JP5080334B2 - Approval device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an approval apparatus that approves the execution of a predetermined process, and an image forming apparatus that executes the print job after the execution of the print job is approved.

For example, a game hall management device has been proposed as an approval device that allows the setter to execute input of setting items when approval is obtained from the approver (see, for example, Patent Document 1). When the setting person inputs setting items such as an exchange rate and a replay rate, the game hall management device acquires the authentication information of the approver who approves the input permission of the setting item, and the pre-registered approval When the authorized person's authentication information matches the acquired authentication information, the authorized person is identified. Next, this game hall management device provides the approver with information necessary for the approver to determine whether or not to allow the setting item to be input. When the approval is obtained, the game hall management device permits the setting person to input the setting items. Fingerprint information that can uniquely identify the approver is used as the authentication information.
JP-A-2005-270308

  However, in the game hall management device as the conventional approval device described above, when there is no approver, it is not possible to obtain permission to input the setting items until the approver returns, and the game hall for a long time. Will not be available.

  By the way, when the above-described approval device is combined with the image forming device, if the approver is absent, the print job requested by the user for a long time is printed until the approver returns, as in the case of the game center management device described above. This causes a problem that it cannot be executed.

  Therefore, in view of the above-described problems, the present invention is an image forming apparatus incorporating an approval device and an approval device that can be used when approval is obtained from another approver when the approver is absent. An object is to provide an apparatus.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a management table storing management information for identifying an approver and absence information indicating the absence period from the approver's terminal. When the absence registration unit for registering absence information in correspondence and the designation information of the first approver set in the first group are received from the terminal of the approval requester belonging to the first group, the management table is referred to and managed. The first approver is identified based on the information and the designation information, and if there is no absence information, an approval request is output to the terminal of the first approver, and if the absence information is present and the absence is confirmed, the terminal of the approval requester An absence determination unit that outputs a notification of absence, a first approval processing unit that performs an approval process by a first approval method upon receiving first approval information from a terminal of a first approver who has received an approval request, and a first group Approval request belonging to When the designated information of the second approver set in the second group as a proxy is received from the terminal, the management table is referred to, the second approver is identified based on the management information and the designated information, and the second approver's A proxy determination unit that outputs an approval request to the terminal, and a second approval processing unit that performs an approval process in the second approval method when receiving the second approval information from the terminal of the second approver who has received the approval request, An approval apparatus, wherein the first approval method and the second approval method are different approval methods, and the second approval information has a larger amount of information than the first approval information .

The present invention also provides an image forming apparatus that forms an image of input image information on a medium.
An image forming apparatus comprising the above approval device and forming an image when approved by the approval device.

  According to the approval device of the present invention, the first approval information input by the first approver is subjected to the approval process in the first approval processing unit by the first approval method, and the second if the approval is not obtained. The second approval information having a large amount of information input by the approver is approved by the second approval processing unit by the second approval method with a different approval method, so even if the approval from the first approver cannot be obtained, Approval can be obtained from two approvers.

  Further, according to the image forming apparatus of another invention, since the image is formed when approved by the approval device, the approval is obtained from the second approver even if the approval is not obtained from the first approver. Image formation can be performed.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system in which the printer according to the first embodiment is used. The printer 10 as the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 is used in the printing system illustrated in FIG. 2, and an approver or proxy approver designated by the user for a print job requested by the user. After obtaining the approval, the apparatus approves the execution of the print job, and further permits and executes the printing of the print job.

  Here, before describing the configuration of the printer 10, the configuration of a printing system in which the printer 10 is used will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the printing system includes a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) 20 used by users a-1 to c-3 belonging to groups A, B, and C, and a group. The PCs 30 used by the approvers A-1 to C-1 belonging to the groups A, B, and C are connected via the network 50. And PC30 which approvers A-1 to C-1 use is provided with the sensor part 301 which reads a fingerprint.

  In this system, for the users a-1 to c-3 belonging to the groups A, B, and C, the approver of the own group is set as a regular approver, and the approval of other groups Is set as a proxy approver. In this embodiment, it is assumed that each user owns a copy in which the approver ID assigned to the proxy approver is described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 10 includes an operation / display unit 101, an image storage unit 102, an approval information storage unit 103, a member management table 104, a print job management table 105, a log storage unit 106, An approval processing unit 107, a communication unit 108, an image conversion unit 109, a printing unit 110, and a time measuring unit 111 are provided.

  Here, the approval processing unit 107 and the image conversion unit 109 are generated when a CPU (not shown) executes a control program stored in a ROM (not shown), and has functions to be described later.

  The operation / display unit 101 includes keys such as a numeric keypad, operation keys, and execution keys, and a liquid crystal display device. A key such as a numeric keypad inputs information necessary for printing, and the liquid crystal display device displays information necessary for printing and status information of the device itself.

  The image storage unit 102 is formed of a RAM and includes users a-1 to a-4 belonging to the group A, users b-1 belonging to the group B, and users c-1 to c-3 belonging to the group C. The print job received from the PC 20 to be used is stored.

  The approval information storage unit 103 stores approval processing information for performing processing for approving execution of a print job designated by the user. As the approval processing information, for example, there is the following. 1) User ID and password as authentication information for authenticating the user who has requested printing of the print job received from the PC 20 2) Authentication for authenticating the approver who approves the print execution of the print job received from the PC 30 Information, i.e., approver ID, password, and fingerprint feature information that uniquely identifies the approver are stored.

