Device management server and control method thereof

Abstract

To provide a device management server and a control method thereof in a system which can reduce burden caused upon introduction of a printer by automatically carrying out settings of a cloud print service based on information obtained upon purchase of a printer and so on.SOLUTION: The present invention is directed to a device management server capable of coordinating with a print server. The device management server accepts designation indicating coordination with a print server upon use of a printer to be purchased, manages approval information acquired based on operation with use of account information managed by the print server in association with account information of the device management server, and executes a request for registration of device information of the printer to be purchased in the print server.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a device management server in a system that performs printing via a cloud service, and a control method thereof. [Background technology]

[0002] With the spread of teleworking and working from home, the number of cases where personal printers are being introduced for business purposes is on the rise.In addition, cloud print services are becoming more popular, allowing users to register a printer with a cloud service and send print data to the cloud service, without having to set up a printer driver or other software on the print request terminal.

[0003] It is desirable for organizations to properly manage the usage of printers used for business purposes, but as personal use increases, the number of printers to be managed also increases, making installation and management more burdensome. Also, when installing printers at users' homes, users themselves must set up the printers for remote management, which could be a barrier to installation depending on the users' IT skills.

[0004] Patent Document 1 discloses a method for reducing the management burden when using a cloud print service with multiple printers, in which settings are made on the printer's screen rather than on a management screen on the cloud. By making settings on each printer's screen, the risk of errors occurring in the settings for the printer sharing range can be reduced. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-28130 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, the technology of Patent Document 1 still requires settings for each printer, and for personal printers, the user must set them up by themselves.

[0007] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a device management system that can reduce the burden of introducing a printer by automatically configuring a cloud print service based on information such as when the printer was purchased. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] Therefore, the present invention provides a device management server that can cooperate with a print server, and a printer purchase operation using first account information managed by the device management server. and a providing means for providing a display to a user's client terminal that indicates that the printer will cooperate with the print server when the printer is used, and a display that accepts the display; and a providing means for providing a display to a user's client terminal that accepts the display, in response to a request from the device management server executed while the user is logged in with the first account information. The print server and acquiring authorization information associated with second account information of the user who has logged in through an operation of the user via a display provided on the client terminal by the above method, and a management means for managing the first account information in association with the first account information, and The aforementioned and an execution unit that executes a request to register device information of the printer in the print server, and the print server executes a pre-registering process using the second account information. Record When a print process using a linter is executed, print information is transmitted from the print server to a device management server. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a device management system that can reduce the burden of introducing devices by automatically configuring a cloud print service based on information provided when a printer is purchased. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 illustrates the hardware configuration of a device management server and a print server. [Figure 3]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the main components of a printer, a device management server, a client terminal, and a print server. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of device information. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of printer information. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of an operation screen of the device management server. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen of the print server. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a device management server process when a printer is purchased. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen displayed when a client terminal issues a print instruction. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of device information. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of printer information. [Figure 12] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a device management server process when a printer is purchased. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0012] [Example 1] 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an information processing system according to Example 1. The information processing system of this embodiment includes a printer 110, a device management server 120, a network 130, a client terminal 140, and a print server 150.

[0013] The printer 110 is connected to a device management server 120 and a print server 150 via a network 130 such as the Internet. The printer 110 is an image processing printer equipped with printing functions, network connection functions, etc., and is installed and used in a customer organization or home, and may be, for example, a multifunction peripheral or a copier.

[0014] 1 shows only one printer 110, but a single customer organization or home may have multiple printers 110. Also, a single device management server 120 may be connected to printers 110 from multiple customer organizations.

[0015] The device management server 120 manages setting information, operation information, and the like obtained from the devices to be managed. One type of device to be managed includes image processing devices such as printers. The device management server 120 also receives print execution information from the print server 150 and manages it as information for each target device. In this embodiment, the service provider of the device management server 120 may be the device vendor of the printer 110.

[0016] The client terminal 140 is a terminal that transmits print data to the print server 150, and is, for example, an information processing device such as a PC or a smartphone.

[0017] The print server 150 manages print data received from the client terminal 140. It also manages printers and controls printing by sending print data to the printers. The print server 150 may have a different service provider than the device management server 120, and can cooperate with the device management server 120 using an authentication and authorization mechanism such as OAuth. The service provider of the print server 150 may also be different from the device vendor of the printer 110. The service provider of the print server 150 may also be the vendor of the software implemented in the client terminal 140.

[0018] 2 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of the device management server 120 and print server 150 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the server computer, an output I / F unit 201 is connected to an output device such as a display. An input I / F unit 202 is connected to an input device such as a keyboard. The device management server 120 and print server 150 may be provided using cloud computing technology, or may be realized by using hardware resources provided by multiple server computers.

