JP4565508B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copier, a facsimile machine, or a multifunction machine, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus having a print storage function.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been provided a printing system that can prevent a person other than the user from seeing or taking a printed matter without waiting for the user to finish printing near the printing apparatus. When this printing system is printed, an output ID is given and the printed matter is stored in the storage unit. If the user inputs and matches the output ID, the printed matter is conveyed to the exit, and the exit is opened so that the user can receive it (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2002-234234 A

  By the way, in the printing system described in Patent Document 1, if the storage capacity of the printed material stored in the printed material storage unit becomes full, the storage function cannot be used.

  In view of the above-described conventional problems, an object of the present invention is to store and manage a document output from an image forming apparatus by printing or the like, and prevent browsing and acquisition by a person other than a user and storage. This prevents the document storage function from being stopped due to the capacity becoming full, so that the storage function can always be used.

  Other objects of the present invention and specific advantages obtained by the present invention will become more apparent from the description of embodiments described below.

That is, the present invention provides a communication unit for communicating with an external device, an image forming unit that prints a document on a sheet in response to a request from the external device, and a printed material and a user when the document is printed. An information management unit that generates and stores storage information to be associated, a document storage unit that stores a printed matter on which a document is printed on paper by the image forming unit, and can store a printed matter corresponding to a plurality of jobs, and the document storage A paper discharge unit that discharges the printed material stored in the document storage unit, an authentication processing unit for authenticating a user who receives the printed material stored in the document storage unit, and a control unit that controls the operation of each unit, The control unit supports a plurality of jobs stored in the document storage unit in response to a request from a user authenticated by the authentication processing unit. In this case, a desired printed matter is taken out from the printed matter and discharged by the paper discharge unit, and a plurality of items stored in the document storage unit are controlled based on storage information stored in the information management unit. An image forming apparatus that manages a storage period of a printed material corresponding to a job and performs control to forcibly take out a printed material after a predetermined storage period from the document storage unit and discharge the printed material by the paper discharge unit. Here, the document storage unit is arranged above the front end side in the conveyance direction of the stored printed material, moved in the vertical direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction, and a search roller for shifting the stored printed material one page at a time and a target roller A paper discharge roller for sending out the printed material, and a front position regulating plate that is moved in a vertical direction perpendicular to the conveying direction at the front end position in the conveying direction of the stored printed material and positions the front end in the conveying direction of the stored printed material. A rear position regulating plate that is moved in the front-rear direction along the transport direction at the rear end position in the transport direction of the stored printed matter and restricts the rear end in the transport direction of the stored printed matter, and the control unit includes: The search roller is lowered and brought into contact with the upper surface of the printed matter stored in the document storage section. In this state, the search roller is rotated in the counter paper discharge direction to perform printing. The printed matter is moved backwards, and the printed matter is shifted one by one until the search roller comes into contact with the target printed matter. When the desired printed matter is searched and the target roller comes into contact with the target printed matter, The search roller is stopped, and the front position restricting plate is lowered so that the upper end surface of the front position restricting plate is at the height position of the lower surface of the target printed matter. Is lowered and brought into contact with the upper surface of the target printed matter stored in the document storage unit, and the target printed matter is moved forward by discharging the target printed matter by rotating the search roller in the paper discharge direction. Is discharged from the document storage unit, the front position regulating plate is returned to the upper position where the entire stored printed matter can be regulated at the front end position in the carrying direction, and then the stored printed matter in the carrying direction is restored. In the end position, by moving the post position regulating plate in the direction before along the transport direction, and performs control to return the printed matter is moved rearward by the search operation to the original position.

