Image forming system and image forming method

Abstract

To give an execution authority to a specific recipient when an image is received with facsimile communication when a facsimile device and a compound machine are shared.SOLUTION: A server device 100 comprises: a job registration unit; a job information transmission unit; a job transmission unit; and a job management unit. Each image formation device 200b comprises: a user authentication unit; a job transmission request unit; a job presentation unit; and a presentation control unit. An image formation apparatus 200a comprises: an operation reception unit; and a job execution unit. The server device comprises: a character recognition unit 127 which performs character recognition on a specific page of the image and converts the page into a text when an image received from a transmission source with facsimile communication is included in an image formation job registered in the job registration unit; and a control unit which controls the job management unit so as to associate a user having an execution authority of the image formation job with transmission source information and gives the execution authority to a recipient user when the recipient user name is included in the text obtained by performing the character recognition.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] Generally, in environments where facsimile communications are received, multiple users often share a single receiving device. In such cases, when the receiving device receives a document, it is necessary to identify the recipient in some way and deliver the document to the recipient.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for the purpose of providing an image forming system that allows a recipient to safely and hassle-freely obtain documents sent via electronic communication in a state formed on paper. The technology involves registering the sender's identification information in advance in association with the user who wishes to receive the document received from that sender, and then notifying the user who logs in to the device after receiving the document that a document has been sent from the registered sender, thereby allowing the recipient to safely and hassle-freely obtain the document in a state formed on paper.

[0004] Patent Document 1 has the advantage that in electronic communication of documents between image forming systems shared by multiple users, the recipient can be identified by some means and obtained safely and without hassle with the recipient printed on the paper. However, when receiving an image via facsimile communication, if the sender is the same, there is a problem that a reception notification is sent unnecessarily to users other than the actual recipient. There is also a problem that a reception notification cannot be sent unless the recipient is registered in advance. The cause of this problem was the inability to grant execution authority to a specific recipient. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] One embodiment of the present invention has been made in consideration of the above, and its purpose is to grant execution authority to a specific recipient when an image is received via facsimile communication when multiple users share a single facsimile machine or a multifunction peripheral equipped with a facsimile function. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problem, the invention of claim 1 provides an image forming system including a server device and a plurality of image forming devices, wherein the server device includes a job registration unit that registers an image forming job to be executed by the image forming device in association with a user having execution authority for the image forming job and transmission source information, a job information transmission unit that transmits information of the image forming job registered in the job registration unit to the image forming device that is the requester in response to a request from the image forming device, a job transmission unit that transmits the image forming job to the image forming device in response to a request from the image forming device, and a job management unit that grants execution authority to the image forming device to which the job transmission unit has transmitted the image forming job, and each of the image forming devices includes a user authentication unit that authenticates a user, a job transmission request unit that requests information of an image forming job that the user authenticated by the user authentication unit has execution authority from the server device, a job presentation unit that presents the image forming job to the authenticated user based on the information transmitted from the server device in response to the request from the job transmission request unit, and a job management unit that presents information of the image forming job that the authenticated user has execution authority to the image forming device. and a presentation control unit that controls the job transmission request unit and the job presentation unit so that an image formation job of which sender is different from that of the authenticated user among the image formation jobs presented by the job presentation unit is presented to the authenticated user in priority over other image formation jobs, and at least one of the image forming devices comprises an operation receiving unit that receives an instruction to execute the image formation job presented by the job presentation unit from the user authenticated by the user authentication unit, and a job executing unit that acquires from the server device and executes the image formation job of which the operation receiving unit has accepted an execution instruction, and when an image formation job of which sender is different from that of the authenticated user is among the image formation jobs for which the authenticated user has execution authority, the job presentation unit presents the image formation job to the authenticated user by acquiring the image formation job from the server device and executing it, and the server device comprises a character recognition unit that, when an image received from a sender by facsimile communication is included among the image formation jobs registered in the job registration unit, character recognizes a specific page of the image and converts it into text, and associates the user having execution authority with sender information,and a control unit that controls the job management unit to grant execution authority to a recipient user when the recipient user name is included in the text obtained by the character recognition. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, when multiple users share a single facsimile machine or a multifunction machine equipped with a fax function, when an image is received via facsimile communication, execution authority can be granted to a specific recipient. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a server device or a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] 1 is a block diagram showing the functions of a server device, an image forming device, and a terminal device included in an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a distribution destination table managed by a user information management unit of a server device included in an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 6] 1 is a diagram showing an example of a job registration state by a job registration unit of a server device included in an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a list screen of jobs transmitted from a job transmitting unit of a server device included in an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a sequence diagram (part 1) for explaining the operation procedure of the image forming system according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9]FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram (part 2) for explaining the operation procedure of the image forming system according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of display settings at the time of authentication for each user in the image forming system according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 1 is a diagram (part 1) showing an example of a correspondence relationship between a display order and job data in an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] FIG. 2 is a diagram (part 2) showing an example of the correspondence between the display order and job data in the image forming system according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13] 10A to 10C are diagrams showing an example of transition of screens displayed by an image forming apparatus 200b in the image forming system according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 14] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a job list screen displayed by an image forming apparatus 200b of the image forming system according to one embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. The present invention has the following configuration for granting execution authority to a specific recipient when an image is received via facsimile communication when multiple users share a single facsimile machine or a multifunction machine equipped with a facsimile function. That is, the image forming system of the present invention is an image forming system including a server device and a plurality of image forming devices, wherein the server device includes a job registration section that registers an image forming job to be executed by the image forming device by associating the image forming job with a user having execution authority for the image forming job and sender information, a job information transmission section that transmits information of the image forming job registered in the job registration section to the image forming device that is the requester in response to a request from the image forming device, a job transmission section that transmits the image forming job to the image forming device in response to a request from the image forming device, and a job management section that grants execution authority to the image forming device to which the job transmission section has transmitted the image forming job, and each image forming device includes a user authentication section that authenticates a user, a job transmission request section that requests information of an image forming job that the user authenticated by the user authentication section has execution authority from the server device, a job presentation section that presents the image forming job to the authenticated user based on the information transmitted from the server device in response to the request by the job transmission request section, and a section that presents an image forming job to the authenticated user based on the information transmitted from the server device in response to the request by the job transmission request section, among the image forming jobs that the authenticated user has execution authority to, and presents an image forming job whose sender is different from that of the authenticated user more favorably than other image forming jobs. and a presentation control unit that controls the job transmission request unit and the job presentation unit so that the image formation job presented by the job presentation unit is presented to the authenticated user with priority, and at least one of the image forming devices has an operation receiving unit that receives an instruction to execute the image formation job presented by the job presentation unit from a user authenticated by the user authentication unit, and a job execution unit that acquires from a server device and executes the image formation job for which the operation receiving unit has accepted the execution instruction, and when there is an image formation job for which the authenticated user has execution authority and whose sender is different from that of the authenticated user, the job presentation unit presents the image formation job to the authenticated user by acquiring the image formation job from the server device and executing it, and the server device has a character recognition unit that, when an image received from the sender by facsimile communication is included in the image formation jobs registered in the job registration unit, character recognizes a specific page of the image and converts it into text, and a control unit that associates a user who has execution authority for the image formation job with sender information, and controls the job management unit to grant execution authority to the recipient user if the recipient user name is included in the text obtained by character recognition. With the above configuration, when multiple users share a single facsimile machine or a multifunction device equipped with a fax function, when an image is received via facsimile communication, execution authority can be granted to a specific recipient. The features of the present invention described above will be explained in detail with reference to the following drawings. However, unless otherwise specified, the components, types, combinations, shapes, relative arrangements, etc. described in the embodiments are merely illustrative examples and do not limit the scope of the present invention. The above-mentioned features of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0010] <Image forming system> FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is configured by connecting a server device 100, which is an information processing device, and three image forming devices 200a, 200b-1, and 200b-2 so that they can communicate with each other via a network N. A terminal device 300 is also connected to the network N, but this terminal device is not included in the image forming system 1. However, it can also be considered that the terminal device is included.

[0011] Of the above, the server device 100 has a function of managing image forming jobs to be executed by each image forming device 200 (this reference number is used when an individual device is not specified). Each image forming device 200 has a function of acquiring an image forming job from the server device 100 and forming an image by printing on a sheet of paper (material is not limited to paper) according to the image forming job. This image forming job includes image data of the image to be printed and setting data used for printing such as double-sided printing, aggregation, paper size, etc., and is data that specifies the content of the image formation to be performed. Such an image forming apparatus can be configured as a printer, a facsimile communication device, a digital multifunction peripheral (MFP), or the like.

