Information processing apparatus, image forming apparatus and method for controlling the same, as well as program

Abstract

To solve a problem in which when a user directs an image forming apparatus from a mobile terminal to perform processing to transmit scan image data to the user, the user needs to input his / her mail address on the mobile terminal, which makes an operation complicated.SOLUTION: A program includes directing, from a mobile terminal, transmission of data to a user's address registered in advance in an image forming apparatus.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 11

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a data processing device having a transmitting means, an information processing method for the data processing device, and a computer program. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, high-performance mobile devices known as smartphones have become widespread. Mobile devices can send commands such as scan and print to image forming devices, causing the device to operate. For example, a user can instruct an image forming device to send scanned image data to a specified destination. The mobile device creates a job by adding a destination email address and various scan setting information set by the user on the mobile device. The job is then sent to the image forming device. Upon receiving the job, the image forming device scans the image data according to the scan settings included in the job and sends it to the destination email address. In this way, the entire process of setting up the scanned image data can be completed on the mobile device. Communication between the mobile device and the image forming device is established using a communication protocol such as TCP / IP, Near Field Communication (NFC), or Bluetooth®. Recently, after configuring the settings on the mobile device, the image forming device can be operated according to the settings via NFC communication or other communication protocols by simply touching the mobile device to the image forming device.

[0003] On the other hand, an image forming device can also send scanned image data after scan settings and destination settings are configured on the operation panel of the image forming device. The following method has been proposed as a method for easily selecting the email address of the user performing the operation when setting the destination on the operation panel of the image forming device. That is, a user who can log in to the image forming device is associated with the user's email address and registered in advance in the image forming device. Then, when the user logs in to the image forming device, a "Send to Me" button is displayed, allowing the user to set the logged-in user's email address as the destination to which scanned image data, etc., will be sent. Then, when the user selects the "Send to Me" button, the image forming device can retrieve the associated registered user's email address and set it as the destination (Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-68336 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] When a user instructs an image forming apparatus to send scanned image data to the user from a mobile terminal, the user must enter the user's address on the mobile terminal, which makes the operation cumbersome. An object of the present invention is to improve user operability when the user instructs an image forming apparatus to send data to the user from the mobile terminal. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A program for causing a computer of an information processing device capable of communicating with an image forming device to execute a control method, the control method including a transmission step of transmitting user information of a user operating the information processing device to the image forming device, and an instruction step of instructing the image forming device to transmit image data to a user destination that has been pre-registered in the image forming device in correspondence with the user information transmitted in the transmission step. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, a user can instruct from a mobile terminal to send data to a user address pre-registered in an image forming device, eliminating the need to input an address from the mobile terminal, improving user convenience when instructing an image forming device to send data to the user. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] System configuration diagram of this embodiment [Figure 2] 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of a data processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 3] 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 4] 1 is a block diagram showing the software configuration of a data processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 5] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a software configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a transmission setting screen of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a menu screen of the data processing device according to the present embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a “Send to me” screen of the data processing device according to the present embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a “Send to me” screen of the data processing device according to the present embodiment. [Figure 10]FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a color setting screen of the data processing device according to the embodiment. [Figure 11] 1 is a flowchart showing a process for executing "send to me" in a data processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 12] 1 is a flowchart showing a process for executing "Send to me" in an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 13] 1 is a flowchart showing an email address reset process of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 14] 10 is a flowchart showing the process of resetting an email address in the data processing device according to the present embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the components described in the embodiments are merely examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0010] Example 1 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a data processing system according to this embodiment. The data processing system 100 includes a data processing device 101, a wireless LAN terminal 102, an image forming device 104, and a cloud server 105, and these devices are connected to each other via a network 103 such as a LAN (Local Area Network).

[0011] The data processing device 101 may be a mobile terminal such as a smartphone, and may be an information processing device running an operating system for small terminals and programs for controlling voice calls, position detection, and data communications. Alternatively, the data processing device 101 may be a personal computer without functions such as voice call control and position detection control. The data processing device 101 is connected to a network 103 via a wireless LAN terminal 102.

[0012] The wireless terminal 102 is a wireless LAN base station with a general network router function, and provides a wireless LAN within a home or office.

[0013] The image forming apparatus 104 is a multifunction peripheral equipped with various functions such as a printer function, a copy function, a scanner function, and a fax transmission function. The image forming apparatus 104 may be configured to include a wireless access point internally so as to be able to communicate directly with the data processing apparatus 101. A user can instruct the image forming apparatus 104 to execute a job from the data processing apparatus 101, which is communicating with the image forming apparatus 104, and cause the image forming apparatus 104 to execute various functions.