The present invention also provides a communication unit for communicating with an external device, an image forming unit that prints a document on a sheet in response to a request from the external device, and a printed material and a user when the document is printed. An information management unit that generates and stores storage information to be associated, a document storage unit that stores a printed material on which a document is printed on paper by the image forming unit, and can store a printed material corresponding to a plurality of jobs, and the document storage A paper discharge unit that discharges the printed material stored in the document storage unit, an authentication processing unit for authenticating a user who receives the printed material stored in the document storage unit, and a control unit that controls the operation of each unit, The control unit corresponds to a plurality of jobs stored in the document storage unit in response to a request from a user authenticated by the authentication processing unit. A control is performed to take out a desired printed material from the printed material and eject it by the paper ejection unit, and forcibly eject a printed material that has already been printed in the print job when the current print job is cancelled. An image forming apparatus that performs control. Here, the document storage unit is arranged above the front end side in the conveyance direction of the stored printed material, moved in the vertical direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction, and a search roller for shifting the stored printed material one page at a time and a target roller A paper discharge roller for sending out the printed material, and a front position regulating plate that is moved in a vertical direction perpendicular to the conveying direction at the front end position in the conveying direction of the stored printed material and positions the front end in the conveying direction of the stored printed material. A rear position regulating plate that is moved in the front-rear direction along the transport direction at the rear end position in the transport direction of the stored printed matter and restricts the rear end in the transport direction of the stored printed matter, and the control unit includes: The search roller is lowered and brought into contact with the upper surface of the printed matter stored in the document storage section. In this state, the search roller is rotated in the counter paper discharge direction to perform printing. The printed matter is moved backwards, and the printed matter is shifted one by one until the search roller comes into contact with the target printed matter. When the desired printed matter is searched and the target roller comes into contact with the target printed matter, The search roller is stopped, and the front position restricting plate is lowered so that the upper end surface of the front position restricting plate is at the height position of the lower surface of the target printed matter. Is lowered and brought into contact with the upper surface of the target printed matter stored in the document storage unit, and the target printed matter is moved forward by discharging the target printed matter by rotating the search roller in the paper discharge direction. Is discharged from the document storage unit, the front position regulating plate is returned to the upper position where the entire stored printed matter can be regulated at the front end position in the carrying direction, and then the stored printed matter in the carrying direction is restored. In the end position, by moving the post position regulating plate in the longitudinal direction along the conveying direction, and performs control to return the printed matter is moved rearward by the search operation to the original position.

  In the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the control unit further discharges the printed matter after a predetermined storage period from the document storage unit by the image forming unit when forcibly discharging the printed matter from the document storage unit. Control is performed to print the pattern on the printed material.

According to the present invention, a search roller for shifting the stored printed matter one page at a time and sending out the target printed matter is arranged above the front end side in the conveying direction of the stored printed matter and moved in the vertical direction perpendicular to the conveying direction. And a front position regulating plate that is moved in the vertical direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction at the front end position in the conveyance direction of the stored printed matter and restricts the front end in the conveyance direction of the stored printed matter, and stored. A rear position restricting plate that moves in the front-rear direction along the transport direction at the rear end position in the transport direction of the printed material and restricts the rear end of the stored printed material in the transport direction, and prints corresponding to a plurality of jobs; In a storable document storage unit, a printed matter in which a document is printed on paper by an image forming unit is stored, and in response to a request from a user who is authenticated by an authentication processing unit, In addition to controlling to take out a desired printed material from among the printed materials corresponding to a plurality of jobs stored in the document storage unit and ejecting it by the paper ejection unit, and based on the storage information stored in the information management unit , Managing the storage period of the printed material corresponding to a plurality of jobs stored in the document storage unit, forcibly taking out the printed material after a predetermined storage period from the document storage unit, and discharging it by the paper discharge unit The search roller is lowered to contact the upper surface of the printed material stored in the document storage unit, and in this state, the search roller is rotated in the anti-paper discharge direction to move the printed material backward. And move the printed material one sheet at a time until the search roller comes into contact with the target printed material to search for the desired printed material. When the target print product comes into contact, the front position regulating plate is stopped so that the rotation of the search roller is stopped and the upper end surface of the front position regulating plate is at the height position of the lower surface of the target print product. In this state, the discharge roller is lowered and brought into contact with the upper surface of the target printed matter stored in the document storage unit, and the target printed matter is moved forward by rotating the search roller in the paper discharge direction. When the target printed matter has been ejected from the document storage section, the front position restricting plate is returned to an upper position where the entire stored stored printed matter can be regulated at the front end position in the transport direction. It is viewed and acquired by a person other than the user by moving the rear position restriction plate in the forward direction along the conveyance direction at the rear end position in the conveyance direction of the stored printed matter. In addition to preventing the document storage function from being stopped due to the storage capacity becoming full, the document storage function can be used effectively.