  The member management table 104 is formed in a flash memory or a hard disk device, and the users a-1 to c-3, the approver A-1, and the approver B-1 belonging to the group A, the group B, and the group C. And management information for managing the approver C-1. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the member management table 104 includes a user ID item, a group name item, an approver specifying item, a user specifying item, a password item, a fingerprint feature data item, an absent period (From) item, and It has an absent period (To) item.

  In the ID item, an ID given to a member (user and approver) is described, and in the group name item, a group name to which the member belongs is described. In the approver specifying item, information for specifying the approver is described, and in the user specifying item, information for specifying the user is described. The password item describes the password of the approver or user, and the fingerprint feature data item describes the fingerprint feature data of the approver. The absence period (From) item describes the start date and time of the approver's absence period, and the absence period (To) item describes the end date and time of the approver's absence period.

  The print job management table 105 is a table for managing print jobs transmitted from the PCs 20 of the users a-1 to c-3. As shown in FIG. 4, the print job management table 105 includes a print job No. Item, user ID item, acceptance date / time item, file name item, approver ID item, approval type item, and approval status item.

  Print job No. The item includes a print job No. attached to the print job transmitted from the user's PC 20. And the user ID assigned to the user who requested the printing is described in the user ID item. The reception date / time item describes the time when the print job is received, and the file name item describes the name of the file to be printed described in the print job. The ID assigned to the approver is described in the approver ID item, the approval type is described in the approval type item as to whether it is regular approval or proxy approval, and the approval status is in the approval status item. Is described.

  The log storage unit 106 stores log data regarding a print job requested to be printed by the users a-1 to c-3. As shown in FIG. An item, a user ID item, an approver ID item, an approver authentication means item, an approval date / time item, and a print file name item.

  Print job No. The item includes a print job No. attached to the print job. In the user ID item, the user ID assigned to the user who requested the approval of execution of the print job is described. An ID assigned to the approver is described in the approver ID item, and a means for authenticating the approver is described in the approver authentication item. The date and time of approval is described in the approval date and time item, and the name of the printed file is described in the print file name item.

  The approval processing unit 107 has a function of approving a print job execution request transmitted from the PC 20. The functions performed by the approval processing unit 107 will be described in detail in the description of the operation of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment described later.

  The communication unit 108 includes users a-1 to a-4 belonging to group A, user b-1 belonging to group B, PC 20 used by users c-1 to c-3 belonging to group C, and Information is transmitted / received via the network 50 between the approver A-1 belonging to the group A, the approver B-1 belonging to the group B, and the PC 30 used by the approver C-1 belonging to the group C. .

  The image conversion unit 109 converts the image data described in the print job stored in the image storage unit 102 into bitmap data for the printing unit 110 to print on a print medium, and outputs the bitmap data to the printing unit 110.

  The printing unit 110 prints an image represented by bitmap data input from the image conversion unit 109 on a print medium. The time measuring unit 111 measures time.

  Next, the operation of the printing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram of the printing system during normal processing. When the user b-1 included in the group B causes the printer 10 to print, for example, the print data with the file name “HR file No. 35.doc”, the user b-1 first logs in to the printer 10 and therefore the user b-1 -1, the PC 20 used by the user b-1 transmits the authentication information including the user ID “B123456789” and the password “ub0ed3dt” to the printer 10 via the network 50 (see T1 in FIG. 6).

  When the printer 10 receives the above-described authentication information from the PC 20 of the user b-1, the printer 10 refers to the member management table 104 shown in FIG. 3 and refers to the user ID “B123456789” and the password “ub0ed3dt” indicated in the received authentication information. Is registered in the member management table 104, a login acceptance notification indicating that the login has been accepted is transmitted to the PC 20 of the user b-1 via the network 50 (see T2 in FIG. 6).

  When the login acceptance notification is transmitted from the printer 10 to the PC 20 of the user b-1, the PC 20 of the user b-1 approves the permission to execute the print job via the network 50 according to the operation of the user b-1. The approver ID “B012345678” assigned to the approver B-1 of his / her group B is transmitted to the printer 10 as approver specifying information for specifying the approver to be transmitted (see T3 in FIG. 6).

  When the printer 10 receives the ID of the approver B-1 to which the user belongs from the PC 20 of the user b-1 via the network 50, the printer 10 refers to the member management table 104 shown in FIG. 3, and receives the approver ID “B012345678”. When the approver B-1 shown in FIG. 2 confirms that the approver B-1 is not currently absent, a print job transmission permission notification indicating permission of transmission of the print job is transmitted to the PC 20 of the user b-1 via the network 50 ( (See T4 in FIG. 6).

  When a print job transmission permission notification is transmitted from the printer 10 to the PC 20 of the user b-1, the PC 20 transmits a print job to the printer 10 via the network 50 according to the operation of the user b-1 (FIG. 6). (See T5 in the middle).

  When the printer 10 receives the print job from the PC 20 of the user b-1 via the network 50, the printer 10 stores the print job in the image storage unit 102 and then uses the PC 30 used by the approver B-1 via the network 50. Then, an execution permission request notification indicating that a print job execution request has been made is transmitted together with the authentication request (see T6 in FIG. 6).

