Image forming apparatus and image forming system

Abstract

To appropriately ensure update of program data with high importance.SOLUTION: When predetermined conditions including a condition that update is highly important are satisfied, a control unit 130 performs forcible update of updating firmware 141 to updated firmware 212 transmitted from an update management server 200 on the basis of update information 212 from the update management server 200, even if a user's consent to the update is not acquired. Meanwhile, when the predetermined conditions are not satisfied, the control unit 130 does not perform the forcible update.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an image forming system. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there are image forming devices that perform control to update program data within the device. The device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is one example of such devices, and is configured so that if there is an update to the program data, the user can select whether or not to execute the update. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-84118 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Depending on the content of the update, there may be significant benefits to performing the update or significant disadvantages to not performing the update. If the user is allowed to select whether or not to perform such an update, even for such highly important updates, there is a risk that the disadvantages of not performing the update will be excessive.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and an image forming system that appropriately ensures updating of program data of high importance. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The image forming device of the present invention comprises an image forming unit that forms an image on a medium, a program memory unit that stores program data, and a control unit that controls the image forming unit based on the program data stored in the program memory unit, and the control unit executes an update program acquisition process that can acquire update program data for updating the program data and information indicating whether the update is highly important, an update consent acquisition process that can acquire user consent to updating the program data, and an update control process that, if predetermined conditions including the condition that the update is highly important are met based on the results acquired by the update program acquisition process, performs a forced update process that updates the program data stored in the program memory unit to the update program data even if user consent to the update has not been acquired by the update consent acquisition process, and does not perform the forced update process if the predetermined conditions are not met.

[0007] The image forming system of the present invention is a system comprising the image forming device described above and a server capable of communicating with the image forming device, wherein the image forming device, when user consent has been obtained through at least one of the update consent acquisition process and the notification consent acquisition process, inquires of the server about whether or not an update is required at a predetermined timing, and the server comprises a memory unit that stores the update program data and information indicating whether or not the update is important, in association with each other, and a server control unit, and based on the contents stored in the memory unit, the server control unit transmits the update program data for which the update is not important to the image forming device when an inquiry about whether or not an update is required is received from the image forming device, and transmits the update program data for which the update is important to the image forming device regardless of whether or not an inquiry about whether or not an update is required is received from the image forming device. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] When certain conditions are met, including the condition that the update is highly important, the forced update process is executed even if the user's consent is not obtained, thereby ensuring that highly important program data is updated appropriately. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of a process executed by a control unit of the image forming apparatus of FIG. [Figure 3] 2 is an example of a screen displayed on a touch panel display of the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1. [Figure 4] 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing different from that shown in FIG. 2, which is executed by a control unit of the image forming apparatus of FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] A printer system 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to Figures 1 to 4. As shown in Figure 1, the printer system 1 (corresponding to the "image forming system" of the present invention) has a printer 100 and an update management server 200. The printer 100 and the update management server 200 are connected to each other so that they can communicate with each other via a communication network N such as the Internet. As will be described later, an update program is provided to the printer 100 from the update management server 200.

[0011] Printer 100 (corresponding to the "image forming apparatus" of the present invention) has an image forming unit 110, a touch panel display 120, and a control unit 130. Image forming unit 110 performs an image forming operation to form an image indicated by image data on printing paper. Image forming unit 110 has a head that deposits ink on the printing paper, and a transport unit that transports the printing paper relative to the head. The image forming operation is performed by the head depositing ink on the printing paper while the transport unit transports the printing paper.

[0012] Touch panel display 120 (corresponding to the "notification unit" of the present invention) has a screen that displays characters, images, etc. This screen displays a setting screen, etc., including a control image for user input. Touch panel display 120 can accept user input using this screen. When a finger or the like touches the screen, touch panel display 120 detects the contact position and outputs the detection result to control unit 130. This allows various user inputs to be made via the screen displayed on touch panel display 120.