  In addition, according to the present invention, in response to a request from a user who has been authenticated by the authentication processing unit, control is performed to discharge the printed matter stored in the document storage unit by the paper discharge unit, and an ongoing print job can be executed. When cancelled, the print job is controlled to forcibly discharge the printed matter, so that it is prevented from being viewed or acquired by a person other than the user, and the storage capacity is full. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the document storage function from being stopped due to such a situation, and to effectively use the document storage function.

  Further, according to the present invention, by controlling the image forming unit to print a predetermined pattern on a printed matter that is forcibly discharged, the contents printed on the discarded paper cannot be identified, and document security Can be secured.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the following examples, and can be arbitrarily changed without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the present invention is applied to an image forming apparatus 120 in a printing system 100 in which a client 110 to which a user instructs printing and an image forming apparatus 120 are connected via a network line such as a LAN.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the image forming apparatus 120 generates a document ID in response to a request from the communication unit 10 and the client 110 for communicating with the client 110, and the user information of the user, the document ID, An information management unit 20 that associates the number of prints and the printing date and saves them as storage information, an image forming unit 30 that prints a document on paper, a paper feeding unit 40 that feeds paper to the image forming unit 30, and the image formation The document storage unit 50 that stores the paper on which the document is printed by the unit 30, that is, the printed material, the authentication processing unit 60 for authenticating the user who receives the stored printed material, and the printed material stored in the document storage unit 50 are discharged. A paper discharge unit 70, a control unit 80 for controlling the operation of each unit, and setting information and the like for input to the control unit 80 The operation unit 90 and the like are included.

In the printing system 100, printing processing is performed according to the following procedure.
[Procedure 1] When the user operates the client 110 to request printing with the storage function turned ON, the client 110 adds information indicating that the storage function is ON and user information to the job using the printer driver, and the image forming apparatus 120. Send to.
[Procedure 2] When the image forming apparatus 120 receives a job from the client 110 via the communication unit 10, the information management unit 20 generates a document ID, and associates the user information of the user, the document ID, the number of prints, and the print date and time. Then, it is stored in the apparatus as storage information.
[Procedure 3] The image forming apparatus 120 prints a document on the paper fed from the paper feeding unit 40 by the image forming unit 30, and stores the printed paper, that is, the printed matter, in the document storage unit 50.
[Procedure 4] When receiving a document, the user operates the operation unit 90 to input user information (such as a user ID and password) to the control unit 80 of the image forming apparatus 120.
[Procedure 5] The image forming apparatus 120 collates the user information by the authentication processing unit 60, and discharges the printed matter stored in the document storage unit 50 by the paper discharge unit 70 if they match.

  As described above, the document output from the image forming apparatus 120 by printing or the like is stored in the apparatus without being output to the outside, so that the waiting time can be reduced. Further, the stored printed matter can be discharged and received by the user when he / she picks up and performs authentication. Thereby, browsing and taking out by a third party can be prevented.

  For authentication of the user by the authentication processing unit 60 in the image forming apparatus 120, existing authentication techniques such as an IC card, a password, and biometrics can be used. If there are a plurality of documents associated with the user as a result of authentication, the printed matter to be output is selected. You can take out everything or just the ones you choose. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, for example, the information management unit 20 stores the user information of the user in association with the document ID assigned to each document printed by the image forming unit 30 at the time of printing, the number of prints, and the print date and time. To do. This information is used for searching and checking the retention period.

