JP7615856B2 - Image forming apparatus and method for controlling image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a method for controlling an image forming apparatus.

In order to link printed paper (an example of a recording medium) with the digital information printed on the paper, an image forming device has been developed that has a communication means for communicating with the RFID (Radio Frequency Identifier) tag on the paper, and a communication means for communicating with the paper and a server that manages the digital information.

However, with the above image forming device, after printing, there is a possibility that RFID information may remain on the discarded paper due to an error in print settings, etc. If RFID information remains on the discarded paper, digital information stored on a document management server can be accessed from the discarded paper, leading to the possibility of digital information being leaked. One method is to add invalid information to the RFID tag, but this requires the additional work of adding invalid information to all discarded paper, reducing user work efficiency.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above, and aims to provide an image forming device and a control method for an image forming device that can disable access to digital information stored on a server from the recording medium to be discarded without reducing the user's work efficiency when discarding a recording medium on which RFID information remains.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the present invention includes a server communication unit capable of communicating with a server that associates and stores RFID information stored in an RFID tag of a recording medium with digital information printed on the recording medium, an operation unit that displays a selection screen that allows a user to select whether or not to invalidate the RFID information, a storage unit that stores the digital information, and a control unit. When invalidating the RFID information is selected using the selection screen, the server communication unit transmits invalidation information indicating that the RFID information is invalid to the server. When invalidating the RFID information is not selected using the selection screen, the control unit erases the digital information from the storage unit, and when invalidating the RFID information is selected using the selection screen, erases the digital information from the storage unit after the invalidation information has been transmitted to the server.

The present invention has the advantage that when disposing of a recording medium on which RFID information remains, access to digital information stored on a server from the recording medium to be disposed of can be disabled without reducing the user's work efficiency.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of an example of a communication system including an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of a process for writing RFID information in the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of a process for reading RFID information in the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment.

The following describes in detail an embodiment of an image forming apparatus and a method for controlling an image forming apparatus with reference to the attached drawings.

Fig. 1 is a conceptual diagram of an example of a communication system including an image forming device according to the present embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the communication system according to the present embodiment includes an image forming device 1 and a management server 2. The image forming device 1 assigns (stores) RFID information to an RFID (Radio Frequency Identifier) tag of a sheet of paper P (hereinafter referred to as output paper; an example of a recording medium) on which digital information (e.g., image data, document information) is printed.

Here, the RFID information is information that enables identification of the RFID tag (or the output paper P) that the output paper P has. Also, here, the RFID tag is a tag that can communicate with the image forming device 1 by RFID, and is a medium into which the RFID information can be written (stored, saved).

The image forming device 1 also has an operation panel 63 that accepts operations from the user. The image forming device 1 can also read RFID information from an RFID tag on output paper P. The image forming device 1 can also communicate with a management server 2, and acquires digital information from the management server 2 using the RFID information read from the RFID tag. The image forming device 1 then presents the acquired digital information to the user via the operation panel 63.

The management server 2 is an example of a server that can communicate with the image forming device 1 via a network such as the Internet and that stores RFID information and digital information in association with each other. The management server 2 is also capable of communicating with the image forming device 1 and transmits to the image forming device 1 the digital information that is stored in association with the RFID information read by the image forming device 1.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of an image forming device according to this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 2, the image forming device 1 according to this embodiment has a UART 57, a CPU 58, a ROM 59, a RAM 60, an NVRAM 61, an operation panel I/F 62, an operation panel 63, an RFID reader 64, an RFID writer 65, an I/O 66, image processing ICs 67 and 68, etc.

The UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter) 57 converts various signals sent to and received from external devices such as the management server 2. The CPU (Central Processing Unit) 58 is an example of a processor that controls the entire image forming device 1 by using the RAM 60 as a working area and executing various programs stored in a storage medium such as the ROM 59.

The ROM (Read Only Memory) 59 is an example of a storage medium that stores various programs executed by the CPU 58. The RAM (Random Access Memory) 60 is a working area used when the CPU 58 executes various programs.

The NVRAM (Non-Volatile RAM) 61 is an example of a non-volatile storage medium that stores various information used by the CPU 58 to control the image forming device 1. For example, the NVRAM 61 functions as an example of a storage unit that stores digital information such as image data to be printed on the output paper P and document information.

The operation panel I/F 62 is an I/F with the operation panel 63. The operation panel 63 is an example of an operation unit that allows the user to perform various operations on the image forming device 1.