[0012] Of the three image forming apparatuses, image forming apparatus 200a has a facsimile communication (FAX) function and is connected to a FAX line. This FAX line can be a public line network or the Internet. When image forming apparatus 200a receives a document sent from an external device using the FAX function, it generates an image formation job for printing an image of the document on paper, and sends it to server apparatus 100 for registration. Furthermore, the image forming devices 200b-1 and 200b-2 (when referring to either of these without specifying an individual device, the symbol "200b" is used) are image forming devices that do not have a FAX function.

[0013] Note that the functions of each image forming apparatus 200 may also vary in other respects, such as some apparatuses being capable of color image formation while others are only capable of monochrome image formation, some apparatuses having an image reading unit for reading an image of a document while others do not, and so on.

[0014] The terminal device 300 also has a function of generating an image formation job (hereinafter, simply referred to as a "job" refers to this image formation job) to be executed by the image forming device 200 in accordance with a user's operation, and transmitting the image formation job to the server device 100 for registration. The terminal device 300 can be configured as a general-purpose computer such as a PC, for example. It may also be a portable device such as a tablet computer or a smartphone. Furthermore, the network N may be wired or wireless, and may be any communication path using any protocol or hardware.

[0015] <Information processing device> FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a server device or a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the server 100 is constructed by a computer and includes a CPU 11, a ROM 12, a RAM 13, a HD 14, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) controller 15, a display 16, an external device connection I / F (Interface) 18, a network I / F 19, a data bus 20, a keyboard 21, a pointing device 22, a DVD-RW (Digital Versatile Disk Rewritable) drive 24, and a media I / F 26.

[0016] Of these, the CPU 11 controls the overall operation of the server 5. The ROM 12 stores programs used to drive the CPU 11, such as the IPL. The RAM 13 is used as a work area for the CPU 11. The HD 14 stores various data, such as programs. The HDD controller 15 controls the reading and writing of various data from and to the HD 14 under the control of the CPU 11. The display 16 displays various information, such as a cursor, menu, window, text, or image. The external device connection I / F 18 is an interface for connecting various external devices. In this case, the external devices are, for example, USB (Universal Serial Bus) memories, printers, etc. The network I / F 19 is an interface for data communication using the communication network 100. The bus line 20 is an address bus, a data bus, etc. for electrically connecting the components, such as the CPU 11, shown in FIG. 2.

[0017] The keyboard 21 is a type of input unit equipped with multiple keys for inputting characters, numbers, various instructions, etc. The pointing device 22 is a type of input unit for selecting and executing various instructions, selecting a processing target, moving a cursor, etc. The DVD-RW drive 24 controls reading and writing of various data from and to a DVD-RW 23, which is an example of a removable recording medium. Note that this is not limited to a DVD-RW, and may be a DVD-R, etc. The media I / F 26 controls reading and writing (storing) of data from and to a recording medium 25, such as a flash memory.

[0018] <Image forming device> FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram of an MFP. As shown in FIG. 3, the MFP (Multifunction Peripheral / Product / Printer) includes a controller 50, a short-range communication circuit 70, an engine control unit 74, an operation panel 80, and a network I / F 84. Of these, the controller 50 has a CPU 51, which is the main part of the computer, a system memory (MEM-P) 52, a north bridge (NB) 53, a south bridge (SB) 54, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 56, a local memory (MEM-C) 57, which is a storage unit, an HDD controller 58, and an HD 59, which is also a storage unit, and is configured such that the NB 53 and the ASIC 56 are connected by an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) bus 61. Of these, the CPU 51 is a control unit that performs overall control of the MFP 200. The NB 53 is a bridge that connects the CPU 51 with the MEM-P 52, the SB 54, and the AGP bus 61, and includes a memory controller that controls reading and writing to the MEM-P 52, a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) master, and an AGP target.

[0019] The MEM-P52 comprises a ROM 52a, which is memory for storing programs and data that realize the functions of the controller 50, and a RAM 52b, which is used for expanding the programs and data and as a drawing memory during memory printing. The programs stored in the RAM 52b may be provided by being recorded in an installable or executable file format on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, CD-R, or DVD.

[0020] The SB 54 is a bridge connecting the NB 53 with PCI devices and peripheral devices. The ASIC 56 is an integrated circuit (IC) for image processing applications that has hardware elements for image processing and functions as a bridge connecting the AGP bus 61, PCI bus 72, HDD controller 58, and MEM-C 57. The ASIC 56 includes a PCI target and AGP master, an arbiter (ARB) that forms the core of the ASIC 56, a memory controller that controls the MEM-C 57, multiple direct memory access controllers (DMACs) that rotate image data using hardware logic, and a PCI unit that transfers data between the scanner unit 75 and printer unit 76 via the PCI bus 72. A USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface or an IEEE 1394 (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) interface may also be connected to the ASIC 56.

[0021] MEM-C57 is a local memory used as an image buffer for copying and a code buffer. HD59 is a storage for storing image data, font data used during printing, and forms. HD59 controls the reading and writing of data from and to HD59 under the control of CPU51. AGP bus 61 is a bus interface for a graphics accelerator card proposed to speed up graphics processing, and direct high-throughput access to MEM-P52 enables the graphics accelerator card to operate at high speed.

[0022] The short-distance communication circuit 70 is also provided with a short-distance communication circuit 70a. The short-distance communication circuit 70 is a communication circuit such as NFC or Bluetooth. Furthermore, the engine control unit 74 is made up of a scanner unit 75 and a printer unit 76. The operation panel 80 is equipped with a panel display unit 80a, such as a touch panel, that displays current setting values ​​and selection screens and receives inputs from the operator, and an operation panel 80b that includes a numeric keypad that receives setting values ​​for image formation conditions such as density setting conditions and a start key that receives a copy start command. The controller 50 controls the entire MFP 200, and controls, for example, drawing, communication, and inputs from the operation panel 80. The scanner unit 75 or the printer unit 76 includes an image processing unit that performs error diffusion, gamma conversion, and the like.

[0023] The MFP 200 can sequentially switch among the document box function, copy function, printer function, and facsimile function using the application switching key on the operation panel 80. When the document box function is selected, the MFP 200 enters document box mode, when the copy function is selected, the MFP 200 enters copy mode, when the printer function is selected, the MFP 200 enters printer mode, and when the facsimile mode is selected, the MFP 200 enters facsimile mode. The network I / F 84 is an interface for performing data communication using the communication network N. The short-range communication circuit 70 and the network I / F 84 are electrically connected to the ASIC 56 via the PCI bus 72.

[0024] <Function block diagram> FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the functions of the server device, the image forming device, and the terminal device included in the image forming system according to one embodiment of the present invention. The image forming system 1 shown in Figure 4 is equipped with a server device 100, an image forming device 200a, an image forming device 200b, and a terminal device 300, and realizes functions related to registering a job in the server device 100, presenting it to a user, and executing it. As shown in FIG. 4, the server device 100 includes a user information management unit 121, a user authentication unit 122, a job reception unit 123, a job registration unit 124, a distribution reception unit 125, a job transmission unit 126, and a character recognition unit 127. Of these, the user information management unit 121 has a function of managing information about users who have the authority to register jobs in the server device 100 and use the image forming device 200. Possible user information includes user identification information for identifying a user, authentication information for authenticating a user, authority information indicating the authority held by the user, and the like.

[0025] The user information management unit 121 also has a function of managing users to whom documents transmitted by facsimile communication are to be delivered.

[0026] <Delivery destination table> FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a distribution destination table managed by a user information management unit of a server device included in an image forming system according to one embodiment of the present invention. The user information management unit 121 of the server device 100 manages the delivery destination table shown in FIG. As shown in Figure 5, the identification information of the user who is to receive the document sent from that sender over that line is registered in the delivery destination table in association with the sender of the document and the type of line used for transmission. In the destination table, senders, line types, and recipient users are associated and arranged horizontally. Sender information includes company names, IP addresses, and phone numbers. Line types include G4, G3, RI-FAX (IP Address), and RI-FAX (TSI / NSS). Recipient users include User A, User B, User C, and the administrator. The data in the bottom row, "DEFAULT," indicates the recipient user to apply if no other conditions apply. The above information is set in advance by an administrator of the image forming system 1. The storage destination of the registered information may be provided in a device external to the server device 100.