  Here, in the image forming apparatus 120, the paper 1 is fed from the paper feed tray 41 constituting the paper feed unit 40 during the printing process, as schematically shown in the sectional view of the main part in FIG. A document is printed by the pair of registration rollers 31, the photosensitive drum 32 and the transfer unit 33, and the pair of fixing rollers 34 that are sent out by the paper roller 42 and constitute the image forming unit 30, and pass through the conveyance path 11 and the conveyance path 12. The printed material is stored and stored in the document storage unit 50.

  At the time of paper discharge, the paper is discharged from the document storage unit 50 to the paper discharge tray 71 via the conveyance path 13 and the conveyance path 14 (face-down discharge), or via the conveyance path 13 and the conveyance path 15. Then, the paper is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 72 (face-up discharge).

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, the document storage unit 50 provided in the image forming apparatus 120 includes a detection roller 51 for shifting the stored printed matter one page at a time, and a paper discharge for sending the target printed matter. A roller 52, a front position restricting plate 53 that restricts the front end of the stored printed matter in the transport direction, a rear position restricting plate 54 that restricts the rear end of the stored printed matter in the transport direction, a paper slip prevention portion 55, and the like. Yes.

The detection roller 51 and the paper discharge roller 52 are arranged above the front end side in the conveyance direction of the stored printed matter, and are moved in the vertical direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction. Further, the front position regulating plate 53 is moved in the vertical direction perpendicular to the transport direction at the front end position in the transport direction of the stored printed matter. Further, the rear position regulating plate 54 is moved in the front-rear direction along the transport direction at the rear end position in the transport direction of the stored printed matter.

  The control unit 80 in the image forming apparatus 120 manages the printed matter stored in the document storage unit 50 based on the storage information stored in the information management unit 20, and the authentication processing unit 60 uses the user information. When the document is discharged by the paper discharge unit 70, the printed matter stored in the document storage unit 50 is discharged based on the storage information stored in the information management unit 20. The authenticated user's printed matter is searched, and the target printed matter is sent out from the document storage unit 50 and discharged.

  In order to search for a target printed matter from the printed matter stored in the document storage unit 50, the control unit 80 stores the target printed matter in the document storage unit 50 based on the storage information stored in the information management unit 20. As shown in FIG. 6, the search roller 51 is lowered and brought into contact with the upper surface of the printed material stored in the document storage unit 50, and in this state, The printed material is moved backward by rotating the search roller 51 in the paper discharge direction, and the printed material is shifted one by one until the search roller 51 comes into contact with the target printed material 1A.

  When the control unit 80 comes into contact with the target printed matter 1A, the control unit 80 stops the rotation of the search roller 51, and the upper end surface of the front position regulating plate 53 is at the height position of the lower surface of the target printed matter 1A. As shown in FIG. 7, the front position restricting plate 53 is lowered, and the paper discharge roller 52 is lowered and brought into contact with the upper surface of the target printed matter stored in the document storage unit 50 as shown in FIG. By rotating the search roller 51 in the paper direction, the target printed matter is moved forward and discharged.

Further, when the control unit 80 finishes discharging the target printed matter from the document storage unit 50, as shown in FIG. 8, the control unit 80 controls the front position to the upper position where the entire stored printed matter can be regulated at the front end position in the transport direction. After returning the plate 53, the printed matter moved backward in the above-described search operation is moved to the rear position regulating plate 54 in the forward direction along the conveying direction at the rear end position in the conveying direction of the stored printed matter. Return to the original position.

  In the image forming apparatus 120, a document output by printing or the like is stored in the document storage unit 50 for a preset period, and a printed matter after the storage period is forcibly discharged. Yes. The date and time of the storage information and the current time are used for setting the period.

  That is, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 9, the control unit 80 checks the date and time of the storage information stored in the information management unit 20 (step S1), and determines whether or not the storage period is over ( In step S2), if there is a printed matter that has exceeded the storage period, the unnecessary document is discharged, and the printed matter that has exceeded the storage period is discharged as an unnecessary document from the document storage unit 50 (step S3). ).

  Further, in this image forming apparatus 120, when printing is canceled halfway, a document that has already been printed for the job is forcibly discharged.

