Information processing device, image forming device, information processing system, and program

Abstract

To reduce a load on an apparatus compared with a case in which an apparatus acquiring a document processing request instructs document processing to an external server and receives a processed document.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus comprises a processor. The processor acquires a processing request including a document B1, requests, to an external server 20 that can be connected from an own apparatus 10, processing to be executed by the external server 20 in the acquired processing request, and transmits, to an apparatus 30 that can communicate with the own apparatus 10, second information including first information K1 necessary for acquiring a processed document B2 that is a document processed by the external server 20.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an image forming apparatus, an information processing system, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a scanning system in which a user device includes a control unit that generates a cloud scan request, which is a request to scan a document using a cloud service, a sending unit that sends the cloud scan request to a cloud print service device implemented as a first computer, and a receiving unit that receives a status signal from the cloud print service device indicating that the cloud scan request has been completed. The control unit of the user device polls the cloud print service device to obtain the status of the cloud scan request, and the sending unit sends a file request from the user device to the cloud document service device based on the status signal. The receiving unit receives an image file acquired by a third computer from the cloud document service device in response to the file request, the image file including an image of the document. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 5885111 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Here, if a device that has received a document processing request instructs an external server to process the document and receives the processed document, it may have difficulty responding to the next processing request that is received. An object of the present invention is to reduce the load on a device compared to when a device that has acquired a document processing request instructs an external server to process the document and receives the processed document. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The invention described in claim 1 includes a processor, wherein the processor acquires a processing request including a document, requests an external server connectable from the device to perform a process of the acquired processing request that the external server should handle, and transmits second information including first information required to acquire a processed document, which is a document processed by the external server, to a device that can communicate with the device. The second information includes information indicating a substitute device that is a device that takes the place of the device when it becomes impossible to acquire the processed document before the device acquires the processed document, and the information indicating the substitute device is information indicating the device itself. The information processing device is characterized by: The invention described in claim 2 is The apparatus includes a processor, which acquires a processing request including a document, requests an external server connectable from the apparatus to perform a process of the acquired processing request to be performed by the external server, and transmits second information including first information required to acquire a processed document, which is a document processed by the external server, to a device that can communicate with the apparatus, and the request to the external server and / or the second information includes information specifying a unit by which the apparatus acquires the processed document. , characterized by R It is an information processing device. The invention described in claim 3 is Specifying units The information is Information indicating a predetermined part of the whole 3. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein: The invention described in claim 4 is a processor, the processor acquiring a processing request including a document, requesting an external server connectable from the device to perform processing of the acquired processing request to be performed by the external server, transmitting second information including first information required to acquire a processed document, which is a document processed by the external server, to a device that can communicate with the device, and when communication with the device is not possible, transmitting a processed document selected from candidates other than the device It is characterized by R It is an information processing device. The invention described in claim 5 is an acquisition means for acquiring a processing request including a document; and a transmission means for requesting an external server connectable from the device to perform processing of the processing request acquired by the acquisition means, the processing being to be performed by the external server, and transmitting second information including first information required to acquire a processed document, which is a document processed by the external server, to a device that can communicate with the device, wherein the second information includes information indicating a substitute device that is a device that will substitute for the device if it becomes impossible to acquire the processed document before the device acquires the processed document; The aforementioned Show substitute device The information is Information indicating the device itself That is, Image formation It is a device. The invention described in claim 6 is The method includes: acquiring means for acquiring a processing request including a document; and transmitting means for requesting an external server connectable from the device to perform a process to be performed by the external server from the processing request acquired by the acquiring means, and transmitting second information including first information required to acquire a processed document, which is a document processed by the external server, to a device communicable with the device; The second information to , the device obtains the processed document. Specifying units Contains information, Image formation It is a device. The invention described in claim 7 is The apparatus includes an acquisition means for acquiring a processing request including a document, and a transmission means for requesting an external server connectable from the apparatus to perform processing of the processing request acquired by the acquisition means, the processing being to be performed by the external server, and transmitting second information including first information required to acquire a processed document, which is a document processed by the external server, to an apparatus that can communicate with the apparatus, and when communication with the apparatus is not possible, a transmission means for transmitting a processed document selected from candidates other than the apparatus. can be, Image formation It is a device. The invention described in claim 8 is a processing request including a document, a request to an external server connectable from the device to perform processing of the acquired processing request to be performed by the external server, and second information including first information required to acquire a processed document, which is a document processed by the external server, is transmitted to a device capable of communicating with the device, the second information including information indicating a substitute device that is a device that will take the place of the device if acquisition of the processed document becomes impossible before the device acquires the processed document, and the information indicating the substitute device is information indicating the device; It is characterized by R Information Processing system is. The invention described in claim 9 is acquires a processing request including a document, requests an external server connectable from the device to perform a process of the acquired processing request that is to be performed by the external server, transmits second information including first information required to acquire a processed document that is a document processed by the external server to a device communicable with the device, and specifies a unit by which the device will acquire the processed document in the request to the external server and / or the second information information contained therein R Information Processing systemis. The invention described in claim 10 is The method acquires a processing request including a document, requests an external server connectable from the device to perform processing of the acquired processing request to be performed by the external server, transmits second information including first information required to acquire a processed document, which is a document processed by the external server, to a device that can communicate with the device, and if communication with the device is not possible, transmits a processed document selected from candidates other than the device. It is characterized by R Information Processing system is. The invention described in claim 11 is The information processing device is made to have the following functions: a function for acquiring a processing request including a document; a function for requesting an external server connectable from the device to perform processing of the processing request acquired by the acquiring function, the processing being to be performed by the external server; and a function for transmitting second information including first information required to acquire a processed document, which is a document processed by the external server, to a device that can communicate with the device, the second information including information indicating a substitute device that is a device that will take the place of the device when acquisition of the processed document becomes impossible before the device acquires the processed document, and the information indicating the substitute device is information indicating the device. Ru, program is. The invention described in claim 12 is The information processing device is made to realize a function of acquiring a processing request including a document, a function of requesting an external server connectable from the device to perform a process to be performed by the external server from the processing request acquired by the acquiring function, and a function of transmitting second information including first information required to acquire a processed document, which is a document processed by the external server, to a device communicable with the device, wherein the request to the external server and / or the second information includes information specifying a unit by which the device acquires the processed document. Ru, program is. The invention described in claim 13 is The information processing device is made to have the following functions: a function of acquiring a processing request including a document; a function of requesting an external server connectable from the device to perform a process to be performed by the external server among the processing requests acquired by the acquiring function; and a function of transmitting second information including first information required to acquire a processed document, which is a document processed by the external server, to a device communicable with the device; If communication with the device is not possible, a candidate device other than the device is selected. program is 。 [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] Claim 1 , 5, 8 and 11 According to outfit Place but Processed documents It became impossible to obtain case The device itself acquires the information. It is possible. Claim 2 , 6, 9 and 12 According to the processed documents Change the unit of acquisition To do It's possible do. According to claim 3, Compared to when the processed document is retrieved as a whole, of processed documents Some expedited acquisition is possible do. Claim 4 , 7, 10 and 13 According to the device If communication with to Secondary information recipient of Secure can be 。 [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing system. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the image forming apparatus. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the server device. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the image forming apparatus. [Figure 5]FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a first example of a process performed when an image forming apparatus acquires a processing request. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a second example of a process performed when the image forming apparatus acquires a processing request. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a third example of a process performed when an image forming apparatus acquires a processing request. [Figure 8] 4 is a flowchart showing a process according to the first embodiment. [Figure 9] 10 is a flowchart showing a process according to a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of an information processing system 100. As shown in FIG. The information processing system 100 shown in the figure includes an image forming apparatus 10 that prints images on paper. The image forming apparatus 10 is connected to a server apparatus 20 and another image forming apparatus 30 (hereinafter simply referred to as the image forming apparatus 30) so that they can communicate with each other. The network connecting the image forming apparatuses 10 and 30 and the server apparatus 20 may be, for example, a LAN (=Local Area Network) or the Internet, although the network may be a combination of a LAN and the Internet.