[0027] The user authentication unit 122 receives required authentication information from an external device such as the terminal device 300 or as a direct input to the server device 100, and performs authentication processing based on the received information by referring to the user information managed by the user information management unit 121. The user authentication unit 122 also has a function of returning the authentication result to the sender of the authentication information. Information on the authority rank, such as administrator or general user, may also be returned.

[0028] The job receiving unit 123 has a function of receiving a job transmitted from an external device such as the terminal device 300 in accordance with an operation of a user authenticated by the user authentication unit 122, and registering the job in the job registration unit 124. At this time, the job receiving unit 123 receives, in addition to the job itself from the external device that is the transmission source, user identification information indicating the user who has been granted the authority to execute the job and user identification information indicating the user who instructed the transmission of the job (the sender of the job), and registers this user identification information in the job registration unit 124 in association with the job.

[0029] For example, when a user registers a job for printing by himself, the user who grants execution authority and the user who instructed the transmission of the job will be the same. On the other hand, when a user registers a job for printing by another user, the user who grants execution authority and the user who instructed the transmission of the job will be different. Either of these cases is possible.

[0030] The job registration unit 124 registers a job to be executed by the image forming apparatus 200 in association with user identification information indicating a user who has the authority to execute the job and transmission source information indicating the transmission source of the job. This registration is performed in response to an instruction from the job receiving unit 123 or the distribution receiving unit 125. The storage destination of the registered information may be provided in a device external to the server device 100.

[0031] <Example of job registration status> FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a job registration state by the job registration unit of the server device included in the image forming system according to one embodiment of the present invention. The job data shown in FIG. 6 is data on the image to be printed and settings used for printing, which are necessary for executing the job. FIG. 6 shows an example of data in the job management table, in which job data, execution authority (classification), and sender are associated with each job ID. This also includes bibliographic information such as the date and time the job was registered and the number of pages printed. The "execution authority" item is an item for registering users who have the authority to execute the job. The "sender" item is an item for registering the sender of the job. In addition to the user identification information described above, the "sender" item can also be used to register the communication line used to obtain the document related to the job, the name of the sender of the document, etc., as will be described later. In Figure 6, the information on "execution authority" and "sender" is shown as independent items because it is important for handling jobs as described below, but it is also acceptable to register them as information in parallel with other bibliographic information.

[0032] The distribution reception unit 125 has a function of receiving a job automatically transmitted from the image forming apparatus 200 by the function of a job transmission unit 224 (described later) and registering the job in the job registration unit 124. At this time, information on a user who has authority to execute the job and information indicating the source of the job are registered according to the information transmitted from the job transmission unit 224. Since this registration is not performed according to a user instruction, there is no need to authenticate the user when registering or accepting a job. However, the distribution acceptance unit 125 may be configured to accept job transmissions only from image forming apparatuses 200 that have been registered in advance.

[0033] In response to a request from the job transmission request unit 232 of the image forming apparatus 200, the job transmission unit 126 transmits job data of a job registered in the job registration unit 124 or information related to that job. The job transmission unit 126 may transmit all of the job data necessary to execute the job, or may transmit only bibliographic information for presenting an overview of the job to the user, or information on users authorized to execute the job and the sender of the job. The information to be transmitted may be determined according to the request content from the job transmission request unit 232. The job transmitting unit 126 may also be configured to accept transmission requests only from image forming apparatuses 200 that have been registered in advance.

[0034] Character recognition unit 127 performs character recognition on the first page or all pages of the image data received by distribution reception unit 125, converts the data into text, and registers the text data together with the job in job registration unit 124. When an image formed by an image forming job registered in the job registration unit 124 includes an image received from a sender by facsimile communication, the character recognition unit 127 performs character recognition on a specific page of the image to convert it into text. The job management unit 128 grants execution authority to the image forming apparatus to which the job transmission unit 126 has transmitted the image formation job.

[0035] The control unit 129 associates a user who has authority to execute an image formation job with sender information, and controls the job management unit 128 to grant execution authority to the recipient user if the recipient user name is included in the text obtained by character recognition. The control unit 129 controls the job presentation unit 233 to present to the authenticated user an image formation job for which execution authority has been granted to the recipient user name contained in the text obtained by character recognition on the first page of the image, rather than an image formation job for which execution authority has been granted by associating the sender information with the recipient user.

[0036] The control unit 129 has a delivery destination table that registers registration information that associates sender information with recipient users, and when information associated with the delivery destination table is not registered, if a user name registered as a user of the image forming system 1 is found in the text obtained by character recognition of the first page of an image received by facsimile communication, the control unit 129 grants execution authority, lowers the priority of the image forming job for which execution authority has been granted by the job management unit 128, and controls the job transmission request unit 232 and the job presentation unit 233 to present the job to the authenticated user in priority over an image forming job that matches the user authenticated by the sender. The control unit 129 controls the character recognition unit 127 to perform character recognition on the entire image page, and to search for the presence or absence of a user name from all text data obtained by character recognition.

[0037] When an image formation job transmitted by the job transmission unit 126 is executed in an image forming device, the job management unit 128 deletes the execution authority of the executed image formation job of the user who instructed the execution of the image formation job, and when this deletion leaves no user with the execution authority of the image formation job, it deletes the registration of the image formation job. When an image formation job is executed by automatic acquisition of the image formation job by the job submission unit 233, the control unit 129 controls the job management unit 128 so as not to delete the image formation job in response to the execution.

[0038] <Terminal Device> Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the terminal device 300 has the functions of an authentication request unit 321, a job generation unit 322, and a job registration request unit 323. Among these, the authentication request unit 321 has a function of passing authentication information received from a user to the user authentication unit 122 of the server device 100 and requesting authentication of the user based on the authentication information. Furthermore, if the authentication is successful, the authentication request unit 321 has a function of passing that fact and the user identification information of the authenticated user to the job generation unit 322.

[0039] The job generation unit 322 has a function of generating an image formation job based on an image formation instruction operation received from an authenticated user and passing it to the job registration request unit 323. Note that the image formation instruction operation is, for example, an operation of issuing an instruction to print a document, print settings to be used for the printing, and specifying the user (or users) who are authorized to execute the printing. The job generation unit 322 also attaches the user identification information of the authenticated user to the image formation job as its sender information, and attaches the user identification information of the specified user as information on the user who is authorized to execute the job. The job registration request unit 323 has a function of transmitting the job passed from the job generation unit 322 to the job reception unit 123 of the server device 100, and causing the job to be registered in the job registration unit 124. User identification information indicating the sender and the user who is granted execution authority is also transmitted.

[0040] By using the above-mentioned units, the terminal device 300 can register a job, specifying a user to be granted execution authority, in the server device 100, according to the operation of the authenticated user. If the authenticated user and the user granting execution authority are the same, this registration is registration of a document that the authenticated user wants to obtain in paper form, and if they are different, it is registration of a document that the authenticated user wants to distribute to another user.

[0041] <Image forming device> Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the image forming apparatus 200a includes a FAX receiving unit 221, a job generating unit 222, a delivery destination determining unit 223, and a job transmitting unit 224. Of these, the FAX receiving unit 221 has a function of receiving a document from an external device via a facsimile line, which is a specific communication line, and transferring the document itself, sender information, and information about the line used for reception to the job generating unit 222. Note that the sender information may be obtained from the sending terminal (sender identification information, email address, etc.) or from the communication path (number display, IP address, etc.). One or more arbitrary acquisition methods may be adopted as appropriate.

[0042] The job generation unit 222 has a function of generating and acquiring an image formation job for printing a document received by the FAX receiving unit 221, and passing the job to the job sending unit 224. This job is provided with information about the sender of the document and information about the user who is authorized to execute the job. The sender information may be the information received from the FAX receiving unit 221 as is, or may simply indicate that it was received over a FAX line. At the very least, it is sufficient to know that the user who is given the execution authority is different from the sender. The job generation unit 222 also has a function of passing information about the sender of the received document and the line used for receiving the document to the delivery destination determination unit 223, and requesting the delivery destination of the document to be determined. This delivery destination is the user to whom the execution authority for the job is granted.

[0043] The delivery destination determination unit 223 has a function of referencing a delivery destination table managed by the user information management unit 121 of the server device 100 and acquiring user identification information of a recipient user corresponding to the sender and line information received from the job generation unit 222. The sender and line information may be passed to the user information management unit 121 to perform a search. The delivery destination determination unit 223 determines the acquired user identification information as the delivery destination of the document and returns it to the job generation unit 222. As is clear from FIG. 6, the delivery destination may include multiple users.

