JP7775593B2 - Information processing system and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing system, a terminal device, and a program.

Patent Document 1 discloses a function execution device that can efficiently perform both specific functions and user authentication based on instructions received from an external device via wireless communication.

Patent Document 2 discloses a job processing device that eliminates the need to input authentication information when issuing a job processing instruction from a terminal device.

Patent Document 3 discloses an information processing device that can improve the convenience of equipment that can be operated using a smart device.

Patent No. 6156024 Patent No. 6366425 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-074107

In recent years, information processing devices such as image forming devices have been known to transmit connection information to a terminal device via wireless communication using a short-range wireless communication method such as NFC (Near Field Communication) in order to connect to a wireless communication method other than the short-range wireless communication method, and then use the transmitted connection information to receive processing information for executing printing processing from the terminal device via wireless communication using a method other than the short-range wireless communication method, and then execute processing based on this processing information.

The object of the present invention is to provide an information processing system, terminal device, and program that enables a terminal device to transmit authentication information used by an information processing device via wireless communication established using connection information acquired via wireless communication using a close-proximity wireless communication method.

The information processing system of a first aspect of the present invention includes an information processing device that, when connected to an external device via wireless communication using a first wireless communication method that is a close-proximity wireless communication method, transmits connection information to the connected device for connecting to the device via wireless communication using a second wireless communication method that is different from the first wireless communication method; and a second processor that connects to the information processing device via wireless communication using the first wireless communication method to acquire connection information, connects to the information processing device via wireless communication using the second wireless communication method using the acquired connection information, and transmits authentication information for the information processing device to perform authentication processing.

In a second aspect of the information processing system of the present invention, in the information processing system of the first aspect, the second processor uses the acquired connection information to connect to the information processing device via wireless communication using the second wireless communication method, and transmits processing information for executing processing on the information processing device in addition to authentication information.

A third aspect of the information processing system of the present invention is the information processing system of the second aspect, wherein when the first processor receives authentication information and processing information from the terminal device, it performs authentication processing using the received authentication information and then performs processing using the received processing information.

A fourth aspect of the information processing system of the present invention is the information processing system of the first aspect, wherein the first processor executes a process using the processing information and then executes a deauthentication process for the terminal device.

A fifth aspect of the information processing system of the present invention is an information processing system according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, in which the first processor stores the received processing information and, when an operation to execute processing using the stored processing information is received at a timing different from the timing at which the stored processing information is received, executes processing using the stored processing information.

A sixth aspect of the information processing system of the present invention is the information processing system of the fifth aspect, wherein the second processor transmits authentication information and processing information to the information processing device via wireless communication using the second wireless communication method, and then enables wireless communication using the first wireless communication method to execute processing using the stored processing information.

A seventh aspect of the information processing system of the present invention is the information processing system of the sixth aspect, wherein the second processor switches the display of the screen provided on the terminal device after transmitting authentication information and processing information to the information processing device via wireless communication using the second wireless communication method.

An eighth aspect of the information processing system of the present invention is the information processing system of the sixth or seventh aspect, in which the second processor displays a screen prompting wireless communication using the first wireless communication method when the second processor is configured to execute processing using processing information stored in the information processing device.

A ninth aspect of the information processing system of the present invention is an information processing system according to any one of the sixth to eighth aspects, wherein, when the second processor is configured to display a confirmation screen prompting whether or not to execute processing using the stored processing information, the second processor displays the confirmation screen, and when an instruction to execute processing using the stored processing information is entered on the displayed confirmation screen, the information processing system is put into a state in which an instruction to execute processing using the stored processing information can be given.

An information processing system of a tenth aspect of the present invention is an information processing system of any one of the sixth to ninth aspects, in which, when the information processing device is configured not to execute processing using the processing information stored therein, it is made impossible to issue an instruction to execute processing using the stored processing information.

An information processing system of an eleventh aspect of the present invention is the information processing system of any one of the sixth to tenth aspects, wherein the second processor transmits authentication information to the information processing device via wireless communication of the second wireless communication method after wireless communication of the first wireless communication method for executing processing using stored processing information, and the first processor, after acquiring the authentication information, executes processing using the stored processing information transmitted from a user identified by the acquired authentication information.

A twelfth aspect of the information processing system of the present invention is the information processing system of the eleventh aspect, in which the first processor, after acquiring authentication information, transmits to the terminal device a list of processes using processing information transmitted and stored from a user identified by the acquired authentication information, and the second processor notifies the information processing device of the process specified by the user from the received list as the process to be executed.

