JP4823341B2 - Information processing system and server - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing system and a server capable of performing various types of information processing in combination with an image processing apparatus (digital multifunction peripheral) and peripheral devices.

  In recent years, digital multifunction peripherals as image processing apparatuses have become more and more multifunctional, and there are provided devices that prepare USB connectors so that data can be exchanged with a USB memory. In addition, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-260, a USB is used to connect a printer and various devices via a network such as a LAN.

JP 2004-78359 A

However, when multi-functionalization of digital multifunction devices is promoted, installing all device drivers that enable the use of various peripheral devices for the future will lead to increased costs and maintenance will be difficult. There was a problem of becoming.
The present invention has been made in view of such a current situation, and various information processing can be performed in combination with various peripheral devices without mounting many device drivers or the like in a digital multi-function peripheral as an image processing apparatus. An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing system and a multifunctional server.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is characterized by comprising the following technical means.
First technical means is the communication a plurality of image processing apparatus having an operation display unit, a plurality of communication connecting means a peripheral device is connected to form the image processing apparatus and the group, the previous SL image processing apparatus An information processing system configured to be connected to a server that supports processing executed by a peripheral device connected to a connection unit, wherein the server includes a device driver of the peripheral device connected to the communication connection unit A table in which group management information between the image processing apparatus and the communication connection means and information processing procedures executed in cooperation with the image processing apparatus using peripheral devices connected to the communication connection means are recorded. has the door, provides a device driver for the peripheral device to the image processing apparatus recognizes that the the communication connection means and group relationships peripheral device connected to the communication connection means Both the information processing system to be displayed according to the procedure of the information processing to be executed by cooperate operation display unit equivalent the peripheral device and the image processing apparatus to the image processing apparatus to the progress of information processing based on the recording of said table It is characterized by.

  According to a second technical means, in the first technical means, an IP address is assigned to the image processing apparatus and the communication connection means.

  According to a third technical means, in the first or second technical means, the communication connection means is a USB hub.

  According to a fourth technical means, in any one of the first to third technical means, the server has GUI screen data for displaying the information processing procedure on an operation display unit of the image processing apparatus. Features.

According to a fifth technical means, in any one of the first to fourth technical means, when the format of data supplied from the peripheral device is a format that the image processing apparatus cannot handle, the server Is converted to data in a format that can be handled by the image processing apparatus.

A sixth technical means is the server in the information processing system according to the first to fifth technical means.

According to the present invention, it is possible to execute various types of information processing using a desired peripheral device without increasing the functions of the image processing apparatus.
Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform information processing by combining various peripheral devices with the image processing apparatus without mounting a device driver or an application program for each peripheral device to be used.
In addition, according to the present invention, since it is not necessary for the image processing apparatus to prepare many types of GUI screen data for each type of information processing, the burden of developing a program used for the image processing apparatus is greatly reduced. Is done.

It is a block diagram for demonstrating the structural example of the digital multifunctional device used by this invention. 1 is a configuration diagram of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a functional block diagram of the server used for the information processing system of this invention. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for group management of a digital multifunction peripheral connected to a network and USB-Hu. 6 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a job selection screen displayed on the operation panel of the digital multifunction peripheral. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the system configuration | structure in POP printing. FIG. 6 is a processing sequence diagram for a POP print job. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a display example of an operation screen in a POP print job. It is a figure which shows the processing procedure of the POP print job stored in the server. It is a processing sequence diagram in a scan USB job. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a display example of an operation screen in a scan USB job. It is a figure which shows the process sequence of the scan USB job stored in the server. It is the figure which represented typically the file stored in USB memory. It is a processing sequence diagram in a USB memory print job. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a display example of an operation screen in a USB memory print job. It is a figure which shows the process sequence of the USB memory print job stored in the server. It is a processing sequence diagram in an email attachment job. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the operation screen in a mail attachment job. It is a figure which shows the process sequence of the mail attachment job stored in the server.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a digital multi-function peripheral used in the information processing system of the present invention. The digital multifunction machine 10 is configured as a multifunction machine having functions such as a copying machine, a printer device, a facsimile device, and a scanner device. The digital multi-function peripheral 10 is connected to a plurality of personal computers 1-1 and 1-2 (hereinafter referred to as PC) via a communication network N1 such as an in-house LAN, and exchanges information with the PC. It is possible. Furthermore, information is transmitted / received to / from external devices 2 and 3 (PC, Internet FAX) connected to a wide area communication network N2 such as the Internet.

