JP2008042241A - Image forming apparatus and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus which can transmit print data to a server, while taking the processing load on itself into consideration. <P>SOLUTION: A portion of the print data is transmitted to the server, in advance; and after printing processing for other print data is performed, other portions are transmitted to the server. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus capable of transmitting print data to a server apparatus, and a control method therefor.

  Conventionally, document additional information such as keywords is associated with document information such as image data of a document created by reading printed characters, figures, images, etc. with a scanner device or the like, or document data created with a word processor or the like. There has been proposed a network document management system in which a document management server to be stored and a document management client that searches, displays, prints, etc. for these pieces of information are connected via a network.

  In addition, such network document management system generates archive data consisting of image data and log information of various jobs such as copy jobs, print jobs, etc. for the purpose of suppressing information leakage and auditing. A digital multifunction device that can be transmitted and transmitted is connected via a network, and the image data and log information of the job transmitted from the digital multifunction device is registered as a document in the document management server, and later retrieved and viewed from the document management client Some have been proposed.

  Such a network document management system includes, for example, a document management client 1700, a document management server 1701, an image transfer device 1706, and a digital multifunction peripheral 1707 as shown in FIG. ing. The document management server 1701 includes an attribute management server unit 1702, an attribute database file 1703, a volume server unit 1704, and a volume file 1705. The attribute management server unit 1702 manages the inclusion relations of folders, documents, and pages and their attributes so that image data and document data can be managed as documents stored in hierarchical folders. In the Database Management System), folder attributes, document attributes, page attributes, and the like are stored in the attribute database file 1703. The volume server unit 1704 is a server for managing actual data associated with pages by the attribute management server unit 1701, and stores image data, document data, and the like in the volume file 1705. A document management client 1700 is a client of a network document management system, and can search and browse documents managed by the document management server 1701. In this case, the document management client 1700 transmits various requests to the attribute management server unit 1702 using the SQL (Structured Query Language) protocol defined on the TCP / IP protocol, and the processing result is sent from the attribute management server unit 1702. In addition to the reception, when further processing for image data or document data occurs, various requests are transmitted to the volume server unit 1704 by RPC (Remote Procedure Call), and the processing results are received from the volume server unit 1704. The digital multifunction peripheral 1707 is an image forming apparatus having a complex function such as a copy, a scanner, a printer, and a FAX, and generates archive data. When various jobs such as copy jobs and print jobs are executed, together with log information of the jobs, image data read from the scanner or image data printed by a printer is used as archive data by using a network protocol such as FTP. Transmit to the transfer device 1706. Log information consists of device information such as device name and IP address, user information such as user name and department ID, and job information such as job name, start / end date and time, number of pages, number of copies, job result, etc. The The image transfer apparatus 1706 stores the archive data from the log information and the image data received from the digital multifunction peripheral 1707 by a network protocol such as FTP in the document management server 1701 based on registration settings such as a preset storage folder. Information transfer control with the document management server 1701 is performed in the same manner as the document management client 1700, log information is stored in the attribute management server unit 1702 as document attributes, and image data is stored in the volume server unit 1704. Save to.

In the network document management system as described above, the archive data generated by the digital multifunction peripheral 1707 includes the image data itself, and the image data is transmitted as it is to the image transfer apparatus 1706 and is sent to the document management server 1701. save. The problem here is the size of the image. A4 size color image data with a resolution of 600 * 600 dpi, which is a general document size handled by current copiers, has a size of about 100 MB. Therefore, in order to prevent a decrease in user convenience due to an increase in data transmission time or an increase in network load, archive data is temporarily stored in a storage device such as a hard disk in the digital multifunction peripheral 1707, and The archive data is transferred to the server in a time zone when the load of the digital multifunction peripheral 1707 is low, such as at night (see Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-99121 A

  However, if the archive data is sent together, the archive information will be lost if the storage device such as the hard disk in the digital multifunction device during the day breaks down or if the digital multifunction device is intentionally attacked. There is a possibility.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and provides an image forming apparatus capable of transmitting print data to a server and a control method thereof in view of the processing load of the image forming apparatus itself. There is.