[0013] The control unit 130 includes hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory unit 131 including a read-only memory (ROM) and a random access memory (RAM), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and software including various data stored in the memory unit 131. The software includes data indicating firmware 141 (corresponding to "program data" in the present invention) and data indicating update-related settings 142. The firmware 141 is a program related to the processes executed by the CPU and the ASIC. The firmware 141 data includes data indicating the release date and version of the firmware 141. As described below, the update-related settings 142 indicate user settings related to updating the firmware 141. The control unit 130 executes various processes through cooperation between this hardware and software. For example, the control unit 130 controls the image forming unit 110 based on the firmware 141 to form an image based on image data of an image to be printed received from an external device such as a PC.

[0014] To accommodate version upgrades aimed at improving or adding functions of the printer 100 or fixing program bugs, the control unit 130 is configured to be able to update the data of the firmware 141 in the storage unit 131. A program for updating this firmware 141 (hereinafter referred to as "update firmware") is transmitted from the update management server 200, as will be described later. The control unit 130 updates the firmware 141 by replacing the firmware 141 in the storage unit 131 with the update firmware received from the update management server 200.

[0015] In this embodiment, when updating the firmware 141, the user can set automatic notification and automatic update in advance. The control unit 130 sets whether each of the automatic notification and automatic update is enabled or disabled based on user input via the touch panel display 120. The set content is stored in the storage unit 131 as update-related settings 142. The update-related settings 142 include setting content for each of the automatic update and automatic notification, as shown in Table 1 below. The automatic notification setting being enabled in the update-related settings 142 corresponds to the user having consented to the automatic notification in advance. The processing of the control unit 130 to enable the automatic notification setting based on user input corresponds to the "notification consent acquisition processing" of the present invention. Furthermore, the automatic update setting being enabled indicates that the user has consented to the automatic update in advance. The processing of the control unit 130 to enable the automatic update setting based on user input corresponds to the "update consent acquisition processing" of the present invention.

[0016] [Table 1]

[0017] The update management server 200 has a memory unit 210 and a control unit 220. The memory unit 210 is made up of a storage device such as a storage, and stores update firmware 211, which is a program for updating the firmware 141 (corresponding to the "update program data" of the present invention), and update information 212, which is information about the firmware 141 (see FIG. 1). The update information 212 includes information indicating the release date and version of the update firmware 211. In response to an inquiry or request from the printer 100, the update management server 200 transmits the update firmware 211 or the update information 212 to the printer 100.

[0018] The control unit 220 (corresponding to the "server control unit" of the present invention) has hardware such as a CPU, ROM, and RAM, and software consisting of various data stored in the ROM and RAM. The control unit 220 executes various processes through the cooperation of this hardware and software.

[0019] FIG. 2 shows an example of processing by the control unit 130 based on the contents of the update-related settings 142. This processing is executed regularly (for example, once a week on a preset day of the week). First, in S1, the control unit 130 determines whether the update-related settings 142 in the storage unit 131 are enabled (S1). In this determination, if neither automatic update nor automatic notification is enabled, the control unit 130 determines that the update-related settings 142 are disabled (S1, No). In this case, the control unit 130 terminates the series of processing. If at least one of the settings for automatic update and automatic notification is enabled, the control unit 130 determines that the update-related settings 142 are enabled (S1, Yes). In this case, the control unit 130 inquires of the update management server 200 about whether an update is available (S2). In response, update information 212 is sent from the update management server 200 to the printer 100. The control unit 130 receives update information 212 from the update management server 200 (corresponding to a part of the "update program acquisition process" of the present invention).

[0020] The control unit 130 determines whether or not an update to the firmware 141 exists based on the update information 212 from the update management server 200 (S3). Specifically, if the release date and version indicated by the update information 212 are later than the release date and version of the firmware 141 indicated by the data in the storage unit 131, it is determined that an update exists; otherwise, it is determined that an update does not exist.

[0021] If it is determined that there is no update for the firmware 141 (S3, No), the control unit 130 ends the series of processes. If it is determined that there is an update for the firmware 141 (S3, Yes), the control unit 130 determines whether the automatic update setting is enabled or not based on the update-related settings 142 in the storage unit 131 (S4). If it is determined that the automatic update setting is enabled (S4, enabled), the control unit 130 updates the firmware 141 (S5). Specifically, the control unit 130 requests the update management server 200 to transmit the updated firmware 211. In response, the update management server 200 transmits the updated firmware 211 to the printer 100. The control unit 130 receives this (corresponding to part of the "update program acquisition process" of the present invention) and replaces the firmware 141 with the received updated firmware 211.