[0009] In addition to the function of printing images on paper, the image forming apparatus 10 also has a scanning function for optically reading images from documents and the like, and a function for executing facsimile communication. The image forming apparatus 10 is also called a multifunction peripheral. The image forming apparatus 10 may also be a so-called production printer used for commercial printing. Note that the functions listed for the image forming apparatus 10 are merely examples, and other functions may also be included.

[0010] The printing function of the image forming device 10 may use an electrophotographic method in which toner attached to a charged and exposed photosensitive body is transferred to a recording material to fix and form an image, or it may use an inkjet method in which ink is ejected onto a recording material to form an image.

[0011] The image forming apparatus 10 is provided with an operation display unit including a display unit that displays various images for operation and various information to notify the user, and an input unit on which various buttons are arranged for input according to the operation images on the display unit. Note that the operation display unit may be configured such that the display screen is formed of, for example, a touch panel, which functions as both the display unit and the input unit.

[0012] The server device 20 may be a single physical computer, or may be realized by distributed processing using multiple computers. In this embodiment, the server device 20 is configured as a shared server that provides so-called cloud services, and the server device 20 can be called an external server.

[0013] The image forming apparatus 30 may be the same as the image forming apparatus 10, or may be a different apparatus. The image forming apparatus 10 may store information indicating what functions the image forming apparatus 30 has.

[0014] Consider a case where image forming apparatus 10, which is a client terminal, receives a document processing request and instructs server apparatus 20 to process the document as a cloud service. If image forming apparatus 10 receives the processing results of the cloud service and performs subsequent processing, the processing load on image forming apparatus 10 for responding to the next processing request will become excessive, making it difficult to perform smooth processing. On the other hand, increasing the processing capacity of image forming apparatus 10 to maintain smooth processing may increase the cost of the apparatus.

[0015] Therefore, in this embodiment, a configuration is adopted in which the image forming apparatus 30, rather than the image forming apparatus 10, receives the processing results of the cloud service that the image forming apparatus 10 instructs the server apparatus 20 to perform, thereby reducing the processing load on the image forming apparatus 10. Furthermore, by adopting this configuration, costs for improving the processing capacity of the image forming apparatus 10 are reduced. This configuration will be described in more detail below.