[0019] The storage device 203 stores the OS (Operating System), authentication programs and management programs for the device management server 120, registration information for the printer 110, and setting information and operation information received from the printer 110. Here, the authentication program is a program that performs authentication and connection processing. The management program is a program for managing the registered printer 110.

[0020] The CPU 205 loads the authentication program and management program from the storage device 203 into the memory 204 and executes the authentication program and management program. The communication I / F unit 206 is a network interface for controlling communication with the printer 110 via the network 130.

[0021] 2 corresponds to a hardware block diagram of a general information processing device, and is also applied to the printer 110 and client terminal 140 of this embodiment. Therefore, the hardware configurations of the printer 110 and client terminal 140 are similar, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0022] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the main components (components related to the invention) of the printer 110, the device management server 120, the client terminal 140, and the print server 150.

[0023] The printer 110 includes a device management server linking unit 311, a print instruction receiving unit 312, and a print execution unit 313. The device management server linking unit 311 registers information about the printer 110 itself with the device management server 120, and also transmits information such as the printer 110's operating status and remaining amount of consumables at predetermined times. The print instruction receiving unit 312 receives print instructions from the print server 150. The print execution unit 313 executes printing based on the content received by the print instruction receiving unit 311.

[0024] The device management server 120 includes a user management unit 321, a device management unit 322, and a print server linkage unit 323. The user management unit 321 manages information about users who use the device management server 120. The device management unit 322 manages information about the printer 110. The print server linkage unit 323 registers print user information and device information on the print server 150 so that users managed by the user management unit 321 can use the print server 150, and sets permissions for print users to use devices. The print server linkage unit 323 also performs settings for transferring print information to the device management server 120 when the print server 150 is used.

[0025] The client terminal 140 includes a print request unit 341. The print request unit 341 sends a print request to the print server 150, specifying the printer 110 registered on the print server 150. A print request can be executed using data stored in the terminal, using an application running on the OS or a web browser.

[0026] The print server 150 includes a print user management unit 351, a printer management unit 352, a print data management unit 353, and a print instruction unit 354. The print user management unit 351 manages user information of users who use the print server 150. The printer management unit 352 manages information on image processing devices such as the printer 110 that use the print server 150. The print data management unit 353 receives and manages print data from the client terminal 140. The print instruction unit 354 sends print instructions and print data to the printer 110 based on a print request received from the client terminal 140.

[0027] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of device information managed by the device management unit 322. As shown in FIG.

[0028] The serial number is an identifier assigned to the printer to uniquely identify it. The user ID is the identifier of the user who purchased the printer. The purchase date is the date the device was purchased. The delivery address is the address to which the printer will be delivered. The print user ID is the user ID (account) used by the user when using the print server 150.

[0029] The device information in FIG. 4 is created when a user logs in to the device management server 120 and purchases a printer.

[0030] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of printer information managed by the printer management unit 352.

[0031] The printer ID is an identifier for uniquely identifying the printer 110 registered in the print server 150. The serial number is the same information as in FIG. 4 and is an identifier for the printer 110. The serial number is a character string assigned by the device vendor and is unique within the device vendor, but because the printer management unit manages printers 110 from multiple device vendors, there is a possibility that the serial numbers may be duplicated in the printer information in FIG. 5.

[0032] The shared print user ID is the ID of a print user who has been granted permission to use the printer. The print user ID is a user account issued by the print server 150 and is managed by the print user management unit 351.

[0033] The redirect setting is information about the destination to which the print server 150 sends information such as print data, print execution date and time, and print execution results when printing is executed on the printer 110 from the client terminal 140 via the print server 150.

[0034] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen provided when a desired computer accesses the device management server 120. The screen in Fig. 6 is displayed, for example, by accessing the device management server 120 from a client terminal 140 using a web browser.

[0035] 6(a) shows a login screen of the device management server 120. The account information (user name, password) of the user used for login is managed by the device user management unit 321.

[0036] Figure 6(b) is a screen that displays information for each user after logging in. It displays information about the devices used by the logged-in user. As shown in Figure 4, the device information is managed by the device management unit 322.

[0037] Figure 6(c) shows the purchase screen for a new printer.

[0038] In 601, it is specified whether or not cloud printing, i.e., the print server 150 in this embodiment, will be used with the printer to be purchased. Text 602 is displayed only if cloud printing is to be used. In 602, an account for using cloud printing is specified. An account for using cloud printing is the print user's account for logging in to the print server 150, and is managed by the printer management unit 352 as shown in FIG. 5. Text 603 and button 604 are displayed only if the user already has an account for using cloud printing.