A thirteenth aspect of the present invention is an information processing system according to the eleventh aspect, in which the first processor, after acquiring authentication information, transmits to the terminal device a list of processes using processing information transmitted and stored from a user identified by the acquired authentication information, and the second processor notifies the information processing device of all processes in the received list as processes to be executed.

A fourteenth aspect of the present invention is an information processing system according to the eleventh aspect, in which, after wireless communication using the first wireless communication method for executing processing using the stored processing information is performed, the second processor notifies the information processing device of all processing using the stored processing information as processing to be executed, without obtaining a list of processing using the stored processing information from the information processing device.

A fifteenth aspect of the present invention is an information processing system according to any one of the first to fourteenth aspects, wherein the second wireless communication method is an Internet communication method and the connection information includes an IP address.

A terminal device according to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention includes a processor, which connects to an external information processing device via wireless communication using a first wireless communication method, which is a close-proximity wireless communication method, and acquires connection information from the information processing device for connecting to the information processing device via wireless communication using a second wireless communication method different from the first wireless communication method. The processor then connects to the information processing device via wireless communication using the second wireless communication method using the acquired connection information, and transmits authentication information for the information processing device to perform authentication processing.

A seventeenth aspect of the present invention provides a program that causes a computer to perform the following steps: connect to an external information processing device via wireless communication using a first wireless communication method, which is a close-proximity wireless communication method; acquire connection information from the information processing device for connecting to the information processing device via wireless communication using a second wireless communication method that is different from the first wireless communication method; connect to the information processing device via wireless communication using the second wireless communication method using the acquired connection information; and transmit authentication information for the information processing device to perform authentication processing.

According to the information processing system of the first aspect of the present invention, a terminal device can transmit authentication information used by an information processing device via wireless communication established using connection information acquired via wireless communication using a close proximity wireless communication method.

According to the information processing system of the second aspect of the present invention, the terminal device can transmit authentication information used by the information processing device and processing information using wireless communication established using connection information acquired via wireless communication using a close-proximity wireless communication method.

According to the information processing system of the third aspect of the present invention, the instructed processing is executed after the authentication processing is performed, thereby improving security.

According to the information processing system of the fourth aspect of the present invention, after the instructed processing is performed, the authentication deactivation processing for the terminal device is performed, thereby improving security.

The information processing system of the fifth aspect of the present invention can perform so-called deferred processing, which suspends processing until a user instruction is received in the information processing device.

According to the information processing system of the sixth aspect of the present invention, the placement process can be canceled by performing wireless communication using the first wireless communication method.

According to the information processing system of the seventh aspect of the present invention, by switching the display on the screen of the terminal device, it is possible to prompt the user to perform wireless communication using the first wireless communication method to release the retention process.

According to the information processing system of the eighth aspect of the present invention, when the terminal device is configured to execute processing using processing information stored in the information processing device, the user can be prompted to perform wireless communication using the first wireless communication method to release the retention process.

The information processing system of the ninth aspect of the present invention allows the user to confirm whether to cancel the retention process.

The information processing system of the tenth aspect of the present invention can prevent the user from accidentally canceling the placement process.

According to the information processing system of the eleventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to release only the retention processing of processing information sent and stored from a specific user.

The information processing system of the twelfth aspect of the present invention allows the user to arbitrarily select the process they wish to execute from among processes that use stored processing information.

According to the information processing system of the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, processing can be performed using stored processing information without requiring the user to go through the trouble of selecting the processing they wish to perform.

According to the information processing system of the fourteenth aspect of the present invention, it is not necessary to obtain a list of processes that use stored processing information, and it is possible to execute processes that use stored processing information without requiring the user to go through the trouble of selecting the process they want to execute.

According to the information processing system of the fifteenth aspect of the present invention, the second wireless communication method is an Internet communication method, and the connection information includes an IP address, so by using a commonly used method, the information processing system can be easily realized.

According to the terminal device of the sixteenth aspect of the present invention, the terminal device can transmit authentication information to be used by the information processing device via wireless communication established using connection information acquired via wireless communication using a close proximity wireless communication method.

According to the program of the seventeenth aspect of the present invention, a terminal device can transmit authentication information used by an information processing device via wireless communication established using connection information acquired via wireless communication using a close proximity wireless communication method.