  The digital multifunction machine 10 includes a device control unit 11 including a CPU that performs arithmetic processing, a RAM that temporarily stores processing information, a ROM that stores a control program, and the like. The device control unit 11 is connected to a management unit 12 that manages processing performed by the digital multi-function peripheral 10 and holds management information (various control information) for that purpose, and also reads an image recorded on a document or the like. An image reading unit 13 that generates image data is connected. The image reading unit 13 includes a CCD 13a for capturing image data of a document and a document detection sensor 13b for detecting the presence or absence of the document.

  The device control unit 11 is connected to an image forming unit 14 that forms image data on a recording sheet. The image forming unit 14 includes a memory 14a that temporarily stores the read image data, a printing unit (LSU) 14b that reads an image from the image data stored in the memory 14a and prints it on a recording sheet, and a printing unit. A tray 14c for feeding recording paper is provided at 14b. In this case, the digital multifunction peripheral 10 functions as a copying machine that stores image data generated by the image reading unit 13 in the memory 14a and then forms an image by the printing unit 14b.

  In addition, the communication unit 15 is connected to the device control unit 11, and information exchange with a PC or an external device is performed via the communication networks N1 and N2 as described above. In this case, the digital multifunction peripheral 10 also functions as a facsimile apparatus or a printer apparatus such as a PC (1-1, 1-2).

  The device control unit 11 is connected to an operation unit 16 for performing input by a user. The operation unit 16 includes an input unit 16a such as a touch panel or a numeric keypad for inputting information such as a control command, and a display unit 16b such as a liquid crystal display for displaying information for operation. In the operation unit 16, an authentication code or the like for authenticating the administrator or user of the digital multi-function peripheral 10 is also input.

Further, a hard disk device (HD) 17 is connected to the device control unit 11. The HD 17 stores and holds data related to image processing such as image data generated by the image reading unit 13. Further, the device controller 11 is connected to an erasing unit 18 connected to erase the data recorded and held in the HD 17 as necessary.
Note that the communication interface 19 is designed to capture data from, for example, a USB memory or the like and perform printing. However, the communication interface 19 can only handle data in a limited format, and jobs are also limited. .

  FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The system includes a plurality of digital multifunction peripherals 20A, 20B, and 20C each assigned an IP address, and a USB hub (hereinafter, USB-Hub). 30A, 30B, 30C, and the connection relationship between these digital multi-function peripherals and USB-Hub, and the exchange of data between the server 40A or 40B having an information processing support function to be described later and the digital multi-function peripheral Is configured to be connected to a network N1 such as a LAN.

  In FIG. 2, for convenience of explanation, the group A including the digital multi-function peripheral 20A and the USB-Hub 30A includes a bar code reader 51 for performing a “POP printing” job, which will be described later, the digital multi-function peripheral 20B, and the USB-Hub 30B. When performing a “scan USB” or “USB memory printing” job described later in group B, a “mail attachment” job described later is performed in group C consisting of the USB memory 52, digital multifunction peripheral 20C, and USB-Hub 30C. The microphones 53 are connected to the respective USB-hubs.

However, in the case of the present invention, the server that supports the information processing has a function of recognizing the connected device. Therefore, if a device driver that controls the peripheral device is mounted on the server, the peripheral device is Even if it is plugged into a USB-Hub, it can basically operate. However, since the processing procedure stored in the management table cannot be uniquely determined by the connection information between the digital multifunction peripheral and the USB-Hub, the processing procedure with the peripheral device used for each digital multifunction peripheral is managed. Need to be stored in the unit.

FIG. 3A is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the server 40 in FIG.
The server 40 includes a communication interface 41, a CPU 42, a ROM 43, a RAM 44, a display unit 45, an operation unit 46, a hard disk 47, and a disk drive 48, and these units are connected to each other via a bus.

The communication interface 41 is an interface for transmitting and receiving data to and from the digital multi-function peripheral 20 and the USB-Hub 30 via the network N1 (LAN). The CPU 42 controls each unit according to a program stored in an FD (flexible disk) or a CD-ROM mounted on the ROM 42, the hard disk 47, and the disk drive 48. The CPU 42 is connected to a communication interface 41, a RAM 44, a display unit 45, an operation unit 46, a hard disk 47, and a disk drive 48 via a bus. Data read / write, display control, key input control, and data Control communications. The operation unit 46 is a user interface when a system administrator or the like adds or updates various drivers, installs an application, and the like. From the keyboard, mouse, and the like having cursor keys, numeric input keys, and various function keys. Become.
The hard disk 47 stores various programs to be executed by the CPU 42, a management table for processing procedures to be described later, and the like.