[0014] The cloud server 105 exchanges data with the data processing device 101 and the image forming device 104 via the network 103. It manages data used by the devices and performs various function expansion processes. In this embodiment, the image forming device 104 and the cloud server 105 are connected to the network 103 by wire, but they may also be connected wirelessly using a wireless LAN terminal 102, just like the data processing device 101.

[0015] Furthermore, the data processing device 101 and the image forming device 104 are capable of short-range wireless communication using NFC (Near Field Communication), BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), etc. The image forming device 104 transmits connection information (IP address, MAC address, SSID, etc.) for connecting to the image forming device 104 via a wireless LAN to the data processing device 101 via an NFC communication unit or a BLE communication unit (described later). Then, the data processing device 101 starts wireless LAN communication with the image forming device 104 using the acquired connection information.

[0016] 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of a data processing device 101 according to this embodiment. The data processing device 101 has a controller unit 201. The controller unit 201 controls various communication units, such as an NFC communication unit 210, a BLE communication unit 211, and a wireless LAN communication unit 212, as well as various UI units, such as a microphone / speaker 213, a display 214, and a touch panel 215.

[0017] The controller unit 201 is composed of a CPU 202 , a ROM 203 , a RAM 204 , a network I / F 205 , an audio control unit 206 , a display control unit 207 , an input control unit 208 and a storage device 209 , which are connected by a system bus 216 .

[0018] The CPU 202 controls the entire system of the data processing device 101. The ROM 203 stores the operating system of the data processing device 101 and programs that control calls, data communications, etc., and the CPU 202 executes the various programs. The RAM 204 is used as a temporary storage area such as the main memory and work area of ​​the CPU 202.

[0019] The storage device 209 is a non-volatile storage device, and records various operation mode settings that need to be retained even after the data processing device 101 is restarted, operation logs, and the like.

[0020] The network I / F 205 is connected to an NFC communication unit 210, a BLE communication unit 211, and a wireless LAN communication unit 212, and exchanges data with the image forming apparatus 104 and the cloud server 105 via various wireless communications.

[0021] An audio control unit 206 controls the input and output of audio data via a microphone / speaker 213. A display control unit 207 controls the output of a screen displayed on a display 214. An input control unit 208 controls the input of information designated by a user via a button or touch panel 215. Various applications executed on the data processing device 101 use the audio control unit 206, display control unit 207, input control unit 208, etc.

[0022] FIG. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram of the image forming apparatus 104 according to this embodiment. The image forming apparatus 104 has a controller unit 301, which controls various communication units, such as an NFC communication unit 310, a BLE communication unit 311, and a wireless LAN communication unit 312, as well as an operation unit 307, a scanner 313, and a printer 314. When a user uses the copy function of the image forming apparatus 104, the controller unit 301 controls the scanner 313 to acquire image data of an original document and controls the printer 314 to print and output the image on paper. When a user uses the scan and send function, the controller unit 301 controls the scanner 313 to acquire image data of an original document and converts it into code data. The code data is then transmitted to the data processing apparatus 101, the cloud server 105, or the like via a network I / F 308. When a user uses the print function, the controller unit 301 receives image data (code data) from the data processing apparatus 101 or the cloud server 105 via the network I / F 308. The controller unit 301 then transmits the received image data to the printer 314. The printer 314 prints and outputs an image on paper based on the received image data. The image forming device 104 also has a fax receiving function that receives and prints data from ISDN or the like, and a fax sending function that sends scanned data to ISDN or the like. In order to execute each of the functions described above, the work to be processed for which the user has set up is called a job, and the image forming device 104 executes predetermined processing in accordance with the job.

[0023] The controller unit 310 is composed of a CPU 302 , a RAM 303 , a ROM 304 , a HDD 305 , an operation unit I / F 306 , a network I / F 308 , and a device I / F 309 , which are connected by a system bus 315 .

[0024] The CPU 302 controls the entire system of the image forming apparatus 104. The RAM 303 is a system work memory for the operation of the CPU 302, and temporarily stores image data and the like. It also stores scanned image data read by the scanner 313 and print image data received from the data processing apparatus 101 via the network 103. The ROM 304 stores the system boot program, applications, and the like. The hard disk drive (HDD) 305 stores the operating system, system software, application software, image data, setting data, and the like.