1 is a diagram showing a system configuration of an image forming system according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an authentication information management table of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a smartphone according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the smartphone according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 5A and 5B are diagrams illustrating an example of authentication information and processing information transmitted from a smartphone according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow of the image forming system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen prompting NFC displayed on a smartphone according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a presetting screen displayed on a smartphone according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a confirmation screen displayed on a smartphone according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 10 is a flowchart (first half) illustrating a flow of processing in an image forming system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 10 is a flowchart (second half) illustrating the flow of processing in an image forming system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[First embodiment]
[0023] Hereinafter, examples of embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the system configuration of an image forming system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, the image forming system 1 of this embodiment includes an image forming apparatus 10 as an information processing apparatus and a smartphone 20 as a terminal device.

In image forming system 1, various job operations such as printing can be performed on image forming device 10 from the operation screen of smartphone 20. Note that image forming device 10 is a so-called multifunction device that has multiple functions such as printing, scanning, copying, and facsimile functions.

When performing various operations on the image forming device 10 from the operation screen of the smartphone 20, before transmitting processing information from the smartphone 20 to the image forming device 10 to instruct the image forming device 10 to execute a process, connection information is obtained from the image forming device 10 using near field communication (NFC), a wireless communication method for close proximity wireless communication, between the image forming device 10 and the smartphone 20.

When the image forming device 10 is connected to the smartphone 20 via NFC, it transmits connection information to the smartphone 20 for connecting to itself via a wireless LAN (Local Area Network), which is a wireless communication method for Internet communication. Here, the connection information is the IP address of the image forming device 10. Note that the connection information can be any information that allows wireless communication between the image forming device 10 and the smartphone 20, and is not limited to an IP address.

The image forming device 10 accepts authentication information and processing information sent via wireless LAN from the NFC-connected smartphone 20. Here, the authentication information is information used by the image forming device 10 to perform authentication processing, such as a user ID and password.

The processing information is information for executing a job in the information processing device 10. This processing information may include instructions for the image forming device 10 to execute the job. Also, for example, in cases where a job to be executed when the image forming device 10 receives processing information is preset, the processing information may not include instructions for the image forming device 10 to execute the job, but may include only the information necessary to execute the job.

As a specific example, when the job type is "copy" and no data is required for the job, the processing information may include the job type and additional information required for the job, such as the number of copies, color mode, and document size. Furthermore, when the job type is "print" and no data is required for the job, the processing information may include the job type, the data to be printed, and additional information required for the job, such as the number of copies, color mode, and document size. Even when data is required for the job, if the data is stored in a location other than the smartphone 20, such as a cloud server (not shown), the processing information does not need to include the data itself. It is sufficient to include information required for acquiring the data, such as the file name and information on where to acquire the data. In other words, the processing information only needs to include the minimum information required for the job to be executed on the image forming device 10.

The image forming device 10 performs authentication processing based on the authentication information, and then executes the job based on the processing information.

Next, Figure 2 shows the hardware configuration of the image forming device 10 in the image forming system of this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 2, the image forming device 10 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, memory 12, a storage device 13 such as a hard disk drive, a communication interface (abbreviated as IF) 14 for sending and receiving data to and from external devices, a user interface (abbreviated as UI) device 15 including a touch panel or LCD display and keyboard, a scanner 16, and a print engine 17. These components are connected to each other via a control bus 18.

The communication IF 14 includes multiple communication IFs, including a communication IF that transmits and receives data to and from external devices via NFC, and a communication IF that transmits and receives data to and from external devices via wireless LAN.

The print engine 17 prints an image onto a recording medium such as printing paper through processes such as charging, exposure, development, transfer, and fixing.

CPU 11 is a processor that controls the operation of image forming device 10 by executing predetermined processes based on a control program stored in memory 12 or storage device 13. In this embodiment, CPU 11 is described as reading and executing a control program stored in memory 12 or storage device 13, but the program can also be stored on a storage medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory) and provided to CPU 11.

Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the image forming device 10 realized by executing the above control program.

As shown in FIG. 3, the image forming device 10 of this embodiment has a control unit 31, a display unit 32, an operation input unit 33, an NFC communication unit 34, a wireless LAN communication unit 35, an image reading unit 36, and an image output unit 37.

The display unit 32 is controlled by the control unit 31 and displays various information to the user. The operation input unit 33 inputs various operation information performed by the user. The NFC communication unit 34 transmits and receives data via NFC to and from external devices such as the smartphone 20. The wireless LAN communication unit 35 transmits and receives data via wireless LAN to and from external devices such as the smartphone 20. The image reading unit 36 reads an original image from a set original based on the control of the control unit 31. The image output unit 37 outputs an image onto a recording medium such as printing paper based on the control of the control unit 31.