In addition to the device drivers of various peripheral devices connected to the USB-Hub 30, the server 40 is also equipped with applications that handle data such as document data and image data, data conversion programs that convert data formats, and the like. ing.
Further, the server 40 stores and manages GUI screen data to be displayed on the operation unit of the digital multi-function peripheral 20 when executing information processing using a peripheral device connected to the USB-Hub 30. A function of providing predetermined GUI screen data to the digital multi-function peripheral 20 according to the progress is provided.

FIG. 3B shows a state in which the server 40 manages the digital multifunction peripheral (MFP) and the USB-Hub as group A, group B, and group C based on the IP address.
Then, when a peripheral device is connected to the USB-Hub 30, the server 40 recognizes the connected device and is connected based on the processing procedure information and group management information recorded in the management table described above. Supports information processing performed in cooperation with digital multifunction devices.

Next, a specific example of information processing that can be performed by the information processing system described above will be described.
FIG. 4 shows a display example of a job selection screen displayed on the operation panel of the digital multi-function peripheral. Here, “copy”, “fax”, and “printer” are jobs that can be used by the digital multi-function peripheral alone, and “POP printing”, “USB memory”, and “attach mail” The job is executed by connecting a device and using the support function of the server.

[POP printing]
A “POP printing” job that first reads a barcode and prints a label will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 5 shows an example in which POP printing is performed in two groups, group A and group B. The server 40A includes a product database including product names and unit price information, and the server 40B uses a digital MFP 20A according to the IP address. And the USB-Hub 30A is group A, and the digital MFP 20B and the USB-Hub 30B are group B. The server 40B stores a processing procedure management table in which processing procedures for each job are stored.

  Next, the processing operation when POP printing is performed will be described with reference to the processing sequence diagram of FIG. When “POP printing” is selected on the job selection screen (FIG. 4) on the operation panel of the digital multifunction peripheral 20A (1), the digital multifunction peripheral 20A notifies the server 40B that POP printing has been selected (2). Upon receiving this notification, the server 40B identifies the USB-Hub 30A of group A (3), and a management table in which the POP printing processing procedure (FIG. 8) is recorded from among various work processing procedures stored in advance. Is taken out and the procedure is confirmed (4).

  When the processing procedure is confirmed, the server 40B sends operation screen data to the digital multifunction peripheral 20A to display the screen of FIG. 7A (5), and activates the barcode reader 51 (6). When the bar code is read by the bar code reader 51 (7), the server 40B makes a bar code information inquiry to the server 40A for the read bar code (8), specifies the print data (9), and the digital multifunction peripheral 20A. 7B is sent (10) to confirm the print output instruction (11). Thereafter, when the operation of the OK key, which means confirmation from the user, is confirmed, the digital multi-function peripheral 20A performs POP printing including the product name and unit price information based on the print data sent from the server 40B (12). ).

  FIG. 8 shows the processing procedure of POP printing stored in the server 40B. The processing procedure starts when “POP printing” is selected on the job selection screen of FIG. 4 and USB-Hub is specified. It is the content to be started. That is, in STEP 1, the server 40B transmits the operation screen data of FIG. 7A to the multi-function device 20A, activates the barcode reader 30A in STEP 2, performs barcode input and barcode information inquiry in STEP 3, and prints in STEP 4. The data is specified, the screen data shown in FIG. 7B is transmitted to the digital multi-function peripheral 20A in STEP 5, the print output instruction is given in STEP 6, and the processing procedure is completed.

[Scan USB]
Next, a “scan USB” job for storing image data scanned by a digital multifunction peripheral in a USB memory will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 11.

  FIG. 9 shows a processing sequence diagram in the scan USB. When “scan USB” is selected (21) on the job selection screen (FIG. 4) on the operation panel of the digital multifunction peripheral 20 B, the digital multifunction peripheral 20 B changes to the server 40 B. Notify that “scan USB” has been selected (22). Upon receiving this notification, the server 40B identifies the USB-Hub 30B of group B (23), and a management table in which the scan USB processing procedure (FIG. 11) is recorded from among various work processing procedures stored in advance. Is taken out and the procedure is confirmed (24).

  When the processing procedure is confirmed, the server 40B sends operation screen data to the digital multifunction peripheral 20B to display the screen of FIG. 10A (25). The user inserts a USB memory into the USB-Hub 30B (26), sets a document on the digital multifunction peripheral 20B (27), and turns on the start key (28). When the document is read (29), the image data is transferred to the server 40B (30). The server 40B temporarily stores the received data (31), and the stored data is stored in the USB memory 52 via the USB-Hu 30B. At the same time, the screen data for displaying “data transfer” is transmitted to the digital multi-function peripheral 20B (34), and the digital multi-function peripheral 20B displays the screen of FIG. 10B (35). It becomes a processing sequence.