  Thereafter, when the approver B-1 confirms that the execution permission request notification is received from the printer 10, the PC 30 follows the operation of the approver B-1 and the user of the approver B-1 via the network 50. Authentication information having ID “B012345678” and password “pr633c3-s” is transmitted to the printer 10 (see T7 in FIG. 6).

  When the printer 10 receives the above-described authentication information from the PC 30 of the approver B-1 via the network 50, the printer 10 refers to the member management table 104, and includes the user ID “B012345678” and the password “described in the received authentication information. When it is confirmed that “pr633c3-s” is registered in the member management table 104 as an approver of the group B, the approver B-1 determines whether or not to approve the execution of the print job. And transmitted to the PC 30 of the approver B-1 via the network 50 (see T8 in FIG. 6). The execution approval confirmation notification includes the user ID “B123456789” of the user b-1 who has requested printing and the file name “HR file No. 35.doc” in order to determine whether to approve. .

  Thereafter, when the approver B-1 confirms from the PC 30 that the execution approval confirmation notification has been received, the approver B-1 executes the print job requested by the user b-1 based on the execution approval confirmation notification. Determine whether or not When the approver B-1 determines that the execution of the print job may be permitted, the PC 30 of the approver B-1 sends an execution approval notification to the printer 10 via the network 50 in accordance with the operation of the approver B-1. Transmit (see T9 in FIG. 6).

  When the printer 10 receives the execution approval notification from the PC 30 of the approver B-1, the printer 10 transmits a reception notification indicating that the execution approval notification has been received to the PC 30 of the approver B-1 via the network 50 (FIG. 6). (See T10 in the middle). Thereafter, the printer 10 transmits a permission notice indicating that the execution of the print job is permitted to the PC 20 of the user b-1 via the network 50 (see T11 in FIG. 6).

  When the user b-1 confirms from the PC 20 that the permission notification has been received from the printer 10, since the authentication request is included again in the permission notification, the PC 20 follows the operation of the user b-1 and the user ID “B123456789” ”And the password“ ub0ed3dt ”are transmitted to the printer 10 via the network 50 (see T12 in FIG. 6).

  When the authentication information is received from the PC 20 of the user b-1, the printer 10 refers to the member management table 104, and the user ID “A123456789” and the password “ub0ed3dt” described in the received authentication information are stored in the member management table. If it is confirmed that the file is registered in 104, a print job whose file name is requested by the user b-1 is “Personnel file No. 35.doc” is executed.

  FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram of the printing system at the time of proxy approval.

  When the user a-1 included in the group A requests the printer 10 to print the print data having the file name “Project A development plan.doc”, for example, the user a-1 first logs in to the printer 10 to log in to the printer 10. , The PC 20 used by the user a-1 transmits the authentication information in which the user ID “A123456789” and the password “22-dt6db0d” are described to the printer 10 via the network 50 (see T21 in FIG. 7). ).

  When the printer 10 receives the authentication information from the PC 20 of the user a-1, the printer 10 refers to the member management table 104 shown in FIG. 3 and refers to the user ID “A123456789” and the password “22−” shown in the received authentication information. When it is confirmed that “dt6db0d” is registered in the member management table 104, a login acceptance notification indicating that the login has been accepted is transmitted to the PC 20 of the user a-1 via the network 50 (see T22 in FIG. 7). .

  When the login acceptance notification is transmitted from the printer 10 to the PC 20 of the user a-1, the PC 20 of the user a-1 subsequently approves the group A to the printer 10 via the network 50 according to the operation of the user a-1. The ID “A012345678” of the person A-1 is transmitted (see T23 in FIG. 7).

  When the printer 10 receives the above-mentioned ID “A012345678” of the approver A-1 from the PC 20 of the user a-1 via the network 50, the printer 10 refers to the member management table 104 and determines whether or not it is an approver of the group A. And if it is an approver of group A, it is further determined whether or not the person is absent. In this embodiment, since the approver A-1 is absent from “2008.1.11 14:00” to “2008.11.6 13:00”, a proxy approval request is included via the network 50. An approver absence notification is transmitted to the PC 20 of the user a-1 (see T24 in FIG. 7).

  When the user a-1 confirms from the PC 20 that the approver absence notification has been transmitted from the printer 10, the user refers to a copy in which the IDs of approvers of other groups are described. Then, the PC 20 of the user a-1 uses the approver A-1 as approver designation information that designates an approver who acts as an agent for approving the execution of the print job via the network 50 in accordance with the operation of the user a-1. The proxy approver ID “B012345678” indicating another approver B-1 belonging to the proxy group B is transmitted to the printer 10 (see T25 in FIG. 7).

  When the printer 10 receives the ID “B012345678” of the proxy approver B-1 from the PC 20 of the user a-1 via the network 50, the printer 10 refers to the member management table 104 shown in FIG. If it is determined whether or not the proxy approver B-1 indicated by the received ID “B012345678” is absent, and it is determined that it is not absent, A print job transmission permission notification indicating that the transmission of the print job is permitted is transmitted to the PC 20 of the user a-1 via the network 50 (see T26 in FIG. 7).

  When the print job transmission permission notification is transmitted from the printer 10 to the PC 20 of the user a-1, the PC 20 transmits the print job to the printer 10 via the network 50 according to the operation of the user b-1 (FIG. 7). (See T27 in the middle).

