JP2003308190A - Image forming system, billing method, storage medium, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide an appropriate charge for printing a confidential document. SOLUTION: In a system having a plurality of printers connected to a network and means for transmitting print data to the printers via a network, storage means for storing the print data, and data for secure print by the printer And a charging unit for charging according to a period in which the storage unit is stored in the storage unit.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a charging system for printing confidential documents by a printer on a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, a charging method and the like in secure printing for printing confidential documents have not been considered so much.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to realize proper charging for printing confidential documents.

[0004]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image forming system having a plurality of printers connected to a network and means for transmitting print data to those printers via the network. ,
A storage means for storing the print data and a charging means for charging the secure print data by the printer according to a period in which the storage means is stored in the storage means are provided.

[0005]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION [Embodiment 1] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a processing flow.

FIG. 2 shows a network environment in which one server for billing processing, three client PCs, and five multifunction printers (MFPs) are connected. A description will be given of the case where a document is printed by the system having the configuration of FIG. 2, numeral 201 in FIG. 2 is a network, numeral 202 is a server for accounting processing, numeral 203a to 203c are client computers, and numeral 204a to 204e are multifunction printers (referred to as MFPs) having image reading devices. Reference numerals 204a to 204d are MFPs configured to always print received print data, and 204e has a function of not executing printing until a print instruction is given when the received print data is secure data.

In this embodiment, the document data transmitted from the server or the client is RIP (rasterized) expanded by the server, the RIP data is held by the server, and is printed by each MFP in response to a request.

Here, a case where a confidential document is printed by this system will be described. First, the print requester inputs document data into the server computer. The server RIPs the received document data and keeps it until a print instruction is given. At the same time, the counting of the holding time is started from the completion of the deployment, and the client is notified that the RIP is completed. R
The reason why printing is not started immediately when the IP is completed is to prevent confidential documents from being printed when the client is absent.

When the print request is issued to the server by the print requester, the server sends the RIP-completed data to the MFP,
Printing by MFP is performed. At this time, the target MFP is 20
Any of 4a to 204e may be used.

Further, at this time, when there are a large number of print documents, it is possible to shorten the print time by transmitting the data to a plurality of MFPs.

At this time, in addition to the number of printed sheets, the secure document printing fee is charged. Further, depending on the time from the completion of RIP to the start of printing, the client is charged as a data storage fee.

After the printing of the document is completed, the server is RIP
A screen appears asking if you want to delete the data. If the data is not needed, the user will delete it. When printing is continued after that, the data can be retained without being deleted. in this case,
As a holding fee, you will be charged for the next printing, or
You may pay the fee for the scheduled period.

The server computer may be a general personal computer as shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of a general personal user terminal device.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 1200 is a computer P.
It is C. The PC 1200 includes a CPU 1201 and
The device control software stored in the OM 1202 or the hard disk (HD) 1211 or supplied from the flexible disk drive (FD) 1212 is executed to collectively control each device connected to the system bus 1204.

The CPU 1201 and RO of the PC 1200
The function of each unit of the present embodiment is realized by the program stored in the M1202 or the hard disk (HD) 1211.

A RAM 1203 functions as a main memory and a work area of the CPU 1201. A keyboard controller (KBC) 1205 is a keyboard (K
B) Control instruction input from 1209 or a device (not shown).

Reference numeral 1206 denotes a CRT controller (CRT
C) controls the display on the CRT display (CRT) 1210. 1207 is a disk controller (DK
In C), a boot program (startup program: a program for starting execution (operation) of hardware or software of a personal computer), a plurality of applications, an editing file, a user file, a hard disk (HD) 1211 for storing a network management program, and the like, and It controls access to the flexible disk (FD) 1212.

Reference numeral 1208 denotes a network interface card (NIC), which is a network printer, another network device, or another P device via the LAN 1220.
It exchanges bidirectional data with C.

The above procedure is shown in the flowchart of FIG. First, the print document is subjected to RIP (S1), and it is determined whether the print document is secure print (S2). If it is not the secure print, the normal print is performed (S3), and the process ends.

On the other hand, in the case of secure print, the retention period of the raster data retained in the server is set (S
4) The data is retained in the server (S5). It is judged whether or not there is a print request (S6), and if not, it is judged whether or not it is the set data holding period (S8). If it is within the holding period, the process returns to step 5 to wait for the print request. If the holding period has passed, a warning is issued to erase the data (S9), then it is determined whether or not the data is supported to be erased (S10), and if so, the data is erased (S11) and the process ends.

On the other hand, if there is a print request in step 6, printing is executed and billing is made according to the data holding period (S7). After that, it is judged whether or not there is an instruction to erase data (S10), and if there is, erase the data.
(S11) The process ends, and if not, the process returns to step 5.