[0044] The job sending unit 224 has a function of sending the job passed from the job generating unit 222 to the distribution receiving unit 125 of the server device 100 and registering it in the job registration unit 124. User identification information indicating the sender and the user who is granted execution authority is also sent. With the above-described units, when image forming apparatus 200a receives a job via a specific communication line, it can determine a user to whom execution authority for the job is to be granted, and transmit the job and user identification information indicating the user who has execution authority for the job to server apparatus 100. The above-described units from FAX receiving unit 221 to job transmitting unit 224 function as a second job transmitting unit.

[0045] <Image forming device 200b> Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the image forming apparatus 200b includes a user authentication unit 231, a job transmission request unit 232, a job submission unit 233, an operation acceptance unit 234, and a job execution unit 235. Of these, the user authentication unit 231 accepts input of authentication information from a user, and performs authentication processing based on the accepted information by referring to user information managed by the user information management unit 121 of the server device 100. The authentication information may be input by having the authentication information reading device 211 read the necessary information, or may be input manually to the operation unit 206. Alternatively, the user authentication unit 231 may pass the authentication information to the user information management unit 121 to have it perform authentication processing and obtain the result.

[0046] Furthermore, the user authentication unit 231 has a function of, if authentication is successful, passing that fact and the user identification information of the authenticated user to the job transmission request unit 232 .

[0047] When the user authentication unit 231 authenticates the user, the job transmission request unit 232 requests the job transmission unit 126 of the server device 100 to transmit information about jobs that the authenticated user has authority to execute, from among the jobs registered in the job registration unit 124. The information requested to be transmitted here is bibliographic information about the job, which is necessary to notify the user of the existence of the job. The job transmission request unit 232 then has a function of passing the bibliographic information of the job transmitted in response to the request to the job presentation unit 233, thereby presenting the existence of the job to the user.

[0048] The job transmission request unit 232 first requests transmission of information about jobs for which the authenticated user has execution authority and whose sender is different from the authenticated user. Such jobs may include jobs generated in response to receipt of a document by the FAX receiving unit 221 and jobs distributed by another user operating the terminal device 300.

[0049] The job transmission request unit 232 also has a function of requesting the job transmission unit 126 to transmit information about the remaining jobs (those whose sender is the authenticated user) for which the authenticated user has execution authority after completing processing of the job for which the sender is a different user from the authenticated user. This information can also be processed in the same manner as in the case of a job whose sender is a different user from the authenticated user.

[0050] The job transmission request unit 232 also has a function of requesting the job transmission unit 126 to transmit job data for a job for which an execution instruction has been received from a user by the operation reception unit 234, as will be described later. The job transmission request unit 232 then has a function of passing the job data received in response to the request to the job execution unit 235, and executing the job based on the job data. This process is common regardless of the source of the job. Next, the job presentation unit 233 notifies the user by presenting the jobs registered in the server device 100 to the user based on the bibliographic information of the jobs passed from the job transmission request unit 232. This presentation can be performed by displaying a screen on the display unit 207, for example. For jobs where the sender is different from the authenticated user, the authentication information is presented immediately after the user inputs the authentication information, before the normal top screen is displayed.

[0051] When the user authentication unit 231 authenticates the user, the job transmission request unit 232 requests the job transmission unit 126 of the server device 100 to transmit information about jobs that the authenticated user has authority to execute, from among the jobs registered in the job registration unit 124. The information requested to be transmitted here is bibliographic information about the job, which is necessary to notify the user of the existence of the job. The job transmission request unit 232 then has a function of passing the bibliographic information of the job transmitted in response to the request to the job presentation unit 233, thereby presenting the existence of the job to the user.

[0052] The job transmission request unit 232 first requests transmission of information about jobs for which the authenticated user has execution authority and whose sender is different from the authenticated user. Such jobs may include jobs generated in response to receipt of a document by the FAX receiving unit 221 and jobs distributed by another user operating the terminal device 300.

[0053] The job transmission request unit 232 also has a function of requesting the job transmission unit 126 to transmit information about the remaining jobs (those whose sender is the authenticated user) for which the authenticated user has execution authority after completing processing of the job for which the sender is a different user from the authenticated user. This information can also be processed in the same manner as in the case of a job whose sender is a different user from the authenticated user.

[0054] The job transmission request unit 232 also has a function of requesting the job transmission unit 126 to transmit job data for a job for which an execution instruction has been received from a user by the operation reception unit 234, as will be described later. The job transmission request unit 232 then has a function of passing the job data received in response to the request to the job execution unit 235, and executing the job based on the job data. This process is common regardless of the source of the job. Next, the job presentation unit 233 presents the jobs registered in the server device 100 to the user based on the bibliographic information of the jobs passed from the job transmission request unit 232. This presentation can be performed by displaying a screen on the display unit 207, for example. For jobs where the sender is different from the authenticated user, the authentication information is presented immediately after the user inputs the authentication information, before the normal top screen is displayed.

[0055] <Example of job list screen> FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a list screen of jobs sent from a job sending unit of a server device included in an image forming system according to one embodiment of the present invention. The job list screen 410 shown in FIG. 7 is a screen for presenting jobs for which the sender is different from the authenticated user, and includes a list display section 411, a print button 412, and a close button 413. The list display section 411 displays the bibliographic information of each job sent from the job sending section 126 . Of these, "No." is the serial number of the job being displayed. "File name" is the file name of the document instructed to be printed. For documents received via a fax line, the image forming apparatus 200a automatically assigns a file name when generating the job. In the example of Figure 7, this corresponds to the file name "FAX2" or "FAX1". "Sender" is the sender information of the job corresponding to that shown in Figure 6. For jobs generated in response to receiving a document via a fax line, this may be displayed. "Receipt date and time" is the date and time the job was registered in the job registration unit 124. In addition to these, information such as the file name and number of copies may be displayed to indicate the content of the image to be formed. By touching a line corresponding to each job in the list display section 411, the user can toggle between selecting and not selecting the job in that line.

[0056] The print button 412 is a button for issuing an instruction to execute the selected job. The close button 413 is a button for closing the job list screen 410 and transitioning to a function selection screen (described later with reference to FIG. 11) which is the normal top screen. When the print function is selected on this function selection screen, the job presentation unit 233 can display jobs and accept execution instructions on a similar screen for all jobs that the authenticated user has execution authority for.

[0057] The operation reception unit 234 has a function of receiving a user's operation on the screen displayed by the job presentation unit 233. In addition, when an instruction to execute a job or to change the screen is detected, the operation reception unit 234 has a function of notifying the job transmission request unit 232 of this fact. The job execution unit 235 has a function of controlling the engine unit 209 in accordance with the job data passed from the job transmission request unit 232 and executing the job.

[0058] By using the above-mentioned units, the image forming apparatus 200b can present to the authenticated user, among the jobs for which the user authenticated by the user authentication unit 231 has execution authority, jobs whose senders are different from the user, in priority over other jobs. Furthermore, the image forming apparatus 200b can execute a job selected by the user from among the presented jobs. The image forming apparatus 200a may also include, in addition to the FAX receiving unit 221 through the job transmitting unit 224, the same units as those of the image forming apparatus 200b, namely, the user authentication unit 231 through the job execution unit 235.

[0059] Each function of the above-described embodiments can be realized by one or more processing circuits. Here, the term "processing circuit" in this specification includes a processor programmed to perform each function by software, such as a processor implemented by an electronic circuit, as well as devices such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or a conventional circuit module designed to perform each function described above.

[0060] <Sequence diagram> 8 is a sequence diagram (part 1) for explaining the operation procedure of the image forming system according to one embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, the operations executed by each device shown in FIG. 4 will be described in detail with reference to the sequence diagram shown in FIG. First, FIG. 8 shows a sequence of operations executed by the image forming apparatus 200a and the server apparatus 100 when the FAX receiving unit 221 of the image forming apparatus 200a receives a document. In the operation shown in Figure 8, the CPU 201 of the image forming device 200a and the CPU 101 of the server device 100 function as control units by executing the required programs, execute control procedures, and control and execute the required hardware, processes, etc. In addition, while the operation of the server device 100 is shown in the figure with the corresponding functional units, the operation of each step and the corresponding functional units of the image forming device 200a will be explained as needed. This also applies to the subsequent sequence diagrams.

[0061] When the FAX receiving unit 221 of the image forming apparatus 200a receives a document via a FAX line (S101), the image forming apparatus 200a starts the operation shown in FIG. First, the job generation unit 222 generates an image formation job for printing a document received by facsimile communication on paper (S102), and the FAX receiving unit 221 acquires information about the sender of the document and the line type information of the line used for receiving the document (S103). The order of the processes in steps S102 and S103 does not matter.

