Image forming apparatus

Abstract

To provide an image forming apparatus that, when business materials are allowed to be output from a privately used shared printer, can reduce the occurrence of information leakage due to the output business materials.SOLUTION: When receiving private print data from an external terminal (No in S2), an image forming apparatus inhibits output of a job received from an external server 515 via the Internet (S4), and outputs a private print on the basis of the private print data (S5). After the output of the private print, when a predetermined time elapses (Yes in S7), the inhibition of output of the job received from the external server 515 is released (S8). When the predetermined time is not elapsed (No in S7), business materials are not output even if business print data is received from the external server 515 (S11). In other words, the business materials are output when the business print data is received after the lapse of the predetermined time, and the business materials are not output even if the business print data is received before the lapse of the predetermined time.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copier, a facsimile machine, or a multifunction peripheral.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, in offices, there has been installed an image forming apparatus called a multifunction peripheral that combines functions such as copying, faxing, scanning, and printing. The multifunction peripheral is connected to a server, terminal devices, etc. in the office via, for example, an in-house LAN (Local Area Network), and is shared by a plurality of employees belonging to the office. Also, recently, society has become one where work styles are flexible in terms of time, place, etc., and the number of companies implementing remote work where employees work from home is increasing. During remote work, employees may output business materials downloaded from the company's in-house system using a printer at home. In Patent Document 1, a system has been proposed that enables employees to output business materials using a printer at home by the company side managing the output history of business materials downloaded from the company's in-house system.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] As described above, an employee (user) can use a home printer for remote work to print company business documents. However, at the user's home, other family members living together may also use the printer, and there is a risk that business documents printed from the home printer may be seen by other family members. From the company's perspective, if it were possible to print business documents from a shared home printer used privately, there would conventionally be a risk of information leakage due to the printed business documents, which was not preferable.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of reducing information leakage caused by printed business documents when it is possible to print business documents from a shared printer used privately.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is an image forming apparatus that is connected to an external server via the Internet and directly connected to an external terminal via any one of a LAN, a cable, and wireless communication, and is capable of forming an image received from the external server and an image received from the external terminal on a recording material, comprising: an image forming unit that forms an image on the recording material; an acquisition unit that acquires a job for forming an image on the recording material from the external server and the external terminal; and a control unit that controls the image forming unit to form an image on the recording material in response to the acquisition of the job, wherein when the acquisition unit acquires a second job from the external server after acquiring a first job from the external terminal, the control unit causes the image forming unit to execute the first job, and does not cause the second job to be executed until a predetermined time has elapsed after the execution of the first job.

[0007] An image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is connected to an external server via the Internet and directly connected to an external terminal via any one of LAN, cable, and wireless, and is capable of forming an image received from the external server and an image received from the external terminal on a recording material. The image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording material, an acquisition unit that acquires a job for forming an image on the recording material from the external server and the external terminal, and a control unit that controls the image forming unit to form an image on the recording material in response to the acquisition of the job. The control unit causes the image forming unit to execute the first job when the acquisition unit acquires a second job from the external terminal after acquiring the first job from the external server, and does not cause the second job to be executed until a predetermined time has elapsed after the execution of the first job.

Advantages of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, when using an image forming apparatus capable of forming an image received from an external server and an image received from an external terminal on a recording material, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of information leakage due to a recording material on which an image is formed based on a job acquired from the external server.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] [First Embodiment] <Image Forming Apparatus> The following describes this embodiment. First, the configuration of the image forming apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The image forming apparatus 100 according to this embodiment is a so-called in-body discharge type image forming apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 includes a housing 100A and a document reading apparatus 300, and discharge trays 601 and 602 for stacking the recording material S discharged from the housing 100A are disposed between the housing 100A and the document reading apparatus 300 in the vertical direction. Further, the housing 100A is provided with an operation unit 200 having a display unit capable of displaying various information and keys and the like capable of inputting various information according to user operations.

[0011] The image forming apparatus 100 according to this embodiment is a so-called intermediate transfer type full-color printer in which four-color image forming units PY, PM, PC, and PK are arranged to face an intermediate transfer belt 146. The image forming apparatus 100 has image forming units PY, PM, PC, and PK that form toner images of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black, respectively. The image forming apparatus 100 forms a toner image on the recording material S according to the image data received from a document reading apparatus 300 that reads an image on a document, an external terminal such as a personal computer, or an external server connected via the Internet (see FIG. 2 described later). Examples of the recording material S include sheet materials such as paper, plastic film, and cloth.