[0022] If it is determined that automatic updating is disabled (S4, disabled), the control unit 130 notifies the user that an update for the firmware 141 is available (S6). Specifically, the control unit 130 causes the touch panel display 120 to display update information 212 from the update management server 200. The control unit 130 then causes the touch panel display 120 to display an image accepting the user's consent to the update of the firmware 141. The screen 150 in FIG. 3 is an example display including the update information 212 and the acceptance image. In the screen 150, the message display section 151 includes the text "Firmware update available," indicating that an update is available, as well as text indicating the version and release date. The input acceptance image section 152 includes "Yes" and "No" button images, which are user input acceptance images. The user can select one of these buttons through user input via the touch panel display 120. "Yes" indicates the user's consent to the update, and "No" indicates the user's disapproval of the update. The process of accepting user input through input acceptance image area 152 corresponds to the "process of obtaining consent for update" of the present invention.

[0023] If the user input through the input acceptance image section 152 corresponds to the user's disagreement (S7, No), the control unit 130 ends the series of processes. If the user input through the input acceptance image section 152 corresponds to the user's agreement (S7, Yes), the control unit 130 updates the firmware 141 (S5).

[0024] Incidentally, there are various types of updates to the firmware 141. For example, there are cases where the merits of updating are significant, such as making the user interface significantly easier to use, and cases where the demerits of not updating are significant, such as when a critical security fix is ​​included. Even for such highly important updates, if the user is allowed to select whether or not to update as in the above process, the disadvantages of not updating may become excessive.

[0025] Therefore, in this embodiment, the printer 100 and the update management server 200 are configured as follows so that an update of the firmware 141 is forcibly executed when certain conditions are met, including the condition that the update is highly important.

[0026] The update information 212 stored in the memory unit 210 of the update management server 200 includes information indicating whether the update firmware 211 is highly important. For update firmware 211 with a high importance, the update management server 200 transmits the update information 212 to the printer 100 regardless of whether there is an inquiry from the printer 100 (S2 in FIG. 2). Meanwhile, the control unit 130 of the printer 100 executes the update control process (corresponding to the "update control process" of the present invention) shown in Table 2 below based on the update information 212 from the update management server 200.

[0027] [Table 2]

[0028] "Automatic update setting" in Table 2 indicates the setting content of the automatic update in the update-related settings 142 of the storage unit 131. "Automatic notification setting" indicates the setting content of the automatic notification in the update-related settings 142 of the storage unit 131. "Automatic update" indicates that the firmware 141 is automatically updated without obtaining the user's consent for the update, based on the automatic update setting being enabled. "Forced update" (corresponding to the "forced update process" of the present invention) indicates that the firmware 141 is forcibly updated without obtaining the user's consent for the update, even though the automatic update setting is disabled. "Notification" indicates that notification of the update, that is, display of update information 212 via the touch panel display 120 and acceptance of user input of consent for the update (see S6 and S7 in FIG. 2), is performed. "--" indicates that neither notification of the update of the firmware 141 nor the update itself is performed.

[0029] As shown in Table 2, the update control process differs depending on whether the update importance indicated by the update information 212 from the update management server 200 is high. If the update importance is low, the process described above based on FIG. 2 is performed. That is, if the automatic update setting is enabled in the update-related settings 142, the firmware 141 is automatically updated regardless of the automatic notification setting (S4, Yes → S5 in FIG. 2). On the other hand, if the automatic update is disabled in the update-related settings 142, the firmware 141 is updated only if the update notification and user input are accepted and consent is entered (S4, Disabled → S6 → S7, Yes → S5). In this way, the firmware 141 is updated depending on whether the user's consent to the update has been obtained in advance in the update-related settings 142 or whether the user's consent has been obtained after the update notification.

