permitting the electronic device to connect to the tenant; The device registration program includes: causing a computer that executes the device registration program to acquire the device IDs from a plurality of the electronic devices that are located on a network on which the computer is located; a tenant management system that causes the computer to request the tenant management system to register the device ID acquired by the computer in association with the tenant;

Images