The control unit 31 controls the overall operation of the image forming device 10, generating print data based on a print job received from the smartphone 20 via the wireless LAN communication unit 35, controlling the output of the generated print data from the image output unit 37, and controlling the reading of an original image by the image reading unit 36.

Furthermore, when the control unit 31 connects to an external device, a smartphone 20, via NFC, it transmits connection information to the connected smartphone 20 for connecting to the image forming apparatus 10, which is its own device, via wireless LAN. Furthermore, when the control unit 31 receives authentication information and processing information from the smartphone 20 via wireless LAN, it performs authentication processing using the received authentication information, and then executes the job specified by the received processing information. Furthermore, after executing the job specified by the processing information, the control unit 31 executes authentication deactivation processing for the smartphone 20.

In this embodiment, the control unit 31 executes authentication processing for the smartphone 20 by referencing the authentication information management table stored in the storage device 13. In the authentication information management table shown as an example in Figure 4, user IDs and passwords are recorded in association with each other.

When the control unit 31 receives a user ID and password as authentication information from the smartphone 20, it performs authentication processing by referring to the authentication information management table to determine whether the received user ID and password match the contents of the authentication information management table.

If the control unit 31 determines that the received user ID and password match the contents of the authentication information management table, it permits login from the smartphone 20, and if it determines that the received user ID and password do not match the contents of the authentication information management table, it rejects login from the smartphone 20.

Next, Figure 5 shows the hardware configuration of the smartphone 20 in the image forming system of this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 5, the smartphone 20 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 21, memory 22, a storage device 23 such as flash memory, a communication interface (abbreviated as IF) 24 for sending and receiving data to and from external devices, and a user interface (abbreviated as UI) device 25 including a touch panel or LCD display and a keyboard. These components are connected to each other via a control bus 26.

The communication IF 24 includes multiple communication IFs, including a communication IF that transmits and receives data to and from external devices via NFC, and a communication IF that transmits and receives data to and from external devices via wireless LAN.

The CPU 21 is a processor that controls the operation of the smartphone 20 by executing predetermined processes based on a control program stored in the memory 22 or the storage device 23. In this embodiment, the CPU 21 is described as reading and executing a control program stored in the memory 22 or the storage device 23, but the program can also be stored on a storage medium such as an SD card and provided to the CPU 21.

Figure 6 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the smartphone 20 realized by executing the above control program.

As shown in FIG. 6, the smartphone 20 of this embodiment has a control unit 41, a display unit 42, an operation input unit 43, an NFC communication unit 44, and a wireless LAN communication unit 45.

The display unit 42 is controlled by the control unit 41 and displays various information to the user. The operation input unit 43 inputs various operation information performed by the user. The display unit 42 and the operation input unit 43 may be implemented by the same hardware, such as a touch panel. The NFC communication unit 44 transmits and receives data via NFC to and from external devices such as the image forming apparatus 10. The wireless LAN communication unit 35 transmits and receives data via wireless LAN to and from external devices such as the image forming apparatus 10. The control unit 41 controls the overall operation of the smartphone 20.

The control unit 41 also acquires connection information by connecting to the image forming apparatus 10 via NFC. The control unit 41 then connects to the image forming apparatus 10 via wireless LAN using the acquired connection information, and transmits authentication information for the image forming apparatus 10 to perform authentication processing, and processing information for instructing the image forming apparatus 10 to execute a job. These processes are performed on the smartphone 20 using an application for controlling the image forming apparatus 10. The authentication information and processing information are also acquired on the smartphone 20 using an application.

The control unit 41 prompts the user to input a user ID and password as authentication information via an application for controlling the image forming device 10. The control unit 41 also prompts the user to input processing information for instructing the image forming device 10 to execute a job via an application for controlling the image forming device 10.

Figure 7 shows an example of authentication information and processing information. As shown in Figure 7, a user ID and password are acquired as authentication information. Furthermore, a job type and additional instructions set for each job type are acquired as processing information. For example, if "copy" is set as the job type, additional instructions such as "number of copies," "color mode," and "original size" are set.

Next, the processing flow of the image forming system 1 in this embodiment will be explained with reference to the flowchart in Figure 8.

First, in step SU001, the user launches an application for controlling the image forming device 10 on the smartphone 20. In response, in step ST001, the control unit 41 of the smartphone 20 launches an application for controlling the image forming device 10.

Next, in step SU002, the user inputs authentication information and processing information as shown in FIG. 7 into the application. In response, in step ST002, the control unit 41 of the smartphone 20 acquires the authentication information and processing information.