  When the printer 10 receives a print job from the PC 20 of the user a-1 via the network 50, the printer 10 stores the print job in the image storage unit 102, and then transmits it to the PC 30 of the proxy approver B-1 via the network 50. Then, it is transmitted together with an execution permission request notification approval request indicating that there has been a permission request for execution of the print job (see T28 in FIG. 7).

  Thereafter, when the proxy approver B-1 confirms that the execution permission request notification has been received from the printer 10 on the PC 30, the PC 30 follows the operation of the proxy approver B-1 via the network 50 and the proxy approver B- The authentication information having the ID “B012345678” and the password “pr633c3-s” is transmitted to the printer 10 (see T29 in FIG. 7).

  When the printer 10 receives the above-described authentication information from the PC 30 of the proxy approver B-1 via the network 50, the ID “B012345678” and the password “pr633c3-s” of the proxy authenticator B-1 are stored in the member management table 104. If it is determined whether it is registered, and if it is determined that it is registered, a request for fingerprint feature information indicating the fingerprint feature for further specifying the proxy approver B-1 is made via the network 50. It transmits to proxy approver PC30 (T30 in FIG. 7).

  Thereafter, when the proxy approver B-1 confirms from the PC 30 that the request for the fingerprint characteristic information has been received from the printer 10, the proxy approver B-1 reads the fingerprint into the sensor unit 301, and the proxy approver B-1 The PC 30 is caused to generate fingerprint feature information. Thereafter, the PC 30 of the approver B-1 transmits the generated fingerprint feature information to the printer 10 via the network 50 by the operation of the proxy approver B-1 (see T31 in FIG. 7).

  When the printer 10 receives the fingerprint feature information from the PC 30 of the proxy approver B-1, the printer 10 collates the received fingerprint feature information with the fingerprint feature data of the approver B-1 registered in the member management table 104. When it is confirmed that the same fingerprint feature data as the received fingerprint feature information is registered in the member management table 104, an approval approval confirmation notification for obtaining approval from the proxy approver B-1 is sent via the network 50 to the approver. The data is transmitted to the PC 30 of B-1 (see T32 in FIG. 7). In the execution approval confirmation notification, the user ID “A123456789” of the user a-1 who requested printing and “Project A development plan.doc” are described as the file name for executing the print job and forming an image on the print medium. ing.

  Thereafter, when the proxy approver B-1 confirms from the PC 30 that the execution approval confirmation notification has been received, the proxy approver B-1 executes the print job requested by the user a-1 based on the execution approval confirmation notification. It is determined whether or not it can be executed. When it is determined that the proxy approver B-1 can approve the execution of the print job, the PC 30 of the proxy approver B-1 permits the execution of the print job according to the operation of the proxy approver B-1. The execution approval notification shown is transmitted to the printer 10 via the network 50 (see T33 in FIG. 7).

  When the printer 10 receives the execution approval notification by the PC 30 of the proxy approver B-1, the printer 10 transmits an acceptance notification to the PC 30 of the proxy approver B-1 via the network 50 (see T34 in FIG. 7). Thereafter, the printer 10 transmits a permission notice indicating that the execution of the print job is permitted together with the authentication request to the PC 20 of the user a-1 via the network 50 (see T35 in FIG. 7).

  When the user b-1 confirms from the PC 20 that the permission notification has been received from the printer 10, according to the operation of the user a-1, the PC 20 provides the authentication information with the user ID “A123456789” and the password “22-dt6db0d” to the user b. -1 is retransmitted to the printer 10 via the network 50 (see T36 in FIG. 7).

  When the printer 10 receives the authentication information from the PC 20 of the user a-1, the printer 10 refers to the member management table 104, and the user ID “A123456789” and the password “22-dt6db0d” described in the received authentication information are members. If it is confirmed that the file is registered in the management table 104, a print job whose file name is “Project A development plan.doc” requested by the user b-1 is executed.

  Next, the operation when the absentee period is registered in the member management table 104 by the approver A-1 will be described with reference to the sequence of FIG.

  When the approver A-1 belonging to the group A registers the absence period in the member management table 104 of the printer 10, first, in order to log in to the printer 10, the approver A-1 operates the approver A-1. The PC 30 transmits the authentication information having the ID “A012345678” and the password “e8bs0t-2bd” to the printer 10 via the network 50 (see T37 in FIG. 7).

  When the printer 10 receives the above-described authentication information from the PC 30, the printer 10 refers to the member management table 104 shown in FIG. When it is confirmed that it is registered in the member management table 104, a login acceptance notification indicating that the login has been accepted is transmitted to the PC 30 via the network 50 (see T38 in FIG. 7).

  When the login acceptance notification is transmitted from the printer 10 to the PC 30 of the approver A-1, the PC 30 of the approver A-1 starts with the ID of the approver A-1 according to the operation of the approver A-1. An absence period registration request in which “2008.1.11 14:00” is written and “2008.111.6 13:00” is written at the end of the absence period is transmitted to the printer 10 via the network 50. (See T39 in FIG. 7).

  When the printer 10 receives the absence period registration request from the PC 30 of the approver A-1, the printer 10 sets the absence period (from) item of the approver A-1 forming the member management table 104 based on the absence period registration request. Write "2008.11.1 14:00" and write "2008.11.6 13:00" in the absence period (to) item. After that, the printer 10 transmits an absence period registration end notification indicating that the registration of the absence period setting is completed to the PC 30 of the approver A-1 via the network 50 (see S40 in FIG. 7). Term registration processing ends.