  In order to solve the above problems, an image forming apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, a transmission unit that transmits a part of print data that has already been executed to the server, a transmission unit that executes print processing for print data received after the print data, and a transmission unit that transmits the print data. Transmission means for transmitting the remainder of the print data to the server so as to be stored in association with the part.

  In view of the processing load of the image forming apparatus itself, print data can be transmitted to the server.

(Example 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the overall configuration of a network document management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This network document management system includes a document management client 100, a document management server 110, and a digital multifunction peripheral 130, which are connected via a network 140.

  The document management client 100 is a client of this network document management system that searches and displays document information managed by the document management server 110, and includes a user interface (UI) unit 101, a client processing unit 102, and a network I / O. F103. A user interface (UI) unit 101 receives instructions from an operator related to each function of the document management client 100 such as search and display of document information, and provides various information such as processing results to the operator. And a display device typified by liquid crystal or the like, and an input device such as a keyboard or a pointing device. The client processing unit 102 includes a CPU, a memory, and the like. The client processing unit 102 performs processing of each function of the document management client 100 such as search and display of document information. Various request commands are transmitted to the document management server 110 via F103, and responses are received.

  The document management server 110 is a server of this network document management system for managing archive data (job log information and content data) transmitted from the digital multi-function peripheral 130, and includes a network I / F 111 and an attribute management server unit 112. And a volume server unit 115 and a service server unit 118. The attribute management server unit 112, the volume server unit 115, and the service server unit 118 may be configured by one personal computer as in this embodiment, or may be configured by separate personal computers connected by the network 140. It doesn't matter.

  A network I / F 111 is connected to the network 140 and performs processing of a network protocol such as TCP / IP.

  The attribute management server unit 112 can manage the archive data (job log information and content data) as a document stored in a hierarchical folder, the inclusion relationship between folders, documents, and pages, and their attributes. Is a server unit for managing the server, and includes an attribute management server processing unit 113 and an attribute storage unit 114. The attribute management server processing unit 113 includes a CPU, a memory, and the like, receives a request command from the client processing unit 102 or the service server unit 118 via the network I / F 111, and updates or searches the attribute storage unit 114. The processing result is transmitted to the client processing unit 102 or the service server unit 118. The attribute storage unit 114 stores folder attributes, document attributes, log information, page attributes, and the like, and is usually a hard disk or the like.

  The volume server unit 115 is a server unit for accumulating and managing the content data associated with the page by the attribute management server unit 112, and includes a volume server processing unit 116 and a volume storage unit 117. The volume server processing unit 116 includes a CPU, a memory, and the like, receives a request command from the client processing unit 102 or the service server unit 118 via the network I / F 111, and updates or acquires data to the volume storage unit 117. The processing result is transmitted to the client processing unit 102 or the service server unit 118. The volume storage unit 117 stores content data, and is usually a hard disk or the like.

  The service server unit 118 includes a CPU, a memory, and the like. The service server unit 118 receives a request command from the digital multifunction peripheral 130 via the network I / F 111, performs each process requested from the digital multifunction peripheral 130, and performs archive data (job When processing for the attribute management server unit 112 or the volume server unit 115 occurs such as registration of log information and content data), various request commands are transmitted to these via the network I / F 111, and responses are received. Then, the processing result is transmitted to the digital multi-function peripheral 130.

  The digital multifunction peripheral 130 is an image forming apparatus having multifunction functions such as a copy, a scanner, a printer, and a FAX, and includes a scanner unit 131 that is an image input device, a printer unit 132 that is an image output device, a controller unit 133, and a user interface. A certain operation unit 134 is configured. The scanner unit 131, the printer unit 132, and the operation unit 134 are each connected to a controller unit 133, and the controller unit 133 is connected to a network (LAN) 140 and a public line (WAN) 150.