FIG. 11 shows the processing procedure of “scan USB” stored in the server.
The processing procedure is started when the scan USB is selected on the job selection screen of FIG. 4 and the USB-Hub is specified. That is, in STEP 11, the server 40B transmits the operation screen data shown in FIG. 10A to the digital multifunction peripheral 20B, receives the data sent from the digital multifunction peripheral 20B in STEP 12, temporarily stores it, and temporarily stores in STEP 13. The transferred data is transferred to the USB memory 52 via the USB-Hub 30B, and the screen data in FIG. 10B informing that the data is being transferred in STEP 14 is sent to the digital multifunction peripheral 20B, and the processing procedure is terminated. It is the contents.
Here, it is also possible to perform processing such as converting data temporarily stored in the server 40B into an arbitrary data format.

[USB memory printing]
Next, a “USB memory printing” job for printing document data stored in a USB memory with a digital multifunction peripheral will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 to 15.
FIG. 12 schematically shows how document data and image data created by various applications are stored in the USB memory 52 as files.

  FIG. 13 shows a processing sequence diagram in USB memory printing. When “USB memory printing” is selected on the job selection screen (FIG. 4) on the operation panel of the digital multifunction peripheral 20B (41), the digital multifunction peripheral 20B The server 40B is notified that USB memory printing has been selected (42). Upon receiving this notification, the server 40B identifies the USB-Hub 30B of group B (43), and the management procedure in which the USB memory printing processing procedure (FIG. 15) is recorded from among the various work processing procedures stored in advance. The table is taken out and the procedure is determined (44).

  When the processing procedure is confirmed, operation screen data is sent to the digital multi-function peripheral 20B to display the screen of FIG. 14A (45). When the USB memory is inserted into the USB-Hu 30B (46), the server 20B recognizes the USB memory (47), reads the list data of the file (see FIG. 12) stored in the USB memory (48), and the list Data is transmitted together with operation screen data for file selection (49). The digital multi-function peripheral 20B displays the screen of FIG. 14B based on the data sent from the server 40B (50).

  When a file to be printed is selected in the digital multi-function peripheral 20B, the file name data is sent from the digital multi-function peripheral 20B to the server 40B (51), and the server 40B reads the data of the selected file from the USB memory 52 (52 The data is converted into a data format that can be processed by the digital multi-function peripheral 20B (53), and the converted data is transmitted to the digital multi-function peripheral 20B together with the screen data (54). The digital multi-function peripheral 20B displays the screen of FIG. 14C based on the data sent from the server 40B (55), and when the OK key for executing printing is pressed, printing is executed (56). The processing sequence is as follows.

  FIG. 15 shows the process procedure of “USB memory printing” stored in the server 40B. The scan USB is selected on the job selection screen in FIG. 4 and the USB-Hub is specified. It is the content to be started. That is, the operation screen data shown in FIG. 14A is transmitted to the digital multi-function peripheral in STEP 21, the USB memory 52 is recognized as being inserted into the USB-Hu 30B in STEP 22, and the file stored in the USB memory is determined in STEP 23. The list data is read, the screen data of the file selection screen in FIG. 14B is transmitted in STEP 24, the list data of the file read in STEP 25 is transferred to the digital multifunction device 20B, and the user selects from the digital multifunction device 20B in STEP 26 The file name data received is received, the corresponding data is read from the USB memory based on the file name data received in STEP 27, the data read in STEP 28 is converted into a data format that can be processed by the digital multifunction peripheral 20B, and the digital data is read in STEP 29. To MFP 20B It transmits the print data conversion, and transmits the screen data of FIG. 14 (C) at STEP 30, which is the contents of the processing procedure is terminated.

[Email attachment]
Next, an “attach mail” job for attaching image data or audio data generated by scanning a document to an email will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 16 shows a processing sequence diagram for attaching an e-mail. When “attach e-mail” is selected on the job selection screen (FIG. 4) on the operation panel of the digital multi-function peripheral 20C (61), the digital multi-function peripheral 20C transfers to the server 40B. Notification is made that mail attachment has been selected (62). Upon receiving this notification, the server 40B identifies the USB-Hub 30C of group C (63), and the process procedure of “attach mail” (FIG. 18) is recorded from various work process procedures stored in advance. The management table is taken out and the procedure is determined (64).