[0062] Next, the image forming apparatus 200a transmits the image formation job generated in step S102 to the distribution reception unit 125 of the server apparatus 100 by using the function of the job transmission unit 224, and requests registration of the image formation job (S104). In response to this, the distribution reception unit 125 registers the transmitted job in the job registration unit 124 (S105a). The job data to be registered here is the one shown in FIG. The processing in step S105a is the job registration procedure. Next, the server device 100 converts the image into text using the character recognition unit 127, and registers the text data in the job registration unit 124 (S105b).

[0063] Next, the image forming device 200a, using the function of the delivery destination determination unit 223, transmits the sender and line type information acquired in step S103 to the user information management unit 121 of the server device 100, and requests an estimation of the recipient of the document received in step S101 (S106).

[0064] Upon receiving this, the user information management unit 121 uses the sender information and line type information as keys to search the text data of the corresponding job stored in the distribution destination table and job registration unit, and identifies the recipient user and the following classifications [0] to [3] (S107). [0]: Recipient user, cannot be identified [1]: The user name of the image forming system 1 matches only the text data [2]: There is no matching user name in the text data, but there is a match in the sender information in the destination table [3]: The text data contains a matching user name, and the sender information in the destination table also matches.

[0065] Then, the image forming apparatus 200a is notified of the identified recipient and the classifications [1] to [3] (S108). Upon receiving this information, the image forming apparatus 200a determines, by the function of the delivery destination determination unit 223, to grant the notified recipient the authority to execute the image forming job generated in step S102 (S109).

[0066] Then, using the function of the job sending unit 224, the distribution receiving unit 125 of the server device 100 is requested to register the recipient as a user who has the authority to execute the image formation job registered in step S105a, as well as the sender and classification (S110). The distribution acceptance unit 125 registers the identification information of the user who has the authority to execute the image formation job, and the sender and classification of the job in the job registration unit 124 (S111). The processing of step S111 is also a processing of the job registration procedure.

[0067] In step S111 of FIG. 8, the "classification" added to the authorized user for additional recording is saved. The additional process here is to convert the image into text in the character recognition unit 127 after step S105a in FIG. 8, and to register the text data in the job registration unit . Furthermore, in step S107, each target user is classified into [1] to [3], and the identification information (classification [1] to [3] as necessary) of the user who has the authority to execute the image formation job by the image forming device and the sender of the job are registered in the job registration unit 124 (S111).

[0068] According to the above operation, when the image forming apparatus 200a receives an image formation job via a facsimile line, it determines a user to whom execution authority for the image formation job is to be granted, and can associate the image formation job, the user to whom execution authority is to be granted, and the sender of the image formation job, and register them in the server apparatus 100. Note that the sender of the image formation job referred to here may be any sender of a document to be received via a facsimile line and printed by executing the job.

[0069] <Sequence diagram> FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram (part 2) for explaining the operation procedure of the image forming system according to one embodiment of the present invention. Next, FIG. 9 shows a sequence of operations executed by the image forming apparatus 200b and the server apparatus 100 when the user authentication unit 231 of the image forming apparatus 200b accepts input of authentication information from a user. When the user authentication unit 231 of the image forming apparatus 200b accepts input of authentication information from a user (S121), the image forming apparatus 200b starts the operation shown in Fig. 9. Then, first, by using the function of the user authentication unit 231, the input authentication information is sent to the user information management unit 121 of the server apparatus 100, and a request is made to check the input authentication information against registered user information (S122). Upon receiving this, the user information management unit 121 collates the authentication information in accordance with the request, and returns to the image forming device 200b as the collation result whether or not there is a user matching the authentication information, and, if necessary, authority information indicating the authority held by that user. Furthermore, the user information management unit 121 notifies the image forming device 200b of the result, including the setting contents of the authenticated user shown in Fig. 10 (S123). In step S123, the contents of the verification request result of the authenticated user are notified to the image forming apparatus 200b together with the contents set by the currently authenticated user. An example of the user settings is shown in FIG.

[0070] When the image forming apparatus 200b receives the collation result, it determines whether the authentication was successful (matched) based on the content of the result using the function of the user authentication unit 231 (S124). If the authentication failed, the image forming apparatus 200b ends the process (No). On the other hand, if the authentication was successful (Yes), the image forming apparatus 200b authenticates that the user who entered the authentication information is the user corresponding to the authentication information and allows the user to log in as that user (S125). The operations of the image forming apparatus 200b in steps S121 to S125 are the operations of the authentication procedure.

[0071] Then, the function of the job transmission request unit 232 queries the job transmission unit 126 of the server device 100 as to whether there is an image formation job for which the logged-in user has execution authority and whose sender is different from the logged-in user (S126). This query also includes a request to transmit information about the image formation job if there is a corresponding image formation job. The operation of this step S126 is the operation of the job information request procedure. Upon receiving this, the job transmitting unit 126 acquires information on an image formation job that meets the conditions from the job registration unit 124 (S127) and returns it to the image forming apparatus 200b (S128). If there is no matching image formation job, it returns a message to that effect. The operations of steps S127 and S128 are the operations of the job information transmitting procedure.

[0072] Upon receiving this reply, the image forming apparatus 200b determines whether or not there is an image forming job that meets the conditions (S129). If there is any, the job presentation unit 233 adjusts the display availability and display order of the image formation jobs for which the user has execution authority according to the display necessity and display priority of the settings notified in step S123, and displays the image formation jobs on the display unit 80a (S130). The operation of step S130 is the operation of the job presentation procedure. As shown in FIG. 9, after user authentication (S124, Yes), when image formation jobs for which the user has execution authority are displayed on the display unit 80a, (mode 4) jobs whose sender information matches the authenticated user are displayed in the display order of the job list according to the classification selection of [1] to [3] described above.

[0073] As shown in Figure 9, when jobs that the user has permission to execute after user authentication are displayed on the display unit 80a (mode 4), jobs whose sender matches the authenticated user are displayed in the display order of the job list according to the classification selection from [1] to [3] described above. In step S130, when the information on the image forming jobs is displayed on the display unit 80a, whether or not the image forming jobs are to be displayed and the display order are determined according to the settings of the authenticated user acquired in step S123.

[0074] Then, when an execution instruction from the logged-in user is detected (S131), the image forming apparatus 200b uses the function of the job transmission request unit 232 to request the job management unit 128 of the server apparatus 100 to send job data required to execute the image formation job that has been instructed to be executed (S132). It is also possible to request job data for multiple jobs.

[0075] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of display settings at the time of authentication for each user in the image forming system according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 shows the items, display / non-display selection, display priority selection (larger numbers indicate higher priority), and the corresponding users and job IDs in FIG. When the information about the job in question is displayed on the display unit in step S130, whether or not the job can be displayed and the display order are determined according to the settings of the authenticated user acquired in step S123. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 10, the priority and display necessity settings set by the authenticated user at that time are followed.

[0076] For more information, (1) In FIG. 6, the target user is User A and the job ID is 1 or 6, or the target user is User B and the job ID is 4, and the display priority selection is 1. In this case, jobs whose sender matches the authenticated user are displayed. (2) In Figure 6, the target user is User C, the job ID is 8, and the display priority selection is 3. In this case, even though there is no text matching the user name in the image of the first page (or all pages), the job that only the target user has been granted execution authority based on the sender information and the recipient user's delivery destination table is displayed.

[0077] (3) The case where the relevant user in Figure 6 is User A and the job ID is 9, or the relevant user is User B and the job ID is 9, and the display priority selection is 2 is targeted. In this case, even though there is no text matching the user name in the image of the first page (or all pages), jobs that have been granted execution authority to multiple users, including the target user, based on the sender information and the recipient user's delivery destination table are displayed. (4) This applies to the case where the relevant user in Figure 6 is User A, the job IDs are 2 and 7, and there is no selection of display priority. In this case, although there is no text matching the user name in the image of the first page (or all pages), execution authority is granted based on the sender information and the recipient user's delivery destination table, but the image of the first page (or all pages) contains text matching another user name, and jobs for which execution authority is also granted to other users are not displayed.

[0078] (5) The target is when the user in Figure 6 is User A and the job ID is 3, or when the user in question is User B and the job ID is 7, and the display priority selection is 5. In this case, the job that has been granted execution authority because the sender information matches the recipient user's delivery destination table and the image of the first page (or all pages) contains text that matches the user name is displayed. (6) In Figure 6, the target user is User A, the job ID is 10, and the display priority is set to 4. In this case, although there is no match in the distribution destination table, the image on the first page contains text that matches the user name, so the job that only the target user has permission to execute is displayed.