The RFID reading unit 64 is an example of an RFID reading unit that can read RFID information from an RFID tag carried by the output paper P using RFID. The RFID writing unit 65 is an example of an RFID writing unit that can write RFID information to an RFID tag carried by the output paper P using RFID.

The I/O 66 inputs and outputs various information between the image forming device 1 and peripheral devices. The image processing ICs 67 and 68 are integrated circuits (ICs) that perform image processing on digital information such as image data and document information to be printed on the output paper P.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of an image forming device according to this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 3, the image forming device 1 according to this embodiment includes a control unit 301, an RFID reading unit 64, an RFID writing unit 65, an image writing control unit 302, an operation panel 63, an I/F unit 303, and a server communication unit 304.

The control unit 301 controls a series of operations in each functional block (RFID reading unit 64, RFID writing unit 65, image writing control unit 302, operation panel 63, I/F unit 303, server communication unit 304, etc.).

The RFID reading unit 64 reads RFID information from an RFID tag attached to the output paper P. The RFID writing unit 65 outputs the RFID information as image data to the RFID tag attached to the output paper P, and writes the RFID information to the RFID tag.

The image writing control unit 302 converts the image data input from the I/F unit 303 into a control signal, and controls the writing of a latent image onto the image carrier of the image forming device 1 using the control signal.

The operation panel 63 displays various information such as the status of the image forming device 1 and digital information obtained from the management server 2. The operation panel 63 also accepts input to the image forming device 1.

The operation panel 63 is also an example of an operation unit that displays an information invalidation selection screen (an example of a selection screen) on the management server 2 that allows the user to select whether or not to invalidate the RFID information stored in the RFID tag of the output paper P. As a result, by selecting to invalidate the RFID information on the information invalidation selection screen, it becomes impossible to access digital information using the RFID information remaining on the output paper P to be discarded. As a result, when discarding the output paper P on which RFID information remains, access to the digital information stored on the management server 2 from the output paper P to be discarded can be disabled without reducing the user's work efficiency.

Furthermore, if the RFID information read by the RFID reading unit 64 is invalid information, the operation panel 63 displays that the digital information is invalid information.

The I/F unit 303 communicates with a terminal device that issues a print request to the image forming device 1. The I/F unit 303 also transmits digital information, such as image data, sent from the terminal device to the control unit 301, and issues a print request to the image forming device 1.

The server communication unit 304 has a means for communicating with the management server 2 that stores digital information such as image data and document information. Furthermore, when invalidating the RFID information is selected on the information invalidation selection screen, the server communication unit 304 transmits invalidation information indicating that the RFID information is invalid to the management server 2.

Furthermore, the server communication unit 304 transfers the RFID information received from the control unit 301 (RFID information read by the RFID reading unit 64) to the management server 2. As a result, the server communication unit 304 acquires digital information from the management server 2 based on the RFID information received from the control unit 1010.

Figure 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the RFID information writing process in the image forming device according to this embodiment. After starting printing on the output paper P, the control unit 301 determines whether or not to write RFID information to the RFID tag of the output paper P (step S401). In this embodiment, the control unit 301 determines whether or not to write RFID information to the RFID tag of the output paper P based on the settings of the image forming device 1, the print settings set by the user, etc.

If RFID information is not written to the output paper P (step S401: No), the control unit 301 discards (deletes) the document information and digital information such as image data printed on the output paper P (step S407).

On the other hand, when writing RFID information to the output paper P (step S401: Yes), the RFID writing unit 65 writes the RFID information to the RFID tag of the output paper P (step S402). Furthermore, the server communication unit 304 transmits digital information (image data, document information, etc.) linked to the RFID information written to the RFID tag to the communication unit of the management server 2 (step S403).

Then, the control unit 301 displays on the operation panel 63 an information invalidation selection screen (an example of a selection screen) on which the user can select whether or not to invalidate the written RFID information (step S404). By selecting to invalidate the RFID information on the information invalidation selection screen, it becomes impossible to access digital information using the RFID information remaining on the output paper P to be discarded. As a result, when discarding the output paper P on which RFID information remains, access to the digital information stored in the management server 2 from the output paper P to be discarded can be disabled without reducing the user's work efficiency.

If invalidating the RFID information is not selected on the information invalidation selection screen (step S405: No), the control unit 301 discards (deletes) digital information such as image data printed on the output paper P and document information from the NVRAM 61 (an example of a storage unit) (step S407).