[0025] The operation unit I / F 306 outputs information to be displayed on the operation unit 307 to the operation unit 307. The operation unit I / F 306 also accepts information input by a user from the operation unit 307. The network I / F 308 is connected to an NFC communication unit 310, a BLE communication unit 311, and a wireless LAN communication unit 312, and exchanges information with the data processing device 101 and the cloud server 105 through various types of communication. The wireless LAN communication unit 312 performs wireless LAN communication with the data processing device 101 via the network 103. The NFC communication unit 310 and the BLE communication unit 311 also perform short-range wireless communication with the data processing device 101. The image forming apparatus 104 receives job setting information, image data, job execution commands, etc. from the data processing device 101 via the network I / F 308 and executes the job. The device I / F 309 connects the controller unit 301 to a scanner 313 and a printer 314 that read and print image data, and inputs and outputs image data.

[0026] 4 shows the software configuration of the data processing device 101 according to this embodiment. It is a functional block diagram of software that is implemented when the CPU 202 reads out a control program stored in the ROM 203 or the storage device 209.

[0027] The application 401 is an application installed in the data processing device 101. Settings can be made on the application 401 to generate a job, and the job can be sent to the image forming device 104. In addition to this application 401, various other applications are installed in the data processing device 101, but their explanation will be omitted. The configuration of the application 401 is shown below.

[0028] A user interface (UI) control unit 402 accepts job setting information and the like input by the user via the touch panel 215, and transmits the accepted content to a job setting management unit 406 via an input control unit 208. The UI control unit 402 also receives responses from the job setting management unit 406 and the job control unit 407, and outputs a screen corresponding to the received content to the display 214 via a display control unit 207. The UI control unit 402 also accepts authentication information for logging in to the image forming apparatus 104, such as user information and a password, input by the user via the touch panel 215, and transmits the information to an authentication setting management unit 403 via an input control unit 208.

[0029] The authentication setting management unit 403 registers the authentication information received from the UI control unit 402. Then, it performs processing to log in to the image forming apparatus 104 based on the authentication information. Specifically, it passes the authentication information to the network control unit 405. The authentication information is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 104 via the network 103. The image forming apparatus 104 performs login processing using the received authentication information and returns the result to the data processing apparatus 101.

[0030] The device connection unit 404 establishes short-range wireless communication using NFC or BLE between the data processing device 101 and the image forming device 104, or wireless LAN communication via the network 103. For example, in the case of NFC, short-range wireless communication is initiated when a user brings an NFC communication unit 210 of the data processing device 101 and an NFC communication unit 310 of the image forming device 104 close to each other. In the case of BLE, the BLE communication unit 311 of the image forming device 104 transmits a BLE beacon, and the BLE communication unit 211 of the data processing device 101 receives the transmitted beacon. When a user brings the data processing device 101 close to the image forming device 104, and the data processing device 101 determines that the radio wave intensity of the received beacon has reached a certain level or higher, short-range wireless communication is initiated. In this way, when a user brings the NFC or BLE communication units of the data processing device 101 and the image forming device 104 close to each other (this is called a touch operation), the device connection unit 404 performs short-range wireless communication with the image forming device 104. Then, via the short-range wireless communication, the device connection unit 404 acquires device information including connection information necessary for wireless LAN communication from the image forming apparatus 104. The device connection unit 404 starts wireless LAN communication with the image forming apparatus 104 via the network 103 using the acquired connection information.

[0031] The network control unit 405 transmits job setting information, job execution instruction commands, image data, user authentication information, etc. to the image forming apparatus 104 via the network 103. When configuring a job to send scanned image data to a set destination, the job setting information includes the destination to which the data is sent, settings related to scanning, etc. Furthermore, the network control unit 405 receives the job setting information, etc. stored in the image forming apparatus 104 via the network 103.

[0032] The job setting management unit 406 stores job setting information entered by the user and accepted by the UI control unit 402, and job setting information received from the image forming apparatus 104 or the cloud server 105 by the network control unit 405, in the RAM 204 or the storage device 209. At this time, the job setting management unit 406 may register the job setting information as "favorites" as settings that the user frequently uses. Also, the job setting management unit 406 may register the setting information of a predetermined job as a "preset" when the application 401 is installed.