[0012] The conveyance process of the recording material S in the image forming apparatus 100 will be described. The recording material S is stored in a loaded state in one or more (here, two) cassettes 111, and is supplied one by one by the supply roller 110 in accordance with the image forming timing. The recording material S supplied by the supply roller 110 is conveyed to the registration roller pair 130 disposed in the middle of the conveyance path. Then, skew correction and timing correction of the recording material S are performed by the registration roller pair 130, and the recording material S is sent to the secondary transfer unit T2. The secondary transfer unit T2 is formed by a secondary transfer inner roller 131 and a secondary transfer outer roller 132 facing each other with the intermediate transfer belt 146 interposed therebetween, and is a nip portion that transfers the toner image from the intermediate transfer belt 146 onto the recording material S by applying a predetermined pressure and a secondary transfer bias.

[0013] For the conveyance process of the recording material S up to the secondary transfer unit T2 described above, the formation process of the image sent to the secondary transfer unit T2 at the same timing will be described. First, the image forming units PY to PK will be described. However, since the image forming units PY to PK for each color are basically the same except for the color of the toner, hereinafter, the yellow image forming unit PY will be described as a representative example. In FIG. 1, only the yellow image forming unit PY is labeled, and the image forming units PM to PK for other colors are not labeled.

[0014] The image forming unit PY mainly includes a photosensitive drum 141, a charging roller 142, a developing device 144, etc. The surface of the rotatably driven photosensitive drum 141 is uniformly charged in advance by the charging roller 142, and then an electrostatic latent image is formed by the laser scanner unit 143 driven based on the image signal. Next, the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 141 is developed into a toner image by the developing device 144. The developing device 144 develops the electrostatic latent image with the toner contained in the developer accommodated in the developing container, and forms a toner image on the photosensitive drum 141.

[0015] Subsequently, a predetermined pressure and a primary transfer bias are applied by a primary transfer roller 145 disposed opposite to the image forming unit PY with the intermediate transfer belt 146 interposed therebetween, and the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 141 is primarily transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 146. The primary transfer residual toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 141 after the primary transfer is removed by a drum cleaner (not shown).

[0016] The intermediate transfer belt 146 onto which the toner image is primarily transferred is stretched by other stretching rollers such as a secondary transfer inner roller 131, a tension roller, and a driving roller, and is moved in the direction of arrow A in the figure. The image forming processes for respective colors processed in parallel by the above-described image forming units PY to PK for respective colors are performed at a timing to sequentially overlap on the toner image of the color primarily transferred upstream in the moving direction on the intermediate transfer belt 146. As a result, finally, a full-color toner image is formed on the intermediate transfer belt 146 and is conveyed to the secondary transfer unit T2. The secondary transfer residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 146 after passing through the secondary transfer unit T2 is removed by a belt cleaner (not shown).

[0017] With the conveyance process and the image forming process described above, the timing of the recording material S and the full-color toner image coincides in the secondary transfer unit T2, and the toner image is secondarily transferred from the intermediate transfer belt 146 to the recording material S. Thereafter, the recording material S is conveyed to the fixing device 155, and the toner image is fixed to the recording material S by applying heat and pressure in the fixing device 155. The fixing device 155 applies a predetermined pressure by a substantially opposing roller or belt or the like and a heating effect by a heat source such as a heater in general to melt and fix the toner to the recording material S.

[0018] The recording material S that has passed through the fixing device 155 is conveyed to either of the discharge rollers 160 and 161, and is discharged onto the discharge trays 601 and 602 as it is by the discharge rollers 160 and 161 (single-sided mode), or is conveyed to the duplex conveyance path 180 for duplex image formation (duplex mode). In the case of the duplex mode, by the forward rotation of the discharge roller 160, the recording material S is conveyed until the rear end passes through a switching member (not shown), and then the discharge roller 160 is rotated reversely to swap the front and rear ends, and is conveyed to the duplex conveyance path 180. Thereafter, the recording material S is conveyed to the registration roller pair 130 again. The subsequent conveyance and the image formation process on the back side are the same as those in the above case, so the description is omitted. Note that discharge tray sensors 172 and 173 are provided on the discharge trays 601 and 602, respectively, to detect the presence or absence of the discharged recording material S.