[0079] (7) This applies to the case where the user in Figure 6 is User B, the job ID is 2, and there is no selection of display priority. In this case, although there is no match in the distribution destination table, the image on the first page contains text that matches the user name, so the user has been granted execution authority, but at the same time, jobs that other users also have execution authority for are not displayed.

[0080] <Relationship between display order and job data (part 1)> FIG. 11 is a diagram (part 1) showing an example of the correspondence between the display order and job data in the image forming system according to one embodiment of the present invention. An example of the display at this time is shown in FIG. 11, which shows the case where user A has made the settings shown in FIG. FIG. 11 shows job data (#3, #10, #1, #6) corresponding to the display order (1 to 4).

[0081] <Relationship between display order and job data (part 2)> FIG. 12 is a diagram (part 2) showing an example of the correspondence between the display order and job data in the image forming system according to one embodiment of the present invention. An example of the display at this time is shown in FIG. 12, which shows the case where user B has made the settings shown in FIG. FIG. 12 also shows job data (#7, #8, #9, #4) corresponding to the display order (1 to 4).

[0082] Specific examples (UI, etc.) presented to the user are the same as those in Figures 8, 11, and 14 of Patent Document 1. On the other hand, what differs from Patent Document 1 is that the contents of the job (printed material) list are in accordance with the priority and display necessity setting set by the authenticated user at that time, as shown in Figure 10 (as exemplified in Figures 11 and 12).

[0083] <Screen transition example> FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of transition of a screen displayed by the image forming apparatus 200b of the image forming system according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 shows an example of transition of screens displayed by image forming apparatus 200b by the operation shown in FIG. First, the screen for accepting the input of authentication information in step S121 in Fig. 9 is the authentication information input screen 401 in the upper left of Fig. 13. This screen is a basic screen that is displayed when no user is logged in. Note that when inputting authentication information using the authentication information reading device 211, it is possible to input authentication information even when the screen is not displayed.

[0084] Next, if the user inputs authentication information and image forming apparatus 200b determines in step S124 that authentication has failed (No), the screen displayed is authentication failure screen 403. This screen is used to notify the user of the authentication failure, and in this case, image forming apparatus 200b returns to authentication information input screen 401 after a certain period of time has elapsed and accepts input of authentication information again.

[0085] On the other hand, if the image forming apparatus 200b determines in step S124 that the authentication is successful (Yes), the screen that is displayed is an authentication success screen 402. This screen is used to notify the user that the authentication is successful, and the image forming apparatus 200b performs the processes of steps S125 to S129 while this screen is displayed.

[0086] If a corresponding job is found (Yes) in step S129, image forming apparatus 200b displays job list screen 410 in step S130. This screen is the one described with reference to FIG. 8, and when print button 412 is pressed, image forming apparatus 200b determines that a job execution instruction has been accepted for the job selected at that time. Then, the job is executed by the processing of steps S132 to S135. Thereafter, job list screen 410 may continue to be displayed and another job execution instruction may be accepted, or the screen may automatically proceed to function selection screen 420. Furthermore, when close button 413 is pressed, image forming apparatus 200b determines that it has received an instruction to close job list screen 410 and proceed to function selection screen 420, and in step S136 displays function selection screen 420. The same applies if there is no corresponding job (No) in step S129.

[0087] This function selection screen 420 is a normal top screen that is initially displayed when there is no particular information to be notified to the user at login, such as when step S129 is answered No. Then, image forming apparatus 200b accepts the selection of a function to be used from the logged-in user on this function selection screen 420. In the example of FIG. 11, a copy function, a print function, and a scan function are provided as function options, and buttons 421 to 423 corresponding to these functions are provided. Button 424 is a button for issuing a logout instruction.

[0088] Of the above functions, the print function is a function for executing jobs stored in server device 100. When a user operates button 422 to select the print function, image forming device 200b obtains information about jobs (regardless of the sender) that the logged-in user has execution authority for from server device 100, in a procedure similar to steps S126 to S130, and presents the information to the user. Furthermore, image forming device 200b executes a job selected by the user from among the obtained information, in a procedure similar to steps S131 to S135.

[0089] According to the first embodiment described above, the image forming apparatus 200b can present to the user, on the job list screen 410, jobs for which the authenticated user has execution authority and whose sender is different from that of the authenticated user, in priority over other jobs. Therefore, even when a document is sent by facsimile communication or document distribution, which makes it difficult for the receiving party to know when the document will be received, the user who is to receive the document can be reliably notified of the existence of the sent document when he or she attempts to use image forming device 200b. Furthermore, images can be formed and output according to the user's instructions. Since this output is performed while the user is in front of the device, there is no risk of the output paper being taken away by someone else. Furthermore, there is no need for special settings such as confidential printing, and the operational burden is light. From the above, it can be said that the functions of the image forming apparatus 200b and the server apparatus 100 enable the recipient to safely and hassle-freely obtain a document sent by another person via electronic communication in a paper form.

[0090] 8, a job for forming an image of a document received via a facsimile line can be registered in server device 100 in a state in which it is presented to a user who is presumed to be the recipient of the document. Although facsimile communication does not necessarily result in a printed output of the document on the receiving side in recent years, it can be said that it is a communication method in which the sending side assumes that the recipient will have access to a paper document. Furthermore, since the receiving side does not know when the document will be received, if the document is printed out immediately upon receipt, there is a risk that the document may be viewed by someone other than the intended recipient.

[0091] Furthermore, even if a document received via a facsimile line is forwarded by e-mail or other means to an address where the recipient can view it on a dedicated terminal, in order to obtain a paper copy of the document without it being seen by third parties, it is necessary to issue a print instruction using a function such as confidential printing, which is a cumbersome operation. This problem occurs when a recipient attempts to obtain a document that has been sent by electronic communication from another person in a paper form, regardless of the communication unit used.

[0092] However, the operations shown in Figures 8 and 9 eliminate these deficiencies and allow paper documents to be delivered to the intended recipients quickly and safely. As such, the system of this embodiment is suitable for use in distributing documents received by fax. However, as described in connection with document distribution from the terminal device 300 in Fig. 4, this does not preclude application to document distribution via other communication units. It is not essential that any of the image forming devices 200 be involved in the registration of a job in the server device 100. This is also applicable to the case where the server device 100 itself automatically registers an image forming job relating to a document or the like for a user.

[0093] 4 and 5 show an example in which, for a document received by fax, the user to whom execution authority for the acquired job is to be granted (document delivery destination) is determined based on the information on the correspondence between the sender of the job and the user to whom execution authority is to be granted. This method is useful in an environment in which a specific user is responsible for documents from a specific business partner, as it allows the document delivery destination to be identified with a simple process. However, there are other ways to identify the recipient. For example, it is possible to perform OCR (Optical Character Recognition) processing on the first page of a document and identify the recipient from the character recognition results of the part where the addressee is written. For example, the character string that appears before "sama" or "dono" can be extracted from the next few lines of a pre-registered company name and matched with the name of a pre-registered user.

[0094] <Job list screen> FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a job list screen displayed by the image forming apparatus 200b of the image forming system according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14 shows an example of a job list screen used for this presentation. The job list screen 410′ shown in FIG. 14 is a screen to be displayed on the display unit 207, and similar to the job list screen 410 shown in FIG. 7, displays information about each job for which information has been sent from the job sending unit 126 in the list display section 411. 7, the list display section 411 has a "Delivery" item to indicate whether the job in question has been delivered by a user other than the user currently logged in to the image forming apparatus 200b (a user authenticated by the user authentication section 231), such as a document received by facsimile communication. A job with a "○" in this item is a delivery job. Delivery jobs are displayed preferentially by being positioned above other jobs, in a position where the user can see them first.

[0095] For jobs other than distribution, the sender is the currently logged-in user, and this is indicated by displaying "-" in the "Sender" column. Furthermore, if there is a job related to distribution, the job submission unit 233 displays a message 417 indicating this at the top of the job list screen 410' to notify the user. On this job list screen 410′, the user can toggle between selecting and deselecting the job in that row by touching the row corresponding to each job in the list display section 411, without making any particular distinction between jobs related to delivery and other jobs.

[0096] 7. The job list screen 410' also has a print button 412 and a close button 413, which are the same as those shown in FIG. Among these, the preview button 414 is a button for receiving an instruction to display a preview of the job selected in the list display section 411 . The transfer button 415 is a button for accepting an instruction to change the recipient of a document related to a job selected in the list display section 411. The delete button 416 is a button for receiving an instruction to delete the job selected in the list display section 411 .