[0033] The job control unit 407 generates a job from job setting information included in "favorites" or "presets" registered in the job setting management unit 406 or job setting information set by user operation, and transmits a job execution instruction to the image forming apparatus 104 via the network 103. The job control unit 407 also acquires the job execution status and the operating status of the devices, such as the scanner 313 and printer 314, from the image forming apparatus 104 via the network 103 and transmits them to the UI control unit 402.

[0034] 5 shows the software configuration of the image forming apparatus 104 according to this embodiment. It is a functional block diagram of software that is implemented when the CPU 302 reads out a control program stored in the ROM 304 or HDD 305.

[0035] An application management unit 501 manages applications that run on the image forming apparatus 104. A user interface (UI) control unit 502 accepts job setting information and the like input by the user via the operation unit 307, and passes it to a job setting management unit 506. The UI control unit 502 also receives responses from the job setting management unit 506 and job control unit 507, and outputs a screen based on the response to the operation unit 307.

[0036] The authentication unit 503 performs login processing based on the authentication information received from the data processing device 101 and returns the result. The image forming device 104 holds various information such as an email address corresponding to the logged-in user.

[0037] The device connection unit 504 establishes wireless LAN communication with the data processing device 101 via short-range wireless communication or the like. The network control unit 505 receives job setting information, job execution instruction commands, image data, user authentication information, and the like from the data processing device 101 via the network 103. Furthermore, the network control unit 505 transmits job setting information stored in the image forming device 104 to the data processing device 101 via the network 103.

[0038] The job setting management unit 506 stores information about jobs, including job setting information input by the user via the UI control unit 502 and job setting information received from the data processing device 101 or the cloud server 105 via the network control unit 505, in the RAM 303 or the HDD 305. At this time, the job setting management unit 506 may register the job setting information as "favorites" as settings that the user frequently uses. The job setting management unit 406 may also register the setting information of a predetermined job as "presets." In addition, the job setting management unit 406 manages jobs executed by the image forming apparatus 104 as "history."

[0039] The job control unit 507 controls each processing unit, such as the scan processing unit 511, copy processing unit 512, print processing unit 513, and fax processing unit 514, in accordance with the received job information to execute various jobs. At this time, the job control unit 507 executes various jobs using job setting information set by the user via the operation unit 307 and job setting information such as "favorites" and "presets" registered in the job setting management unit 506. Furthermore, the job control unit 507 receives job execution requests from the data processing device 101, etc. via the network 103, and executes various jobs in accordance with the received job setting information and job execution instructions. The job control unit 507 also transmits the job execution status and the device operating status of the scanner 313 and printer 314 to the data processing device 101 via the network 103.

[0040] 6 shows an example of a settings screen for sending scanned image data to a specified destination, and is displayed on the image forming device 104. This screen is displayed when a user invokes an application for scanning and sending on the image forming device 104.

[0041] Screen 601 is a screen for setting a destination for transmission, allowing the user to select a destination and configure scan settings. When a logged-in user's email address is pre-registered in the image forming apparatus, pressing the "Send to Me" button 602 adds the logged-in user's email address as a destination. In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus administrator can pre-register a list linking the IDs of users who can log in to the image forming apparatus with their email addresses. However, this is not a limitation. For example, each user may be able to pre-register or change their own email address. If the logged-in user has registered their own specific save destination (my folder), the "Save to My Folder" button 603 allows the logged-in user to add my folder as a destination for transmission. If a my folder is not registered, pressing the "Save to My Folder" button 603 allows the user to register and set a save destination. The destination field 604 displays the destination's email address, etc.

[0042] The function selection of the application 401 performed on the data processing device 101 will be described using Fig. 7. Fig. 7 shows a menu screen of the application 401 running on the data processing device 101. The application communicates with the image forming device 104 and can issue instructions to the image forming device to execute processing based on the settings made on the application.

[0043] The UI control unit 402 displays a list of processes that utilize the functions of the image forming apparatus 104 on a menu screen 703 of the application 401. The list displayed here displays, for example, jobs registered as the above-mentioned "favorites" and "presets" as buttons. As an example, a "Send to Me" button 701 for sending an image scanned by the image forming apparatus 104 to the user (the user logged in to the image forming apparatus) by email, and a "Save to My Folder" button 702 for saving the scanned image in the user's registered folder are displayed. Pressing the "Send to Me" button 701 transitions to a settings screen 710 for sending an email to the user. Pressing the "Save to My Folder" button 702 transitions to a settings screen (not shown) for saving in the user's folder. A basic job button area 704 has multiple buttons arranged for executing jobs that utilize basic functions of the image forming apparatus 104, such as "copy" and "print," and pressing each button transitions to a settings screen for executing the job.

