Information processing apparatus, information processing system, and information processing method

Abstract

To provide an information processing apparatus, an information processing system, and an information processing method that divide the purpose of use of a printer into company use and personal use to allow sharing of cost for using the printer by a company and an individual.SOLUTION: In an information processing system having a cloud server 10, a plurality of PCs, a relay 30, and a printer (edge device) 40, a relay 30 that is an information processing apparatus comprises: a user authentication unit that performs authentication of a user when a printing unit of the edge device prints document data; a purpose of use determination unit that determines a purpose of use of the printing of the document data, and on the basis of, a result of determination of the purpose of use, decides a destination of billing for the printing of the document data, and transmits, to a cloud, billing information including the decided billing destination; and a printing relay unit that relays the printing of the document data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing system, and an information processing method.

Background Art

[0002] A Cloud Gateway is a device that connects an edge device, which is a device in the middle layer of various edge devices, to the cloud, and becomes a device that provides new value to customers.

[0003] By the way, as telecommuting is progressing in the world, there is a case where a Cloud Gateway is connected to a printer installed in a private home and the printer is used for business. At that time, it is necessary to divide the use of the printer into company use and personal use and share the printer usage fee between the company and the individual.

[0004] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for allocating a charging amount to a plurality of users for one print job. Also, Patent Documents 2 and 3 disclose techniques for specifying a billing code to distinguish a billing destination.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, when the same individual prints, it is difficult to automatically allocate the cost bearer depending on the usage purpose (for example, company use, personal use). Also, in the techniques described in Patent Documents 2 and 3, it takes time for the user to manually input the billing destination.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide an information processing apparatus, an information processing system, and an information processing method that enable sharing of printer usage fees between a company and an individual by dividing them into company use and personal use.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention includes a user authentication unit that authenticates a user when printing document data by a printing unit of an edge device, a utilization purpose determination unit that determines a utilization purpose of printing the document data, determines a charging destination for printing the document data based on the determination result of the utilization purpose, and transmits charging information including the determined charging destination to the cloud, and a printing relay unit that relays the printing of the document data. Further, the usage determination unit determines whether the usage is for personal use or company use based on at least one of whether the document data is stored in the cloud, the IP address of the transmission source of the document data, and whether the information processing apparatus is connected to a VPN.

Advantages of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, there is an effect that the usage fees of the printer can be shared between the company and the individual by separating the company use and the individual use.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

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[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of an information processing apparatus, an information processing system, and an information processing method will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0011] (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the information processing system according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the information processing system according to this embodiment includes a cloud 10, a plurality of PCs (Personal Computers) 20, a repeater 30, a printer 40, and the like. The company-use PC 20 sends a print instruction to the repeater 30. When a print instruction is sent from the company-use PC 20, the cloud 10 sends print data (an example of document data) to the repeater 30. The personal-use PC 20 sends print data to the repeater 30.

[0012] The repeater 30 sends a print request for the print data received from the cloud 10 or the company-use PC 20 to the printer 40. The printer 40 prints the print data in response to the print request received from the repeater 30. In this embodiment, the cloud gateway is responsible as the repeater 30, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the PC 20, the printer 40, the cloud 10, etc. may be responsible as the repeater 30.

[0013] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the information processing system according to the first embodiment. Next, an example of the functional configuration of the information processing system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

[0014] First, an example of the functional configuration of the repeater 30 will be described. In the present embodiment, the repeater 30, which is an example of an information processing apparatus, includes a user authentication unit 301, a usage determination unit 302, and a print relay unit 303.

[0015] The user authentication unit 301 is an example of a user authentication unit that authenticates the user of the repeater 30 when printing print data by the printing unit 402 of the printer 40 or the like. The print relay unit 303 is an example of a print relay unit that relays the printing of print data. Specifically, the print relay unit 303 relays the transmission and reception of print data among the cloud 10, the PC 20, and the printer 40.

[0016] The usage determination unit 302 is an example of a usage determination unit that determines the usage purpose (for example, company use, personal use) of printing print data. In the present embodiment, the usage determination unit 302 may determine the usage purpose based on whether the print data is stored in the cloud 10. For example, when the print data is stored in the cloud 10, the usage determination unit 302 determines that the usage purpose is company use. Also, for example, when the print data is stored in the PC 20, the usage determination unit 302 determines that the usage purpose is personal use.