[0016] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the image forming apparatus 10. As shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the image forming apparatus 10 includes a processing request acquisition unit 11, a processing request confirmation unit 12, a transmission information creation unit 13, an external server transmission unit 14, and an internal device transmission unit 15.

[0017] The processing request acquisition unit 11 accepts processing requests sent from a user. Such processing requests include documents, such as scanned documents acquired from paper documents using the scanning function of the image forming apparatus 10, or facsimile documents acquired using the facsimile function. The scanned documents may be generated by a function of another device, not the image forming apparatus 10. The document may also be a PDF document acquired by the image forming apparatus 10 via communication. The processing request referred to here may be obtained by a user specifying it on the operation display unit of the image forming apparatus 10, or it may be obtained from a PC (Personal Computer) not shown that is communicatively connected to the image forming apparatus 10.

[0018] The processing request confirmation unit 12 confirms the content of the processing request acquired by the processing request acquisition unit 11. If the processing request is a combination of multiple jobs, the processing request confirmation unit 12 confirms the content of each job. For example, a processing request may include a first-stage job of translating a Japanese document into English and a second-stage job of printing the English document. The second-stage job of the processing request may also include transferring the English document to another server device or sending the English document by facsimile.

[0019] More specifically, if the subsequent job is a print job, the processing request confirmation unit 12 also confirms the printing conditions, such as paper size, whether color printing or black and white printing, etc. If the subsequent job is a transfer job, the processing request confirmation unit 12 also confirms information indicating the transfer destination server device, and if the subsequent job is a facsimile transmission, the processing request confirmation unit 12 also confirms information indicating the transmission destination.

[0020] The processing request confirmation unit 12 further confirms the device that will perform the job of the processing request. If the processing request is a combination of multiple jobs, the device confirmation is performed for each job. For example, it is possible that the device that performs the first-stage job of the processing request is the server device 20 (see FIG. 1), and the device that performs the second-stage job is the image forming device 30 (see FIG. 1). In this way, the device that will perform the job of the processing request is a device other than the image forming device 10 that obtained the processing request. If the processing request does not include information indicating the device that will perform the job, the processing request confirmation unit 12 determines the device that will perform the job of the processing request according to the information it holds.

[0021] The transmission information creation unit 13 creates transmission information based on the above confirmation by the processing request confirmation unit 12. Such transmission information is created for each device that performs the job of the processing request. That is, the transmission information creation unit 13 creates transmission information for the server device 20 (see FIG. 1) and also creates transmission information for the image forming device 30.

[0022] To explain further, when the processing request includes information indicating a specified device designated as a device that will perform a job, the transmission information creation unit 13 may determine information indicating a substitute device, which is a device that will substitute for the device that will perform the job, based on information it holds, and include the information in the transmission information. For example, if the specified device becomes unable to acquire a document for which a previous job has been performed from the server device 20 before acquiring the document, a device that will take over the execution of the subsequent job can be determined as a substitute device, thereby avoiding a situation in which the subsequent job cannot be executed. Even if the processing request does not include information indicating the device that will perform the job, the above-mentioned substitute device may be determined in addition to the device that will perform the job.

[0023] The information indicating the substitute device may include information indicating priority. For example, the information indicating priority may be such that the device specified in the processing request has the highest priority, and the substitute device has a lower priority. Alternatively, the substitute device may have the highest priority, and the device specified in the processing request has a lower priority than the substitute device. Furthermore, when there are multiple substitute devices, a priority may be set for each of the substitute devices. Furthermore, the information indicating the substitute device may be given the lowest priority. Furthermore, even if the information indicating the substitute device does not include a priority, the specified device may be designated as a substitute device. In other words, when the specified device is designated as a substitute device, if the specified device cannot acquire a document for which a previous job has been completed, the specified device requests the specified device to take over the processing.

[0024] The transmission information creation unit 13 creates transmission information based on the above confirmation by the processing request confirmation unit 12. Such transmission information is created for each device that performs the job of the processing request. That is, the transmission information creation unit 13 creates transmission information for the server device 20 (see FIG. 1) and also creates transmission information for the image forming device 30.

[0025] Furthermore, in order to cope with the case where communication with the device that executes the job of the processing request is not possible, the transmission information creation unit 13 may select another device using information indicating candidates for executing the job. More specifically, the image forming apparatus 10 stores the address of the image forming apparatus 30 as setting information. To cope with the case where the image forming apparatus 30 is powered off or in a communication-disabled state, the addresses of multiple image forming apparatuses may be stored in a grouping format. Furthermore, if information on multiple image forming apparatuses is not stored, the address of the image forming apparatus itself may be specified.

[0026] Furthermore, the transmission information creation unit 13 may include information specifying the unit in which the device performing the subsequent job acquires the document for which the previous job has been completed. The information specifying the unit may specify that the entire document for which the previous job has been completed is to be acquired all at once, or that a portion of the entire document for which the previous job has been completed is to be acquired. In the latter case, the unit may be a predetermined portion, such as a page. The above-mentioned units are units acquired by the device that executes the subsequent job, but can also be said to be units sent by the device that executes the previous job.