[0019] In the case of the present embodiment, an image forming unit 140 that forms a toner image on the recording material S is configured by the above-described image forming units PY to PK, the laser scanner unit 143, the primary transfer roller 145, the intermediate transfer belt 146, the secondary transfer inner roller 131, the secondary transfer outer roller 132, and the like.

[0020] <Control Unit> As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 further includes a control unit 402, an external interface unit 424, and a controller unit 425. The control unit 402, the external interface unit 424, and the controller unit 425 will be described with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a control block diagram showing a control system related to print management. Note that various devices such as a motor and a power supply for operating the image forming apparatus 100 are connected to the control unit 402, but since they are not essential to the gist of the invention, the illustration and description thereof are omitted here.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 402 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 426, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 427, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 428. In the ROM 427 and the RAM 428, various programs such as "print management processing" and various data such as image data for forming a toner image received from external terminals (502, 503, 504) described later are stored. By executing the "print management processing (program)" stored in the ROM 427, the CPU 426 controls the image forming unit 140 to perform image formation on the recording material S based on the acquired image data. Note that the RAM 428 can also temporarily store calculation processing results and the like accompanying the execution of various programs.

[0022] The operation unit 200 receives various setting inputs by the user and operation instructions for the image forming apparatus 100. Although not shown in the figure, the operation unit 200 has, for example, a display capable of displaying various screens such as setting information of the image processing apparatus and the processing status of the image forming job. This display may be a touch panel capable of executing various operations pre-assigned to the operated software key when the user touches the software key on the screen.

[0023] The image forming apparatus 100 is connected to an external server 515 via the Internet 501 which is an external network, and is directly connected to external terminals (502, 503, 504) via any one of a LAN, a cable, and wireless. The image forming apparatus 100 can form an image received from the external server 515 and an image received from the external terminals (502, 503, 504) on the recording material S. To do so, the image forming apparatus 100 has a controller unit 425. The controller unit 425 connects the image forming apparatus 100 to external terminals (502, 503, 504) such as a personal computer and the external server 515 via an external interface unit 424 so as to enable data communication.

[0024] The external server 515 is, for example, a computer of an in-house system constructed by the company to which the user belongs, and can be accessed via the Internet by means of a cloud service. The external terminals (502, 503, 504) are, for example, personal computers installed at the user's home. And the image forming apparatus 100 is installed at the user's home, just like the external terminals (502, 503, 504).

[0025] To the external interface unit 424, for example, the external terminal 502 is connected using a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable 510, and the external terminal 503 within the LAN 500 is connected using a LAN (Local Area Network) cable. Also, to the external interface unit 424, the external terminal 504 is connected via a wired or wireless router 505. An ONU (Optical Network Unit) 506 is connected to the router 505, and to the external interface unit 424, the external server 515 is communicably connected via the router 505 and the ONU 506 via the Internet 501. The controller unit 425 as an acquisition unit acquires a job for forming an image on the recording material S from the external terminals (502, 503, 504) and the external server 515 connected via the external interface unit 424. Note that the image forming apparatus 100 is not limited to being connected to the external terminals (502, 503) by wire, and may be connected to the external terminals (502, 503) wirelessly, such as by a wireless LAN conforming to the IEEE802.11a / b / g / n standard or Bluetooth (registered trademark).

[0026] <Print Management Process> Next, the print management process of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 while referring to FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the print management process of the first embodiment. The print management process shown in FIG. 3 is started by the control unit 402, for example, in response to the main power supply of the image forming apparatus 100 being turned on, and is repeated until the main power supply of the image forming apparatus 100 is turned off.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 402 determines whether it has received a job for performing image formation on the recording material S from an external terminal (502, 503, 504) or an external server 515 (S1). The control unit 402 waits until it receives a job (No in S1). When a job is received (Yes in S1), the control unit 402 determines whether the received job is a job received from the external server 515 via the Internet 501 or a job received from an external terminal (502, 503, 504) that does not pass through the Internet 501 (S2). The job mentioned here is Job data including an instruction to start an image formation job and image data.

[0028] Image data for business use such as business materials is stored in the external server 515, and the Job data received from the external server 515 (referred to as business print data) includes attribute information indicating that it is for business use. On the other hand, image data for personal use is stored in the external terminals (502, 503, 504), and the Job data received from the external terminals (502, 503, 504) (referred to as personal print data) does not include attribute information indicating that it is for business use. Therefore, the control unit 40 can determine whether the received job is business print data received from the external server 515 via the Internet 501 or personal print data received from an external terminal (502, 503, 504) that does not pass through the Internet 501 by referring to the attribute information of the received Job data.