  Next, the operation of the printer 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  8, 9, and 10 are flowcharts showing the operation of the printer 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. First, when the communication unit 108 of the printer 10 receives a user ID and password as authentication information from the PC 20 of any user via the network 50 (step S1), the communication unit 108 stores the user ID and password in the approval information storage unit 103. Write. Thereafter, the communication unit 108 outputs a notification that the user ID and password have been received to the approval processing unit 107.

  Thereafter, the approval processing unit 107 reads the user ID and password from the approval information storage unit 103, and determines whether or not the user ID and password are registered in the member management table 104 (step S2). If the approval processing unit 107 determines that the user ID and password are not registered in the member management table 104 (step S2; N), the approval processing unit 107 generates display data “user ID or password is not registered”. Then, the display data is transmitted to the PC 20 of the user who transmitted the user ID and password via the communication unit 108 (step S3), and the process proceeds to step S1. Accordingly, the user's PC 20 displays “User ID or password is not registered” on the display unit.

  On the other hand, if the approval processing unit 107 determines that the user ID and password are registered in the member management table 104 (step S2; Y), the approval processing unit 107 generates a login acceptance notification indicating that the login has been accepted, and performs communication. This login acceptance notification is transmitted to the PC 20 of the user who has transmitted the ID and password via the unit 108 (step S4).

  Thereafter, the communication unit 108 receives approver designation information having the group name to which the user belongs and the ID of the approver designated by the user from the PC 20 of the user who has transmitted the login acceptance notification via the network 50 (step S5). The approver designation information is written in the approval information storage unit 103. Thereafter, the communication unit 108 outputs a notification that the approver designation information has been received to the approval processing unit 107.

  When the above notification is input from the communication unit 108, the approval processing unit 107 reads the approver designation information from the approval information storage unit 103, and the approver ID described in the approver designation information is the member management table 104. Is registered (step S6). If the approval processing unit 107 determines that the user ID is not registered in the member management table 104 (step S6; N), display data “designated approver is not an approver” is displayed. The display data is generated and transmitted to the PC 20 of the user who has designated the approver via the communication unit 108 (step S7), and the process proceeds to step S5. Accordingly, the user PC 20 displays “The designated approver is not an approver” on the display unit.

  On the other hand, if the approval processing unit 107 determines that the approver's ID is registered in the member management table 104 (step S6; Y), this ID in the member management table 104 is described in the member management data. In the group item and approver item, whether or not the group name described in the approver designation information and the accreditation information that authorizes the approver are described (the accreditation information is indicated by a circle in FIG. 3) It is determined whether or not (step S8).

  The approval processing unit 107 recognizes that the ID is described in the member management table 104 and the group item and the approver item in the member management data are the group name described in the approver designation information and the approver. If it is determined that the authorization information to be described is not described (step S8; N), the process proceeds to step S7.

  On the other hand, the approval processing unit 107 describes the ID of the approver in the member management table 104, the group item and the approver item in the member management data, the group name described in the approver designation information, and the approval When it is determined that the authorization information for authorizing the person is described (step S8; Y), the absence period (From) item and the absence period (To) item in the above-described member management data include the absence period. It is determined whether it is described (step S9).

  The approval processing unit 107 determines that the absence period is not described in the absence period (From) item and the absence period (To) item in the member management data (step S9, N), that is, the approver If it is determined that the print job transmission is not present, a print job transmission permission notification indicating that the transmission of the print job is permitted is generated, and the print job transmission permission is transmitted to the PC 20 of the user who has transmitted the approver designation information via the communication unit 108. A notification is transmitted (step S10).

  Thereafter, when the communication unit 108 receives a print job from the user PC 20 that has transmitted the print job transmission permission notification (step S11), the communication unit 108 stores the print job in the image storage unit 102. Next, the communication unit 108 outputs a notification that the print job has been transmitted to the approval processing unit 107.

  When the above notification is input from the communication unit 108, the approval processing unit 107 generates an execution approval request notification for requesting execution approval for the print job, and the execution approval request notification is transmitted to the user via the communication unit 108. It transmits to PC30 of the approver designated by (step S12).

  After that, when the communication unit 108 receives the approver's ID and password as authentication information of the approver from the PC 30 of the approver designated by the user via the network 50 (step S13), the ID and password are stored in the approval information. Write to part 103. Thereafter, the communication unit 108 outputs a notification that the authentication information of the approver has been received to the approval processing unit 107.

  Subsequently, the approval processing unit 107 reads the above-described authentication information from the approval information storage unit 103, and determines whether the ID and password of the approver indicated in the authentication information are registered in the member management table 104. (Step S14). If the approval processing unit 107 determines that the above-described ID and password are not registered in the member management table 104 (step S14; N), “at least one of the user ID and password is incorrect”. Display data to be displayed is generated, and this display data is transmitted to the PC 30 of the approver who has transmitted the ID and password via the communication unit 108 (step S15), and the process proceeds to step S13. As a result, the approver PC 30 displays “At least one of the user ID and password is incorrect” on the display unit.