[0027] The external server transmitting unit 14 transmits the transmission information for the server device 20 (see FIG. 1 ) created by the transmission information creating unit 13 to the server device 20. As a result, the image forming device 10 requests the server device 20 to perform the processing to be performed by the server device 20 among the processing requests acquired by the processing request acquiring unit 11.

[0028] The internal device transmitting unit 15 transmits the transmission information for the image forming device 30 (see FIG. 1) created by the transmission information creating unit 13 to the image forming device 30. Such transmission information is an example of second information. The information sent to the image forming apparatus 30 includes information necessary to acquire a document for which a previous job has been executed, that is, information indicating the server apparatus 20 (see FIG. 1) which is the apparatus that executes the previous job. The internal device referred to here is the external server in the external server transmission unit 14, and is not limited to the case where the transmission destination of the internal device transmission unit 15 is a device in an on-premise environment.

[0029] Here, each function of image forming apparatus 10 is realized by CPU 10A, which is an example of a processor. CPU 10A reads a program stored in ROM (Read Only Memory) 10B and executes the program using RAM (Random Access Memory) 10C as a work area. The program executed by CPU 10A may be provided to image forming apparatus 10 in a state where it is stored in a computer-readable recording medium such as a magnetic recording medium (such as a magnetic tape or a magnetic disk), an optical recording medium (such as an optical disk), a magneto-optical recording medium, or a semiconductor memory. Alternatively, the program executed by CPU 10A may be downloaded to image forming apparatus 10 using a communication means such as the Internet.

[0030] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the functions of the image forming apparatus 10 are realized by software, but this is not limiting and they may be realized by, for example, an ASIC (Application Specific IC).

[0031] FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the server device 20. As shown in the figure, the server device 20 includes a transmitting / receiving unit 21, a processing unit 22, a transmission unit control unit 23, and a response unit 24.

[0032] The transmitting / receiving unit 21 transmits and receives data to and from the image forming apparatuses 10 and 30. For example, the transmitting / receiving unit 21 receives transmission information from the external server transmitting unit 14 of the image forming apparatus 10, and transmits a document processed by the processing unit 22 to the image forming apparatus 30.

[0033] The processing unit 22 performs the processing of the above-mentioned previous-stage job based on the transmission information received by the transmitting / receiving unit 21. The document for which the above-mentioned previous-stage job has been completed through the processing is transmitted to the image forming device 30 by the transmitting / receiving unit 21, or transmitted to the image forming device 10.

[0034] The transmission unit control unit 23 controls transmission by the transmitting / receiving unit 21 to the image forming device 30 in accordance with the processing status of the processing unit 22 based on the unit designation information included in the transmission information received by the transmitting / receiving unit 21 . The unit designation information is information that designates a unit acquired by a device that performs a subsequent job, and controls the timing of transmitting documents for which a previous job has been completed. For example, if the unit designation information is the whole, i.e., all documents, the transmission unit control unit 23 controls so that all documents for which a previous job has been completed are transmitted to the image forming device 30 after the previous job is completed. Furthermore, if the unit designation information is a predetermined part of the whole, for example, one page, after one page of the document for which the previous stage job has been completed is completed, the transmission unit control unit 23 controls so that the document for which the previous stage job has been completed for one page is transmitted to the image forming device 30. After the processing of the next page is completed, the transmission unit control unit 23 controls so that the document for the next page is transmitted to the image forming device 30.

[0035] The response unit 24 responds to periodic polling from a device that performs a subsequent job, such as the image forming device 30, when such an inquiry is received. This allows both the server device 20 and the image forming device 30 to confirm that communication is possible between them. In addition, the processing status of the processing unit 22 of the server device 20 is periodically notified to the image forming device 30.

[0036] FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the image forming apparatus 30. As shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the image forming apparatus 30 includes a transmitting / receiving unit 31, a processing status inquiry unit 32, a post-processing unit 33, and a substitute apparatus determination unit .

[0037] The transmitting / receiving unit 31 transmits and receives data to and from the image forming device 10 and the server device 20. For example, the transmitting / receiving unit 31 receives transmission information from the internal device transmitting unit 15, and also receives documents processed by the processing unit 22 of the server device 20. More specifically, the transmitting / receiving unit 31 may transmit to a predetermined device the document after processing of the subsequent job included in the transmission information from the internal device transmitting unit 15. Furthermore, the transmitting / receiving unit 31 may transfer the document processed by the processing unit 22 as is to the predetermined device.

[0038] The processing status inquiry unit 32 periodically polls the server device 20 to inquire about the processing status of the preceding job by the processing unit 22 of the server device 20. The processing status inquiry unit 32 receives a response from the response unit 24 of the server device 20.

[0039] The post-processing unit 33 executes processing of a post-job included in the transmission information from the internal device transmission unit 15 of the image forming apparatus 10. Examples of such processing include printing, facsimile transmission, and email notification. For example, if the subsequent job is a print process, the subsequent processing unit 33 forms and prints an image on a recording medium according to the printing conditions included in the transmission information from the image forming apparatus 10. Also, if the subsequent job is a facsimile transmission, the subsequent processing unit 33 facsimile-transmits the document for which the previous job has been completed to the destination included in the transmission information from the image forming apparatus 10.