[0044] Before describing Figures 8 to 10, an overview of this embodiment will be given. When a user presses the Send to Self button 701, makes settings on the settings screen, and then touches the data processing device 101 to the image forming device 104, image data scanned by the image forming device 104 can be sent to the user. At this time, the user would normally have to enter their own address on the settings screen on the data processing device 101. However, in this embodiment, an instruction is given on the data processing device 101 to use the user's email address that has been registered in advance in the image forming device 104. This allows the user to instruct the image data to be sent to themselves without having to set their own address on the data processing device 101.

[0045] Next, the settings for transmitting a scanned image to oneself, which are performed on the data processing device 101, will be described with reference to FIGS. 8, 9, and 10. FIG.

[0046] The "Send to Me" setting screen 710 in FIG. 8 is a screen for making settings for sending a scanned image to oneself by email, and is displayed when button 701 is pressed on the screen in FIG. 7. A title area 711 displays a title indicating what the setting screen is for ("Email to Me" in FIG. 8), and also includes a button for canceling the settings and returning to the menu screen. An email address setting area 712 is an area in which the set email address is displayed. Pressing this area allows the recipient's email address to be directly entered using a soft keyboard. Pressing an address book launch button 713 launches the address book in the data processing device 101. When the user selects an email address from the launched address book, the selected email address is displayed in the email address setting area 712. Multiple email addresses can be set. In the "MFP's 'Send to Me'" setting area 714, a switch button 715 is used to switch whether or not the image forming device executes a function equivalent to the "Send to Me" button 602 on an MFP (Multi Function Peripheral, an example of the image forming device 104). In other words, it is possible to switch whether or not to use the email address of a user registered on the image forming device 104. It should be noted that the switch button 715 in the "MFP's 'Send to me'" setting area 714 is set to ON by default. When the open button 718 is pressed, the screen switches to that shown in Figure 9, where settings such as the subject and body of the email can be made.

[0047] The CC input area 720 and BCC input area 721 have the same configuration as the email address setting area 712, and allow input of the address to send the email. The subject field 722 for inputting the subject, the file name input field 723, and the body field 724 for inputting the body of the email allow the user to input any character string using the soft keyboard of the data processing device.

[0048] Returning to the explanation of Figure 8, buttons for changing scan settings, including a color settings button 717, are arranged below the scan settings area 716. Pressing the color settings button 717 transitions to a color settings screen 730 in Figure 10. A title area 731 displays a title indicating that this is the "Color Settings" screen, and a button for confirming the settings and returning to the previous screen is arranged. Setting items 732 display each item related to color settings, and when pressed, they become selected as shown in 733.

[0049] After making various settings on the "Send to me" setting screen 710, when the user touches the data processing device 101 to the image forming device 104, the data processing device transmits the settings made on the setting screen 710 to the image forming device 104. Then, the image forming device 104 executes a transmission process that reflects the settings.

[0050] The Save to My Folder setting screen (not shown) displayed when the "Save to My Folder" button 702 in Fig. 7 is pressed has the same configuration as the "Send to Me" screen in Fig. 8. The "Send to Me" setting area of ​​the MFP 714 in Fig. 8 changes to an area for setting whether or not to execute a function equivalent to the "Save to My Folder" button 603 of the MFP. If this setting is ON, the destination of the data will be a user folder registered in advance in the image forming device 104.

[0051] The flow of processing by the data processing device 101 when various settings are made on the "Send to me" setting screen 710 and the data processing device 101 is touched to the image forming device 104 will be described using the transmission flowchart in Fig. 11. Each step shown in the flowchart is processed by the CPU 202 by loading a control program (application) stored in a memory such as the ROM 203 or the storage device 209 into the RAM 204 and executing it.

[0052] In S801, the "Send to Me" button 701 on the menu screen 703 in FIG. 7 is pressed, and the UI control unit 402 displays the "Send to Me" settings screen 710. In S802, settings related to the destination are accepted. Specifically, the email address setting in the email address setting area 712 and switching of whether to execute "Send to Me" on the MFP using the switch button 715 are accepted. In S803, input related to the scan settings in the scan setting area 716 and email information such as the subject field 722, file name field 723, and body field 724 is accepted. Note that the switch button 715 is ON by default, and default values ​​are set for the scan settings, so steps S802 and S803 are not necessarily required, and the order of steps S802 and S803 is not limited to this. In other words, it is possible to proceed to the next step without accepting settings such as the destination and scan settings.