Next, in step SU003, the user taps the smartphone 20 on the NFC reading unit of the image forming device 10.

In response to this, the control unit 31 of the image forming device 10 detects a connection via NFC in step SM001, and then in step SM002, sends connection information to the smartphone 20 via NFC.

When the control unit 41 of the smartphone 20 receives the connection information, in step ST003, it transmits authentication information and processing information to the image forming device 10 via wireless LAN based on the IP address of the image forming device 10, which is the connection information.

When the control unit 31 of the image forming device 10 receives the authentication information and processing information, in step SM003, it performs authentication processing based on the authentication information.

If the authentication process is successful, the control unit 31 executes the job based on the processing information in step SM004. If the authentication process is not successful, the control unit 31 interrupts the process and sends an error notification to the smartphone 20.

After executing the job, the control unit 31 executes the authentication cancellation process in step SM005, and sends a job completion notification in step SM006.

When the control unit 41 of the smartphone 20 receives the job completion notification, in step ST004, it displays the job completion on the application.

Second Embodiment
In the first embodiment, the image forming system has been described in which the user simply taps the smartphone 20 once on the NFC reading unit of the image forming apparatus 10 to perform the authentication process through to the execution of the job in the image forming apparatus 10 .

In this embodiment, we will explain how job retention processing is performed when authentication information and processing information are acquired in the image forming device 10.

Note that the hardware configurations of the image forming device 10 and smartphone 20 in this embodiment are the same as those in the first embodiment, so a description will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the control unit 31 of the image forming device 10 stores the received processing information, and executes the job using the stored processing information when an operation to execute a job using the stored processing information is received at a timing different from the time the stored processing information was received. Note that, as an example, the processing information is stored in the storage device 13.

With this configuration, the image forming device 10 stores the received processing information and performs a storage process in which the execution of the processing is suspended. In this embodiment, when the storage process is being performed on the image forming device 10, tapping the smartphone 20 on the NFC reading unit of the image forming device 10 releases the storage process and executes a job using the stored processing information.

In this embodiment, the NFC communication function of the smartphone 20 is switched on/off by the control unit 41. After transmitting authentication information and processing information to the image forming apparatus 10 via wireless LAN, the control unit 41 sets the smartphone 20 to an NFC-enabled state in order to execute a job using the stored processing information. Here, "NFC-enabled state" means that the NFC communication function is on and NFC is enabled between the image forming apparatus 10 and the smartphone 20.

Furthermore, after transmitting the authentication information and processing information to the image forming apparatus 10 via wireless LAN, the control unit 41 switches the display on the display unit 42 of the smartphone 20. Note that by switching the display on the display unit 42 in some way, the user can be reminded to tap the smartphone 20 on the NFC reading unit of the image forming apparatus 10, but it is preferable to display a screen prompting NFC, as shown in FIG. 9, for example. The screen prompting NFC is a screen that clearly displays the content prompting NFC using pictures and text, as shown in FIG. 9, as an example.

At this time, it is preferable that the control unit 41 display a screen prompting NFC when the image forming device 10 is set to execute a job using the processing information stored therein. Specifically, for example, when the setting screen shown in FIG. 10 has the release display switch SW1 set to ON as a setting for executing a job using the stored processing information, the control unit 41 displays a screen prompting NFC such as that shown in FIG. 9.

Furthermore, when the control unit 41 is configured to display a confirmation screen for asking whether or not to execute a job using the stored processing information, the control unit 41 may display the confirmation screen, and when an instruction to execute a job using the stored processing information is entered on the displayed confirmation screen, it may make it possible to issue an instruction to execute a job using the stored processing information.

Specifically, for example, when the confirmation screen display switch SW2 is set to ON on the setting screen shown in FIG. 10, a confirmation screen such as that shown in FIG. 11 is displayed. The confirmation screen displays a message such as "Do you want to execute the reserved print now?" to confirm whether or not to execute the reserved job. When "Yes" is selected on this confirmation screen, the control unit 41 displays a screen prompting NFC such as that shown in FIG. 9, and makes it possible to issue a job execution instruction using the stored processing information.

Here, "a state in which it is possible to issue a job execution instruction using the stored processing information" means that at least NFC is possible, and if it is necessary to send an instruction to cancel the retention process, it is possible to send an instruction to cancel the retention process at the necessary timing.

If "No" is selected on the confirmation screen, the NFC communication function may be turned off, or the NFC communication function may remain on and transmission of instructions to cancel the placement process may be prohibited.