[0040] If the information transmitted from the internal device transmitting unit 15 of the image forming device 10 includes information indicating a substitute device, the substitute device determining unit 34 determines the substitute device based on the information indicating the substitute device. To explain again what a substitute device is when image forming device 30 receives transmission information from internal device transmission unit 15, it refers to a device that takes the place of image forming device 10 when image forming device 30 is unable to obtain a document for which a previous job has been completed from server device 20, and refers to a device that obtains the document for which a previous job has been completed from server device 20 and executes a subsequent job. Depending on the information indicating the substitute device, image forming device 10 may be determined as the substitute device.

[0041] Furthermore, when the information transmitted from the internal device transmission unit 15 includes information indicating a priority along with information indicating a substitute device, the substitute device determination unit 34 checks whether communication is possible with the devices in descending order of priority. The substitute device determination unit 34 determines the device with the highest priority as the substitute device among the devices for which communication is confirmed to be possible. Note that information about the determined substitute device may be stored in the image forming device 30 or may be transmitted to the image forming device 10. When the image forming apparatus 10 is designated as the apparatus with the lowest priority as information indicating the priority, the image forming apparatus 10 may be determined as the substitute apparatus.

[0042] Next, an example of processing when the image forming apparatus 10 receives a processing request will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7 are diagrams for explaining examples of processing when the image forming apparatus 10 acquires a processing request, with FIG. 5 being a first example, FIG. 6 being a second example, and FIG. 7 being a third example.

[0043] [Example 1] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a first example of a process performed when the image forming apparatus 10 receives a processing request. In the first example shown in Figure 5, the configuration of the present embodiment described above as shown in Figure 1 includes image forming devices 10 and 30 and a server device 20, and further includes image forming device 30 and a server device 40 in an on-premises environment. The image forming apparatus 10 is an example of an information processing apparatus, and is an example of the image forming apparatus itself. The server apparatus 20 is an example of an external server to which the image forming apparatus itself can connect. The image forming apparatus 30 is an example of a device that can communicate with the image forming apparatus itself.

[0044] More specifically, server device 20 is located in a cloud environment operated using facilities owned by an external business operator, while server device 40 is located in an on-premise environment where the company owns its own information system and operates using its own facilities. The server device 40 is a locally installed storage server, and is an example of another device that stores processed documents in the internal environment in which the device is installed.

[0045] In the first example, the preceding job in the processing request is a translation process, and the device that executes it is the server device 20. The subsequent job is a transfer, and the device that executes it is the image forming device 30.

[0046] In the first example, when the processing request acquisition unit 11 (see Figure 2) acquires a processing request in the image forming device 10, the processing request confirmation unit 12 (see Figure 2) confirms the processing request, and then the transmission information creation unit 13 (see Figure 2) creates transmission information for the server device, which is transmission information to be sent to the server device 20, and transmission information for the client device, which is transmission information to be sent to the image forming device 30.

[0047] The server-destined transmission information includes the document B1 to be translated, and the client-destined transmission information includes a document search key K1 for identifying the document B1 and subsequent job information K2. The translation process, which is a pre-stage job, is an example of a process that is performed by an external server that can be connected from the device itself. The document search key K1 is an example of first information, and the subsequent job information K2 is an example of information indicating the processing that the device will perform on the processed document.

[0048] As a first example, a cloud service of server device 20 to which server-destined transmission information is sent is a scan translation service. This scan translation service is a service in which, when document B1, a character string written in a specific language, is sent from image forming device 10 of a client terminal to the scan translation service, the document is translated into another specific language after processing is complete. Note that the processing time in server device 20 varies depending on the amount of characters in document B1, etc.

[0049] Furthermore, the document search key K1 of the transmission information for the client device includes information for uniquely identifying the document B1, such as a uniform resource locator (URL) of a cloud service. Furthermore, the subsequent job information K2 of the transmission information for the client device may include, for example, printing, email notification, facsimile transmission, transfer to a locally installed storage server, etc. As described above, the first example is transfer, and the subsequent job information K2 includes instructions and transfer information for transferring to the server device 40, etc. Furthermore, the subsequent job information K2 may be a job instruction document written in a format such as XML (Extensible Markup Language), and various parameters required for executing the subsequent job are specified.

[0050] The external server transmitting unit 14 (see FIG. 2) transmits transmission information for the server device to the server device 20 (step 11), and the internal device transmitting unit 15 (see FIG. 2) transmits transmission information for the client device to the image forming device 30 (step 12).

[0051] In the server device 20, when the transmitting / receiving unit 21 (see FIG. 3) receives the transmission information for the server device, the processing unit 22 (see FIG. 3) starts the translation process. Meanwhile, in the image forming device 30, when the transmitting / receiving unit 31 (see FIG. 4) receives the transmission information for the client device, the processing status inquiry unit 32 (see FIG. 4) periodically polls the server device 20 using the document search key (step 13). The image forming device 30 acquires the processing status by receiving a response from the response unit 24 (see FIG. 3) of the external server transmission unit 14.