[0017] Also, in the present embodiment, the usage determination unit 302 may determine the usage purpose based on the IP address of the transmission source of the print data. For example, when the IP address of the transmission source of the print data is the IP address of the personal PC 20, the usage determination unit 302 determines that the usage purpose is personal use. Also, for example, when the IP address of the transmission source of the print data is the IP address of the company PC 20, the usage determination unit 302 determines that the usage purpose is company use.

[0018] In addition, in the present embodiment, the usage determination unit 302 may determine the usage based on whether the PC 20 is connected to the VPN. For example, when the PC 20 is connected to the VPN, the usage determination unit 302 determines that the usage is for company use. Also, for example, when the PC 20 is not connected to the VPN, the usage determination unit 302 determines that the usage is for personal use. In that case, the usage determination unit 302 may determine the usage based on the billing code automatically added to the document data based on whether the PC 20 is connected to the VPN.

[0019] Also, based on the determination result of the usage, the usage determination unit 302 determines the billing destination for printing the print data and transmits the billing information including the determined billing destination to the cloud 10. Thereby, the billing destination for printing can be discriminated according to the usage of printing the print data. As a result, it is possible to share the printer usage fees between the company and the individual, divided into company use and personal use. Also, by diverting the existing repeater 30, it is possible to share the usage fees of the printer 40 between the company and the individual. Furthermore, since the printer 40 is not connected to the cloud 10, the security risk of the printer 40 can be reduced.

[0020] Next, an example of the functional configuration of the printer 40 will be described. In the present embodiment, the printer 40, which is an example of an edge device, has a user authentication unit 401, a printing unit 402, and a device information management unit 403.

[0021] The user authentication unit 401 authenticates the user of the printer 40. The printing unit 402 is an example of a printing unit that prints the print data received from the repeater 30 on a recording medium such as paper. The device information management unit 403 manages (for example, stores) device information related to the printer 40 (for example, the remaining amount of the supply of the printer 40). In the present embodiment, the device information management unit 403 manages device information including at least one of the remaining amount of toner in the printing unit 402 and the remaining amount of the recording medium in the printing unit 402.

[0022] Next, an example of the functional configuration of the cloud 10 will be described. In the present embodiment, the cloud 10 includes a user authentication unit 101, a document management unit 102, a billing management unit 103, and a supply management unit 104.

[0023] The user authentication unit 101 authenticates the users of the cloud 10. The document management unit 102 manages (for example, stores) the print data. The billing management unit 103 is an example of a billing management unit that manages (for example, stores) the billing information received from the repeater 30. The supply management unit 104 manages (for example, stores) the device information (for example, the supply status) of edge devices such as the printer 40.

[0024] FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the flow of the billing information management process in the information processing system according to the first embodiment. Next, an example of the flow of the billing information management process in the information processing system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 3.

[0025] First, the management process of the billing information when the printer 40 is used by the company will be described. First, the company's PC 20 transmits print data (document data), user information, etc. to the document management unit 102 of the cloud 10, and stores the document data in the document management unit 102 (step S311). Next, the user authentication unit 101 of the cloud 10 authenticates the users of the cloud 10 (step S312).

[0026] After that, when a print instruction is sent from the company PC 20 to the print relay unit 303 of the repeater 30 (step S313), the print relay unit 303 of the repeater 30 requests user authentication from the user authentication unit 301 (step S314). Here, the print instruction includes user information indicating the user of the company PC 20 and document information indicating print data. After the user is authenticated by the user authentication unit 301, the print relay unit 303 of the repeater 30 transmits the user information included in the print instruction to the document management unit 102 of the cloud 10 and acquires the print data indicated by the document information included in the print instruction (step S315). The document management unit 102 of the cloud 10 requests authentication of the user indicated by the received user information from the user authentication unit 101 (step S316).

[0027] Also, the print relay unit 303 of the repeater 30 transmits a print instruction including the user information of the user of the company PC 20 and the acquired print data to the print unit 402 of the printer 40, which is an example of an edge device (step S317). The print unit 402 of the printer 40 requests authentication of the user indicated by the user information included in the received print instruction from the user authentication unit 401 (step S318). Further, the print unit 402 prints the print data included in the received print instruction.

[0028] Also, the usage determination unit 302 of the repeater 30 determines the usage of the print of the acquired print data (step S319). When the usage of the print of the print data is for company use, the usage determination unit 302 transmits (notifies) billing information including user information, print results, usage (company use), etc. to the billing management unit 103 of the cloud 10 (step S320).