As described above, according to this embodiment, when the system having the secure print function is used, it is possible to rationally charge the data retention of the secure print system. Further, since the secure print data is retained in the server until it is printed, it is possible to reasonably charge the storage fee.

[Embodiment 2] In this embodiment, the document data transmitted from the server or the client is RIPed in each MFP.
Each MFP is developed and determined to be secure data, and the RIP data is retained until an instruction is given by each MFP and printed or erased according to the instruction.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 201 is a network, 202 is a server for performing billing processing, 203a to 203c are client computers, and 204a to 204e are multi-function printers (referred to as MFPs) having image reading devices. 204a to 204d are MFPs configured to always print the received print data.
Has a function of not executing printing until a print instruction is given when the received print data is secure data.

First, the print requester inputs document data into the server computer. The server uses the received document data
The document data is sent to the MFP 204e, and the sent MFP sends the RIP to the document data.
It is expanded and kept until a print instruction is given. At the same time, notify the server that the deployment is complete. The server starts counting the retention time when the deployment is completed, and RI
Notify that P is complete. The reason why printing is not started immediately after the completion of RIP is to prevent confidential documents from being printed when the client is absent.

When the print request is given to the server by the print requester, the server issues a print instruction to the MFP in which the corresponding data exists, and the MFP performs printing using the RIP-completed data. At this time, in addition to the number of printed sheets, a process of charging a secure document printing fee is performed. Further, depending on the time from the completion of RIP to the start of printing, the client is charged as a data storage fee.

At this time, the print requester may directly give a print instruction to the MFP holding the data. In this case, the MFP that has received the instruction starts printing, and at the same time notifies the server of the start of printing. The server charges the printing process and the data saving process.

After printing the document is completed, the server is
A screen appears asking if you want to delete the data. If unnecessary, the RIP data existing in the MFP will be deleted. When printing is continued after that, the data can be retained without being deleted. In this case, the next printing may be charged, or the charge for the scheduled period may be paid.

[Other Embodiments] Even if the present invention is applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices (for example, host computer, interface device, reader, printer, etc.), one device (for example, copying machine, facsimile machine) It may be applied to a device consisting of.

Further, the functions of the above-described embodiments are implemented by a computer in an apparatus or system connected to the various devices so that the various devices are operated to implement the functions of the above-described embodiments. What is implemented by supplying the program code of software for operating and operating the above various devices according to the program stored in the computer (CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus is also included in the scope of the present invention.

Further, in this case, the program code itself of the software realizes the function of the above-described embodiment, and the program code itself constitutes the present invention. As a transmission medium of the program code, a communication medium in a computer network (LAN, WAN such as the Internet, a wireless communication network, etc.) system for propagating and supplying the program information using a carrier wave (a wired line such as an optical fiber or a Wireless line) can be used.

Further, means for supplying the program code to a computer, for example, a recording medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. A flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a non-volatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used as a recording medium for storing the program code.

Further, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by executing the supplied program code by the computer, but also the OS (operating system) in which the program code is operating in the computer or other. It goes without saying that the program code is also included in the embodiment of the present invention when the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized in cooperation with the application software of the above.

Further, after the supplied program code is stored in the memory provided in the function expansion board of the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion board or function expansion unit is instructed based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the present invention also includes a case where the CPU or the like included in the above-mentioned performs some or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

It should be noted that the shapes and structures of the respective parts shown in the above-mentioned embodiments are merely examples of embodying the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention is thereby provided. It should not be construed as limiting. That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the spirit or the main features thereof.

[0036]

According to the present invention, it is possible to rationally charge for using an image forming system having a secure print function. Further, since the secure print data is retained in the server until it is printed, it is possible to reasonably charge the storage fee.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a printing process.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a network.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a general computer.

[Explanation of symbols]

201 network 202 server 203 client computer 204 multifunction printer

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An image forming system having a plurality of printers connected to a network and means for transmitting print data to the printers via the network, comprising: storage means for storing the print data; An image forming system, comprising: a charging unit that charges according to a period during which secure print data is accumulated in the storage unit. 2. The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the charging unit charges a fee for printing the secure print. 3. The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit erases accumulated data after a predetermined period. 4. The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit displays a warning after a predetermined data accumulation period. 5. The image forming system according to claim 1, further comprising: a transmitting unit that transmits the print data to the printer, wherein the transmitting unit transmits one document data composed of a plurality of pages to the plurality of document data on the network. Image forming system characterized by dividing and outputting to other printers. 6. A billing method in an image forming system, comprising: a plurality of printers connected to a network; and means for transmitting print data to the printers via the network, storing the print data; A charging method according to the period during which the secure print data by the printer is accumulated in the storage means. 7. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for realizing each function of each unit in the image forming system according to claim 1 or 5 and each step of the charging method according to claim 6 by a computer. 8. A program for causing a computer to realize each function of each unit in the image forming system according to claim 1 and each step of the charging method according to claim 6.