Furthermore, when the release display switch SW1 is set to ON and the confirmation screen display switch SW2 is set to OFF, the control unit 41 transmits authentication information and processing information to the image forming device 10 via wireless LAN, and then displays a screen prompting NFC as shown in Figure 9 without displaying a confirmation screen.

Furthermore, if the image forming device 10 is configured not to execute jobs using the processing information stored therein, the control unit 41 may also set the image forming device 10 to a state in which it is not possible to issue instructions to execute jobs using the stored processing information.

Specifically, for example, on the settings screen shown in FIG. 10, when the release display switch SW1 is set to OFF as a setting for executing a job using the stored processing information, the control unit 41 makes it impossible to issue an instruction to execute a job using the stored processing information.

Here, "a state in which it is not possible to issue a job execution instruction using the stored processing information" means that it is not possible to issue a job execution instruction in some way, such as by turning off the NFC communication function or by prohibiting the sending of a release instruction for the retention process while the NFC communication function is on.

Furthermore, after performing NFC to execute a job using the stored processing information, the control unit 41 of the smartphone 20 may send authentication information to the image forming device 10 via wireless LAN, and the control unit 31 of the image forming device 10 may acquire the authentication information and then execute a job using the stored processing information sent from the user identified by the acquired authentication information.

Multiple users may access the image forming device 10, and the same user may send multiple pieces of processing information before the retention process is released. Therefore, the image forming device 10 acquires authentication information when the retention process is released, and executes only jobs that use processing information sent and stored by the user identified by the acquired authentication information, thereby preventing jobs of other users from being executed.

In this case, the control unit 31 of the image forming device 10 may acquire authentication information, and then transmit to the smartphone 20 a list of jobs using the processing information transmitted and stored by the user identified by the acquired authentication information. The control unit 41 of the smartphone 20 may then notify the image forming device 10 of the processing to be executed that is specified by the user from the received list.

Next, the processing flow of the image forming system in this embodiment will be explained with reference to the flowcharts in Figures 12 and 13.

First, in step SU101, the user launches an application for controlling the image forming device 10 on the smartphone 20. In response, the control unit 41 of the smartphone 20 launches an application for controlling the image forming device 10 in step ST101.

Next, in step SU102, the user inputs authentication information and processing information into the application. In response, the control unit 41 of the smartphone 20 acquires the authentication information and processing information in step ST102.

Next, in step SU103, the user taps the smartphone 20 on the NFC reading unit of the image forming device 10.

In response to this, the control unit 31 of the image forming device 10 detects an NFC connection in step SM101, and then in step SM102, sends connection information to the smartphone 20 via NFC.

When the control unit 41 of the smartphone 20 receives the connection information, in step ST103, it transmits authentication information and processing information to the image forming device 10 via wireless LAN based on the IP address of the image forming device 10, which is the connection information.

When the control unit 31 of the image forming device 10 receives the authentication information and processing information, in step SM103, it performs authentication processing based on the authentication information.

If the authentication process is successful, the control unit 31 executes the job reservation process in step SM104. If the authentication process is not successful, the control unit 31 interrupts the process and sends an error notification to the smartphone 20.

With the job reservation process in progress, in step SU104, the user taps the smartphone 20 on the NFC reader of the image forming device 10 to release the job reservation process.

In response to this, the control unit 31 of the image forming device 10 detects a connection via NFC in step SM105, and then in step SM106 sends connection information to the smartphone 20 via NFC.

When the control unit 41 of the smartphone 20 receives the connection information, in step ST104, it transmits authentication information to the image forming device 10 via wireless LAN based on the IP address of the image forming device 10, which is the connection information.

When the control unit 31 of the image forming device 10 receives the authentication information, in step SM107, it sends to the smartphone 20 a list of jobs using the processing information sent and stored by the user identified by the received authentication information.

When the control unit 41 of the smartphone 20 receives the list information, in step ST105, it displays the list information on the application.

In step SU105, the user selects and inputs the job to be executed from the list information on the application. In response, in step ST106, the control unit 41 of the smartphone 20 notifies the image forming device 10 of the job selected by the user.

In step SM108, the control unit 31 of the image forming device 10 executes the detention release process for the job specified by the user, and in step SM109, executes the job specified by the user based on the processing information.

After executing the job, the control unit 31 executes the authentication cancellation process in step SM110 and sends a job completion notification in step SM111.

When the control unit 41 of the smartphone 20 receives the job completion notification, in step ST107, it displays the job completion on the application.