[0030] On the other hand, if the importance of the update indicated by the update information 212 from the update management server 200 is high, a forced update is performed if the automatic notification setting is enabled, even if the automatic update setting is disabled in the update-related settings 142, based on Table 2. In other words, in this embodiment, the predetermined conditions for performing a forced update are that the importance of the update is high and that the automatic notification setting is enabled.

[0031] Details of the processing based on Table 2 when the importance of the update is high will be described below with reference to the flowchart in Fig. 4. First, the control unit 130 determines whether the automatic update setting is enabled or not based on the update-related settings 142 in the storage unit 131 (S11). If it is determined that the automatic update setting is enabled (S11, enabled), the control unit 130 updates the firmware 141 (S12). That is, the control unit 130 receives the update firmware 211 from the update management server 200 (corresponding to part of the "update program acquisition process" of the present invention) and replaces the firmware 141 with the received update firmware 211. This is an update in accordance with the enabled automatic update setting, and corresponds to an automatic update.

[0032] If it is determined that the automatic update is disabled (S11, disabled), the control unit 130 determines whether the automatic notification setting is enabled or disabled based on the update-related settings 142 in the storage unit 131 (S13). If it is determined that the automatic notification setting is enabled (S13, enabled), the control unit 130 updates the firmware 141 (S12). This is an update that is performed even though the automatic update is disabled, and corresponds to a forced update.

[0033] If it is determined that the automatic notification is disabled (S13, disabled), the control unit 130 notifies the user that an update for the firmware 141 is available (S14). In this process, similar to the process of S6 in FIG. 2, a user input is received via the touch panel display 120 displaying the screen 150 of FIG. 3. Note that a comment indicating that the update is highly important may be displayed on the screen 150 together with the message display unit 151. If the user input via the reception image included in the screen 150 corresponds to the user's disagreement (S15, No), the control unit 130 ends the series of processes. If the user input via the reception image on the touch panel display 120 corresponds to the user's agreement (S15, Yes), the control unit 130 updates the firmware 141 (S12).

[0034] According to the embodiment described above, when predetermined conditions are met, including a condition that the update is highly important, a forced update is executed even if the automatic update setting is disabled. This ensures that the firmware 141 with high importance is updated appropriately. In particular, the predetermined conditions for executing a forced update include a condition that the update is highly important and a condition that the automatic notification setting is enabled. A valid automatic notification setting suggests that the user has little resistance to updating the firmware 141. This ensures that the firmware 141 with high importance is updated appropriately according to the user's situation.

[0035] Furthermore, in this embodiment, even if the automatic notification setting is disabled, if the update is highly important, the update information 212 is notified (S14 in FIG. 4). Then, if the user consents, the firmware 141 is updated (S15, Yes → S12). In this way, opportunities for highly important updates are appropriately secured.

[0036] Furthermore, in this embodiment, even if the update is not of high importance, if the automatic notification setting is enabled, the update information 212 is notified (S6 in FIG. 2). Then, if the user consents, the firmware 141 is updated (S7, Yes → S5). In this way, even if the update is not of high importance, an appropriate opportunity to update is ensured in accordance with the user's consent.

[0037] Furthermore, in this embodiment, if the importance of the update is low and the automatic notification setting is disabled, neither notification of the update information 212 nor the update itself is performed (S1, No). This prevents the user from being bothered by unnecessary updates.

[0038] Furthermore, in this embodiment, for updates that are not highly important, the update firmware 211 is sent from the update management server 200 to the printer 100 only when the printer 100 makes a regular inquiry to the update management server 200. In contrast, for updates that are highly important, the update firmware 211 is sent to the printer 100 regardless of whether the printer 100 makes a regular inquiry to the update management server 200. This ensures that highly important updates are properly secured.

[0039] <Modification> Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings, the specific configurations should not be considered to be limited to these embodiments. The scope of the present invention is defined by the claims rather than the above description of the embodiments, and further includes all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims.

[0040] In the above-described embodiment, the predetermined conditions for executing a forced update are that the update is highly important and that the automatic notification setting is enabled. Other conditions may be employed instead of or in addition to the condition that the automatic notification setting is enabled. For example, a user may be able to specify the type of update in advance, and a condition may be employed that the update corresponds to the type of update specified by the user. In this case, for example, if the user specifies "security-related update" in advance, a forced update is executed when the condition that the update is security-related is met in addition to the condition that the update is highly important. Alternatively, the predetermined condition may be that the update is highly important. In other words, if the update is highly important, a forced update may be executed regardless of other conditions.