  On the other hand, if the approval processing unit 107 determines that the above-described ID and password are registered in the member management table 104 (step S14; Y), whether or not the approver can approve execution of the print job. An execution approval confirmation notification is generated to determine whether or not, and the execution approval confirmation notification is transmitted to the above-described approver PC 30 via the communication unit 108 (step S16). In this execution approval confirmation notification, the user ID of the user who has requested printing for execution of the print job and the file name indicating the contents of the print job are described.

  After that, when the communication unit 108 receives an execution approval notification indicating that the execution of the print job is approved from the PC 30 of the approver via the network 50 or receives an execution non-approval notification indicating that the print job is not approved, This execution approval notification or execution non-approval notification is stored in the approval information storage unit 103. Next, the communication unit 108 outputs a notification that the execution approval notification or the execution non-approval notification has been received to the approval processing unit 107.

  When the notification is input from the communication unit 108, the approval processing unit 107 reads the notification from the approval information storage unit 103, and determines whether the notification is an execution approval notification or an execution non-approval notification. (Step S17). If the approval processing unit 107 determines that it is an execution non-approval notification (step S17; execution non-approval notification), the approval processing unit 107 generates a non-approval notification indicating that the execution of the print job has not been approved, via the communication unit 108. Then, after transmitting this disapproval notice to the user PC 20 that has requested the approval of execution of the print job (step S18), the process proceeds to step S26.

  In step S17, when the approval processing unit 107 determines that the received notification is an execution approval notification (step S17; execution approval notification), the approval processing unit 107 generates a reception notification indicating that the execution approval notification has been received, and performs communication. The data is transmitted to the approver's PC 30 via the unit 108. Thereafter, the approval processing unit 107 transmits a permission notice indicating that the execution of the print job is permitted to the user's PC 20 that requests permission to execute the print job (step S19).

  When the communication unit 108 receives the user ID and password as authentication information again via the network 50 from the PC 20 of the user who transmitted the permission notification (step S20), the communication unit 108 stores the user ID and password in the approval information storage unit 103. To do. Next, the communication unit 108 outputs a notification that the user ID and password have been received to the approval processing unit 107.

  Thereafter, the approval processing unit 107 reads the above-described user ID and password from the approval information storage unit 103, refers to the member management table 104, and determines whether the user ID and password are registered in the member management table 104. (Step S21). If the approval processing unit 107 determines that the user ID and password are not registered in the member management table 104 (step S21; N), it displays “There is at least one input error in the user ID and password”. Display data to be generated is generated, and this display data is transmitted to the user's PC 20 via the communication unit 108 (step S22), and the process proceeds to step S20. As a result, the user PC 20 displays the above-mentioned display on the display unit, and sends the user ID and the like again.

  On the other hand, if the approval processing unit 107 determines that the user ID and password are registered in the member management table 104 (step S21; Y), the approval processing unit 107 outputs an activation request for activating the image conversion unit 109.

  When the image data (print job) is input from the image storage unit 102, the image conversion unit 109 converts the image data (print job) into bitmap data that can be printed on the print medium (step S23). Output to.

  The printing unit 110 forms an image made up of this bitmap data on the print medium (step S24). Thereafter, the printing unit 110 outputs a notification that printing has been completed to the approval processing unit 107.

  When the above notification is input from the printing unit 110, the approval processing unit 107 generates display data for displaying “printing has been completed”, and transmits this display data to the user PC 20 via the communication unit 108. (Step S25). Thereby, user PC20 displays the above-mentioned display on a display part.

  Thereafter, the approval processing unit 107 deletes the print job stored in the image storage unit 102 (step S26). Next, the approval processing unit 107 generates print job management data and registers this print job management data in the print job management table 105 (step S28). Subsequently, the approval processing unit 107 generates log data, registers this log data in the log storage unit 106 (step S28), and ends the process.

  In step S9, the approval processing unit 107 determines that the absence period is described in the absence period (From) item and the absence period (To) item in the member management data (step S9, Y), that is, If it is determined that the approver is currently absent, an approver designation request for designating an approver of another group to be performed on behalf of print job execution is generated, and the user is notified via the communication unit 108. The approver designation request is transmitted to the PC 20 (step S29).

  After that, when the communication unit 108 receives the ID of the proxy approver designated by the user from the user's PC 20 via the network 50 (step S30), the communication unit 108 stores this ID in the approval information storage unit 103. Next, the communication unit 108 outputs to the approval processing unit 107 a notification that the approver designation information including the user ID of another authenticator has been received.

  When the above notification is input from the communication unit 108, the approval processing unit 107 reads the proxy approver ID designated by the user from the approval information storage unit 103, and whether this ID is registered in the member management table 104 or not. Is determined (step S31). If the approval processing unit 107 determines that this ID is not registered in the member management table 104 (step S31; N), a display for displaying “The designated proxy approver is not an approver” is displayed. Data is generated, and this display data is transmitted to the user PC 20 that has designated the proxy approver via the communication unit 108 (step S32), and the process proceeds to step S29. Thereby, user PC20 displays the above-mentioned display on a display part.

  On the other hand, if the approval processing unit 107 determines that the above-described proxy approver ID is registered in the member management table 104 (step S31; Y), the print job transmission permission notification that permits transmission of the print job. And the print job transmission permission notice is transmitted to the user's PC 20 via the communication unit 108 (step S33).