[0052] When the image forming device 30 receives document B2 (document marked with $ in Figure 5) that has been translated in the server device 20 (step 14), the post-processing unit 33 (see Figure 4) transfers document B2 to the server device 40 using the post-job information (step 15). Because the translated document B2 is automatically saved in the server device 40 in an on-premise environment, this is effective when security is a major concern. Also, as described above, the processing time in the server device 20 varies depending on the amount of characters in the document B1, so this is a countermeasure against forgetting to manually move document B2 from the image forming device 30 to the server device 40. Furthermore, automation eliminates the need to search for document B2 in the image forming device 30 when manually performing the operation. Document B1 is an example of a document included in a processing request, and document B2 is an example of a processed document that has been processed by an external server.

[0053] In the above-mentioned step 14, when the transmission information for the server device includes information specifying the transmission unit of document B2, the transmission timing is controlled by the transmission unit control unit 23 (see FIG. 3) of server device 20. In addition, the transmission timing can be controlled in the same way even when the transmission information for the client device includes information specifying the transmission unit of translated document B2, instead of the transmission information for the server device. To explain further, when the image forming device 30 receives a notification from the server device 20 that the processing has been partially completed (see step 13), the image forming device 30 may allow the user to select to retrieve only the completed portion of the processing and execute the subsequent job. In such a case, the transmission unit control unit 23 of the server device 20 controls the transmission timing in response to a user instruction from the image forming device 30. In this case, the configuration of the server device 20 can be simplified.

[0054] [Example 2] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a second example of a process performed when the image forming apparatus 10 receives a processing request. 6, like the first example, the second example includes image forming apparatuses 10 and 30 and a server apparatus 20. The second example also includes an image forming apparatus 50 that can be connected to the server apparatus 20 and the image forming apparatus 30. The image forming apparatus 50 has at least the same configuration as the image forming apparatus 30 described above (FIG. 4).

[0055] In the second example, the first-stage job in the processing request is translation processing, and the device that executes it is server device 20. The second-stage job is printing, and the device that is specified to execute it is image forming device 30. Furthermore, in the second example, image forming device 50 is specified as a substitute device that will perform printing in place of image forming device 30. The information indicating image forming device 50 is an example of information that indicates a substitute device that will be used in place of an apparatus if it becomes impossible to obtain the processed document before the apparatus obtains the processed document. In the second example, the server-destined transmission information transmitted to the server device 20 and the client-destined transmission information transmitted to the image forming device 30 include the above-mentioned contents. It should be noted that steps 21 to 23 in the second example are the same as steps 11 to 13 in the first example, and therefore their explanation will be omitted.

[0056] In the second example, if the image forming device 30 needs to shut down during periodic polling between the server device 20 and the image forming device 30, the image forming device 30 notifies the server device 20 before shutting down that the subsequent job will be taken over by the substitute device, image forming device 50 (step 24). Furthermore, the image forming device 30 transmits client device transmission information including the document search key K1 and subsequent job information K2 to the substitute device, image forming device 50 (step 25). The subsequent job information K2 includes an instruction to print document B2 and printing conditions. Note that the above-mentioned step 24 of notifying the server device 20 of the takeover may be omitted. In the second example, the substitute device is the image forming device 50, but this is not limiting, and it is also possible to use the image forming device 10 as the substitute device.

[0057] After the image forming apparatus 30 has taken over to the image forming apparatus 50, periodic polling is performed between the server apparatus 20 and the image forming apparatus 50 (step 26). When document B2 (document marked with $ in FIG. 6) translated by server device 20 is sent to image forming device 50 (step 27), it is printed by image forming device 50 (step 28).

[0058] Thus, according to the second example, if the image forming device 30 that was scheduled to acquire document B2 and execute the subsequent job becomes unable to acquire document B2, the image forming device 50 designated as the substitute device takes over, allowing the user to obtain a printed copy of document B2. In addition, the image forming device 10 can be operated to perform a series of processes from document scanning to printing, including when image processing is performed in the server device 20, which may take less time than translation processing. Furthermore, by scanning document B1, specifying the device to acquire document B2, and specifying the subsequent job as printing, the same process as sending a facsimile is performed, which reduces the amount of work required compared to the conventional operation of downloading document B2 and sending it by facsimile.

[0059] [Example 3] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a third example of a process performed when the image forming apparatus 10 receives a processing request. 7, like the first and second examples, the third example includes image forming apparatuses 10 and 30 and a server apparatus 20. The third example also includes image forming apparatuses 61 and 62. Note that the image forming apparatuses 61 and 62 have at least the same configuration as the image forming apparatus 30 described above (FIG. 4), and in the third example, the image forming apparatus 10 also has the configuration of the image forming apparatus 30.

[0060] In the third example, the preceding job in the processing request is a translation process, and the device that executes it is the server device 20. The subsequent job is a facsimile transmission, and the device that is specified to execute it is the image forming device 30. Furthermore, in the third example, image forming devices 61, 62, and 10 are designated as substitute devices that will perform printing in place of image forming device 30. Furthermore, a priority order is designated for the substitute devices. In the third example, image forming device 61 has the highest priority, followed by image forming device 62, and the lowest priority is image forming device 10. That is, in the third example, image forming device 10, which was the origin of transmission of client device-directed transmission information to image forming device 30, is designated as the substitute device. In the third example, the image forming devices 61, 62, and 10 that are considered to be substitute devices may be located within an on-premises environment. The information indicating the image forming devices 61, 62, and 10 is an example of information indicating multiple devices installed in the internal environment in which the devices are installed, and includes information indicating the priority order of the substitute devices, which will be described later. It should be noted that steps 31 to 34 in the third example are the same as steps 21 to 24 in the second example, and therefore their explanation may be omitted.