[0029] Next, the charging information management process when the printer 40 is used for personal purposes will be described. First, a personal computer 20 sends a print instruction including user information and print data, etc. to the print relay unit 303 of the repeater 30 (step S321). The print relay unit 303 of the repeater 30 requests the user authentication unit 301 to authenticate the user indicated by the user information included in the print instruction (step S322). Also, the print relay unit 303 transmits the received print instruction to the print unit 402 of the printer 40 (step S323). The print unit 402 requests the user authentication unit 401 to authenticate the user included in the received print instruction (step S324). Furthermore, the print unit 402 prints the print data included in the received print instruction.

[0030] Also, the usage purpose determination unit 302 of the repeater 30 determines the usage purpose of printing the print data included in the received print instruction (step 325). And when the usage purpose of printing the print data is personal use, the usage purpose determination unit 302 determines the charging destination for printing the print data as an individual, and transmits (notifies) charging information including user information, print results, usage purpose (personal use), etc. to the charging management unit 103 of the cloud 10 (step S326).

[0031] Thus, according to the information processing system according to the first embodiment, it is possible to discriminate the charging destination for printing according to the usage purpose of printing the print data. As a result, it is possible to share the usage fees of the printer between the company and the individual, divided into company use and personal use.

[0032] (Second Embodiment) This embodiment is an example of calculating the consumption amount of toner and the consumption amount of recording media in printing print data based on the device information of the edge device, and transmitting charging information including the calculated consumption amount of toner and the consumption amount of recording media to the cloud. In the following description, the description of the same configuration as that of the first embodiment will be omitted.

[0033] In this embodiment, the printing relay unit 303 of the repeater 30 acquires device information from the device information management unit 403 of the printer 40. Then, the usage determination unit 302 calculates the toner consumption amount and the recording medium consumption amount in the printing unit 402 based on the acquired device information, and includes the calculated toner consumption amount and the recording medium consumption amount in the charging information.

[0034] In this embodiment, the charging management unit 103 of the cloud 10 determines the charging amount for printing the print data based on the toner consumption amount and the recording medium consumption amount included in the charging information received from the repeater 30, and includes the charging amount in the charging information. Thereby, the charging amount for printing the print data can be determined using the consumption amounts of the toner and the recording medium.

[0035] FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the flow of the charging information management process in the information processing system according to the second embodiment. Next, an example of the flow of the charging information management process in the information processing system according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 4. In the following description, the description of the same processes as the charging information management process shown in FIG. 3 will be omitted.

[0036] In this embodiment, the printing relay unit 303 of the repeater 30 acquires device information (for example, the remaining amounts of supplies such as toner and recording media) from the device information management unit 403 of the printer 40 before and after the printing by the printing unit 402 of the printer 40 (steps S411 and S412).

[0037] Then, the usage determination unit 302 acquires the toner consumption amount and the recording medium consumption amount (hereinafter referred to as supply consumption amount) due to the printing of the print data in the printing unit 402 based on the acquired device information. Next, the usage determination unit 302 transmits charging information including user information, print results, usage (personal use), supply consumption amount, etc. to the charging management unit 103 of the cloud 10 (step S413). The charging management unit 103 of the cloud 10 determines the charging amount for printing the print data based on the supply consumption amount included in the charging information received from the printing relay unit 303.

[0038] Thus, according to the information processing system according to the second embodiment, by calculating the toner consumption and the recording medium consumption in the printing of print data and transmitting the billing information including the calculated toner consumption and recording medium consumption to the cloud, the billing amount for the printing of print data can be determined using the toner and recording medium consumption.

[0039] (Third Embodiment) This embodiment is an example of automatically notifying that the supply of the edge device is insufficient when the supply of the edge device is insufficient. In the following description, the description of the same configuration as that of the second embodiment will be omitted.

[0040] In this embodiment, when the remaining amount of supplies such as toner and recording medium indicated by the device information acquired from the device information management unit 403 of the printer 40 becomes equal to or less than a preset remaining amount in the print relay unit 303 of the repeater 30, the device information acquired from the device information management unit 403 is transmitted to the supply management unit 104 of the cloud 10. Thereby, since it is possible to automatically notify the cloud 10 that the supply of the printer 40 is insufficient, it becomes possible to purchase the supply of the printer 40 in advance.

[0041] FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the flow of the billing information management process in the information processing system according to the third embodiment. Next, an example of the flow of the billing information management process in the information processing system according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 5. In the following description, the same processes as those of the billing information management process shown in FIG. 4 will be omitted. Also, in the following description, the case where the usage purpose of the printing of print data is for company use will be described, but the same applies to the case where the usage purpose of the printing of print data is for personal use.