[0029] When the received job is a job via the Internet 501 (via an external network), that is, when it is business print data (Yes in S2), the control unit 402 controls the image forming unit 140 based on the image data for business use included in the received business print data to output business materials (S3, print execution).

[0030] If the received job is not a job via the Internet 501, that is, if it is private print data (the first job) received from an external terminal (502, 503, 504), the control unit 402 prohibits the output of the job received via the Internet 501 (S4). Then, the control unit 402 controls the image forming unit 140 based on the image data for private use included in the received private print data and outputs a private print (S5, print execution).

[0031] If the output of the job received via the Internet 501 is prohibited, since the control unit 402 does not control the image forming unit 140 even when receiving business print data from the external server 515, business materials are not output. On the other hand, even when the output of the job received via the Internet 501 is prohibited, if the control unit 402 receives private print data from an external terminal (502, 503, 504) outside the Internet 501 (outside the external network), it controls the image forming unit 140, so a private print is output.

[0032] When a private print is output, the control unit 402 sets a predetermined time in the timer (S6). The predetermined time set in the timer is, for example, "10 minutes". The timer counts down the time elapsed from the predetermined time after the output of the private print (after the execution of the first job). The control unit 402 determines whether the predetermined time set in the timer has elapsed (S7). When the predetermined time set in the timer has elapsed (Yes in S7), the control unit 402 cancels the prohibition of the output of the job received via the prohibited Internet 501 (S8) and returns to the process of step S1. After the control unit 402 cancels the prohibition of the output via the Internet 501, when receiving business print data, it controls the image forming unit 140 to output business materials, and when receiving private print data, it controls the image forming unit 140 to output a private print. According to this, when business print data is received after a private print is output and a predetermined time has elapsed, business materials are output.

[0033] If the predetermined time set for the timer has not elapsed (No in S7), the control unit 402 determines whether a new job has been received (S9). The control unit 402 waits until a new job is received (No in S9). When a new job is received (Yes in S9), the control unit 402 determines whether the new job is a job received from the external server 515 via the Internet 501 or a job received from an external terminal (502, 503, 504) that does not pass through the Internet 501 (S10).

[0034] If the new job is not a job via the Internet 501, that is, if it is private print data (No in S10), the control unit 402 controls the image forming unit 140 to output a private print (S12, print execution), and returns to the process of step S6. In this case, the timer is reset to the predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes). That is, when the output of jobs received via the Internet 501 is prohibited, each time private print data is received from the external terminals (502, 503, 504) and a private print is output, the time counted down by the timer is returned to the predetermined time.

[0035] If the new job is a job via the Internet 501, that is, if it is business print data (Yes in S10), the control unit 402 does not control the image forming unit 140 even though it has received the business print data from the external server 515 (S11). That is, here, the predetermined time has not elapsed and the output of jobs received via the Internet 501 remains prohibited, so the control unit 402 returns to the process of step S7 without outputting business materials. In this way, until the predetermined time elapses, the job via the Internet 501 (the second job) is not executed and the business materials are not output. If the control unit 402 acquires the business print data before the predetermined time elapses, the received business print data (the second job) is discarded and the business materials are not output.

[0036] Regarding the print management process of the above-described first embodiment, a specific example will be described with reference to FIG. 4 while referring to FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 4, the image forming apparatus 100 of the present embodiment is installed in the home of a user who works from home. In addition to the image forming apparatus 100, external terminals (502, 503, 504) are installed in the user's home. The image forming apparatus 100 is connected to an external server 515 via the Internet 501, and is directly connected to the external terminals (502, 503, 504) via either a LAN, a cable, or wireless. The external server 515 is a server on the cloud provided to the company where the user works. In the office, a terminal device 514 is connected to the external server 515 by wire or wirelessly, and the user can access the external server 515 from the terminal device 514.

[0037] The Internet 501 is, for example, an Internet VPN (Virtual Private Network) with enhanced security. From the perspective of preventing information leakage, the output of the user's business materials can only be executed via the Internet VPN. Also, from the perspective of preventing information leakage, the external server 515 records access records by the external terminal 504, output histories of business materials output at home, etc.