[0061] In the third example, when it becomes necessary for another device to take over processing performed by image forming device 30, image forming device 30 checks whether communication is possible with the substitute devices, starting with the device with the highest priority. In the third example, image forming device 61, which has the highest priority, is unable to communicate, so image forming device 30 inquires whether the next image forming device, image forming device 62, is able to communicate. After confirming that image forming device 62 is able to communicate and can take over, image forming device 30 transmits client-device transmission information, including document search key K1 and subsequent-stage job information K2, to image forming device 62 (step 35). Subsequent-stage job information K2 includes an instruction to send document B2 by facsimile and transmission conditions. Thereafter, periodic polling is performed between the server device 20 and the image forming device 62 (step 36).

[0062] When document B2 (document marked with $ in FIG. 7) translated by server device 20 is sent to image forming device 62 (step 37), image forming device 62 sends document B2 by facsimile to facsimile receiver 70 (step 38).

[0063] In this way, according to the third example, by specifying a plurality of devices as substitute devices along with their priorities, handover to a device other than the image forming device 30 can be ensured.

[0064] [First embodiment] Next, a first embodiment will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing in the first embodiment, which corresponds to the first example described above. As shown in the figure, in the first embodiment, when a document is scanned in the image forming device 10 (step 101), the image forming device 10 transmits the scanned document (see symbol B1 in FIG. 5) to the server device 20 (step 102). In response to this, the server device 20 starts an English translation process (step 103).

[0065] Furthermore, the image forming apparatus 10 transmits the document search key (see symbol K1 in FIG. 5) and subsequent job information (see symbol K2 in FIG. 5) to the image forming apparatus 30 (step 104). The image forming apparatus 10 checks whether the image forming apparatus 30 has received them (step 105), and if not (No in step 105), transmits them again (step 104).

[0066] If it has been received (Yes in step 105), the image forming apparatus 30 uses the received document search key (see symbol K1 in FIG. 5) to periodically poll the server apparatus 20 to acquire the processing status (step 106).

[0067] The image forming device 30 checks the processing status of the server device 20 obtained by periodic polling and determines whether the English translation process in the server device 20 has been completed (step 107). If the process has not been completed (No in step 107), the image forming device 30 again makes a determination based on periodic polling (step 106).

[0068] If the processing is completed (Yes in step 107), the image forming device 30 acquires the processed English translation document (see symbol B2 in FIG. 5) from the server device 20 (step 108). The image forming device 30 executes the subsequent job based on the subsequent job information (see symbol K2 in the same figure) (step 109).

[0069] Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment will be described. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing in the second embodiment, which corresponds to the above-mentioned second and third examples. Note that steps 201 to 206 in the second embodiment correspond to steps 101 to 106 in the first embodiment, and their explanation may be omitted. As shown in FIG. 9, in the second embodiment, based on the processing status of the server device 20 obtained by periodic polling, it is determined whether the English translation process in the server device 20 has been completed (step 207). If the process is not completed (No in step 207), it is checked whether shutdown is necessary in the image forming device 30 (step 208).

[0070] If shutdown is not necessary (No in step 208), the process returns to step 206. If shutdown is necessary (Yes in step 208), the image forming apparatus 30 determines a substitute apparatus (step 209). If there is only one predetermined device, the substitute device is selected (see the second example above), but if there are multiple predetermined devices, the substitute device is selected based on the priority set for each device (see the third example above).

[0071] Thereafter, the image forming apparatus 30 transmits the document search key and subsequent job information to the determined substitute apparatus (step 210). The image forming apparatus 30 checks whether the substitute apparatus has received the document search key and subsequent job information (step 211), and if not (No in step 211), transmits the document search key and subsequent job information again (step 210).

[0072] If it has been received (Yes in step 211), the substitute device uses the received document search key (see symbol K1 in FIG. 5) to periodically poll the server device 20 to acquire the processing status (step 212).

[0073] The substitute device checks the processing status of the server device 20 obtained by periodic polling and determines whether the English translation process in the server device 20 has been completed (step 213). If the process has not been completed (No in step 213), the substitute device again makes a determination based on periodic polling (step 212).

[0074] If the processing is completed (Yes in step 213), the substitute device acquires the processed English translation document (see symbol B2 in FIG. 6 or 7) from the server device 20 (step 214). The substitute device executes the subsequent job according to the subsequent job information (see symbol K2 in the same figure) (step 215).