  The controller unit 133 performs processing such as a copy job, a print job, and the like based on input information from the operation unit 134 and provides information such as a device state and a job state to the operation unit 134 and also generates a generated archive. Data (job image data and log information) is stored in a storage device such as a hard disk (not shown) inside the controller unit 133. When processing for the document management server 110 occurs, a request command is transmitted to the service server unit 118, a response is received, and information acquired from the document management server 110 is provided to the operation unit 134.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the digital multi-function peripheral shown in FIG. 1, and the same components as those in FIG. The controller unit 133 is connected to a scanner unit 131 that is an image input device and a printer unit 132 that is an image output device, and on the other hand, is connected to a network (LAN) 140 or a public line (WAN) 150, so that image information and devices are connected. It is a controller for inputting and outputting information.

  In the controller unit 133, reference numeral 500 denotes a CPU, which is a controller that controls the entire system. A RAM 501 is a system work memory for the CPU 500 to operate, and is also an image memory (buffer memory) for temporarily storing input image data. Reference numeral 502 denotes a ROM which is a boot ROM and stores a system boot program. A hard disk drive (hard disk) 503 stores system software, job content data, log information, and the like.

  An operation unit I / F 504 is an interface unit with the operation unit 134 and outputs screen data to be displayed on the operation unit 134 to the operation unit 134. Further, the operation unit I / F 504 serves to transmit information input by the operator from the operation unit 134 to the CPU 500.

  Reference numeral 505 denotes a network unit (Network) which is connected to the network (LAN) 140 and inputs / outputs information. A modem (MODEM) 506 is connected to the public line (WAN) 150 and inputs / outputs image information. The above devices are arranged on the system bus 507.

  Reference numeral 508 denotes an image bus I / F, which is a bus bridge that connects the system bus 507 and an image bus 509 that transfers image data at high speed, and converts the data structure. The image bus 509 is configured by a PCI bus or IEEE1394. The following devices are arranged on the image bus 509.

  A raster image processor (RIP) 510 expands the PDL code into a bitmap image. A device I / F unit 511 connects the scanner unit 131 and the printer unit 132, which are image input / output devices, and the controller 133 via the image input unit interface 512 and the printing unit interface 513, and is a synchronous / asynchronous system for image data. Perform the conversion. A scanner image processing unit 514 corrects, processes, and edits input image data. The scanner image processing unit 514 has a function of determining whether the input image data is a color document or a monochrome document from the saturation signal of the image data and holding the result. A printer image processing unit 515 corrects, processes, and edits output image data.

  An image rotation unit 516 cooperates with the scanner image processing unit 514 to rotate the image data simultaneously with the image reading from the scanner unit 131 and store the image data in the memory, or rotate the image data on the memory to store the image data on the memory. Or the image data on the memory can be printed out while rotating in cooperation with the printer image processing unit 515. Reference numeral 517 denotes an image compression unit which performs JPEG for multilevel image data and JBIG, MMR, MR, and MH for binary image data. A resolution conversion unit 518 performs resolution conversion processing on the image data on the memory and stores it on the memory. Reference numeral 519 denotes a color space conversion unit which converts, for example, YUV image data on the memory into Lab image data by matrix calculation and stores it on the memory. A gradation conversion unit 520 converts, for example, 8-bit and 256-gradation image data on the memory into 1-bit and 2-gradation by a technique such as error diffusion processing, and stores it on the memory. The image rotation unit 516, the image compression unit 517, the resolution conversion unit 518, the color space conversion unit 519, and the gradation conversion unit 520 can operate in conjunction with each other. In the case of conversion, both processes can be performed without going through a memory.