[0053] The user touches the data processing device 101 to the image forming device 104, and in S804 the device connection unit 404 acquires connection information for wireless LAN communication from the NFC tag of the image forming device 104. In S805, it is determined whether a communication connection with the image forming device 104 has been established using the connection information. If the communication connection has not been established, the UI control unit 402 displays a message on the data processing device indicating that communication is not possible, and ends the processing. If the communication connection has been established in S805, it is determined in S806 whether the setting for "Send to myself" 714 of the MFP is ON or OFF. If it is ON in S806, in S807 the authentication information registered in the authentication setting management unit 403 is sent to the image forming device 104, and an attempt is made to log in to the image forming device 104. The communication established in S805 is used for this transmission. In S808, a login result is received from the image forming apparatus 104. If the login was successful, in S809 the network control unit 405 transmits job information including the job setting information (email address, MFP "Send to myself" settings, scan settings, email information, etc.) and execution command performed on the "Send to myself" settings screen 710 to the image forming apparatus 104. The communication established in S805 is used for this transmission. If a login failure is received in S808, the UI control unit 402 displays an authentication error on the screen and ends the process in S810.

[0054] If the "Send to Me" setting of the MFP is OFF in S806, the process proceeds to S807 in S811 to determine whether an email address is set in the email address setting area 712. If an email address is set, the process proceeds to S807. If an email address is not set in S811, the UI control unit 402 displays an error message on the screen in S812 stating that "destination not set," and the process ends. In this flowchart, the data processing device 101 acquires connection information from the image forming device 104 via NFC communication, establishes wireless LAN communication with the image forming device 104 using the connection information, and exchanges various data. However, this is not limited to this, and the data processing device 101 and the image forming device 104 may exchange various data via Bluetooth communication. Alternatively, the UI control unit 502 of the image forming device 104 may display a QR code, and the data processing device 101 may acquire connection information by reading the QR code, and use the connection information to perform wireless communication.

[0055] 12, a description will be given of the processing executed by the image forming apparatus 104 that has received job information (job information transmitted in S809) including setting information for a job performed on the "Send to Me" setting screen 710 on the data processing apparatus 101. At this time, the image forming apparatus 104 has received the authentication information transmitted from the data processing apparatus 101 in S807, and the user of the data processing apparatus 101 has logged in to the image forming apparatus 104. The image forming apparatus 104 that has received the authentication information and performed the login process may display a screen after login.

[0056] Each step shown in the flowchart is processed by the CPU 302 loading a control program (application) stored in a memory such as the ROM 304 or HDD 305 into the RAM 303 and executing it. In S821, the network control unit 505 receives the job information transmitted from the data processing device 101 in S809. At this time, an application for scanning and transmitting data may be started, and the UI control unit 502 may display the screen 601. In S822, the "Send to me" setting of the MFP is referenced from the received job information, and it is determined whether the setting is ON or OFF. If the setting is ON in S822, it is determined in S823 whether the email address of the user logged in to the device (for example, a personal email address set on the user's PC) is registered in the device. If it is registered, the address of the user registered in the destination list is added in S824. If it is not registered in S823, the process proceeds to S825.

[0057] If the send to self setting of the MFP is OFF in S822, the process proceeds to S825. In S825, the list of destination addresses (email addresses set in the email address setting area 712, etc.) included in the received job information is extracted and added to the destination list. In S826, it is determined whether there is one or more destination addresses in the destination list. If there is one or more, in S827, the scan settings are extracted from the job information and scanning is performed using those scan settings. When scanning is complete, in S828, email information is extracted from the job information and an email to be sent reflecting the email information is created. At this time, the address in the destination list is set as the destination. In S829, the scanned image scanned in S827 is attached to the email created in S828 and email sending is performed.

[0058] If there is no destination list in S826, the UI control unit 502 displays an error message indicating that no destination has been set in S830, and the process ends. The error message in this case may be displayed on the data processing device 101.

[0059] As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to instruct from the information processing device (mobile terminal) to send a scanned image to the user's own email address that has been pre-registered in the image forming device. This eliminates the need for the user to input their own address on the data processing device 101, thereby improving usability.