  Thereafter, when the communication unit 108 receives a print job from the user's PC 20 (step S34), the communication unit 108 stores the print job in the image storage unit 102. Next, the communication unit 108 outputs a notification that the print job is stored in the approval information storage unit 103 to the approval processing unit 107.

  When the above notification is input, the approval processing unit 107 generates an execution permission request notification indicating that there has been a print job execution request, and transmits it to the proxy approver's PC 30 via the communication unit 108 (step S110). S35).

  After that, when receiving the approver's ID and password as authentication information from the proxy approver's PC 30 (step S36), the communication unit 108 outputs the ID and password to the approval processing unit 107.

  When the proxy approver's ID and password are input from the communication unit 108, the approval processing unit 107 determines whether the ID and password are registered in the member management table 104 (step S37). If the approval processing unit 107 determines that at least one of the above-described ID and password is not registered in the member management table 104 (step S39; N), “at least one of the user ID and password is incorrect. Display data to be displayed is transmitted to the proxy approver's PC 30 via the communication unit 108 (step S38), and the process proceeds to step S36. As a result, the proxy approver PC 30 displays “At least one of the ID and password is incorrect” on the display unit.

  On the other hand, if the approval processing unit 107 determines that the above-described ID and password are registered in the member management table 104 (step S37; Y), the approval processing unit 107 requests a fingerprint feature information for specifying the proxy approver. Then, the data is transmitted to the PC 30 of the proxy approver via the communication unit 108 (step S39).

  Upon receiving the fingerprint feature information from the proxy approver PC 30 via the communication unit 108 (step S40), the approval processing unit 107 determines whether the received fingerprint feature information is registered in the member management table 104. (Step S41). If the approval processing unit 107 determines that the received fingerprint feature information is not registered in the member management table 104 (step S41; N), the process proceeds to step S32.

  On the other hand, if the approval processing unit 107 determines that the fingerprint feature information is registered in the member management table 104 (step S43; Y), the approval processing unit 107 shifts the processing to step S16 and establishes a connection with the proxy approver PC 30. Execute the approval process, send a permission notice to the user, and execute printing.

  According to the first embodiment, when the proxy approver designation information acquired from the user PC 20 is registered in the member management table 104, the approval processing unit 107 requests the proxy approver to approve execution of the print job. After the approval processing unit 107 authenticates the approver, if the approval approval of the print job is obtained from the proxy approver, the execution of the print job is permitted. Even in this case, a print job can be performed by obtaining proxy approval from an approver of another group.

  FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the printer according to the second embodiment of the present invention. A printer 60 as an image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 11 is used in the printing system illustrated in FIG. 12, and an approver or proxy approval designated by the user for execution of a print job requested by the user. This device permits the execution of this print job after obtaining the approval of execution from the user.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the printer 60 includes an operation / display unit 601, an image storage unit 602, an approval information storage unit 603, a member management table 604, a print job management table 605, a log storage unit 606, An approval processing unit 607, a communication unit 608, an image conversion unit 609, a printing unit 610, and a time measuring unit 611 are provided. The operation / display unit 601, the image storage unit 602, the approval information storage unit 603, the print job management table 605, the log storage unit 606, the communication unit 608, the image conversion unit 609, the printing unit 610, and the time measuring unit 611 are implemented. Identical to Example 1.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the member management table 604 further includes a proxy number item that describes the number of times the user has been substituted for the approver in the items forming the member management table 104 of the first embodiment.

  The approval processing unit 607 executes the same processing as the approval processing unit 107 of the first embodiment, and further, information indicating that the approver designated by the user is absent, and other approvers acting on behalf of this approver The absence notification in which the ID for identifying is described is transmitted to the user's PC 70 via the network 90. In addition, when the print processing is executed after the approval approval of the print job is obtained from the proxy approver, the approval processing unit 607 increments the proxy count of another approver registered in the member management table 604 by one. .

  FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram of the printing system according to the second embodiment of the present invention when there is no approver.

  After the user PC 70 of the user a-1 belonging to the group A transmits the authentication information of the user a-1 to the printer 60 via the network 90 (see T51 in FIG. 14), the printer 60 is designated by the user a-1. The process until receiving the approver designation information for designating the approved approver (see T53 in FIG. 14) is the same as the process performed by the printing system of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  Upon receiving the approver designation information from the user PC 70, the printer 60 refers to the member management table 604, and the approver A-1 designated in the received approver ID “A012345678” is “2008.1.11 14:00”. To “2008.11.6 13:00”, an absence notification indicating that the approver designated by the user is absent is transmitted to the PC 70 of the user a-1 via the network 90. (Refer to T54 in FIG. 14). Here, in the absence notification, the user ID “C012345678” assigned to the proxy approver C-1 of the group C having the largest proxy count in the proxy count field of the member management table 604 is described as the proxy approver ID. ing.

  Thereafter, the process in which the approver PC 80 transmits the approver designation information having the user ID of the approver C-1 indicated in the above-described absence notification to the printer 60 by the PC 70 of the user a-1 (see T55 in FIG. 14). ) Until the printer 60 executes the print job transmitted by the user a-1 (see T66 in FIG. 14) is the same as the process performed by the printing system of the first embodiment shown in FIG. .