[0097] <Effects of this embodiment> In this embodiment, an image forming system 1 shared by multiple users who send and receive documents via electronic communication is used to identify the recipient of a document received via facsimile communication and make the recipient available safely and hassle-free with the recipient printed on paper, and the system has the following features. In addition to the registration information of the sender information and recipient user included in the conventional technology, the present invention identifies the recipient user from character information converted from image information contained in the received document itself, thereby increasing the accuracy of the estimated recipient user, and making it possible to more reliably display and notify the user that the document has arrived. In short, the feature of this system is that when the character recognition unit extracts text information from images sent and received via electronic communication and finds text that matches the user information of the user using the image forming system 1, the user is treated as the recipient of this document. According to this embodiment, it is possible to identify a recipient user from an image of a document, and reduce the hassle of sending reception notifications to other users unnecessarily even when the document was received from the same sender.

[0098] <Summary of the functions and effects of the exemplary embodiment> <First aspect> The image forming system 1 of this embodiment is an image forming system 1 including a server device 100 and a plurality of image forming devices 200a, 200b, and the server device 100 includes a job registration unit 124 that registers an image forming job to be executed by the image forming device in association with a user having authority to execute the image forming job and sender information, a job information transmission unit 126a that transmits information of the image forming job registered in the job registration unit 124 to the image forming device that is the request source in response to a request from the image forming device, and a job information transmission unit 126b that transmits the image forming job to the image forming device in response to a request from the image forming device. and a job management unit 128 that grants execution authority to the image forming apparatus to which the job sending unit 126 has sent the image forming job. Each image forming apparatus 200b includes a user authentication unit 231 that authenticates a user, a job transmission request unit 232 that requests information on an image forming job that the user authenticated by the user authentication unit 231 has execution authority over, from the server apparatus 100, a job presentation unit 233 that presents the image forming job to the authenticated user based on the information transmitted from the server apparatus 100 in response to the request by the job transmission request unit 232, and and a presentation control unit that controls a job transmission request unit and a job presentation unit so that an image formation job whose sender is different from that of the authenticated user is presented to the authenticated user in preference to other image formation jobs among image formation jobs for which the authenticated user has execution authority. At least one of the image forming apparatuses (200a) includes an operation receiving unit that receives an instruction to execute the image formation job presented by the job presentation unit from the user authenticated by the user authentication unit, and an operation receiving unit that receives an instruction to execute the image formation job from the server device (100). The server device 100 includes a character recognition unit 127 that performs character recognition on a specific page of an image received from a sender by facsimile communication and converts the image into text, and a job presentation unit 233 that presents the image formation job to the authenticated user by obtaining the image formation job from the server device 100 and executing it when the image formation job that the authenticated user has execution authority for includes an image formation job whose sender is different from that of the authenticated user.The image forming system is characterized by including a control unit 129 that associates a user who has the authority to execute an image forming job with sender information, and controls the job management unit 128 to grant execution authority to the recipient user when the recipient user name is included in the text obtained by character recognition. According to this embodiment, in the server device 100, when an image formation job registered in the job registration unit 124 includes an image received from a sender via facsimile communication, the character recognition unit 127 performs character recognition on a specific page of the image to convert it into text, and the control unit 129 associates a user who has authority to execute the image formation job with sender information, and when a recipient user name is included in the text obtained by character recognition, controls the job management unit 128 to grant execution authority to the recipient user. This allows multiple users to share a single facsimile machine or a multifunction device equipped with a facsimile function, and when an image is received via facsimile communication, execution authority can be granted to a specific recipient.

[0099] <Second mode> The control unit 129 in this embodiment is characterized by controlling the job presentation unit 233 to present to the authenticated user an image formation job in which execution authority has been granted to the recipient user name contained in the text obtained by character recognition on the first page of the image, rather than an image formation job in which execution authority has been granted by associating sender information with the recipient user. According to this embodiment, the control unit 129 controls the job presentation unit 233 to present to the authenticated user an image formation job in which execution authority has been granted to the recipient user name contained in the text obtained by character recognition on the first page of the image, prior to an image formation job in which execution authority has been granted to the recipient user name contained in the text obtained by character recognition on the first page of the image, over an image formation job in which execution authority has been granted by associating sender information with the recipient user. This makes it possible to grant execution authority to the recipient user name contained in the text obtained by character recognition on the first page of the image.

[0100] <Third aspect> The control unit 129 in this embodiment is characterized in that it has a delivery destination table that registers registration information that associates sender information with recipient users, and when information associated with the delivery destination table is not registered, if a user name registered as a user of the image forming system 1 is found in the text obtained by character recognition of the first page of an image received by facsimile communication, it grants execution authority, lowers the priority of the image forming job for which execution authority has been granted by the job management unit 128, and controls the job transmission request unit 232 and the job presentation unit 233 so that the job is presented to the authenticated user in priority to an image forming job that matches the user authenticated by the sender. According to this embodiment, when information associated with the delivery destination table is not registered, if a user name registered as a user of the image forming system 1 is found in the text obtained by character recognition of the first page of an image received by facsimile communication, execution authority is granted to the user, and the job management unit 128 lowers the priority of the image forming job to which execution authority has been granted, and presents the job to the authenticated user in priority to an image forming job that matches the user authenticated by the sender, thereby granting execution authority to the user.

[0101] <Fourth aspect> The control unit 129 of this embodiment performs the following for each user: (1) An image formation job whose sender matches an authenticated user. (2) An image forming job in which there is no text matching the user name in the image on the first page, but execution authority is granted only to the target user based on registration information that associates sender information with recipient user, (3) An image forming job in which there is no text matching the user name in the image of the first page, but execution authority is granted to multiple users, including the target user, based on registration information that associates sender information with recipient users, (4) An image forming job in which the image on the first page or all pages does not contain text matching the user name, but execution authority is granted based on registration information that associates the sender information with the recipient user, but the image on the first page (or all pages) contains text matching another user name, and execution authority is also granted to another user; (5) An image forming job that matches the registration information that associates the sender information with the recipient user and that has been granted execution authority because the image on the first page contains text that matches the user name; (6) An image forming job for which there is no match based on the associated registration information, but execution authority is granted because the image on the first page contains text that matches the user name. (7) An image formation job in which there is no match based on the registration information, but the user is granted execution authority because the image on the first page contains text that matches the user name, but at the same time, other users are also granted execution authority. The present invention is characterized in that it controls so that one or more of the display priorities at the time of authentication can be arbitrarily selected from the above. According to this aspect, by arbitrarily selecting one or more of the display priorities at the time of authentication from among (1) to (7), it is possible to select image forming jobs for which execution authority has been granted.

[0102] <Fifth aspect> The control unit 129 of this embodiment is characterized by controlling the character recognition unit 127 to perform character recognition on the entire image page, and to search for the presence or absence of a user name from all text data obtained by character recognition. According to this embodiment, the control unit 129 controls the character recognition unit 127 to perform character recognition on the entire image as the target page, and to search for the presence or absence of a user name from all text data obtained by character recognition, thereby making it possible to extract a user name from the text data obtained by performing character recognition on the entire image.

[0103] <Sixth aspect> When an image formation job transmitted by the job transmission unit 126 is executed in the image forming device, the job management unit 128 of this embodiment deletes the execution authority of the executed image formation job of the user who instructed the execution of the image formation job, and when this deletion leaves no user with the execution authority of the image formation job, deletes the registration of the image formation job. The control unit 129 is characterized in that, when an image formation job is executed by automatic acquisition of the image formation job by the job presentation unit 233, the control unit 129 controls the job management unit 128 so as not to delete the image formation job in response to the execution. According to this embodiment, when an image formation job is executed by automatic acquisition of the image formation job by the job presentation unit 233, the control unit 129 controls the job management unit 128 so as not to delete the image formation job in response to the execution, thereby granting execution authority to the recipient user.