  That is, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 10, when the printing is canceled (step S11), the control unit 80 determines whether one or more sheets are printed in the print job (step S12), and the determination result Is YES, that is, if there is a printed document, the unnecessary document is discharged, and the printed matter is discharged as an unnecessary document (step S13).

  Further, the unnecessary document discharge process in the image forming apparatus 120 is performed according to the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG.

  That is, when an instruction is given to discharge an unnecessary document stored in the document storage unit 50 (step S21), the control unit 80 determines whether to overwrite the pattern (step S22).

  If the determination result in step S22 is YES, that is, if pattern printing is set, the pattern is overprinted on the printing surface of the printed matter to be discharged to make the printed matter indistinguishable (step S23). ), The printed matter is discharged as an unnecessary document (step S24).

  If the determination result in step S22 is NO, that is, if pattern printing is not set, the printed matter is discharged as an unnecessary document as it is (step S24).

  In this image forming apparatus 120, in order to cope with the case where the document storage unit 50 becomes full when the next print job is executed, the control unit 80 requires that the new print job be executed before the new print job is executed. The remaining number of storable sheets is notified to the client 110 via the communication unit 10.

  As a result, the client 110 displays a warning dialog when the newly requested number of prints is larger than the acquired remaining storable number. In this case, if the storage function is turned off, it is possible to continue printing.

  Further, when the user's document is stored in the document storage unit 50, it is possible to instruct the output or destruction of the document stored by the remote operation from the client 110. In that case, it is necessary to perform a new authentication process on the client 110 side.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a printing system including an image forming apparatus and a client to which the present invention is applied. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the storage information preserve | saved at the information management part in the said image forming apparatus. It is a typical principal part sectional view showing the internal structure of the above-mentioned image forming device. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part showing a search roller and a paper discharge roller built in a document storage unit provided in the image forming apparatus. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows typically the search state of the target printed matter by the said search roller. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a main part schematically illustrating a discharge state of a target printed matter by the discharge roller. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows typically the operation state which returns the printed matter moved back by the said search operation | movement to the original position. A procedure for managing the storage period of the printed matter stored in the document storage unit by the control unit in the image forming apparatus and forcibly discharging the printed matter after the predetermined storage period as an unnecessary document is performed. It is a flowchart to show. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a cancel process of a printing operation in the image forming apparatus. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure of unnecessary document discharge processing in the image forming apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Paper 1A Target printed matter 10 Communication 11-16 Conveyance path 20 Information management part 30 Image formation part 31 Registration roller 32 Photosensitive drum 33 Transfer unit 34 Fixing roller 40 Paper feed part,
41 Paper feed tray 42 Paper feed roller 50 Document storage unit 60 Authentication processing unit 70 Paper discharge unit 71 Paper discharge tray 72 Paper discharge tray 80 Control unit 90 Operation unit 120 Image forming apparatus 110 Client

Claims (4)