[0075] In each of the above embodiments, the term "processor" refers to a processor in a broad sense, and includes general-purpose processors (e.g., CPU: Central Processing Unit, etc.) and dedicated processors (e.g., GPU: Graphics Processing Unit, ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit, FPGA: Field Programmable Gate Array, programmable logic device, etc.). Furthermore, the operations of the processor in each of the above embodiments may be performed not only by a single processor but also by multiple processors located at physically separate locations working together. Furthermore, the order of the operations of the processor is not limited to the order described in each of the above embodiments and may be changed. [Explanation of symbols]

[0076] 10, 30, 50, 61, 62...image forming apparatus, 10A...CPU, 20, 40...server device, 100...information processing system, B1, B2...document, K1...document search key, K2...subsequent job information

Claims

1. a processor; The processor: Obtain a processing request that includes a document; requesting an external server connectable from the device to perform a process among the acquired processing requests to the external server; transmitting second information including first information necessary to acquire a processed document, which is a document processed by the external server, to a device capable of communicating with the device; the second information includes information indicating a substitute device that is a device that will be used in place of the device when it becomes impossible to acquire the processed document before the device acquires the processed document; the information indicating the substitute device is information indicating the device itself; 1. An information processing device comprising:

2. A processor is provided, The processor: Obtain a processing request that includes a document; requesting an external server connectable from the device to perform a process among the acquired processing requests to the external server; transmitting second information including first information necessary to acquire a processed document, which is a document processed by the external server, to a device capable of communicating with the device; the request to the external server and / or the second information includes information specifying a unit in which the device acquires the processed documents; 1. An information processing device comprising:

3. The information specifying the unit is information indicating that the unit is a predetermined part of the whole.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein:

4. A processor is provided, The processor: Obtain a processing request that includes a document; requesting an external server connectable from the device to perform a process among the acquired processing requests to the external server; transmitting second information including first information necessary to acquire a processed document, which is a document processed by the external server, to a device capable of communicating with the device; If communication with the device is not possible, a candidate device other than the device is selected.

1. An information processing device comprising:

5. An acquisition means for acquiring a processing request including a document; requesting an external server connectable from the device to perform a process among the processing requests acquired by the acquisition means, the external server being responsible for the process; a transmitting means for transmitting second information including first information necessary to acquire a processed document, which is a document processed by the external server, to a device capable of communicating with the device itself; Equipped with the second information includes information indicating a substitute device that is a device that will be used in place of the device when it becomes impossible to acquire the processed document before the device acquires the processed document; the information indicating the substitute device is information indicating the device itself; Image forming device.

6. An acquisition means for acquiring a processing request including a document; requesting an external server connectable from the device to perform a process among the processing requests acquired by the acquisition means, the external server being responsible for the process; a transmitting means for transmitting second information including first information necessary to acquire a processed document, which is a document processed by the external server, to a device capable of communicating with the device itself; Equipped with the request to the external server and / or the second information includes information specifying a unit in which the device acquires the processed documents; Image forming device.

7. An acquisition means for acquiring a processing request including a document; requesting an external server connectable from the device to perform a process among the processing requests acquired by the acquisition means, the external server being responsible for the process; a transmitting means for transmitting second information including first information necessary to acquire a processed document, which is a document processed by the external server, to a device capable of communicating with the device itself; Equipped with If communication with the device is not possible, a candidate device other than the device is selected. Image forming device.

8. Acquire a processing request including a document; requesting an external server connectable from the device to perform a process among the acquired processing requests to the external server; transmitting second information including first information necessary to acquire a processed document, which is a document processed by the external server, to a device capable of communicating with the device; the second information includes information indicating a substitute device that is a device that will be used in place of the device when it becomes impossible to acquire the processed document before the device acquires the processed document; the information indicating the substitute device is information indicating the device itself; An information processing system comprising:

9. Acquire a processing request including a document; requesting an external server connectable from the device to perform a process among the acquired processing requests to the external server; transmitting second information including first information necessary to acquire a processed document, which is a document processed by the external server, to a device capable of communicating with the device; the request to the external server and / or the second information includes information specifying a unit in which the device acquires the processed documents; An information processing system comprising:

10. Acquire a processing request including a document; requesting an external server connectable from the device to perform a process among the acquired processing requests to the external server; transmitting second information including first information necessary to acquire a processed document, which is a document processed by the external server, to a device capable of communicating with the device; If communication with the device is not possible, a candidate device other than the device is selected. An information processing system comprising:

11. An information processing device, A function for obtaining a processing request including a document; a function of requesting an external server connectable from the device to perform a process among the processing requests acquired by the acquiring function, the external server being responsible for the process; a function of transmitting second information including first information necessary to acquire a processed document, which is a document processed by the external server, to a device capable of communicating with the device itself; To achieve this, the second information includes information indicating a substitute device that is a device that will be used in place of the device when it becomes impossible to acquire the processed document before the device acquires the processed document; the information indicating the substitute device is information indicating the device itself; program.

12. An information processing device, A function for obtaining a processing request including a document; a function of requesting an external server connectable from the device to perform a process among the processing requests acquired by the acquiring function, the external server being responsible for the process; a function of transmitting second information including first information necessary to acquire a processed document, which is a document processed by the external server, to a device capable of communicating with the device itself; To achieve this, the request to the external server and / or the second information includes information specifying a unit in which the device acquires the processed documents; program.

13. An information processing device, A function for obtaining a processing request including a document; a function of requesting an external server connectable from the device to perform a process among the processing requests acquired by the acquiring function, the external server being responsible for the process; a function of transmitting second information including first information necessary to acquire a processed document, which is a document processed by the external server, to a device capable of communicating with the device itself; To achieve this, If communication with the device is not possible, a candidate device other than the device is selected. program.

Images