  When the processing procedure is confirmed, the server 40B sends operation screen data to the digital multi-function peripheral 20C to display the screen of FIG. 17A (65). When a document is set in the digital multifunction peripheral 20C (66), the start key is turned on (67), and the document is read (68), the image data is transferred to the server 40B (69), and the server 40B receives the received data. Is temporarily saved (70).

  Next, the server 40B transmits screen data for selecting an input destination of data to be attached to the digital multi-function peripheral 20C (71), and the digital multi-function peripheral 20C displays the screen of FIG. 17B based on the data. (72). When the input destination of the attached data is selected, the selection information is transmitted to the server 40B (73). For example, when “USB memory” is selected as the input destination, a USB memory (in this case, the USB-Hu30C is pre-USB The memory is inserted (74), the attached data input from the USB memory (75) is saved (76), and the destination list screen data is transmitted (77). The digital multifunction peripheral 20C displays the mail transmission destination designation screen of FIG. 17C based on the data (78). When the mail transmission destination is designated (79), the information is sent to the server 40B, and the server 40B Is a processing sequence of transmitting the stored scan data and attached data to the mail transmission destination (80).

When “MIC” is selected on the operation screen of FIG. 17B, the screen of FIG. 17D is displayed, and audio data from the microphone can be attached. In this case, the microphone 53 (FIG. 2) is attached to the USB-Hub 30C.
In the above-described embodiment, “USB” and “microphone” are displayed from the beginning as the operation screen for selecting the input destination of the attached data, but the connected device recognition function provided in the server 40 is provided. It may be used to display when a USB memory or a microphone is inserted into the USB-Hub.
In the case of this job, both document data from the USB memory and audio data from the microphone may be attached. In that case, a USB-Hub having a plurality of connectors is used.

  FIG. 18 shows the processing procedure of “attach mail” performed by the server. The processing procedure is started when “attach mail” is selected on the job selection screen of FIG. 4 and the USB-Hub is specified. The That is, in STEP 31, the operation screen data of FIG. 17A is transmitted to the digital multi-function peripheral 20C, scan data from the digital multi-function peripheral 20C is received in STEP 32, and the attached data is received from the USB memory via the USB-Hu 30C in STEP 33. In step 34, the attached data (document data and / or audio data) is transmitted to the scan data in STEP 34, and the process is terminated.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to execute various types of information processing using a desired peripheral device without increasing the functions of the image processing apparatus.
In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform information processing by combining various peripheral devices with the image processing apparatus without mounting a device driver or application program for each peripheral device to be used in the image processing apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Digital multifunction device, 11 ... Device control part, 12 ... Management part, 13 ... Image reading part, 14 ... Image formation part, 15 ... Communication part, 16 ... Operation part, 17 ... Hard disk, 18 ... Erase means, 19 ... Communication interface, 20A to 20C ... Digital multifunction peripheral, 30A to 30C ... USB-Hub, 40A, 40B ... Server, 41 ... Communication interface, 42 ... CPU, 43 ... ROM, 44 ... RAM, 45 ... Display unit, 46 ... Operation , 47 ... a hard disk, 48 ... a disk drive, 51 ... a bar code reader, 52 ... a USB memory, 53 ... a microphone, 60 ... a terminal device.

Claims (6)

A plurality of image processing devices including an operation display unit;
A plurality of communication connection means to which peripheral devices forming a group with the image processing apparatus are connected ;
A pre Symbol image processing apparatus and the information processing system constituted by peripheral devices connected to the communication connection means and the server to support the processing performed is connected,
The server includes a device driver of a peripheral device connected to the communication connection means,
Group management information between the image processing apparatus and the communication connection means;
And a said utilizing peripheral device connected to the communication connecting means to record the procedure of the information processing to be executed in cooperation with the image processing apparatus table,
When a peripheral device connected to the communication connection means is recognized, a device driver of the peripheral device is provided to the image processing apparatus in a group relationship with the communication connection means, and an operation display of the image processing apparatus is performed based on the record of the table information processing system and displaying according to the procedure of the information processing equivalent the peripheral device and the image processing apparatus executes cooperate with the progress of information processing in part.   The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein an IP address is assigned to the image processing apparatus and the communication connection unit.   The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the communication connection unit is a USB hub.   The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the server has GUI screen data for displaying the information processing procedure on an operation display unit of the image processing apparatus.   When the format of data supplied from the peripheral device is a format that cannot be handled by the image processing apparatus, the server has a function of converting the data into data in a format that can be handled by the image processing apparatus. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the information processing system is characterized in that: The server in the information processing system according to claims 1 to 3.

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