In this embodiment, after acquiring authentication information, the control unit 31 of the image forming device 10 transmits to the smartphone 20 a list of jobs using processing information transmitted and stored from the user identified by the acquired authentication information, and the control unit 41 of the smartphone 20 may notify the image forming device 10 of all processes in the received list as processes to be executed. At this time, the control unit 41 may or may not notify the user of the list information.

Furthermore, after NFC is performed to execute a job using the stored processing information, the control unit 41 may notify the image forming device 10 of all jobs using the stored processing information as processes to be executed, without obtaining a list of jobs using the stored processing information from the image forming device 10.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the NFC communication function of the smartphone 20 is described as being switched on/off by the control unit 41, but the NFC communication function of the smartphone 20 may be always on.

[Modification]
Although the image forming system according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and can be modified as appropriate.

For example, in the above embodiment, the term "processor" refers to a processor in a broad sense, including general-purpose processors (e.g., CPU: Central Processing Unit, etc.) and dedicated processors (e.g., GPU: Graphics Processing Unit, ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit, FPGA: Field Programmable Gate Array, programmable logic device, etc.).

Furthermore, the processor operations in each of the above embodiments may not only be performed by a single processor, but may also be performed by multiple processors located in physically separate locations working together. Furthermore, the order of the processor operations is not limited to the order described in each of the above embodiments, and may be changed as appropriate.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the information processing device was described as an image forming device, but the present invention is not limited to this and may be other devices such as a personal computer or a mobile terminal device.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the terminal device was described as a smartphone, but the present invention is not limited to this and may be other devices such as a personal computer or a mobile terminal device.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the wireless communication of the second wireless communication method was described as a wireless LAN, but the present invention is not limited to this, and wireless communication of other wireless communication methods may also be used.

1 Image forming system 10 Image forming apparatus 11 CPU
12 Memory 13 Storage device 14 Communication interface 15 User interface device 16 Scanner 17 Print engine 18 Control bus 20 Smartphone 21 CPU
22 Memory 23 Storage device 24 Communication interface 25 User interface device 26 Control bus 31 Control unit 32 Display unit 33 Operation input unit 34 NFC communication unit 35 Wireless LAN communication unit 36 Image reading unit 37 Image output unit 41 Control unit 42 Display unit 43 Operation input unit 44 NFC communication unit 45 Wireless LAN communication unit

Claims (11)