[0104] <Seventh aspect> The image forming method of this aspect is an image forming method by an image forming system 1 including a server device 100 and a plurality of image forming devices, wherein the server device 100 includes a job registration step of registering an image forming job to be executed by an image forming device in association with a user having execution authority for the image forming job and sender information, a job information transmission step of transmitting information of the image forming job registered in the job registration step to the image forming device that is the requester in response to a request from the image forming device, a job transmission step of transmitting the image forming job to the image forming device in response to the request from the image forming device, and a job management step of granting execution authority to the image forming device that transmitted the image forming job in the job transmission step, and each image forming device includes a user authentication step of authenticating a user, a job transmission request step of requesting information of an image forming job that the user authenticated in the user authentication step has execution authority from the server device 100, and a job presentation step of presenting the image forming job to the authenticated user based on the information transmitted from the server device 100 in response to the request in the job transmission request step. and a presentation control step of controlling the job transmission request step and the job presentation step so that, among the image formation jobs for which the authenticated user has execution authority, an image formation job whose sender is different from that of the authenticated user is presented to the authenticated user in priority over other image formation jobs. At least one of the image forming devices includes an operation receiving step of receiving, from the user authenticated in the user authentication step, an instruction to execute the image formation job presented in the job presentation step, and a job execution step of acquiring from the server device 100 and executing the image formation job for which the execution instruction is accepted in the operation receiving step. In the job presentation step, if an image formation job whose sender is different from that of the authenticated user is among the image formation jobs for which the authenticated user has execution authority, the server device 100 presents the image formation job to the authenticated user by acquiring and executing the image formation job. In the server device 100, in the case where an image received from the sender by facsimile communication is included among the image formation jobs registered in the job registration step, a character recognition step of performing character recognition on a specific page of the image to convert it into text.and a control step of associating a user who has the authority to execute the image forming job with the sender information, and controlling the job management step so as to grant execution authority to the recipient user when the recipient user name is included in the text obtained by character recognition. The operation and effect of the seventh embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted. [Explanation of symbols]

[0105] 1...image forming system, 100...server device, 121...user information management unit, 122...user authentication unit, 123...job reception unit, 124...job registration unit, 125...distribution reception unit, 126...job transmission unit, 126a...job information transmission unit, 127...character recognition unit, 128...job management unit, 129...control unit, 100a...image forming device, 100b...image forming device, 211...authentication information reading device, 221...FAX receiving unit, 222...job generation unit, 223...distribution destination determination unit, 224...job transmission unit, 231...user authentication unit, 232...job transmission request unit, 233...job presentation unit, 234...operation reception unit, 235...job execution unit, 236...presentation control unit, 300...terminal device, 321...authentication request unit, 322...job generation unit, 323...job registration request unit [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0106] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6561709

Claims

1. An image forming system including a server device and a plurality of image forming devices, The server device a job registration unit that registers an image formation job to be executed by the image forming apparatus in association with a user having authority to execute the image formation job and transmission source information; a job information transmitting unit that transmits information about the image formation job registered in the job registration unit to the image forming device that is the request source in response to a request from the image forming device; a job transmission unit that transmits an image formation job to the image forming apparatus in response to a request from the image forming apparatus; a job management unit that grants execution authority to the image forming apparatus to which the job transmission unit has transmitted an image formation job, Each of the image forming devices is a user authentication unit that authenticates a user; a job transmission request unit that requests information on an image forming job that the user authenticated by the user authentication unit has execution authority from the server device; a job presentation unit that presents an image formation job to the authenticated user based on information transmitted from the server device in response to a request from the job transmission request unit; a presentation control unit that controls the job transmission request unit and the job presentation unit so that an image formation job whose sender is different from that of the authenticated user among the image formation jobs for which the authenticated user has execution authority is presented to the authenticated user in priority over other image formation jobs, At least one of the image forming devices is an operation receiving unit that receives, from a user authenticated by the user authentication unit, an instruction to execute the image forming job presented by the job presentation unit; a job execution unit that acquires from the server device and executes the image formation job for which the operation reception unit has received an execution instruction, the job presenting unit, when there is an image formation job whose sender is different from that of the authenticated user among the image formation jobs for which the authenticated user has execution authority, presents the image formation job to the authenticated user by obtaining the image formation job from the server device and executing it; The server device a character recognition unit that performs character recognition on a specific page of an image received from a sender by facsimile communication and converts the image into text when the image is included in an image formation job registered in the job registration unit; and a control unit that associates a user who has authority to execute the image formation job with sender information, and controls the job management unit to grant execution authority to the recipient user if the recipient user name is included in the text obtained by the character recognition.

2. The image forming system according to claim 1, characterized in that the control unit controls the job presentation unit to present to the authenticated user an image forming job for which execution authority has been granted to a recipient user name contained in text obtained by character recognition on the first page of an image, rather than an image forming job for which execution authority has been granted by associating sender information with a recipient user.

3. The control unit a delivery destination table in which registration information associating sender information with recipient users is registered; The image forming system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that when information associated with the distribution destination table is not registered, if a user name registered as a user of the image forming system is found in text obtained by character recognition of the first page of an image received by facsimile communication, the job transmission request unit and the job presentation unit are controlled so as to grant execution authority to the user, lower the priority of the image forming job for which execution authority has been granted by the job management unit, and present the job to the authenticated user in priority to an image forming job whose sender matches the authenticated user.

4. The control unit, for each user, (1) An image forming job whose sender matches an authenticated user; (2) An image forming job in which there is no text matching the user name in the image of the first page, but execution authority is granted only to the target user based on registration information that associates sender information with recipient user; (3) An image forming job in which there is no text matching the user name in the image of the first page, but execution authority is granted to multiple users, including the target user, based on registration information that associates sender information with recipient users; (4) An image forming job in which the image on the first page or all pages does not contain text matching the user name, but execution authority is granted based on registration information that associates the sender information with the recipient user, but the image on the first page (or all pages) contains text matching another user name, and execution authority is also granted to another user. (5) An image forming job for which execution authority is granted because the image matches registration information that associates sender information with a recipient user and the image on the first page contains text that matches the user name; (6) An image forming job for which there is no match based on the associated registration information, but execution authority is granted because the image on the first page contains text that matches the user name; (7) An image forming job in which there is no match based on the registration information, but the user is granted execution authority because the image on the first page contains text that matches the user name, but at the same time, other users are also granted execution authority.

4. The image forming system according to claim 2, wherein control is performed so that one or more of the display priorities at the time of authentication are arbitrarily selected from the above.

5. The image forming system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the control unit controls the character recognition unit to perform character recognition on the entire image as the target page, and to search for the presence or absence of a user name from all text data obtained by character recognition.

6. when the image formation job transmitted by the job transmission unit is executed in the image forming device, the job management unit deletes the execution authority of the executed image formation job of the user who instructed the execution of the image formation job, and when there is no user who has the execution authority of the image formation job as a result of this deletion, deletes the registration of the image formation job; The image forming system according to claim 1, characterized in that, when the image forming job is executed by the job submission unit acquiring the image forming job, the control unit controls the job management unit so as not to delete the image forming job corresponding to the execution.

7. An image forming method using an image forming system including a server device and a plurality of image forming devices, The server device a job registration step of registering an image formation job to be executed by the image forming apparatus in association with a user having authority to execute the image formation job and transmission source information; a job information transmission step of transmitting information about the image formation job registered in the job registration step to the image forming apparatus that is the request source in response to a request from the image forming apparatus; a job sending step of sending an image formation job to the image forming apparatus in response to a request from the image forming apparatus; a job management step of granting execution authority to the image forming apparatus that has transmitted the image formation job in the job transmission step; Each of the image forming devices is a user authentication step of authenticating a user; a job transmission request step of requesting information on an image forming job that the user authenticated in the user authentication step has execution authority from the server device; a job presenting step of presenting an image forming job to the authenticated user based on information transmitted from the server device in response to the request made in the job transmission requesting step; a presentation control step of controlling the job transmission request step and the job presentation step so that an image formation job whose sender is different from that of the authenticated user among the image formation jobs for which the authenticated user has execution authority is presented to the authenticated user in priority over other image formation jobs, At least one of the image forming devices is an operation receiving step of receiving, from the user authenticated in the user authentication step, an instruction to execute the image forming job presented in the job presentation step; a job execution step of acquiring the image formation job for which the execution instruction has been accepted from the server device and executing the image formation job, the job presenting step, when there is an image formation job whose sender is different from that of the authenticated user among the image formation jobs for which the authenticated user has execution authority, presents the image formation job to the authenticated user by obtaining the image formation job from the server device and executing it; The server device a character recognition step of character-recognizing a specific page of an image received from a sender by facsimile communication and converting the image into text when the image formation job registered in the job registration step includes the image received from a sender by facsimile communication; and a control step of associating a user who has authority to execute the image formation job with sender information, and controlling the job management step so as to grant execution authority to the recipient user if the recipient user name is included in the text obtained by the character recognition.

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