  FIG. 6 shows the configuration of the operation unit 134. The LCD display unit 600 has a touch panel sheet 601 pasted on the LCD and displays a system operation screen and soft keys. When the displayed keys are pressed, the position information is sent to the CPU 500 in the controller unit 133. Tell. A start key 602 is used to start a document image reading operation. In the center of the start key 602, there is a green and red two-color LED 603, which indicates whether the start key 602 is ready for use according to the color. A stop key 604 functions to stop an operation in operation. The ID key 605 is used when inputting the user ID of the user. A reset key 606 is used to initialize settings from the operation unit.

  Here, the archive data transmitted in the present embodiment will be described. Archive data consists of job log information and content data.

  Job log information includes device information such as device name, product name, IP address, and MAC address, user information such as user name, user importance, department ID, IP address, and MAC address, job type, and job name. Job information such as job importance, start / end date and time, number of pages, number of copies, job result, and the like. Note that it is not necessary to record all the log information exemplified here, and the administrator can arbitrarily set it.

  There are two types of content data: basic content data and derived content data. The basic content data is image data having a basic resolution of about 300 to 1200 dpi for each page. Derived content data is obtained by extracting information from basic content data. Examples include image feature amounts such as frequency features and edge features of image data, text information in image data, and low-resolution images that have been linsapped. For example, image data. It is not always necessary to generate the derived content data, and the administrator arbitrarily sets whether or not to generate the derived content data and which derived content data is generated.

In this embodiment, it is considered that this archive data is classified into two types and transmitted separately. The two types are two types: general archive data and detailed archive data. The summary archive data is archive data that is transmitted from the digital multi-function peripheral to the document management server immediately after the end of the job, and the detail archive data is the remaining archive data that is not included in the summary archive data. The detailed archive data is appropriately transmitted from the digital multifunction peripheral to the document management server after the end of JOB in consideration of the load on the digital multifunction peripheral and the load on the document management server. Basically, the general archive data is the amount of data that can be sent after the end of JOB, and the following can be considered as an example.
(Example 1)
General archive data Job log information Detailed archive data Basic content data (example 2)
General archive data Job log information and basic content data of the first page Detailed archive data Basic content data of the remaining pages (Example 3)
Summary archive data Job log information and derived content data (low resolution images)
Detailed archive data Basic content data (Example 4)
Summary archive data Job log information and derived content data (text information)
Detailed archive data Basic content data (Example 5)
Summary archive data Job log information and derived content data (image feature)
Detailed Archive Data Basic Content Data FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of system software in the controller unit of the digital multi-function peripheral shown in FIG. The user interface (UI) unit 700 supplies input information from the operator to the application unit 701, receives the processing result from the application unit 701, and generates a screen to be displayed on the operation unit 134.

  The application unit 701 performs processing in accordance with a request from the user interface (UI) unit 700. For example, when a copy is requested, the application unit 701 submits a copy job together with copy settings specified in the job control domain unit 702, Information such as device status and job status is received from the job control domain unit 702. Further, it receives archive data (job content data and log information) from the job control domain unit 702, and generates general archive data and detailed archive data. When the resolution of the basic content data is lower than the resolution of the content data received from the job control domain unit, the content data resolution conversion process is performed. When it is necessary to generate the derived content data, a resolution conversion process of the content data or a data conversion process such as image feature extraction or text extraction is performed. When the general archive information or the detailed archive information is transmitted to the document management server 110, a request for transmitting the general archive information or the detailed archive information is supplied to the service communication unit 703, and the processing result is received.

  The job control domain unit 702 manages a plurality of jobs such as a scan job, a copy job, a print job, and a FAX job. For example, when a copy job is input, the job control domain unit 702 is designated. Based on the copy settings, the scanner unit 131 and the printer unit 132 are operated to read a document, print the image data, log information of the job including device information, user information, job information, and the like, and the job Is associated with the image data and stored in the hard disk drive. The resolution of the image data of the job is, for example, 600 * 600 dpi for a copy job, and 1200 * 1200 dpi for a print job. Further, in accordance with a request from the application unit 701, log information and image data stored in the hard disk drive are supplied to the application unit 701. The service communication unit 703 transmits a request command for the document management server 110 to the service server unit 118 in the document management server 110 via the network I / F 704 using the SOAP protocol over the HTTP protocol, and receives the response. A network I / F 704 is connected to the network 140 and performs processing of a network protocol such as TCP / IP.