[0042] In the present embodiment, when the remaining amount of the supply indicated by the device information acquired from the device information management unit 403 of the printer 40 is equal to or less than a preset remaining amount before and after printing by the printing unit 402 of the printer 40, the printing relay unit 303 transmits the acquired device information to the supply management unit 104 of the cloud 10 (step S511, step S512).

[0043] As described above, according to the information processing system according to the third embodiment, since it is possible to automatically notify the cloud 10 that the supply of the printer 40 is insufficient, it is possible to purchase the supply of the printer 40 in advance.

[0044] (Fourth Embodiment) This embodiment is an example of determining the amount of the repair cost burden of the edge device based on the consumption ratio of the supply of the edge device when the edge device fails. In the following description, the description of the same configuration as that in the above-described embodiment will be omitted.

[0045] In the present embodiment, when the printer 40 fails, the billing management unit 103 of the cloud 10 calculates the consumption ratio of the supply of the user of the printer 40 based on the supply information. Then, the billing management unit 103 determines the amount of the repair cost burden of the printer 40 based on the calculated ratio.

[0046] As described above, according to the information processing system according to the fourth embodiment, when the printer 40 fails, it is possible to easily determine the burden ratio of the repair cost for each of the company and the individual.

[0047] (Fifth Embodiment) This embodiment is an example of realizing the printing relay unit and the usage determination unit by a PC application or driver. In the following description, the description of the same configuration as that in the above-described embodiment will be omitted.

[0048] FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the information processing system according to the fifth embodiment. In the information processing system according to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the usage determination unit 302 and the print relay unit 303 are realized not by the repeater 30 but by the application and driver of the PC 20 or the like. Thereby, even if no repeater is introduced into the information processing system, it is possible to realize the management process of the charging information according to the usage of the print data for printing.

[0049] FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the flow of the charging information management process in the information processing system according to the fifth embodiment. Next, an example of the flow of the charging information management process in the information processing system according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 7.

[0050] In this embodiment, the usage determination unit 302 and the print relay unit 303 provided in the PC 20 execute steps S315, S317, S319, S320, S323, S325, and S326 shown in FIG. 7.

[0051] Thus, according to the information processing system according to the fifth embodiment, even if no repeater is introduced into the information processing system, it is possible to realize the management process of the charging information according to the usage of the print data for printing.

[0052] (Sixth Embodiment) This embodiment is an example in which a print repeater and a usage determination unit are provided in an edge device. In the following description, the description of the same configuration as that of the above-described embodiment will be omitted.

[0053] FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the information processing system according to the sixth embodiment. In the information processing system according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, instead of the repeater 30, a usage determination unit 302 and a print relay unit 303 are provided in the printer 40. Thereby, even if a repeater is not introduced into the information processing system, it is possible to realize the management process of the charging information according to the usage of the printed print data. In addition, it becomes unnecessary to install applications, drivers, etc. on the PC 20 and to perform various settings. Further, when the number of the PC 20 and the edge devices increases, it becomes unnecessary to install applications and the like on the PC 20 and to perform various settings, so that the convenience can be improved.

[0054] FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the flow of the management process of the charging information in the information processing system according to the sixth embodiment. Next, an example of the flow of the management process of the charging information in the information processing system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 9.

[0055] In the present embodiment, the usage determination unit 302 and the print relay unit 303 provided in the printer 40 execute steps S314, S315, S317, S319, S320, S323, S325, and S326 shown in FIG. 9.

[0056] As described above, according to the information processing system according to the sixth embodiment, even if a repeater is not introduced into the information processing system, it is possible to realize the management process of the charging information according to the usage of the printed print data.

[0057] (Seventh Embodiment) This embodiment is an example in which a print relay and a usage determination unit are provided in the cloud. In the following description, the description of the same configuration as that of the above-described embodiment will be omitted.

[0058] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of an information processing system according to the seventh embodiment. In the information processing system according to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, a usage determination unit 302 and a print relay unit 303 are provided not in the repeater 30 but in the cloud 10. Thereby, even if a repeater is not introduced into the information processing system, it is possible to realize a management process of charging information according to the usage of printing print data. In addition, it becomes unnecessary to install an application, a driver, etc. on the PC 20 or to perform various settings. Furthermore, when the number of PCs 20 and edge devices increases, it becomes unnecessary to install an application or the like on the PC 20 and to perform various settings, so that convenience can be improved.

[0059] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the flow of the management process of charging information in the information processing system according to the seventh embodiment. Next, an example of the flow of the management process of charging information in the information processing system according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 11.