[0039] 7 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen provided by the print server 150 when button 604 is pressed. When button 604 is pressed, the print server linking unit 323 redirects from the web page of the device management server 120 to the web page of the print server 150, and FIG. 7 is displayed in the web browser of the client terminal 140. After that, by entering account information and logging in to the print server 150, the print server linking unit 323 obtains authorization information from the print server 150. This authentication linking is performed using a known technology such as OAuth.

[0040] 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing of the device management server 120 when a user purchases a printer 110. The processing of this flowchart is realized by the CPU 205 executing processing based on a program stored in the storage device 203 or memory 204.

[0041] In S801, the device management server 120 receives a printer purchase instruction from a user.

[0042] In S802, the device management server 120 determines whether the printer to be purchased will use the print server 150. If it will cooperate with the print server 150, the process proceeds to S803; if it will not, the process proceeds to S810.

[0043] In S803, the device management server 120 determines whether the user has an account for the print server. If the account has already been created, the process proceeds to S804, and if the account has not yet been created, the process proceeds to S805.

[0044] In S804, the device management server 120 redirects the user to a web page of the print server to prompt the user to log in to the print server.

[0045] In S805, the device management server 120 creates a new account on the print server.

[0046] In S806, the device management server 120 obtains from the print server 150 the authorization information associated with the print user who logged in in S804 or S805, associates it with the user information logged in to the device management server 120, and stores it in the device user management unit 321.

[0047] In S807, the device management server 120 accesses the print server 150 using the authorization information and executes a request to register the purchased printer on the print server. In response to this request, the print server registers device information such as the serial number as the printer information shown in FIG. 5.

[0048] In S808, the device management server 120 sets the printer 110 registered in S807 to be available to the print user who logged in in S804 or S805 on the print server 150. That is, the shared user ID is registered as the printer information shown in FIG.

[0049] In S809, the device management server 120 registers, with the print server 150, redirect settings for transferring print data when using the printer 110 registered in S807. That is, the redirect settings are registered as the printer information shown in Fig. 5. The redirect destination is a URL indicating the print server linkage unit 323 of the device management server 120.

[0050] In S810, the device management server 120 stores the purchased device information in the device management unit 322. That is, it is registered as the device information shown in FIG.

[0051] The print user information of the print server 150 newly created by the device management server 120 in S805 may be presented to the user on the WebUI, or may be notified to the user by email or mail.

[0052] Furthermore, if the serial number of the printer 110 that the user will use is not determined immediately after purchasing the printer, the processing from step S807 onward may be postponed until the serial number is determined, such as when the printer 110 is delivered, or may be performed when the user accesses the device management server 120 using the printer 110 after delivery.

[0053] Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen displayed when issuing a print instruction from the client terminal 140. The screen in Fig. 9 is displayed by logging in to the print server 150 from the client terminal 140 using a web browser or a dedicated application.

[0054] In the example in Figure 9, the device with serial number = AAA00001 is displayed as an available printer. This is because the device with shared user ID = clouduser001 set in Figure 5 is displayed.

[0055] 9, when the printer 110 to perform printing is specified, a print request is sent from the print request unit 341 to the print server 150, and the print data is held by the print data management unit 353. In addition, a print instruction including the print data is sent from the print instruction unit 354 to the print instruction receiving unit 312 of the printer 110, and the print execution unit 313 executes the print process based on the received print data.

[0056] Furthermore, the print data management unit 353 sends the print information to the print server linkage unit 323 of the device management server 120 in accordance with the redirection settings of the printer information shown in Fig. 5. The print information records log information such as the account information of the user who instructed the printing, and job attributes such as the number of copies to be printed, print settings, and execution date and time.

[0057] The print server linking unit 323 stores the received print information in the device management unit 322 .

[0058] According to the first embodiment, it is possible to provide a device management system that can reduce the load of device introduction by automatically configuring the cloud print service based on the information at the time of purchasing the printer.

[0059] [Example 2] 1 to 7 and 9 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and the same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and will not be described again. The following mainly describes the differences from the first embodiment.

[0060] Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an example of device information managed by the device management unit 322. Compared to Fig. 4, it differs in that user type information has been added.

[0061] The user type is information that indicates whether the user ID is a personal account or a corporate account. Generally, a corporate account is an account issued by a device vendor under a contract with the corporation.

[0062] Fig. 11 is a diagram showing an example of printer information managed by the printer management unit 352. Compared to Fig. 5, this differs in that printing method information has been added.

[0063] The print method is information indicating whether the printer uses push printing or pull printing as the print process.