A communication unit for communicating with an external device;
In response to a request from an external device, an image forming unit that prints a document on paper,
When printing the document, an information management unit that generates and stores storage information that associates the printed material with the user, and stores the printed material on which the document is printed on the paper by the image forming unit, and supports a plurality of jobs. A document storage unit that can store printed matter;
A paper discharge unit that discharges the printed material stored in the document storage unit, an authentication processing unit for authenticating a user who receives the printed material stored in the document storage unit, and a control unit that controls operations of these units. With
In response to a request from the user authenticated by the authentication processing unit, the control unit extracts a desired printed material from among the printed materials corresponding to a plurality of jobs stored in the document storage unit, and uses the paper discharge unit. In addition to performing control of discharging, the storage period of the printed matter corresponding to the plurality of jobs stored in the document storage unit is managed based on the storage information stored in the information management unit, and a predetermined storage period Forcibly take out the printed matter from the document storage unit and discharge the printed matter by the paper discharge unit,
The document storage unit is arranged above the front end side in the conveyance direction of the stored printed matter, moved in the vertical direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction, and sends out a search roller for shifting the stored printed matter one page at a time and a target printed matter And a front position regulating plate that is moved in the vertical direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction at the front end position in the conveyance direction of the stored printed matter and restricts the front end in the conveyance direction of the stored printed matter, and stored. A rear position restriction plate that is moved in the front-rear direction along the conveyance direction at the rear end position in the conveyance direction of the printed matter, and regulates the rear end of the stored printed matter in the conveyance direction;
The control unit lowers the search roller to contact the upper surface of the printed material stored in the document storage unit, and in this state, rotates the search roller in the counter paper discharge direction to move the printed material backward. Then, the printed material is shifted one by one until the search roller is in contact with the target printed material, the desired printed material is searched, and when the search roller is in contact with the target printed material, the search roller is rotated. The front position restricting plate is lowered so that the upper end surface of the front position restricting plate is at the height position of the lower surface of the target printed matter. In this state, the paper discharge roller is lowered to store the document. The target printed matter is moved forward by rotating the search roller in the paper discharge direction by contacting the upper surface of the target printed matter stored in the print section, and discharging the target printed matter. When the paper storage unit finishes discharging, the front position restricting plate is returned to the upper position where the entire stored printed matter can be restricted at the front end position in the carrying direction, and then conveyed at the rear end position in the carrying direction of the stored printed matter. An image forming apparatus that performs control to return the printed matter moved backward in the search operation to the original position by moving the rear position restricting plate in the forward direction along the direction .   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the print job being executed is cancelled, the control unit performs control to forcibly discharge a printed matter that has already been printed in the print job. A communication unit for communicating with an external device;
In response to a request from an external device, an image forming unit that prints a document on paper,
An information management unit that generates and stores storage information that associates a printed material with a user when printing the document;
A document storage unit capable of storing a printed matter in which a document is printed on paper by the image forming unit, and storing a printed matter corresponding to a plurality of jobs;
A paper discharge unit for discharging the printed matter stored in the document storage unit;
An authentication processing unit for authenticating a user who receives the printed matter stored in the document storage unit;
A control unit that controls the operation of each of these units,
In response to a request from the user authenticated by the authentication processing unit, the control unit extracts a desired printed material from among the printed materials corresponding to a plurality of jobs stored in the document storage unit, and uses the paper discharge unit. In addition to controlling paper ejection, if a print job in progress is canceled, control is performed to forcibly eject printed matter that has already been printed in the print job.
The document storage unit is arranged above the front end side in the conveyance direction of the stored printed matter, moved in the vertical direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction, and sends out a search roller for shifting the stored printed matter one page at a time and a target printed matter And a front position regulating plate that is moved in the vertical direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction at the front end position in the conveyance direction of the stored printed matter and restricts the front end in the conveyance direction of the stored printed matter, and stored. A rear position restriction plate that is moved in the front-rear direction along the conveyance direction at the rear end position in the conveyance direction of the printed matter, and regulates the rear end of the stored printed matter in the conveyance direction;
The control unit lowers the search roller to contact the upper surface of the printed material stored in the document storage unit, and in this state, rotates the search roller in the counter paper discharge direction to move the printed material backward. Then, the printed material is shifted one by one until the search roller is in contact with the target printed material, the desired printed material is searched, and when the search roller is in contact with the target printed material, the search roller is rotated. The front position restricting plate is lowered so that the upper end surface of the front position restricting plate is at the height position of the lower surface of the target printed matter. In this state, the paper discharge roller is lowered to store the document. The target printed matter is moved forward by rotating the search roller in the paper discharge direction by contacting the upper surface of the target printed matter stored in the print section, and discharging the target printed matter. When the paper storage unit finishes discharging, the front position restricting plate is returned to the upper position where the entire stored printed matter can be restricted at the front end position in the carrying direction, and then conveyed at the rear end position in the carrying direction of the stored printed matter. An image forming apparatus that performs control to return the printed matter moved backward in the search operation to the original position by moving the rear position restricting plate in the forward direction along the direction .   The control unit controls printing of a pattern on the printed material discharged from the document storage unit by the image forming unit when the printed material for which a predetermined storage period has passed is forcibly discharged from the document storage unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is performed.

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