On the other hand, if invalidation of the RFID information is selected on the information invalidation selection screen (step S405: Yes), the server communication unit 304 transmits invalidation information indicating that the RFID information is invalid to the management server 2 (step S406). The management server 2 can determine that the data (RFID information) on the management server 2 is invalid, for example, by adding invalidation information to the RFID stored in association with the digital information.

The control unit 301 then determines that printing of digital information such as document information and image data onto the output paper P is complete, and discards (deletes) the digital information printed onto the output paper P from the NVRAM 61 (step S407). In other words, the NVRAM 61 functions as an example of a storage unit that holds digital information until it is selected on the information invalidation selection screen whether or not to invalidate the digital information.

Figure 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the RFID information reading process in the image forming device according to this embodiment. First, the RFID reading unit 64 reads the RFID information from the RFID tag attached to the output paper P (step S501).

Next, the control unit 301 accesses the target data in the management server 2 via the server communication unit 304 (step S502). Specifically, the control unit 301 accesses the target data, which is digital information stored in association with the read RFID information, from among digital information such as image data and document information stored in the management server 2.

At that time, the control unit 301 checks whether the target data exists in the management server 2 (step S503). If the target data does not exist in the management server 2 due to deletion by the user or the like (step S503: No), the control unit 301 causes the operation panel 63 to display that the target data does not exist (step S504).

On the other hand, if the target data exists in the management server 2 (step S503: Yes), the control unit 301 determines whether the RFID information is invalid based on the invalidation information added to the read RFID information (step S505). If the RFID information is invalid (step S505: Yes), the control unit 301 displays on the operation panel 63 that the RFID information is invalid (step S506). In this case, the control unit 301 does not display the target data on the operation panel 63.

On the other hand, if the RFID information is not invalid information (step S505: No), the control unit 301 displays the target data on the operation panel 63 (step S507).

In this way, according to the image forming device 1 of the present embodiment, by selecting to invalidate the RFID information on the information invalidation selection screen, it becomes impossible to access the digital information using the RFID information remaining on the output paper P to be discarded. As a result, when discarding the output paper P on which the RFID information remains, access to the digital information stored in the management server 2 from the output paper P to be discarded can be disabled without reducing the user's work efficiency.

In the above embodiment, the image forming device of the present invention is described as being applied to a multifunction device having at least two of the following functions: copy function, printer function, scanner function, and facsimile function. However, the image forming device can be applied to any image forming device, such as a copier, printer, scanner device, or facsimile device.

1 Image forming device 2 Management server 57 UART
58 CPU
59 ROM
60 RAM
61 NVRAM
62 Operation panel I/F
63 Operation panel 64 RFID reader 65 RFID writer 66 I/O
67, 68 Image processing IC
301 Control unit 302 Image writing control unit 303 I/F unit 304 Server communication unit P Output paper

JP 2006-14110 A

Claims (3)

a server communication unit capable of communicating with a server that associates and stores RFID information stored in an RFID tag of a recording medium with digital information printed on the recording medium;
an operation unit that displays a selection screen on which the user can select whether or not to invalidate the RFID information;
A storage unit that stores the digital information;
A control unit,
the server communication unit, when it is selected to invalidate the RFID information using the selection screen, transmits invalidation information indicating that the RFID information is invalid to the server;
The control unit erases the digital information from the memory unit when the selection screen is not used to select invalid information for the RFID information, and erases the digital information from the memory unit when the selection screen is used to select invalid information for the RFID information after the invalidation information is sent to the server. an RFID writing unit that writes the RFID information into the RFID tag;
an RFID reading unit that reads the RFID information from the RFID tag;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising: A method for controlling an image forming apparatus including: a server communication unit capable of communicating with a server that associates and stores RFID information stored in an RFID tag of a recording medium with digital information to be printed on the recording medium; and a storage unit that stores the digital information ,
a display step of displaying a selection screen by an operation unit, which allows the user to select whether or not to invalidate the RFID information;
a transmission step of the server communication unit transmitting, when the selection screen is used to select invalid information for the RFID information, invalid information indicating that the RFID information is invalid information to the server;
a control unit deleting the digital information from the storage unit when it is not selected to invalidate the RFID information using the selection screen, and deleting the digital information from the storage unit when it is selected to invalidate the RFID information using the selection screen after the invalidation information is transmitted to the server;
A method for controlling an image forming apparatus comprising the steps of:

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