[0060] For example, a user may not have a company email address registered in the address book of a mobile device owned by the user. Meanwhile, an image forming device has the user IDs of users who can use the image forming device and the company email addresses of each user registered by an image forming device administrator. In such a situation, by using this embodiment, a user can easily issue an instruction to send a scanned image to the company email address of the user on the mobile device without having to enter the company email address.

[0061] In addition, in this embodiment, the settings are made on the data processing device, and then the data processing device is touched to the image forming device to start communication, but this is not limited to this. This embodiment can also be applied to cases where the settings are made on the data processing device and instructions are issued to the image forming device while the data processing device and the image forming device are already communicating with each other. In addition, in this embodiment, an example is shown in which the "Send to me" function of the MFP is used from the data processing device, but the same configuration can also be used to use the "Save in my folder" function of the MFP from the data processing device.

[0062] Example 2 In the first embodiment, if there is no destination list in S826 because the destination email address has not been set on the data processing device 101, for example, an error message is displayed in S830. In this embodiment, an example is shown in which, if there is no destination list, the data processing device 101 automatically acquires the personal email address of its own device and sets it as the destination for "Send to me." Note that the basic configuration of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, so only the differences are shown.

[0063] The processing flow of the image forming apparatus 104 in this embodiment will be described using the flowchart in FIG. 13. The flowchart in FIG. 13 has the same basic configuration as the flowchart in FIG. 12, so only the differences will be shown. In S826, the image forming apparatus 104 determines whether there is one or more destination lists. If there are no destination lists, in S901, the image forming apparatus 104 notifies the data processing apparatus 101 that no destinations have been set. In S902, it determines whether a certain amount of time has passed since the notification in S901. If so, an error message is displayed or an error is notified to the data processing apparatus 101, and the processing ends. If the certain amount of time has not passed in S902, it determines in S903 whether a response has been received from the data processing apparatus 101. If there is no response in S903, the processing proceeds to S902. If there is a response in S903, it determines in S904 whether the received response includes an email address. If an email address is included, the email address included in the received response is added to the destination list in S905, and the processing proceeds to S827. If the response received in S904 does not include an email address, the process is canceled, an error is displayed, and the process is terminated.

[0064] Next, the flow of searching for a personal email address of the data processing device 101 and transmitting the searched address to the image forming device 104 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0065] In S911, the data processing apparatus 101 receives a notification from the image forming apparatus 104 that the destination notified in S901 does not exist. Next, in S912, the data processing apparatus 101 searches for a personal email address of the apparatus itself set in the data processing apparatus 101. Here, the personal email address of the apparatus itself is, for example, a carrier email address, Gmail, or another personal email address set in the operating system of the data processing apparatus 101. In S913, it is determined whether one or more addresses were found in S912. If one or more addresses were found, in S914, a screen (not shown) is displayed that includes a message prompting the user to confirm the personal address to be sent to the image forming apparatus 104 and an OK / Cancel button. In S915, it is determined whether the pressed button is the OK button. If it is the OK button, in S916, the address found in S912 is sent to the image forming apparatus 104, and the process ends. If the Cancel button was pressed in S915, the image forming apparatus 104 is notified in S9187 that the job is to be canceled, and the process ends.

[0066] If no address is found in S913, a message indicating that there is no address on the data processing device is displayed in S917, and the process proceeds to S918.

[0067] In this flowchart, a confirmation message is displayed in step S914, but the image forming apparatus 104 may be configured to automatically send the personal address of the apparatus that has been found without displaying a confirmation message.

[0068] According to the above embodiment, even if a "send to me" instruction is issued to the image forming apparatus 104 without setting a destination email address on the data processing apparatus, the user can set the personal address of the apparatus itself as the destination without the need to set an email address. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the data processing apparatus is configured to search for a personal address on the apparatus itself if a destination has not been set when sending a job, but this is not limiting. The searched personal email address of the apparatus itself may also be configured to be set as a default in the email address setting area 712.

[0069] (Other Examples) The present invention can also be realized by executing the following process: This process involves supplying software (programs) that realize the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or various storage media, and having the computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or device read and execute the programs.

Claims

[Claim 1] A program for causing a computer of an information processing device capable of communicating with an image forming device to execute a control method, The control method includes: a transmitting step of transmitting user information of a user who operates the information processing device to the image forming device; an instruction step of instructing the image forming apparatus to transmit image data to a user destination registered in advance in the image forming apparatus in association with the user information transmitted in the transmission step; A program comprising:

Images