a first processor;
The first processor
an information processing device that, when connected to an external device via wireless communication of a first wireless communication method that is a close proximity wireless communication method, transmits connection information to the connected device for connecting to the information processing device via wireless communication of a second wireless communication method that is different from the first wireless communication method;
a second processor;
The second processor
acquiring connection information by connecting to the information processing device via wireless communication of the first wireless communication method;
a terminal device that connects to the information processing device via wireless communication of the second wireless communication system using the acquired connection information, and transmits authentication information for the information processing device to execute an authentication process and processing information for the information processing device to execute a process;
The first processor
when receiving authentication information and processing information from the terminal device, performing authentication processing using the received authentication information, and then performing processing using the received processing information;
After performing a process using the processing information, perform an authentication deactivation process for the terminal device;
Furthermore, when a retention process is performed in which the processing information received from the terminal device is stored and the execution of the processing using the received processing information is suspended,
The first processor
executing a process using the stored processing information when wireless communication is performed in the first wireless communication system for executing a process using the stored processing information at a timing different from the timing at which the stored processing information is received;
The second processor
transmitting authentication information and processing information to the information processing device via wireless communication of the second wireless communication method, and then enabling wireless communication of the first wireless communication method for executing processing using the stored processing information; and transmitting authentication information to the information processing device via wireless communication of the second wireless communication method after wireless communication of the first wireless communication method for executing processing using the stored processing information has been performed;
The first processor
After wireless communication of the first wireless communication method is performed to execute a process using the stored processing information, authentication information is acquired, and then the process is executed using the stored processing information transmitted from a user identified by the acquired authentication information.
Information processing system. The information processing system according to claim 1 , wherein the second processor switches a display of a screen provided on the terminal device after transmitting authentication information and processing information to the information processing device via wireless communication of the second wireless communication method. The information processing system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second processor displays a screen prompting wireless communication using the first wireless communication method when the second processor is set to execute processing using processing information stored in the information processing device. 4. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein, when the second processor is configured to display a confirmation screen for asking whether or not to execute processing using the stored processing information, the second processor displays the confirmation screen, and when an instruction to execute processing using the stored processing information is entered on the displayed confirmation screen, the second processor makes it possible to give an instruction to execute processing using the stored processing information. 5. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein when the second processor is configured not to execute processing using the processing information stored in the information processing device, the second processor makes it impossible to issue an instruction to execute processing using the stored processing information. After acquiring the authentication information, the first processor transmits to the terminal device a list of processes using processing information transmitted and stored from the user identified by the acquired authentication information;
The information processing system according to claim 1 , wherein the second processor notifies the information processing device of a process designated by the user from the received list information as a process to be executed. After acquiring the authentication information, the first processor transmits to the terminal device a list of processes using processing information transmitted and stored from the user identified by the acquired authentication information;
The information processing system according to claim 1 , wherein the second processor notifies the information processing device of all processes in the received list information as processes to be executed. 6. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein, after wireless communication using the first wireless communication method for executing processing using the stored processing information is performed, the second processor notifies the information processing device of processing using all of the stored processing information as processing to be executed, without obtaining list information of processing using the stored processing information from the information processing device. the second wireless communication method is an Internet communication method,
The information processing system according to claim 1 , wherein the connection information includes an IP address. A program for controlling an information processing device in an information processing system including an information processing device and a terminal device,
a first processor included in the information processing device;
when connecting to an external device via wireless communication of a first wireless communication method which is a close proximity wireless communication method, executing a step of transmitting connection information to the connected device for connecting to the device via wireless communication of a second wireless communication method which is different from the first wireless communication method;
In the second processor included in the terminal device ,
acquiring connection information by connecting to the information processing device via wireless communication in the first wireless communication system;
a step of connecting to the information processing device via wireless communication of the second wireless communication system using the acquired connection information, and transmitting authentication information for the information processing device to execute an authentication process and processing information for the information processing device to execute a process,
to the first processor,
when receiving authentication information and processing information from the terminal device, performing authentication processing using the received authentication information, and then performing processing using the received processing information;
and executing a step of executing a de-authentication process for the terminal device after executing a process using the processing information;
Furthermore, when a retention process is performed in which the processing information received from the terminal device is stored and the execution of the processing using the received processing information is suspended,
to the first processor,
executing a step of executing a process using the stored processing information when wireless communication of the first wireless communication system for executing a process using the stored processing information is performed at a timing different from the timing of receiving the stored processing information;
In the second processor,
a step of transmitting authentication information and processing information to the information processing device via wireless communication of the second wireless communication method, and then enabling wireless communication of the first wireless communication method for executing processing using the stored processing information; and transmitting authentication information to the information processing device via wireless communication of the second wireless communication method after wireless communication of the first wireless communication method for executing processing using the stored processing information has been performed;
to the first processor,
A program for executing a step of acquiring authentication information after wireless communication using the first wireless communication method for executing processing using the stored processing information, and then executing processing using the stored processing information transmitted from a user identified by the acquired authentication information . A program for controlling a terminal device in an information processing system including an information processing device and a terminal device,
In the first processor included in the information processing device ,
When connecting to an external device via wireless communication of a first wireless communication method which is a close proximity wireless communication method, a step of transmitting connection information to the connected device for connecting to the device via wireless communication of a second wireless communication method different from the first wireless communication method is executed;
a second processor included in the terminal device;
acquiring connection information by connecting to the information processing device via wireless communication in the first wireless communication system;
connecting to the information processing device via wireless communication of the second wireless communication system using the acquired connection information, and transmitting authentication information for the information processing device to execute an authentication process and processing information for the information processing device to execute a process;
In the first processor,
when receiving authentication information and processing information from the terminal device, performing authentication processing using the received authentication information, and then performing processing using the received processing information;
a step of executing a deauthentication process for the terminal device after executing a process using the processing information;
Furthermore, when a retention process is performed in which the processing information received from the terminal device is stored and the execution of the processing using the received processing information is suspended,
In the first processor,
a step of executing a process using the stored processing information when wireless communication of the first wireless communication method for executing a process using the stored processing information is performed at a timing different from the timing of receiving the stored processing information;
to the second processor,
transmitting authentication information and processing information to the information processing device via wireless communication of the second wireless communication method, and then enabling wireless communication of the first wireless communication method for executing processing using the stored processing information; and transmitting authentication information to the information processing device via wireless communication of the second wireless communication method after wireless communication of the first wireless communication method for executing processing using the stored processing information has been performed;
In the first processor,
After wireless communication of the first wireless communication method is performed to execute a process using the stored processing information, authentication information is acquired, and then a step of executing a process using the stored processing information transmitted from a user identified by the acquired authentication information is executed.
Program for.