  Next, an outline archive data transmission flow in the digital multi-function peripheral will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, processing is started by starting job processing such as a copy job and a print job (step S200).

  In parallel with the job processing, job log information and content data are generated, and general archive data and detailed archive data are generated from these information. The content data of the generated job is image data of the job and is compressed by a compression method such as JBIG. The combination of the summary archive data and the detailed archive data may be any of the combinations described above. When resolution conversion processing of content data is necessary, it is converted into image data with a predetermined resolution, and conversion into basic content data or generation of derived content data is performed. In addition, when text extraction processing of content data is necessary, text data is extracted by character recognition to generate derived content data. Alternatively, when image feature amount extraction processing of content data is necessary, the image feature amount is calculated, and derived content data is generated (step S201).

  The generated general archive data and detailed archive data are stored in the hard disk (step S202).

  Next, the detailed archive data transmission flow in the digital multi-function peripheral will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, processing is started when there is detailed archive data to be transmitted in the digital multi-function peripheral (step S300).

  It is determined whether or not the load of the document management system including the document management server, the digital multifunction peripheral group, and the network is low. The system load is evaluated based on user convenience. For example, the degree of decrease in the throughput of printed matter that the user wants to output, which occurs when the detailed archive data occupies the network or the processing of the detailed archive data occupies the CPU of the digital multifunction peripheral, is considered as the system load. When the load is below the threshold set by the administrator, it is determined that the load on the document management system is low, and the process proceeds to step S302 (step S301).

  Next, if there is detailed archive data in the middle of transmission, the data is transmitted to the document management server. If not, the most recently stored data among the detailed archive data stored in the digital multi-function peripheral is transmitted to the document management server. . If the load on the document management system becomes high due to the user submitting a job during the transmission, the transmission is stopped in the middle and the process returns to step S301. When the transmission is completed, the process proceeds to step S303 (step S302).

  In addition to the transmitted detailed archive data, the general archive data corresponding to the detailed archive data is deleted from the hard disk (step S303).

  It is determined whether all the detailed archive data has been transferred to the document management server. If all the detailed archive data has not been transferred, the process returns to step S301. When all the detailed archive data has been transferred, the process proceeds to step S305, and the process ends (step S304).

(Example 2)
In the second embodiment, it is assumed that job log information includes information on the importance level of the job and the importance level of the person who submitted the job. In the case of a PDL job, the importance level of a job can be obtained by being informed from a client via a driver. The degree of importance of the person who submitted the job can be obtained by performing ID authentication at the time of job submission and inquiring the ID to the authentication server, or in the case of a PDL job, receiving from the client via the driver. . Here, the importance of the person who submitted the job does not simply mean that the person's status is high. The importance of the person who submitted the job is the importance from the viewpoint of security. There are two points of importance evaluation. The first point is whether or not there are many machines on which the person prints highly confidential information. The second point is whether or not the person is an unreliable person who is likely to leak information. Since there are two evaluation items, an evaluation matrix is formed. It is the administrator's job to determine this evaluation matrix according to the management policy. If the importance of the person who submitted the job is evaluated from these two points, it is usually not simply proportional to the position in the company.

  Except that the job log information includes information on the importance of the job and the importance of the person who submitted the job, only the detailed archive data transmission flow in the digital multi-function peripheral, which is a difference from the first embodiment. This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, processing is started when there is detailed archive data to be transmitted in the digital multi-function peripheral (step S300).

  It is determined whether or not the load of the document management system including the document management server, the digital multifunction peripheral group, and the network is low. The system load is evaluated based on user convenience. For example, the degree of decrease in the throughput of printed matter that the user wants to output, which occurs when the detailed archive data occupies the network or the processing of the detailed archive data occupies the CPU of the digital multifunction peripheral, is considered as the system load. When the load is below the threshold set by the administrator, it is determined that the load on the document management system is low, and the process proceeds to step S302 (step S301).