[0038] For the image forming apparatus 100 in such an environment, the user's family outputs a private print from the external terminal 502 (503). After that, even if the user tries to output business materials, the business materials will not be output until a predetermined time has elapsed after the private print is output. On the other hand, the private print from the external terminal 502 (503) is output. When business print data is received from the external server 515 after a predetermined time has elapsed after the output of the private print, the business materials are output. When business print data is received from the external server 515 before a predetermined time has elapsed after the output of the private print, the business materials are not output.

[0039] Here, working from home is taken as an example, but the image forming apparatus 100 is not limited to being installed at home where telecommuting is performed, and it may be installed at a location other than home, such as a shared office.

[0040] As described above, in the case of this embodiment, since the image forming apparatus 100 prohibits the output of business materials for a predetermined time (e.g., 10 minutes) after the output of personal prints, during that time, the user cannot output business materials from the image forming apparatus 100. Since the business materials are not output, the user can reduce the risk that family members who come to pick up the personal prints can view the business materials. Therefore, when using the image forming apparatus 100 capable of forming an image received from the external server 515 and images received from the external terminals (502, 503, 504) on the recording material S, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of information leakage due to the recording material S on which an image is formed based on the job acquired from the external server 515.

[0041] [Second Embodiment] Next, the print management process of the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 while referring to FIG. 2. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the print management process of the second embodiment. In the print management process of the second embodiment, the description of the same processes as those in the print management process of the first embodiment described above will be simplified or omitted.

[0042] As shown in FIG. 5, the control unit 402 determines whether a job for performing image formation on the recording material S has been received from the external terminals (502, 503, 504) or the external server 515 (S21). The control unit 402 waits until a job is received (No in S21). When a job is received (Yes in S21), the control unit 402 determines whether the job is received from the external server 515 or from the external terminals (502, 503, 504) (S22). As described above, the control unit 40 refers to the attribute information to determine whether the received job is business print data received from the external server 515 or personal print data received from the external terminals (502, 503, 504).

[0043] If the received job is private print data (No in S22), the control unit 402 controls the image forming unit 140 based on the private print data to output a private print (S23, print execution). On the other hand, if the received job is business print data (the first job) (Yes in S22), the control unit 402 prohibits the output of the job received outside via the Internet 501 (S24). Then, the control unit 402 controls the image forming unit 140 based on the received business print data to output business materials (S25, print execution).

[0044] When the output of a job received outside via the Internet 501 is prohibited, the control unit 402 does not control the image forming unit 140 even if it receives private print data from the external terminals (502, 503, 504), so the private print is not output. On the other hand, even when the output of a job received outside via the Internet 501 is prohibited, if the control unit 402 receives business print data from the external server 515 via the Internet 501 (via an external network), it controls the image forming unit 140, so the business materials are output.

[0045] When outputting business materials, the control unit 402 sets a predetermined time in the timer (S26). The predetermined time set in the timer is, for example, "10 minutes". The timer counts down the time elapsed from the predetermined time after the output of the business print (after the execution of the first job). The control unit 402 determines whether the predetermined time set in the timer has elapsed (S27). When the predetermined time set in the timer has elapsed (Yes in S27), the control unit 402 cancels the prohibition on the output of the job received outside via the prohibited Internet 501 (S28), and returns to the process of step S21. After the control unit 402 cancels the prohibition on the output outside via the Internet 501, it controls the image forming unit 140 so that a private print is output when private print data is received, and business materials are output when business print data is received. According to this, when private print data is received after a business print is output and a predetermined time has elapsed, the private print is output.

[0046] On the other hand, if the predetermined time set in the timer has not elapsed (No in S27), the control unit 402 determines whether a new job has been received (S29). The control unit 402 waits until a new job is received (No in S29). When a new job is received (Yes in S29), the control unit 402 determines whether the new job is a job received from the external server 515 via the Internet 501 or a job received from an external terminal (502, 503, 504) that does not pass through the Internet 501 (S30).

[0047] When the new job is a job via the Internet 501, that is, when it is business print data (No in S30), the control unit 402 controls the image forming unit 140 to output business materials (S32, print execution), and returns to the process of step S26. In this case, the timer is reset to a predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes). That is, when the output of jobs received outside the Internet 501 is prohibited, each time business print data is received from the external server 515 and business materials are output, the time counted by the timer is reset to the predetermined time.