[0060] In this embodiment, the usage determination unit 302 and the print relay unit 303 provided in the cloud 10 execute steps S315, S317, S319, S320, S323, S325, and S326 shown in FIG. 11.

[0061] As described above, according to the information processing system according to the seventh embodiment, even if a repeater is not introduced into the information processing system, it is possible to realize a management process of charging information according to the usage of printing print data.

[0062] Each function of the embodiment described above can be realized by one or more processing circuits. Here, the "processing circuit" in this specification refers to a processor programmed to execute each function by software, such as a processor implemented by an electronic circuit, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) designed to execute each function described above, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), and devices such as conventional circuit modules.

[0063] The device groups described in the embodiments merely represent one of the multiple computing environments for implementing the embodiments disclosed in this specification. In one embodiment, the cloud 10 includes multiple computing devices such as a server cluster. The multiple computing devices are configured to communicate with each other via any type of communication link including a network and a shared memory, and perform the processing disclosed in this specification. Similarly, the PC 20, the repeater 30, and the printer 40 can include multiple computing devices configured to communicate with each other.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0064] 10 Cloud 20 PC 30 Repeater 40 Printer 101, 301, 401 User Authentication Unit 102 Document Management Unit 103 Billing Management Unit 104 Supply Management Unit 302 Usage Determination Unit 303 Printing Relay Unit 402 Printing Unit 403 Device Information Management Unit

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0065] Patent Document 1 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-224167 Patent Document 2 Japanese Patent No. 4883117 Patent Document 3 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2018-045324 Patent Document 4 Japanese Patent No. 6690480

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus, comprising: a user authentication unit that authenticates a user when printing document data by a printing unit of an edge device; a usage determination unit that determines a usage purpose of printing the document data, determines a charging destination for printing the document data based on the determination result of the usage purpose, and transmits charging information including the determined charging destination to the cloud; a printing relay unit that relays the printing of the document data, wherein the usage determination unit determines the usage purpose as personal use or company use based on at least one of whether the document data is stored in the cloud, the IP address of the transmission source of the document data, and whether the information processing apparatus is connected to a VPN.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, which is included in any one of a PC, the edge device, and the cloud.

3. The usage determination unit: when the document data is stored in the cloud, determines the usage purpose as company use; when the document data is stored in a PC, determines the usage purpose as personal use; when the IP address of the transmission source of the document data is the IP address of a personal PC, determines the usage purpose as personal use; when the IP address of the transmission source of the document data is the IP address of a company PC, determines the usage purpose as company use; when the PC of the transmission source of the document data is connected to a VPN, determines the usage purpose as company use; when the PC of the transmission source of the document data is not connected to a VPN, determines the usage purpose as personal use. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The printing relay unit acquires device information including the remaining amount of toner in the printing unit and the remaining amount of recording medium in the printing unit from the edge device; the usage determination unit calculates the consumption amount of the toner and the consumption amount of the recording medium based on the device information, and transmits the charging information including the calculated consumption amount of the toner and the consumption amount of the recording medium to the cloud. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. An information processing system having an information processing apparatus, an edge device, and a cloud, wherein the information processing apparatus: A user authentication unit that authenticates a user when printing document data, A usage determination unit that determines the usage purpose of printing the document data, determines a charging destination for printing the document data based on the determination result of the usage purpose, and transmits charging information including the determined charging destination to the cloud, A print relay unit that relays the printing of the document data, and The edge device, A printing unit that prints the document data on a recording medium, and A device information management unit that manages device information related to the edge device, The cloud, A document management unit that manages the document data, A charging management unit that manages the charging information transmitted from the information processing device, A supply management unit that manages the supply status of the edge device, And The usage determination unit determines the usage purpose as personal use or company use based on at least one of whether the document data is stored in the cloud, the IP address of the transmission source of the document data, and whether the information processing device is connected to a VPN. An information processing system.

6. An information processing method executed by an information processing device, A step in which a user authentication unit authenticates a user when printing document data by a printing unit of an edge device, A step in which a usage determination unit determines the usage purpose of printing the document data, determines a charging destination for printing the document data based on the determination result of the usage purpose, and transmits charging information including the determined charging destination to the cloud, A step in which a print relay unit relays the printing of the document data, and Including, The usage determination unit determines the usage purpose as personal use or company use based on at least one of whether the document data is stored in the cloud, the IP address of the transmission source of the document data, and whether the information processing device is connected to a VPN. An information processing method.

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