  Next, the operation of the printer according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIGS. 15, 16, and 17 are flowcharts showing the operation of the printer according to the second embodiment of the present invention. First, in step S51, from the process in which the communication unit 608 of the printer 60 receives the user ID and password as authentication information via the network 90, in step S59, the member management table of the approver of the affiliation group designated by the user in step S59. The processing for determining whether or not the absence period is described in 604 is the same as the processing from step S1 to step S9 in FIG.

  If the approval processing unit 607 determines that the absence period is not described in the member management table 604 of the approver designated by the user (step S59; N), the print job is transmitted to the user PC 70 in step S60. The process from the process of transmitting the permission notice to the generation of the log data in step S78 and the registration of the log data in the log storage unit 106 is the same as the process from step S10 to step S28 in FIG. .

  On the other hand, in step S59, when the approval processing unit 607 determines that the absence period is described in the member management table 604 of the approver designated by the user (step S59; Y), refer to the member management table 604. Then, the ID of another approver having a large number of proxy times described in the proxy number field is read. Next, the approval processing unit 607 generates an absence notification in which the approver designated by the user is absent and the ID of the approver determined as the proxy approver is described. Thereafter, the approval processing unit 607 transmits the absence notification generated via the communication unit 608 to the user's PC 70 (step S79).

  Thereafter, in step S80, the communication unit 608 determines whether or not the fingerprint feature data is registered in the member management table in step S91 from the process of receiving the approver designation information of the proxy certifier from the user PC 70. The process is the same as the process from step S29 in FIG. 9 to step S41 in FIG. If the approval processing unit 607 determines that the fingerprint feature information is registered in the member management table (step S91; Y), the approval processing unit 607 shifts the processing to step S66. On the other hand, if the approval processing unit 607 determines that the fingerprint feature information is not registered in the member management table (step S91; Y), the approval processing unit 607 shifts the processing to step S65.

  According to the second embodiment, the same effect as that of the first embodiment is obtained, and the authentication information of the approver of the own group received by the approval processing unit 607 from the user PC 20 is registered in the member management table 604. If not, the other approver registered in the member management table 604 with the highest number of proxy is determined as the proxy approver and notified to the user PC 70, so that the execution of the print job is surely approved, Therefore, the print job can be executed quickly.

  In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the present invention is applied to the approval of printing. However, it can also be used for the approval of a scanner or a copy using a multifunction machine. Moreover, although fingerprint authentication was mentioned as biometric authentication, it may be an iris, finger vein, palm vein, face, or the like.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system in which a printer according to a first exemplary embodiment is used. It is a figure which shows an example of a member management table. FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a print job management table. It is a figure explaining the log format accumulate | stored in the log storage part. It is a sequence diagram of a printing system during normal processing. It is a sequence diagram of a printing system at the time of proxy approval. 3 is a flowchart (part 1) illustrating an operation of the printer according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart (part 2) illustrating the operation of the printer according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart (part 3) illustrating the operation of the printer according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system in which a printer according to a second embodiment is used. It is a figure which shows an example of a member management table. It is a sequence diagram of a printing system at the time of proxy approval. 6 is a flowchart (part 1) illustrating an operation of the printer according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart (part 2) illustrating the operation of the printer according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart (part 3) illustrating the operation of the printer according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

10, 60 Printer 101, 601 Operation / display unit 102, 602 Image storage unit 103, 603 Approval information storage unit 104, 604 Member management table 105, 605 Print job management table 106, 606 Log storage unit 107, 607 Approval processing unit 108 608 Communication unit 109 609 Image conversion unit 110, 610 Printing unit 111, 611 Timekeeping unit 20, 70 PC
30, 80 PC
50, 90 networks

Claims (7)

A management table storing management information for identifying the approver,
Upon receiving absence information indicating an absence period from the approver's terminal, an absence registration unit that registers the absence information in association with the approver in the management table;
When the designation information of the first approver set in the first group is received from the terminal of the approval requester belonging to the first group, the management table is referred to, and the first information is based on the management information and the designation information. When an approver is specified and the absence information is absent, an approval request is output to the terminal of the first approver,
An absence determination unit that outputs an absence notification to the terminal of the approval requester when the absence information exists and confirms the absence;
A first approval processing unit that performs an approval process in a first approval method upon receiving first approval information from a terminal of a first approver who has received the approval request;
When the designation information of the second approver set in the second group is received as a proxy from the terminal of the approval requester belonging to the first group, the management table is referred to, and the second approval is made based on the management information and the designation information. A proxy determination unit for identifying a person and outputting an approval request to the terminal of the second approver;
Receiving a second approval information from the terminal of the second approver that has received the approval request, and a second approval processing unit that performs an approval process in a second approval method,
The first approval method and the second approval method are different approval methods,
An approval apparatus characterized in that the second approval information has a larger amount of information than the first approval information. The first approval information is information consisting of a character string,
The approval apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second approval information is information including biological information. The first approval method is password authentication of the first approver, and the second approval method is password authentication and biometric authentication of the second approver. Approval device . The approval apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second approval processing unit acquires and accumulates approval history information. 5. The approval apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the second approver is one of the most frequently approved items in the history of approvals on behalf of the first approver. . 6. The approval apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the approval history information includes an approval method type of an approver. In an image forming apparatus for forming an image of input image information on a medium,
An image forming apparatus comprising the approval device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 and forming an image when approved by the approval device.

Images