[0048] When the new job is not a job via the Internet 501, that is, when it is personal print data (Yes in S30), the control unit 402 does not control the image forming unit 140 despite receiving personal print data from the external terminals (502, 503, 504) (S31). That is, here, the predetermined time has not elapsed and the output of jobs received outside the Internet 501 remains prohibited, so the control unit 402 returns to the process of step S27 without outputting a personal print. In this way, until the predetermined time elapses, jobs outside the Internet 501 (second jobs) are not executed and personal prints are not output. If the control unit 402 acquires personal print data before the predetermined time elapses, the received personal print data (second job) is discarded and no personal print is output.

[0049] Regarding the print management process of the second embodiment described above, a specific example will be described with reference to FIG. 6 while referring to FIG. 2. In FIG. 6, the installation locations and configurations of the image forming apparatus 100, external terminals (502, 503, 504), and external server 515 are the same as those in FIG. 4 described above. Also in this embodiment, from the viewpoint of preventing information leakage, the output of the user's business materials can be executed only via the Internet VPN.

[0050] For the image forming apparatus 100, the user outputs a business print from the external terminal 504. After that, even if the user's family tries to output a personal print, the personal print will not be output until a predetermined time has elapsed after the business print is output. On the other hand, the business materials from the external terminal 504 are output. If personal print data is received from the external terminals (502, 503, 504) after a predetermined time has elapsed after the output of the business materials, the personal print is output. If personal print data is received from the external terminals (502, 503, 504) before a predetermined time has elapsed after the output of the business materials, the personal print is not output.

[0051] As described above, in the case of this embodiment, since the image forming apparatus 100 prohibits the output of personal prints for a predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes) after the output of business materials, during that time, the family cannot output personal prints from the image forming apparatus 100. If the family cannot output personal prints, there is no opportunity to come to the image forming apparatus 100 to pick up personal prints, so the risk of the family seeing business materials can be reduced. Therefore, when using the image forming apparatus 100 capable of forming the images received from the external server 515 and the external terminals (502, 503, 504) on the recording material S, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of information leakage due to the recording material S on which the image is formed based on the job acquired from the external server 515.

[0052] <Other Embodiments> Note that the above-described embodiments are not limited to electrophotographic image forming apparatuses, and may be applied to other types of image forming apparatuses such as inkjet printers.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0053] 100…Image forming apparatus, 140…Image forming unit, 402…Control unit, 425…Acquisition unit (controller unit), 500…LAN, 501…Internet, 502, 503, 504…External terminals, 510…Cable (USB cable), 515…External server, S…Recording material

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus that is connected to an external server via the Internet and directly connected to an external terminal via any one of LAN, cable, and wireless, and is capable of forming an image received from the external server and an image received from the external terminal on a recording material, comprising: an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording material; an acquisition unit that acquires a job for forming an image on a recording material from the external server and the external terminal; a control unit that controls the image forming unit to form an image on the recording material in response to the acquisition of the job; and when the acquisition unit acquires a second job from the external server after acquiring a first job from the external terminal, the control unit causes the image forming unit to execute the first job, and does not cause the image forming unit to execute the second job until a predetermined time has elapsed after the execution of the first job. An image forming apparatus characterized by the above.

2. After the control unit executes the first job, when the acquisition unit acquires the second job after the predetermined time has elapsed, the control unit causes the image forming unit to execute the second job. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized by the above.

3. After the control unit executes the first job, when the acquisition unit acquires the second job before the predetermined time has elapsed, the control unit discards the second job and does not cause the image forming unit to execute the second job. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized by the above.

4. An image forming apparatus that is connected to an external server via the Internet and directly connected to an external terminal via any one of LAN, cable, and wireless, and is capable of forming an image received from the external server and an image received from the external terminal on a recording material, comprising: an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording material; an acquisition unit that acquires a job for forming an image on a recording material from the external server and the external terminal; a control unit that controls the image forming unit to form an image on the recording material in response to the acquisition of the job; and when the acquisition unit acquires a second job from the external terminal after acquiring a first job from the external server, the control unit causes the image forming unit to execute the first job, and does not cause the image forming unit to execute the second job until a predetermined time has elapsed after the execution of the first job. An image forming apparatus characterized by the above.

5. After the control unit executes the first job, when the acquisition unit acquires the second job after the elapse of the predetermined time, the control unit causes the image forming unit to execute the second job. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that. **Claim 6** After the control unit executes the first job, when the acquisition unit acquires the second job before the elapse of the predetermined time, the control unit discards the second job and does not cause the image forming unit to execute the second job. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that.

Images