[0064] In the case of push printing, as shown in the first embodiment, when a print request is sent from the client terminal 140, the print data sent via the print server 150 is automatically printed by the printer 110.

[0065] On the other hand, in the case of pull printing, when a print instruction related to print data is sent from the client terminal 140, the print instruction is put on hold and the print data is stored on the print server 150. In this state, operations such as IC card authentication or a user print request are performed on the printer 110. A request corresponding to this operation is sent to the print server 150, and in response, the printer 110 obtains the user's stored print data from the print server 150 and executes printing. Note that pull printing can also be achieved by transferring the print data whose printing has been put on hold on the print server 150 to the device management server 120 and storing the data on the device management server 120. In this case, the print request from the printer 110 is sent to the device management server 120 via the print server 150 or directly.

[0066] In the case of push printing, operations such as IC card authentication on the printer 110 and print requests by the user, which are required in pull printing, are omitted.

[0067] 12 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing of the device management server 120 when a user purchases a printer 110. Compared to FIG. 8, this differs in that the processing of steps S1201 to S1203 has been added.

[0068] In S1201, the device management server 120 determines whether the user who purchased the device is a corporate account. If it is a corporate account, the process proceeds to S1202, and if it is a personal account, the process proceeds to S1203.

[0069] In S1202, the device management server 120 requests the print server 150 to set up the device so that pull printing is enabled when the device is used via the print server 150. In the example of Fig. 10, the device with serial number = DDD00001 is shown to be a printer purchased with a corporate account. In the example of Fig. 11, the device with printer ID = cloudprinter006 (i.e., the device with serial number = DDD00001 mentioned above) is registered with settings that enable pull printing.

[0070] In S1203, the device management server 120 sets the print server 150 so that when the device is used via the print server 150, push printing is performed.

[0071] It should be noted that instead of automatically determining the print method depending on the account type, the print method may be selectable in FIG. 6(c) and the initial value of the selected state may be switched depending on the account type.

[0072] According to the second embodiment, by using pull printing when purchasing a printer under a corporate contract, the timing of printing can be controlled even when the printer 110 is installed within an organization and used by multiple people, and cloud printing services can be used while ensuring security.

[0073] (Other Examples) The present invention also includes an apparatus or system configured by appropriately combining the above-described embodiments, and a method thereof.

[0074] Here, the present invention is a device or system that executes one or more pieces of software (programs) that realize the functions of the above-described embodiments. Also, a method for implementing the above-described embodiments executed by the device or system is also one aspect of the present invention. The program is supplied to the system or device via a network or various storage media, and is read into one or more memories and executed by one or more computers (CPUs, MPUs, etc.) of the system or device. In other words, the present invention also includes the program itself, or various storage media that store the program and are readable by a computer. The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments. [Explanation of symbols]

[0075] 110 Network Devices 120 Device Management Server 130 Network 140 client terminals 150 Print Server

Claims

1. A device management server that can cooperate with a print server, a providing means for providing a display on a user's client terminal that accepts an operation for purchasing a printer using first account information managed by the device management server and an instruction to link with the print server when using the printer; a management means for acquiring authorization information associated with second account information on the print server of the user who logged in by the user's operation on a display provided to the client terminal by the print server in response to a request from the device management server executed while the user logged in using the first account information, and for managing the acquired authorization information by linking it to the first account information; an execution unit that uses the authorization information to execute a request to register device information of the printer in the print server; A device management server, characterized in that when a print process using the printer based on the second account information is executed on the print server, print information is sent from the print server to the device management server.

2. The device management server according to claim 1, characterized in that the printing process on the print server is realized by logging in from a client terminal using the second account information, specifying the purchased printer, and instructing printing.

3. 3. The device management server according to claim 1, wherein the execution unit further executes a request to the print server to set a printing method for the purchased printer.

4. 4. The device management server according to claim 3, wherein the printing method is set to a method of executing printing by sending print data stored in the print server or the device management server in response to a print request from a printer.

5. A control method in a device management server that can cooperate with a print server, comprising: a provision step of providing a display on a user's client terminal that accepts an operation to purchase a printer using first account information managed by the device management server and an instruction to link with the print server when using the printer; a management process of acquiring authorization information associated with second account information on the print server of the user who logged in by the user's operation on a display provided to the client terminal by the print server in response to a request from the device management server executed while the user logged in using the first account information, and managing the acquired authorization information in association with the first account information; an execution step of executing a request to register device information of the printer in the print server using the authorization information, a control method, wherein when a print process is executed on the print server using the printer with the second account information, print information is sent from the print server to a device management server.

6. A program for causing a computer to function as the means according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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