  Next, if there is detailed archive data in the middle of transmission, the data is transmitted to the document management server. If not, the most important data among the detailed archive data stored in the digital multi-function peripheral is transmitted to the document management server. Here, the importance level of the detailed archive data is determined from the importance level of the job included in the log information of the job in the general archive data corresponding to the detailed archive data and the importance level of the person who submitted the job. Since there are two evaluation items, an evaluation matrix is formed. It is the administrator's job to determine this evaluation matrix according to the management policy. Detailed archive data having the same evaluation is transmitted from the oldest detailed archive data to the document management system. If the load on the document management system becomes high due to the user submitting a job during the transmission, the transmission is stopped in the middle and the process returns to step S301. The threshold value of the load for stopping the transmission in the middle may be changed for each importance of the detailed archive data transmitted at that time. When the transmission is completed, the process proceeds to step S303 (step S302).

  In addition to the transmitted detailed archive data, the general archive data corresponding to the detailed archive data is deleted from the hard disk (step S303).

  It is determined whether all the detailed archive data has been transferred to the document management server. If all the detailed archive data has not been transferred, the process returns to step S301. When all the detailed archive data has been transferred, the process proceeds to step S305, and the process ends (step S304).

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the network document management system in the Example of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the transmission flow of general | schematic archive data in the digital multi-functional peripheral of this system. It is a flowchart explaining the transmission flow in Example 1 of detailed archive data in the digital multi-function peripheral of this system. It is a flowchart explaining the transmission flow in Example 2 of detailed archive data in the digital multi-function peripheral of this system. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the digital multifunctional device of this system. It is a figure which shows the structure of the operation part of a digital multifunctional device. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of system software of a digital multi-function peripheral. It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the network document management system of a prior art.

Claims (8)

A transmission step of transmitting a part of print data for which print processing has already been executed to the server;
An execution step of executing print processing on print data received after the print data;
A control method for an image forming apparatus, comprising: a transmission step of transmitting the remaining print data transmitted in the transmission step to the server so as to be stored in association with the part.   The method of controlling an image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the part of the print data is data of a first page in the print data. A control method for an image forming apparatus that receives print data, executes print processing on the received print data, and transmits the executed print data to a server after execution of the print processing,
A receiving step for receiving a plurality of print data;
A first execution step of executing a print process for the first print data in the received plurality of print data;
A first transmission step of transmitting a part of the first print data to a server after execution of the printing process in the first execution step;
A second execution step of executing a printing process on the second print data in the plurality of print data after transmitting the first print data in the first transmission step;
After executing the printing process for the second print data in the second execution step, the first printing is performed so as to be stored in association with a part transmitted to the server in the first transmission step. And a second transmission step of transmitting the rest of the data to the server. Transmission means for transmitting a part of print data for which print processing has already been executed to the server;
Execution means for executing print processing for print data received after the print data;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a transmission unit configured to transmit the remaining print data transmitted by the transmission unit to the server so as to be stored in association with the part.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the part of the print data is data of a first page in the print data. An image forming apparatus that receives print data, executes print processing on the received print data, and transmits the executed print data to a server after execution of the print processing,
Receiving means for receiving a plurality of print data;
First execution means for executing print processing on the first print data in the received plurality of print data;
A first transmission unit configured to transmit a part of the first print data to a server after executing the printing process by the first execution unit;
Second execution means for executing print processing on second print data in the plurality of print data after the first print data is transmitted by the first transmission means;
After the print processing for the second print data is executed by the second execution means, the first print is stored so as to be associated with a part transmitted to the server by the first transmission means. An image forming apparatus comprising: a second transmission unit configured to transmit the remaining data to the server.   A program for causing a computer to execute the image forming apparatus control method according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   A computer-readable storage medium storing the program according to claim 7.

Images