[0041] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, when a forced update is executed, a message indicating that a forced update has been executed may be displayed on touch panel display 120. Furthermore, when an automatic update is executed, a message indicating that an automatic update has been executed may be displayed on touch panel display 120.

[0042] In the above-described embodiment, the update information 212 is displayed on the touch panel display 120 to notify the user of the update. Alternatively, or in addition, the notification may be made by other means. For example, the notification may be made by the image forming unit 110 forming an image showing the update information 212 on a printing sheet. Alternatively, the notification may be made by outputting a sound representing the update information 212 from a speaker.

[0043] In the above-described embodiment, automatic updates can be set in advance. Alternatively, automatic updates may not be set, and updates with low importance may be performed after obtaining user consent for the update each time. In this case, for updates with high importance, a forced update may be performed when other conditions are met or regardless of other conditions, without obtaining user consent for the update.

[0044] Furthermore, the image forming unit 110 according to the above-described embodiment performs an image forming operation by depositing ink on printing paper. The ink deposition may be by an inkjet method or a thermal transfer method. The present invention may also be applied to a multifunction peripheral or image forming apparatus having a laser-type image forming unit that performs an image forming operation by depositing toner on printing paper instead of depositing ink on printing paper. [Explanation of symbols]

[0045] 1 Printer System 100 printers 110 Image forming unit 120 Touch Panel Display 130 Control Unit 131 Storage section 141 Firmware

Claims

1. an image forming unit that forms an image on a medium; a program storage unit for storing program data; a control unit that controls the image forming unit based on the program data stored in the program storage unit, The control unit an update program acquisition process capable of acquiring update program data for updating the program data and information indicating whether the update is highly important; an update consent acquisition process capable of acquiring user consent for updating the program data; An image forming apparatus characterized in that, if predetermined conditions, including the condition that the importance of the update is high, are met based on the results of the update program acquisition process, a forced update process is performed to update the program data stored in the program storage unit to the update program data, even if the user's consent to the update has not been obtained by the update consent acquisition process, and if the predetermined conditions are not met, an update control process is performed to not perform the forced update process.

2. The device further includes a notification unit that notifies a user of information, The control unit executes a notification consent acquisition process capable of acquiring consent from a user for notification by the notification unit; executes an update notification process that can cause the notification unit to notify information related to the update when the user's consent to the notification has been obtained by the notification consent acquisition process; 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined condition includes a condition that the user agrees to the notification.

3. The control unit The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that, based on the results of the update program acquisition process, if the specified conditions are not met but the importance of the update is high, the update notification process and the update consent acquisition process are performed, and when user consent to the update is obtained as a result, the program data stored in the program memory unit is updated to the update program data.

4. The control unit An image forming apparatus as described in claim 2, characterized in that if, based on the results of the update program acquisition process, the importance of the update is not high and the user's consent to the notification has been obtained by the notification consent acquisition process, the update notification process and the update consent acquisition process are performed, and when the user's consent to the update is obtained as a result, the program data stored in the program memory unit is updated to the update program data.

5. The control unit An image forming device as described in claim 2, characterized in that if the importance of the update is not high based on the results of the update program acquisition process and the user's consent to the notification has not been obtained by the notification consent acquisition process, none of the forced update process, the update notification process, and the update consent acquisition process are performed.

6. A system comprising the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 5 and a server capable of communicating with the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus inquires of the server whether or not there is an update at a predetermined timing when the user's consent has been obtained by at least one of the update consent obtaining process and the notification consent obtaining process; The server a storage unit that stores the update program data and information indicating whether the update program is important or not in association with each other; a server control unit; The server control unit An image forming system characterized in that, based on the contents stored in the memory unit, the update program data whose update importance is not high is sent to the image forming device when the image forming device inquires about whether or not an update is required, and the update program data whose update importance is high is sent to the image forming device regardless of whether or not the image forming device inquires about whether or not an update is required.

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